What changes would you make to Proposition 13 Essay

What changes would you make to Proposition 13 - Essay Example eal estate property value for tax purposes to 1975 to 1976 market value; reduced tax increases to 2 percent annually especially for continuing property owners; and provided a reassessed value base for new property owners. It also reduced real estate taxes to 1 percent, and required two-thirds votes for legislative revenue or tax increases among others. Proposition 13 significantly reduced property taxes for both homestead and commercial properties. The major driving factor behind the enactment of the proposition 13 was the notion that Californians should not be priced out of their homes through high taxes. This initiative has been termed the third rail of California politics because politically, it is very difficult for policymakers to alter it. This paper provides a very thoughtful discussion on proposition 13, its meaning, what happened, some of the proposed amendments to this proposition, its impacts. It will also cover what is different prior to and after the enactment of this in itiative. Proposition 13 has remained a law in California for a long period since its inception and its supporting vote was perceived as a tax revolt against California government (Ferreira 662). This initiative affected property taxes, individuals’ lives as well as businesses. This proposition dramatically changed California constitution and it helped taxpayers to address the rising property taxes and increasing state revenue. This proportion altered the structure of the property taxation and how taxes are distributed in California. There are many things that took place and various aspects or practices changed upon the formulation of this proposition. Firstly, this law removed much of the fluctuation of property tax revenue that resulted to a more stable revenue source for local government. Secondly, proposition 13 decreased the rates of property tax to 1 per cent. In 1977, the average property tax rate in California was 2.67 percent but proposition 13 reduced the rate to 1 percent

Business Financial Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Business Financial Analysis - Assignment Example Insurance industry has become one of the most fundamental sectors in the performance of any economy. Businesses, private organizations, and individuals all insure their products and property to shield them from recording significant losses and potential threats to going concern problem.The choice of state farm insurance has been propelled by the better ranking and the immense interests that investors have on the insurance segment of the economy. Any economic sector that fails to develop robust insurance firms and businesses are bound to record losses that arise due to the uncertain nature of operations.This paper therefore analyze the financial performance of state farm insurance, its performance in the industry, products, and leadership styles that have been pursued by the company to achieve the core objectives. State farm insurance was founded with the core object of providing insurance to the automotives of farmers before it later ventured into other services provision and increas ed its products range. The company recorded significant growth in the lifetime and is one of the top ranked companies according to the Fortune 500 Company ranking. Companies that operate in highly competitive industry must ensure continuous monitoring of their financial performance and satisfaction of the interests of their stakeholders for them to be going concern. It is for this purpose that potential investors and trhose who wish to engage in trade in the stock market will value the analysis. The use of financial ratios and other financial techniques will be involved in the analysis of the business. INTRODUCTION Insurance industry has become one of the most fundamental sectors in the performance of any economy. Businesses, private organizations, and individuals all insure their products and property to shield them from recording significant losses and potential threats to going concern problem. The choice of state farm insurance has been propelled by the better ranking and the im mense interests that investors have on the insurance segment of the economy. Any economic sector that fails to develop robust insurance firms and businesses are bound to record losses that arise due to the uncertain nature of operations. State farm insurance growth in business and operation also makes it suitable for analysis and consideration. COMPANY BACKGROUND State farm insurance was formed in 1922 by its policyholders to insure automobiles. At the early stages, the company was entirely engaged in the insurance of auto of farmers before extending their operations to cover the insurance of banking services, financial services, and life insurance (Mundy 16). George Mecherle who was a retired farmer and was interested in improving the welfare of the members founded it. The company has recorded tremendous growth of both employees and the number of company agents. State farm insurance has expanded its operations in other countries like Canada and has operations in most of the states in America (Mundy 18). State farm insurance was heavily hit by the recession in the financial sector since many policy holders were unable to pay for their insurance. The company has since recorded growth in their base and has policyholders of about 80 million people. MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE Management is the act of planning the future now. An organization that is aimed at surviving in the dynamic and competitive market must have a strong management and visionary leadership. Rust ensured that state farm mutual insurance had a well-educated staff. He believed that through training and knowledge, the employees input, and efficiency will be increased. State farm therefore incurred large amounts of money in taking their employees for further training and education. Better leadership ensured that the future could be forecasted and that risks inherent in the business were absorbed by the business. Management of state farm also motivated their staffs by giving out better packages to their emp loyees and investing heavily on talents (Millenson 45). Rust, the chairperson of the board has thus succeeded in the winning of the confidence and trust of their employees. FINANCIAL ANALYSIS State farm insurance recorded a decline in their revenue and earnings in the financial year 2011. This was attributed to the increased number claims. Moreover, the large portfolio of

