Banking; analysing through economics the Spanish banking system Essay

Banking; analysing through economics the Spanish banking system - Essay Example Globalization has brought about the integration of the world markets. In this sense the global market has tended to move towards a perfect and pure market structure as defined in the economic theory; however the exact form of global markets have remained far from the theoretical ideals of perfect and pure. Regardless of the product or service that is being studied; it is noticeable that all of a sudden the information flow has become more rapid, regulatory structures have been oriented more towards free market structures and the movement of capital and permission to access local markets has become freer. This has encouraged national businesses to aim to be global businesses and the global businesses to target national markets. However, the roughness in the control of market shares in the past has tended more towards monopolies but, structures have not stayed the same, these have become, in general, oligopolies. This aspect of globalisation has thus changed the very nature of competit ion and the markets will move forward into a new direction of perfect markets if globalisations are sustained and its true objective is achieved. The Banking industry is no exception. Competition in the banking sector depends largely upon the efficiency with which financial services are produced, the quality of financial service produced and the relative degree of innovation in the sector. (Claaessens and Laeven). This however depends upon how the banking sector competes with each other and what is the nature of the financial markets. This is important because the nature of the markets in the financial sector Banks enable consumers to do essential functions such as saving, investing and storing money or money equivalents.

Shift work Essay Example for Free

Shift work Essay Origin: A person seeing a table piled high with sumptuous food has a tendency to get too many and/or too large a portion. Since the problem is brought on by the eyes and a lack of reason, the person is portrayed a one whose eyes are bigger than their stomach. Elephant in the room Meaning: An important and obvious topic, which everyone present is aware of, but which isnt discussed, as such discussion is considered to be uncomfortable. Origin: The theme of the exhibition was global poverty. By painting the elephant in the same bold pattern as the rooms wallpaper, Banksy emphasized the phrases meaning, by both making the elephant even more obvious and by giving those who chose to ignore it (like the woman in the tableau) an opportunity to pretend that it had blended into the wallpaper background. Even at the turning of the tide Meaning: The phrase is used to denote some change from a previously stable course of events. Origin: The phrase comes from Shakespeare’s Henry V where he use turning of the tide in a letter. Ear candy Meaning: Music with an instant appeal but with little lasting significance. Origin: The term may have been in use before 1977, although I can find no references to it in print that predate Reddys album title. The term did get picked up though and soon became a generic term for music that was initially attractive but with little lasting substance. Candy is of course what the US calls the confectionery that many parts of the English-speaking world call sweets. The sugary, insubstantial imagery is well suited to these phrases. Excuse my French Meaning: Please forgive my swearing. Origin: A coy phrase used when someone who has used a swear-word attempts to pass it off as French. The coyness comes from the fact the both the speaker and listener are of course both well aware the swear-word is indeed English. F Fair and square Meaning: Honest and straightforward, especially of business dealings. Origin: In the 16th century square meant fair and honest so fair and square is tautological. George Puttenham used that meaning of square in The arte of English poesie, 1589:[Aristotle] termeth a constant minded man a square man. Francis Bacons essay Of Prophecies, 1604 is the first known use of fair and square: Fast asleep Meaning: soundly asleep. Origin: The fast in fast asleep derives from the Old German fest, meaning stuck firmly; not easily moveable as in stuck fast. Asleep derives from sleep in the same way that nautical adverbs like aground and astern derive from ground and stern. To be fast asleep was to be stuck firmly in sleep, analogous to a beached ship being fast aground. Filthy rich Meaning: Very rich, possibly having become so by unfair means. Origin: The phrase comes from the