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Sigmund Freud, a founder of psychoanalysis, once said that dreams are “the royal road to the unconscious” and I think Christopher Nolan shows that in this film, Inception. Each time Cobb enters a dream, whether it is his or someone else’s, everything that happens in the dream is as a result of what they are fighting within their mind. For example, when Mal, Cobb’s deceased wife, shows up in Cobb’s dreams it is sole because of the fact that he feels guilty that he is the reason she killed herself and now her children are left without a mother (and a father since he had to flee). The essay that follows will explain as well as give examples of specific elements in the film and what their functions are including what roles they play in the plot. I will also give examples of where similarity and repetition occur in the film and why it occurs. I will show my understanding of difference and variation; development; and unity/disunity by giving examples and quoting important theory information from Film Art: An Introduction.
Get original essayIn Inception, there are many different elements with different functions. The main characters in the film have their own function and “job” to do. While the characters are somewhat important, the protagonist, Dom Cobb, plays the biggest role of them all. It has been argued that Christopher Nolan, the director, and writer, did not create all rounded characters. The only character who is truly explored throughout the film is Dom Cobb. Kristin Thompson states on her co-owned blog, “I agree that the characters in Inception, apart from Cobb, the protagonist, are barely assigned traits.” And “We grasp most of the characters by the types of premises they provide.” (Bordwell and Thompson, 2010). Thompson continues to explain how the characters (with exception of the protagonist) only have about one trait or function to make them significant in the film. Yusuf, who knows how to manipulate the use of sedatives; Fischer, the young man who has a “complicated” relationship with his father; Saito, the Japanese man who Cobb has to do an extracting job for; Ariadne, the architect who constructs the dream world; Arthur, Cobb’s dream companion; and Eames the “forger” who can change into other people in dreams as well as Cobb’s wife, Mal. In the film, a spinning top plays quite an important part. Dom Cobb uses a spinning top as a “totem”. This totem is used to help him differentiate between reality and a dream. In reality, the spinning top will stop spinning whereas in a dream it will continue to spin. Each person is advised to have a totem on them and only you are to know the weight, feel, and dimensions etc. of it otherwise, it will not work. The spinning top also has an important role at the end of the film. Music also has a function in the film. Edith Piaf’s “Je ne regrette rien” is played whenever someone needs to come back to reality. It notifies the dreamers that they need to wrap up their “mission”.
The totem is shown a number of times to show its importance in the film’s overall plot (as explained under Function). The totem is seen as a motif in this film. Film Art: An Introduction explains, “A motif is any significant repeated element that contributes to the overall form. It may be an object, a colo[u]r, a place, a person, a sound, or even a character trait.” (Bordwell and Thompson 2013:63) Another element that is repeated is the music that is played to notify the dreamers. The music is played near the beginning of the film as well as during the climax. Yusuf puts headphones on Arthur’s head to help them synchronise each dream levels’s “kick”. “Kicks” are used to make the person wake up from a dreaming state. Waking up is brought about by creating a falling motion for the dreamer to make them wake up. Yusuf explains that he designed the sedative so that it does not interfere with the function of the inner ear. This allows the ‘drop’ to penetrate through a layer of the dream. In each dream, there is a similarity and (repetition) for Cobb. When he goes into a dream state, Mal manages to show up. When this happens, the audience knows that Cobb does not have the dream under control. Later in the film, the audience finds out that she keeps appearing because he is living with the guilt that he is part of the reason why his wife killed herself. It is vital to know that when participants in a dream die, they wake up. Cobb planted the idea of dreams being reality in her mind. Thus, when she woke up, she thought she was still in a dream.
There are differences and variations in every dream. No dream is the same. This is because each dream may have a different host, different architect, and different mind obstacles. This is Nolan’s way of contrasting the characters and their environments with one another. This becomes evident especially in Cobb’s dream mission into Fischer’s mind. In Cobb’s mission, there are 4 levels. The first level takes place in a modern city. It is pouring with rain as Yusuf, the dream “owner” forgot to empty his bladder. The second level takes place in a very posh, expensive hotel. It makes sense that it is Arthur’s dream as he is always well-dressed. The third level takes place in a very snowy area. Mal shows up and kills Fischer which leads to Cobb and Ariadne into the fourth level – Limbo. Limbo is suspected to be an unconstructed place but to Ariadne’s surprise, it is just the opposite. This is still from the time Mal and Cobb were stuck there.