Weber in University Essay Example for Free

Weber in University Essay Max Weber’s (1958) one aspect of analyzing society involves rationalization in capitalism ( p. 13). His idea is that pursuit of money is not just for the sake of earning but must also be rationalized—in a way that is calculating or earning more profit (Weber, 1958). Highlight of this is the Lutherian input that capitalism gives you a special duty. Fulfillment of that duty is the highest form of performing moral activity as this is moral obligation (spirit of capitalism) (Weber, 1958). Universities never escaped capitalism. It has even become the means for the reproduction of capitalism. University propagates the idea that a man needs to study to be able to work— where the higher education level he attains, the greater is his opportunity to earn more. It is similar with Weber’s idea on task specialization—a student entering the university must choose his specialization or degree program. With this, universities earn profit because more students want to get to college. The main idea being that when you get to graduate from the university with a degree, you are sure to land on a good job with good pay. But earning money is not the highlight on getting a degree. Instead, it is inculcated as a moral obligation to the society which is parallel to Weber’s spirit of capitalism. A better member of society is someone who works hard achieving his tasks than someone who does not strive for success. Looking at how university works, specific duties are performed by specific groups. Professors teach, administrative manages the university and other groups for other significant tasks like counseling and housing for students who serves as the â€Å"customers† though not purchasing market goods but intellect and skills. These duties once fulfilled rationalize the profit earned by universities. Not only is mere fulfillment of duty considered a moral activity but as education is uplifted and seen as significant, so are the professors who mold the future workforce of the world. It is indeed the highest form of moral activity literally and figuratively. These duties/jobs found in the universities comprise the labor—important concept for Weber and Marx. While Marx argues that there is no free labor since people have to sell their labor power to capitalist, Weber argues that selling this is still wage-flexible and calculable (1920, p. 21). Good examples are the janitors and the professors. Both sell their labor power to owners of university. But since both has different labor power to offer (one on manual labor, other is teaching), there would be wage-differences. Thus, it shows how university truly has incorporated calculation with it being a business. As shown, universities, though seen as having noble purpose of educating, are still under the rationalistic capitalism that calculates, profit-oriented and involve special tasks. They bring to the society two valuable products—the profit they earn in terms of money and the students who in turn earns money and profit for themselves after college. This is how universities pattern with Weber’s idea. Reference Weber, M. (1958). The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. New York: Scribner.