word â€Å"filthy lucre† means money from dishonorable gain. This was first used as a noun phrase meaning rich people; who have become so by dishonorable means like gambling. Face the music Meaning: Face the truth Origin: Comes from the British military. When someone was court marshaled, there would be a military drum squad playing, hence face the music. The term drummed out of the military came from this practice. From stem to stern Meaning: Thorough, complete. Origin: The very front of a ship is called the stem, the rear is called the stern. From stem to stern includes the entire ship. G Get a leg up Meaning: To get a boost or advantage. Origin: This phrase may incorrectly invoke images of a dog raising its leg. In fact Getting a leg up is from the act of an equestrian receiving help in mounting a horse. The helper would create a foothold by cupping the hands to heft the rider upward, throwing a leg up and over the steed. Get of the wrong foot Meaning: Make a bad start to a project or relationship. Origin: The phrase comes from the idiom â€Å"put your best foot forward. † This means to make a best impression. Despite the implication we only have two choices, so if theres a wrong foot there has to be a right one too and get off on the right foot is also in common use. Graveyard shift Meaning: A late-night/early-morning work shift. Origin: So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, one out of 25 coffins was found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer. Grinning like a Cheshire cat Meaning: Grin broadly. Origin: The phrase comes from the novel â€Å"Alice in Wonderland† where she asked the duchess why the cat grinned. The duchess answered â€Å"Because it’s a Cheshire cat! † I didnt know that Cheshire cats always grinned; in fact, I didnt know that cats COULD grin. They all can, say the Duchess; and most of them do. Good as gold Meaning: Well – behaved and obedient. Origin: When banknotes (known as bills in the USA and some other countries) were first introduced they werent considered to be money in the sense we now think of them. They were promissory notes or IOUs. Gold or silver was real money as it had intrinsic value. Notes were just promises to pay in coin. UK banknotes, like those of many other countries, still include messages like this, signed by the Chief Cashier of the Bank of England: I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of ten pounds. So, as good as gold ought really to be as genuine as gold, but the more usual meaning of good has taken precedence over the years and left us with the usual meaning of the phrase. H High on the hog Meaning: Extravagantly. Origin: The best meat is on the upper portion of the pig. Rich people have always been afforded this luxury while the servants, slaves and poor have always had to eat pigs feet, chitterlings, cracklings, etc. low on the hog. Horse of a different color Meaning: Unlike the subject at hand. Origin: Horses are registered at birth and the registration includes a record of their color. When a horse trades hands due to sale, the registration is also transferred. Sometimes the color recorded on the registration may not match the actual color of the horse leading one to suspect the horse is not the one in the registration. Horses sometimes change color as they age, just as some peoples hair changes color. More likely the horse is not the one represented on the registration but is actually an entirely different horse. Hold your feet to the fire Meaning: To hold one accountable for a commitment, make good on a promise. Origin: Pertains to torture used during the Crusades. As a method for extracting confession for heresy, non-believers were positioned in a manner that allowed the inquisitor to apply flames to the feet of the accused. This was done until the accused confessed or died. Head over heels Meaning: Excited, and/or turning cartwheels to demonstrate ones excitement. Origin: Head over heels is now most often used as part of head over heels in love. When first coined it wasnt used that way though and referred exclusively to being temporarily the wrong way up. It is one of many similar phrases that we use to describe things that are not in their usual state upside-down, topsy-turvy, topple up tail, arse over tea-kettle, bass-backwards etc. Hard lines Meaning: Bad luck Origin: Clearly the derivation of hard lines is entirely dependent on which line was being referred to when the phrase was coined. There is a reference to lines in the King James Version of the Bible, 1611, and that is the basis of several early citations of hard lines:Psalms 16:6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