Development takes place throughout the whole of Inception. The movie begins with what seems like a flash forward scene featuring Cobb and Saito. This is revealed when nearing the end of the film when Cobb goes into Limbo to find Saito after he had died in level 3. Throughout the film, you wonder what that scene’s importance is in the film as well as what significance Saito and Cobb’s relationship has in the plot of the film. The film develops in showing the audience what Saito needs Cobb to do and why it benefits him to complete the job. The development of the film helps us to gather that Cobb needs Saito in order to be allowed back into America. He had fled the country as people believe that he is the reason that Mal killed herself. The film also develops in revealing to the audience why Cobb’s wife died and why it affects his dreams so severely. Film Art: An Introduction states: “Filmmakers often treat formal development as a progression moving from beginning through middle to end.” (Bordwell and Thomson 2013:67) which is exactly what takes place in the film. This type of development is the most effective for viewers as it is easier to understand.
Bordwell and Thompson explain unity in a film,“[W]hen all the relationships we perceive within a film are clear and economically interwoven, we say that the film has unity. We often call a unified film ‘tight,’ because there seem to be no gaps in its overall form.” (Bordwell and Thompson 2013:69). They later say that perfect unity is scarce in a film and some films will still have unanswered questions (Bordwell and Thompson 2013:70). Inception does tie up the most of the loose ends it leaves in the film, however, there are questions that are left unanswered. For example, we never find out how Eames transforms into other people (or, ‘forges his identity’) and why he is the only person that can do so. Is it just because he forges documents in real life or is there another reason? The obvious and purposeful disunity of the film is the ending. When Cobb gets home to his children after completing Saito’s job request he can hardly believe that he is at finally back where he has been longing to be throughout the entire film. Possibly out of habit when coming out of a dream, he spins his totem to see if he is back in reality. However, he does not wait to see the outcome, instead, he goes to hug his children. The film ends on a shot of the totem still spinning and just when you wait and expect to see it fall… black. The film ends. This disunity is effective because it leaves the audience wondering if the whole film was just a dream or if the ending was just Cobb dreaming and finally allowing him to see his children’s faces. It is also effective because the filmmaker knows that this ending will stick with the audience for quite some time as you ponder and think whether or it was just a dream. Bordwell and Thompson explain: “In such ways, momentary disunities can fulfill particular purposes or suggest thematic meanings.” (Bordwell and Thompson 2013:70).
Director Christopher Nolan managed to include an important set of essential film forms in Inception. The function film form was showed by giving a specific element in the film, a function. For example, Christopher Nolan gave the spinning top a specific and important function in the film. Regarding the similarity and repetition form, I gave the example of the specific song that plays every time the ‘dreamers’ have to finish their job or to synchronise certain actions, like setting off a ‘kick’. The difference and variation form are displayed in the film by showing how dreams can differ from one another, which is seen in the four dream levels. Development is shown through the entire plot of the film as the audience discovers things that were previously unknown. The audience also goes on an “adventure” with the protagonist. Finally, unity and disunity are shown by tying up loose ends that the film may have created concerning unity and also choosing to end the film in a disunifying way in order to almost startle the viewer and leave them wondering about the ending.
Bibliography
Adams, S. (2010). Everything you wanted to know about “Inception”. [online] Salon. Available at: http://www.salon.com/2010/07/19/inception_explainer/ [Accessed 23 Aug. 2016].
Bordwell, D. and Thompson, K. (2010). INCEPTION; or, Dream a Little Dream within a Dream with Me. [online] Observations on film art. Available at: http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/2010/08/06/inception-or-dream-a-little-dream-within-a-dream-with-me/ [Accessed 23 Aug. 2016].
Bordwell, D. and Thompson, K. (2013). Film Art: An Introduction 10th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill.
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Get custom essayInception. (2010). [film] Christopher Nolan. Saunders Calvert, L. (2011). Inception: Film, Dreams and Freud. [online] Offscreen.com. Available at: http://offscreen.com/view/inception_dreams_freud [Accessed 23 Aug. 2016].
The film that I chose to do my film analysis on was Temple Grandin. This movie is about a young woman who was diagnosed as an infantile schizophrenic, or in other words, autism. This movie shows when she was diagnosed with autism, how she was in school, and how her mother, teacher, and aunt supported her throughout the years. Temple Grandin lived with her aunt and uncle on their ranch one summer. Temple became very interested in cattle. Later in her life, she graduated with a Ph.D. and as an expert in the field of animal husbandry. Today, she is a professor at Colorado State University and she is a speaker on autism and animal handling.