Bristol Royal Infirmary 1984-1995 Public Inquiry

Bristol Royal Infirmary 1984-1995 Public Inquiry Thilini Nisansala Egoda Kapuralalage 1. Introduction A public inquiry is a review of an event or events that is conducted by the government body to find out what went wrong. Moreover, â€Å"an inquiry is a retrospective examination of events or circumstances, specially established to find out what happened, understand why, and learn from the experiences of all those involved† (Walshe, 2003). Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) inquiry is an example of inquiry which The inquiry is related to two teaching hospitals; the Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) and the Bristol Royal Hospital for Sick Children (BRHSC) and particularly the inquiry is related to congenital heart disease; babies with heart problems. The inquiry was carried out by a panel which was chaired by Professor Ian Kennedy from October 1998 to July 2001. 2. A summary of key information 2.1. Background information The National Health Service, in 1984, designated the Bristol Royal Infirmary and the Bristol Royal Hospital for Sick Children as a centre to provide paediatric cardiac surgeries to the infants under 1 year old. The Bristol Royal Infirmary performed open-heart surgeries while the Bristol Hospital for Sick Children performed closed-heart surgeries. Compared to other paediatric units in UK, Bristol did not have the required standard to perform the surgery. However, the decision to designate a paediatric unit in Bristol mainly made due to geographic issues that the patients had to undergo (Weick Sutcliffe). 2.2. Physical setting Physical setting of the hospital and operation theatre play a pivotal part in the inquiry. The location of BRI is noteworthy and it is located two block away from the BHC. Bristol Royal Infirmary conduct open heart surgeries in their hospital, while Bristol Hospital for Sick Children conduct closed heart operations in their hospital. Although the BRI conduct open heart surgeries, they lack cardiologists and they are in the BHC (Weick Sutcliffe). The operation theatre and ICU of BRI are located in two different floors. The ICU can access through an elevator and the elevator is non-dedicated. After conducting the surgery, the children are moved to sixth floor until they are stabilized. Then they are moved to BHC for further care and treatments (Weick Sutcliffe). 2.3. Administration and staff The CEO, Dr John Roylance directed the regional health authority and hospital board. Simply, these two parties relied on Dr John Roylance. On the other hand, Dr John Roylance relied on Dr James Wisheart who was â€Å"a man of many trades, holding other positions in BRI such as associate director of cardiac surgery and the chairman of the hospital’s medical committee† (Weick Sutcliffe). Furthermore, his patients were already on bypass before his arrival as he was normally late to his surgeries. In addition, Dr Janardan Dhasmana was another surgeon who was â€Å"described as self-critical, disengaged from his surgical team, and unaware of their importance as a â€Å"whole team. (Weick Sutcliffe). 2.4. Performance According to the experts, to maintain required expertise in the surgeries in a centre averagely 80-100 open heart surgeries should be conducted per year. But, the average case load of Bristol was lower than the minimal required cases. In addition, the performance of Bristol did not improve, while the performance of the all other centres began to improve. â€Å"Between 1988 and 1994, the mortality rate at Bristol for open-heart surgery in children under one was roughly double the rate of any other centre in England in five of the seven years. The mortality rate (defined as deaths within 30 days of surgery) between 1984 and 1989 for open-heart surgery under 1 at Bristol was 32.2% and the average rate for the other centres for the same period was 21.2%† (Weick Sutcliffe). Furthermore, the mortality rate increased up to 37.5% by the end of 1990. Also, according to the data analysis from 1990 to 1995, Bristol had approximately 30 and 35 excess deaths (Weick Sutcliffe). 3. Information about the issue 3.1. What happened? 3.2. How it happened? The series of incidents happened because of several reasons. First is the poor organisation of BRI. Open-heart surgery service had been provided in two sites where they lacked the proper staff to maintain the required care and treatment to the patients. Second is the lack of physical resources. The BRI was doing only the surgery and later they transferred the children into the BCH for further treatment. This cause to another issue of poor team work where the staff was not involved in the surgery and treatments effectively. Also, the BRI was using the same ICU for both adults and children. Third is the lack of information sharing with the parents and they were unaware of the relevant information (Hindle, Braithwaite, Travaglia, Iedema, 2006). 3.3. Who was involved? Few key figures were involved in the issue and they were Dr John Roylance, Dr James Wisheart, and Dr Janardan Dhasmana. First, Dr John Roylance was the CEO of the hospital but he had mentioned that he was unable to interfere with the work that were done by the surgeons. Moreover, he â€Å"chose to ignore warnings from whistle blower Steve Bolsin about the standard of operations being offered to young children† (BBC, 2003). Second, Dr James Wisheart was the director of the BRI and he claimed in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s that â€Å"the babies who died suffered from serious conditions and most had additional complications. He believed he would be vindicated in time† (BBC). Third person who was involved in Bristol was Dr Janardan Dhasmana and he was number two to Dr James Wisheart. He was responsible for over 29 deaths. Also, four babies were left brain damaged after the surgeries (Woods, 1998). 