Nostalgia In Cinema Paradiso Film Studies Essay

Nostalgia In Cinema Paradiso Film Studies Essay In Cinema Paradiso, Toto goes to watch a film with 50 lire his mother gives him to buy milk. He is not supposed to go to the cinema house and yet he cant  stay away from Cinema Paradiso. In this scene, we see Toto watching the film in awe along with others from the community. The theater is packed and alive. Gisueppe Tornatore, the director, pays great attention to detail-facial expressions, gestures and reactions of the crowd are well captured. The theater stall and balcony reflect the class divide. The kids take the front row, working class Italians fill the stall, the rich man, who spits sits in the balcony, and the projectionist, Alfredo is stuck in the dingy projection room. Like Toto, I watched films when I was in school. I bunked school and went with my friends to watch an Indian Bollywood film in Mumbai, India. We all chipped in our pocket money and went for the movies. Like Italian Cinema, Indian films were an occasion for families and communities to come together. This was before the multiplexes. The cinema house that I visited was small like Cinema Paradiso. It had one screen, stalls and balcony. People whistled during kissing scenes, some kids danced during a song-dance sequence and grown men sometimes cried during an emotional scene. In that scene in Cinema Paradiso, Toto is watching La terra Trema (The Earth Trembles) directed Luchino Visconti.  The audience reception of the film is lukewarm and most people dont get the language and context of this Neorealism film. But during the kissing scene which is edited out, we see the crowds engrossed, disappointed and then laughing at the strict censorship. Twenty years, and I havent seen a kiss, a man from the audience shouts. During the screening of the Chaplin film, we see the crowd engaged. Kids and adults, rich and poor, men and women laugh together. Cinema thus becomes a great equalizer. But more importantly, this embedded film within a film creates a sense of double nostalgia. The audience in the film is nostalgic as they consume the images in the theater, and we as an audience are nostalgic about our own experiences of watching films, etc like Toto. In Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, Jameson writes, Nostalgia films restructure the whole issue of pastiche and project it onto a collective and social level, where the desperate attempt to appropriate a missing past is now refracted through the iron law of fashion change and the emergent ideology of the generation. (19). In Cinema Paradiso, the screened films (Toto and others watch in the theater) create a pasticheHollywood classics, Italian and Art films, popular comedies and so on. However, Jameson explains that the postmodern nostalgia is never a matter of some old-fashioned representation of historical content, but instead approaches the past through stylistic connotation, conveying pastness by the glossy qualities of the image, and 1930s-ness or 1950s-ness by the attributes of fashion (19). Thus keeping Jamesons argument in mind, Cinema Paradiso doesnt represent the historical content by verisimilitude, but evokes the feeling of nostalgia by aesthetic a ppropriation. However, this seems to be a reductive approach to fully understand and appreciate the nuances and texture of Tornatoras film. Joy Marcus, on the other hand argues that in Cinema Paradiso, Tornatore defies the reductiveness of postmodern citation by embedding earlier film footage in his 1989 work so that waning of historicity or aesthetic colonization cannot take place. Every time Tornatora splices images of old movies into Cinema Paradisohe calls attention to what the film is not-that is, he announces the irreconcilable distance between the current work and its cinematic forebears (201). There is a disconnect or distance between the Cinema Paradisos audience watching the embedded film La terra Trema and a simultaneous feeling of connection. Likewise, we also feel a sense of nostalgia and disconnection watching Cinema Paradiso, and watching the audience watch a film. In my viewing of the film, I also noticed that Cinema Paradiso and this scene in particular created a sense of nostalgia for my community, culture and country. The connectedness that Toto and others feel in a small town going to a theater is also the connectedness we as viewers feel towards our past memories of childhood and community. My own experience of watching films in India then symbolizes a nostalgia for the lost homeland and sense of community I once belonged to. The cultural rootedness or lack of it, becomes a way in which the Cinema Paradiso evoked nostalgia for me-or as Jameson puts it eloquently, the film/scene/image consumption becomes a desperate attempt to appropriate a missing past.