Get original essayAccording to Neil K. Kaneshiro (2010), autism is a physical condition linked to abnormal biology and chemistry in the brain. Autism affects boys three to four times more than girls. Most parents of that have children with autism suspect that something is wrong by the time the child is 18 months old and try to get help by the time the child is age 2. Children with autism typically have difficulties in social interactions and verbal and nonverbal communication. Some children with autism appear normal before age 1 or 2 and then suddenly regress and lose language or social skills they had previously gained. People with autism may be sensitive in sight, hearing, touch, smell, or taste. They may also perform repeated body movements and show unusual attachments to objects. People with autism can develop language slowly or not at all or they can repeat words or memorized passages. Autistic people sometimes do not make friends; they are withdrawn, and may not respond to eye contact or smiles. Their behavior may include them acting up with tantrums, show aggression to others or self and a lot of autistic people have very little interests.
In the movie, Temple Grandin saw this “machine” that her uncle and other cowboys put cattle in. This “machine” squeezed the cattle’s body and also held their head still. This “machine” helped calm the cattle down so that the uncle and other cowboys could give them shots or other medicine. One day, Temple went inside to her bedroom and noticed that the sign on her bedroom door was taken down. The sign said “Temple Grandin’s Room.” This sign was placed on the door so that way Temple knew that that was her room and no one else’s. She got upset and started crying and ran to the “machine” that calmed the cattle down. Her aunt ran after her and Temple told her aunt to pull the two levers so that the “machine” would squeeze her. The “machine,” to Temple, felt like a hug. Throughout her life, she never let anyone touch her or hug her, but in reality, that is what she really needed to calm down. So, she built her own “hug box,” that’s what she started calling it, and she used it every time she got upset or felt like she needed a hug. Today, her creation of the “hug box” is recognized as a way of relieving stress in autistic children.
Temple Grandin did not start talking until the age of four. The fan in Temple’s bedroom affected her hearing. The noise that it would make made her heart beat super-fast and she would get overwhelmed, start crying, and run to her hug box. Autistic people can repeat words or memorized passages. In the movie, Temple was driving in a car with her aunt and she kept repeating a phrase from a TV show that she had watched.
In the movie, they did show when Temple was a little girl and she was having tantrums in the doctor’s office. Autistic people have very little interests and Temple’s interests only included science and cows. She loved science. Also, she studied cattle and that is what she loved to do.
Temple’s story was very interesting and fascinating. I loved the movie and it taught me a lot about people who have autism. I always hear that so and so has autism or that child has autism, now I have some background knowledge about autism and I can put it into perspective.
Considered as ‘the new kid on the block’ Final International University opened its doors to the public in 2015. Established as a joint project by Final Education Institutions, a household name Turkish education and Northern Cyprus’ leading tourism brand DMG-Akgünler Group. Situated on the Northern part of the island, the University is largely accessible being 60 mins from Lefkosa the capital, 90 from Lefke and Magusa which are other major cities.
Get original essayWith a population around 13 000, E.U.L is an international university with a rich diversity boasting over 50 different countries, spread from over at least 3 continents.
In line with their ideology and mandate to be reputable and internationally acknowledged, FIU is accredited and in partnership with several boards and councils in countries such as Turkey, Israel, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, China, Pakistan, Dubai among an ever-growing list. Thus the aim of the university in this regard is to:
FIU began offering programs with a modest number of 3 faculties and 1 vocational school as of the 2016/17 calendar year. This comprised of 7 undergraduate courses. However, with the fast increasing demand for quality education, this has since expanded to 5 faculties, offering 13 programs and still 1 vocational school as of the 21027/18 calendar year.
In comparison to the rest of Europe, European University Lefke offers great and affordable tuition fees, allowing students from all walks of life an opportunity to study in Europe. In addition to the significantly lower tuition prices EUL also offers scholarship opportunities, payment plans as well as grants for gifted students, which further strengthens their cause as the ‘university of your choice’.
The all-inclusive includes payment for tuition fees, registration fee, health insurance fee, ID card certification and other provisions such as on campus Wi-Fi and free bus service around the university.
International students studying towards an undergraduate course at FIU are immediately awarded a 50 to 80% tuition waiver upon preliminary acceptance. This waiver is applicable to all students regardless of race, creed, color and gender. After this waiver the remaining all-inclusive package is pegged at approximately $1500- $3000 per academic year for undergraduate.
Once more students who excel in their academic performance during the previous semester are eligible for ‘merit-based’ scholarship, which entails a 60% tuition reduction. Under this initiative, such exceptional students are highly considered and recommended when ‘in-house’ student vacancies arise within various university departments.
Here are some mind-blowing reasons why choose Final International University:
The Final International University offers modern, new and comfortable, accommodation facilities to students who choose to stay on Campus. The accommodation includes single, double and quadruple arrangement. The rooms cost on average between 3500usd- 4000usd meals inclusive, and 1500usd-2000usd without meals on-campus.