3.4. Reasons to failure There are several factors that caused the failure of surgeries at BRI. First is the poor team work which affects the performance of the work and final outcome. Effective team work plays a pivotal factor to succeed the surgery but it was absent at BRI. Second reason to failure is lack of openness. The system and culture of BRI was different and they did not encourage their staff to share their issues openly. â€Å"Those who tried to raise concerns found it hard to have their voice heard† (Kennedy, 2001). Third is the lack of human resources. There was a significant gap between the resources available at BRI and the required resources in the PCS unit. There were a shortage of staff from operating theatre and ICU. Furthermore, â€Å"the complement of cardiologists and surgeons was always below the level deemed appropriate by the relevant professional bodies. The consultant cardiologists lacked junior support† (Kennedy, 2001). Fourth is the lack of physical resources. The B RI and the BCH were located in two different places. The BRI conducted the surgeries and after that, the patients were transferred to the BCH for further treatment and care. In addition, the ICU at BRI was not properly organised and it was a mixed unit that cared for both adults and children (Kennedy, 2001). 3.4. Who discovered the problem? The performance of pediatric cardiac unit began to concern in early October of 1986 by a professor of the University of Wales. He reported to the Regional Health Authority about the unit’s performance and the authority concluded that the problem was related to the volume of cases. In addition, Dr Stephen Bolsin, a consultant anesthetist who joined the Bristol hospital in 1988, found few issues with the performances. What he noted was that surgeries done in BRI took a long time than usual and the babies were kept under the by-pass machine for a long time (Weick Sutcliffe). Apart from Bolsin’s complain to the colleagues, he reported this issue to Dr John Roylance, the CEO. But Bolsin did not receive positive reaction from the CEO about the issue. Moreover, a Pediatric Pathologist at Bristol wrote an article to report about the â€Å"post-mortem examinations of seventy-six Bristol children who had under gone surgery for congenital heart disease† (Weick Sutcliffe). In 1989, the article was publish in the Journal of Clinical Pathology. According to the article, â€Å"29 cases of cardiac anomalies and surgical flaws that contributed to death† (Weick Sutcliffe). Furthermore, several articles that criticised about the Bristol Paediatric were published in Private Eye (Weick Sutcliffe). 3.5. Why did it go undetected for the period of time? 4. Recommendations 4.1. Patient-centered health service Patients should be informed about the care that they are going to undergo. Several methods can be adhered to provide information to the patients. With relevant to the inquiry, it is evident that there were certain occasions that the communication between the staff and the parents was poor. During the treatments, some parents were given counselling, while some were not. However, â€Å"the United Bristol Healthcare Trust (UBHT) conceded in its evidence that the service it provided was insufficient to meet the needs of some parents† (Kennedy, 2001). Therefore, a good communication is required and the doctors should not judge what information should to be informed. It is parents who should make that decision (Hindle et al., 2006). 4.2. Safety and quality A safe and quality environment should be created to the patients. In Bristol, the arrangements, the state of equipment and buildings, and the training of the staff did not meet the required standard and these things were possible to create a damage to the service. To mitigate this, the authorities should remove the barriers to a safe and quality service while promoting the openness and publishing required standard of quality and care (Hindle et al., 2006; Kennedy, 2001). 4.3. Healthcare professionals’ competence Health service providers should possess the required standard of skills, expertise, and educational level. Furthermore, they are capable of good communication and team work. In Bristol, the system did not demand the professionals to keep their skills and knowledge up to date. 6. References BBC. Im not perfect, says Bristol surgeon Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/568511.stm BBC. (2003). The Bristol Babies Inquiry Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1148390.stm Hindle, D., Braithwaite, J., Travaglia, J., Iedema, R. (2006). A comparative analysis of eight Inquiries in six countries. Kennedy, I. (2001). The report of the public inquiry into childrens heart surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary 1984-1995: learning from Bristol. Walshe, K. (2003). INQUIRIES: LEARNING FROM FAILURE IN THE NHS? : Weick, K. E., Sutcliffe, K. M. Hospitals as Cultures of Entrapment: A RE-ANALYSIS OF THE BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY. Woods, M. (1998). Bristol heart scandal surgeon is dismissed Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/bristol-heart-scandal-surgeon-is-dismissed-1197097.html pg. 1