The Ethics of Stem Cell Research Essay -- Ethics

While some people might say that stem cell research is immoral and unethical, others believe that it is a magical solution for almost any problem, thus leading to a very controversial issue. Scientists have been searching for years for ways to eradicate incurable diseases and perform other medical procedures that yesterday's technology would not fix. With the rapidly arising, positive research on stem cell technology, the potential that exists to restore any deficiency is in the same way, likely to destroy humanity. America is suffering from its inability to choose who holds precedence over this issue. Too many of us find it impossible to reach a basis for which our differing opinions can be shared and formed into a universal and comprehensive understanding. Although stem cell research is portrayed as being a means, it can also be viewed as an ends for those who suffer today, and for those in the future who will be exposed to this suffering. As the latest research on stem cells has been presented, the message that is inferred is that the public should remain out of the spotlight because they are not clever enough to know what is beneficial to them. As one scientist claims, stem cell research is "Hope for the helpless! Science as savior" (qtd. in Peters and Bennett 184). The belief of science as "savior" has become so intense and desired by these researchers, that "faith in this research has come to resemble a secular religion...and as a bellow to blow the political winds in their favor" (qtd. in Peters and Bennett). But one may argue that the derivation of cells from a human embryo is against their conservative beliefs, and that that embryo is a living person who has rights that protect its dignity. In addition... ...s promises dramatic medical benefits, it treats future problems as ends for which supporting research today becomes a means for relieving those sufferings. Allowing medical technologies to continue will be the only tool for accomplishing this. Works Cited Bennett, Gaymon Jr., Peters, Ted. "Stem Cell Research and the Claim of the Other in the Human Subject." A Journal of Theology 43.3 (2004): 184-202. Holland, Suzanne, Lebacqz, Karen, & Zoloth, Laurie. The Human Embryonic Stem Cell Debate: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy. 3 Vols. Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2001. Jones, D G., Towns C R. "Stem Cells, Embryos, and the Environment: A Context for Both Science and Ethics." Journal of Medical Ethics 30.4 (2004): 410-13. Siegel, Andrew W. "Temporal Restrictions and the Impulse on Human Embryonic Stem-Cell Research." Lancet 363.9429 (2004): 215-18.

Recycling Sustainability Essay

Recycling is a major part of our society. It is something that we as American citizens do daily without thinking twice about it. That is one of the main reasons I chose to write this paper on Recycling sustainability. The role of recycling to preserving our environment and to live in a sustainable way is a lot more important than many people think it is. One of the main reasons I chose to write this paper on recycling is because it is a major part of our everyday lives and it is something that most people and businesses do. As many people think they are helping by recycling, (do not get me wrong, it is a major help to our environment) they do not understand that it has major negative effects on the environment. Recycling is said to be the basis for sustainability. At the rate that we are consuming natural resources, and releasing harmful toxins into our air, we will eventually run out and wipe out all living beings off the face of the earth. In researching this topic, I hope to find out more on all possible ways we as a community can come together and do as much as we can to limit the amount of resources we use and toxins. I hope to come up with a plan that will actually make a difference. Yes, one person recycling can help, but it is truly not enough to turn this planet around. I will also be looking into what companies like Petsmart and Disney are doing to operate their businesses in a sustainable way. The â€Å"Going Green† program is another way we can all contribute to making our environment safer and more sustainable. Although I can think of many solutions to this problem, while doing my research, I will find many cons to these solutions. I intend to find the best possible solution and explain in great detail how we can save our planet from becoming extinct, even if the best possible solution has a few negative effects, doing something to prevent our environment from a national disaster is better than doing nothing at all. Americans Cultural Practices and Social Policies (Micro- Level) Most Americans recycle every day and talk about ways to improve the environment. Most Americans are all about doing what is best for our environment and our health. I believe that it is in America’s best interest to save our planet and protect our air, which in return protects our health.