Essay examples --

Laura Greene SOC 421 Section 1002 Fall 2013 Dr. Mann Marxist Theories in Todays Society Karl Marx was a German philosopher whose work are thought to still have an influence even on todays society. Marx believed that material goods were the root of the social world and that social life is fundamentally about conflict over food, land, money, and other material goods. The ideal government for Marx would be a communist state where resources are equally shared. However, here in America it seems we will always have a democratic government where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. For my final paper I will use the marxist theoretical ideas to investigate how Wal-Mart uses their economic and financial power to exploit their workers and suppliers. I will use Marx’s theory to understand how Wal-Mart not only manipulates and exploits its employees and suppliers but, also how they are able to alienate their employees. Marx’s theories remain as powerful framework for explaining the actions of a billion dollar multinational company because of its focus Wage-La bor, Surplus Value and Alienation. By sharing with the reader the reasons why Wal-Mart should be considered a threat to our society by using Marx theories, I hope to bring attention the true cost of getting things for a bargain. For the purpose of this paper I will be focusing on his theories about Wage-Labor, Surplus Value and Alienation and using them to explain Wal-Marts actions. Throughout the course of his life, Marx came up with many theories. However, Marx was very interested in the topic of capitalism.nCapitalism can be defined as being an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by th... ...ncome. However, today’s materialistic society is so obsessed with the idea of commodity fetishism that we are blinded by the effects of it. We only think of where we can buy great products at low prices? Wal-Mart is always the answer, but if only we knew at what price of exploiting and alienating their employees, would we change out minds. Consumers never see the work that goes into making the product or how the labor has turned the worker into nothing but another commodity. All the consumer sees is the status or wealth depicted by the product. In all capitalism is what keeps our society in order. Even though Wal-Mart has become the bourgeoisie that Marx was against and feared, he would be happy to say that his prediction came true. In all, through these examples, I hope to open the publics eyes and show them at what cost their bargains are costing the workers.

Self Satisfaction Essay -- essays research papers

In the past sixteen years I have faced various challenges that have molded my personality to as it is today. I went through a very tough stage in my social life when I was in grade seven and eight at the age of twelve and thirteen. I had a group of five friends outside of school, we were always together and they were all very close to my heart. It came to the point where three of the girls decided that they did not want to associate with one other, and I was forced to choose between the three of them and the other girl. It was a feeling of indescribable disbelief and I did not know what to do. This one incident was a challenge that I had to overcome.It all happened so quickly. One minute she was our dear friend and the next minute everyone was yelling at her. At first I stood there and ...

Maritime Trade, Global Economies, and the Megaports Initiative

Maritime Trade, Global Economies, and the Megaports Initiative The purpose of this posting is two-fold. Part one is to describe the importance of maritime trade to global economies, and part two is to illustrate the importance of the Megaports Initiative to international trade. Part One: Obviously, global trade involves moving finished goods and heavy commodities over long distances. From both a tonnage perspective and value perspective, an overwhelming share of inter-hemispheric and trans-oceanic trade involves the use of maritime (as opposed to aviation) transportation. Therefore, as I composed this response, I considered â€Å"global trade† and â€Å"international trade† nearly synonymous with â€Å"maritime trade. † Rather than simply â€Å"describe† the importance of maritime global trade, I shall actually â€Å"emphasize† its importance so that you, the reader, know right away that I am a staunch and firm proponent of free trade. Free, unfettered, and unregulated global trade (with some notable exceptions below) is hugely beneficial to the aggregate welfare of the world at large. The explosion of global trade over the last 5 decades has lifted entire segments of populations throughout China, India, Vietnam, Brazil, and nearly ALL of Korea out of poverty and into a new working and stable middle class. Ancillary benefits include significant improvements in literacy, life expectancy, and gains in personal freedom and self determination, with China being a frustrating exception. Critics of global trade (a wily bunch ranging from thoughtful academics to concerned unions to undisciplined and uninformed â€Å"anarchists†) have all sorts of counter arguments against a global economy. Their protestations are far too numerous to address at length in this forum, but a quick review of some of the fallacious and unfounded concerns would include: global trade suppresses the â€Å"locally grown† movement; it enriches the wealthy at the expense of the world's poor; it â€Å"increases† global output of carbon dioxide, etc. These â€Å"fringe† concerns are fallacious because world trade allows the most efficient producer access to all markets. Efficiency, by definition, means the producer who uses the LEAST amount of ggregate raw material (be it feed-stocks, acreage, labor, energy per unit produced, scarce components, etc) will be rewarded with global business. A more valid concern, generally advanced by American unions, might be the loss of manufacturing and textile jobs in the United States. A painful reality of global trade is that the benefits are NOT pareto optimal: they are not distributed evenly, and there will be both winners and losers. In thi s context, trade unions and isolationists in the U. S. ave felt the economic pain as cost conscious manufacturers have moved production overseas. In some industries (automobiles, in particular) overseas competitors simply beat long dominant American producers at their own game. In response, American unions have sometimes confused protectionism with patriotism. There is nothing â€Å"patriotic† about preserving an uncompetitive and underperforming industry. On the contrary, protectionism denies the American consumer choices and it stifles American innovation. Global trade, which is realized by a robust maritime trade, encourages all producers to be innovative, and it elevates the real purchasing power of the world consumer. As promised, there are some brief caveats, however, to the argument I advanced above. Free, unfettered, and unregulated trade should strive to resemble â€Å"fair trade† to the maximum extent possible. The world economy should not benefit from the producer who achieves a competitive edge through the use of child labor, slave labor, indentured servitude, or a total disregard for the environmental effects of his production. The mechanisms to establish those standards (much less enforce them) is a topic for another paper, but it should be mentioned in light of the argument I have advanced above. Part Two: The exact statement we are being asked to consider is the following: â€Å"Illustrate the importance of the Mega Ports to International Trade. † Here's my contrarian assessment: The Megaports initiative is a SECURITY measure, NOT a trade measure. So I would argue that it has little â€Å"importance† to international trade, but very significant importance with respect to national security. The Megaports initiative is a U. S. lead, internationally coordinated effort to scan containerized cargo for radiation hazards and threats. Thus, Megaports WILL become an important concern to international trade only if it manages to DISRUPT it†¦ which it might, depending upon the capabilities of the screening equipment used and the rigidity of DHS/DOE's ambitious goal of screening 50% of containerized cargo by 2015. I have some reservations about the ability of the federal government to reach its stated goal of 50% screening, and I also am skeptical about the efficacy claims of the equipment that is to be deployed. The manufacturers of expensive, high tech screening equipment that cater to DHS have a pretty solid record of over-promising (or, at least exaggerating) the abilities of their wares. Radiological detectors can produce some impressive diagnostic results, but they are too slow to handle large volumes of cargo. Full spectrum scans can take several minutes for a 56 foot intermodal ITU (International Transport Unit). The larger U. S. ports handle upwards of 2000 imported containers per day. In layman's terms, there is simply not enough time in the day to screen 1000 TEU's per day with existing technology. I'm also concerned that the deployment of screening equipment (the most precise equipment is not mobile, but fixed) will create chokepoints around ports and may delay trade and interfere with the well choreographed transfers between railways, trucking companies, and shipping. My final concern deals with what is perhaps an unavoidable obstacle. Exactly what is the point of screening for radiological WMD's when those WMD's have already arrived at a U. S. port? If a nefarious group has the means to procure a nuclear device (either â€Å"dirty† or truly fissile), then we can safely assume those same bad actors could incorporate inertial navigation (which does not rely on GPS reception) to detonate the device at a desired location along the transport route. In conclusion, I am skeptical of the cost-benefit mix of this initiative. If it's going to be deployed, it should be deployed honestly: as a â€Å"spot check† mechanism of deterrence. The United States should also do everything in its power to screen U. S. A. bound cargo at the cargo's port of origin, rather than at the port of destination. References: The National Nuclear Security Administration, Megaports Initiative (October 2009), U. S. Department of Energy. (Retrieved from the AMU HLSS 645 course materials folder on 14 December 2009)