Ventria Bioscience and the Controversy over Plant-Made Medicines

Case Study: â€Å"Ventria Bioscience and the Controversy over Plant – Made Medicines† GB590 Corporate Social Responsibility Prof. Timothy Loney By Willette Marchany Rivera February 22, 2011 Introduction: Case overview Ventria Bioscience, a biotechnology firm based in California, faces the challenge of commercializing a product with potential and considerable public health benefits. Ventria had developed a ground-breaking technology using genetically modified (GM) rice to grow the proteins lactoferrin and lysozyme, both found in human breast milk, which can be used for the treatment of diarrhea in children, tourists and the military. Lawrence and Weber, 2010, p. 494) However, the pioneer biotechnology invention has to go through regulatory processes and stakeholder’s scrutiny, before it can enter the market. There are ethical concerns over the plant-based medicines and opposition coming from consumer advocates, environmentalists, rice farmers and food safety activ ists. Ventria needs to overcome the regulatory environment and manage its stakeholder relations in order to succeed and release this product for sale. In order to do so they must establish a strategic plan to improve their triple bottom line performance.They need to convince stakeholders that the potential benefits are desirable and that they can safely and responsibly deliver the product to be commercialized. Even then, Ventria and the biotechnology industry might always face opposition from groups against genetically modified organisms in which human genes are also manipulated. â€Å"The public’s reactions to plant- made pharmaceuticals were likely to be extreme, given the high benefits, potential risks, and deep moral quandaries posed by these new technologies. † (Lawrence & Weber, 2010, p. 92) Financial goal Ventria’s financial goal is to make profit from producing in a big scale the GM rice they developed and selling it at an affordable price. The plant-mad e pharmaceutical concept was created in order to take advantage of the capability of harvesting the proteins in a natural host instead of using a costly laboratory environment where manufacturing would be slower and in a smaller scale. Ventria’s financial goal seems to be intertwined to the capability of producing the GM rice outdoors over a large amount of land.Environmentalists and rice farmers are highly concerned with the possibility of comingling happening and the adverse impact on the ecosystem this could have. Other than that, the Union of Concerned Scientists, a policy advocacy group, warned that it is unwise to produce drugs in plants outdoors, because there would be little control over the doses people might get exposed to, and some might be allergic to the proteins. (Grace, 2011, para. 24-25) Environmentalists are concerned too about Ventria using acres of arable land to harvest medicine instead. (Grace, 2011, para. 0) Social goal Ventria’s social goal shoul d be to contribute to the treatment of diarrhea in children, the military and tourists at an affordable price with their innovative plant-made pharmaceutical without damaging society. In order to do so, they shall get the local and global public to trust the biotechnology industry and plant-made pharmaceuticals. They also need to assure that the product or its production will not harm or negatively affect human lives. The GM rice cannot get mixed with or contact in any way crops designated for human food supply.At the same time, consumers need to be informed honestly about the content of the products and that they are GM. Otherwise, customers would be deceived. There are ethical concerns about the use of human genes in this GM rice and consumer rights to be informed should be placed first. Food safety is also an issue as this GM rice remains to be widely tested in humans and be approved by the FDA. The company also needs to become liable in case the GM rice contaminates other rice f armers’ crops and contaminated products are sent to the human food supply.Environmental goal Ventria’s environmental goal would be to produce the GM rice without contaminating the environment or throwing off the natural balance, that is, without disturbing the ecosystem. They cannot allow comingling to happen. Also, they need to avoid and control the risks of any adverse impact of the GM rice to the ecosystem by taking measures to avoid potential harms to the wildlife and the spreading of the GM rice crops that could lead to undesirable hybrids.Summary: Triple bottom line performance and strategic recommendations After considering all the financial, social and environmental factors that adversely affect their performance, Ventria is in position of making a strategic decision. They should consider first to modify or radically change their production strategy and second to enter in a marketing process focused in educating the public about their product. These strategies can help them achieve their three bottom-line goals. They need to provide a safer way of producing their product and obtain the permits and the approval to sell it.Their financial, social and environmental goals can only be attained by focusing in resolving the issues with their stakeholders. There are two recommendations on how to change their current production strategy. They can search for an isolated area of arable land away from other rice farmers and set stringent measures of control to avoid the risk of contaminating other crops. However, controlling all the risk factors in an open crop field would be complicated and it is uncertain to which degree it could be accomplished.Another option would be to consider production in greenhouses. This would be probably more costly, but will ensure a higher degree of control. Finally, Ventria would have to ensure the safety of their product and take on an honest advertising campaign to disseminate doubts and concerns about their invention . Likely, there will be opposition based on the ethical concerns about GM. However, public campaigns that provide straight forward and clear information from the developers will give customers more tools to make an informed decision about the product.References Grace. (2011, February 2). Genetically modified rice now on its way to fields in several  countries. Nwoandsecretsocieties. WordPress. com. Retrieved February 24, 2011 from http://nwoandsecretsocieties. wordpress. com/2011/02/02/genetically-modified-rice-now-on-its-way-to-fields-in-several-countries/ Lawrence, A. T. (2010). Ventria Bioscience and the Controversy over Plant- Made Medicines. In Lawrence, A. T. , Weber J. , Business and Society: Stakeholders, Ethics,