Some of the key attributes of accommodation at this wonderful university are:
Off campus accommodation with similar features is available, with prices depending on the specific need of the student however the general range is between 1500 to 2500 Euros per student for a period of 12 months. That said, students are often encouraged to stay on campus for at least a year as they find their way around and are hence able to find help from university staff at any time.
It’s time to play!
As much as academics are dear to the university’s mandate, sports and recreation are very much a core characteristic of FIU. Being in a shoreline area and having beautiful surrounding mountains, Final International University brags of amazing water and other sports unique only to this part of the island. Notable sports include kite-surfing, diving, water rafting, hiking, football, tennis and basketball to name a few. Student clubs are also available, with some vibrant ones being theatre, music, photography, dance, chess as well as nature conservation and preservation. These facilities and leisure services are free to all students on campus, however there is also room for choice as the city provides various options for the students who stay off-campus. Furthermore, the university promotes and encourages cultural integration by celebrating different National events organized by students from the respective countries, hence showing that FIU is ‘hands-open-welcome’ to all. Some of the skills one cad definitely expect to gain through such activities cover:
The European University of Lefke University campus canteen offers different meals 3 times a day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The dishes include but are not limited to meat (all sorts), rice, pasta, potatoes, dairy, pizza and vegetarian meals. Students are offered different options for the canteen meals, for example, a yearly fee for all meals or a pay per meal basis. The dining meals are prepared in a professional, manner by a well-trained and friendly kitchen staff and tastes delicious. One would be delighted to know that for lunch and supper desserts are offered. To complement the canteen, within the university campus, there are multiple restaurants where students can enjoy different dishes and also several nearby supermarkets to meet each person’s preference when it comes to food and drink.
FIU students and staff members can use the buses for free to travel around the city and nearby cities. The buses travel to destinations such as Alsancak, Bellapais hostel and cities Nicosia; Magusa respectively
The University bus travels through different routes and is reliable and prompt in all designated bus stops to pick up students. The shuttle service starts from 7:55am in the morning with differing end times depending on destination however last generally services end at 05:30pm. The busses are spacious, modern and come with Wi-Fi allowing you to stay connected to social media friends and family even on the go!
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This study examines the Adaptive Market Hypothesis is appropriate for the Chinese Stock Market by carrying out descriptive statistics and validating GS test, AQ test, AVR test including dynamic and static comparison, BDS test, and rolling window approach. In this study, the Chinese stock market daily and weekly data of Shanghai Composite Index and Shenzhen Stock Index are regarded as our research objects, deeply inquiring the adaptability characteristics of China's stock market and analyze the uncertainty of stock market effectiveness indicators. Further, based on the test result, we verify the balance of stock market returns and risks, and then select the typical factor as a market environment indicator to measure the impact of changes in market conditions on stock market returns and measurability. The empirical result shows that the effectiveness of China's stock market and the relationship between income and risk are time-varying. In addition, the impact of market environment on risk premium is not obvious while it has a significant impact on the predictability of income. Therefore, according to this, the development trends of the stock market can be judged and it is a good way to adjust the direction of investment strategy and risk management in a timely manner.
Get original essaySince 1970, Professor Fama of the University of Chicago proposed EMH (Efficient Market hypothesis), then EMH theory has become the cornerstone of modern financial research with its rigorous theoretical system and empirical model(Sam,2013). However, the effective market theory still cannot provide a reasonable explanation for the many financial market visions discovered since the 1980s. In the early 21st century, some scholars which were based on the differences and debates between EMH and behavioral finance theory, and borrowed the ideas from biological evolution theory to propose adaptation from the perspective of adaptive evolution, called as AMD (adaptive markets hypothesis). In fact, this hypothesis does not deny the EMH's analytical model but also introduce Darwin's theory of biological evolution, emphasizing that rationality is a relative concept, associated with the external environment and changing rationality, the behavior of participants. It will show irrationality due to changes in the environment, and it will gradually disappear due to constant adaptation to the environment.
More specifically, AMH regards the market as an ecosystem in which different groups or species compete for scarce resources. AMH believes that the changing market environment determines key market characteristics such as revenue predictability, so it is impossible to evaluate market efficiency from reality. In addition, market efficiency is highly environmentally dependent and dynamic, which means the predictability of profits will follow the statistical characteristics of investors. Changes in the financial system and market environment often occur. AMH also believes that the relationship between risk and return cannot be stabilized with time since the relationship is determined by market ecology and institutions.
According to the adaptive market hypothesis, market effectiveness and market inefficiency are specific manifestations of adaptive behavior in the securities market. More precisely, when investors' investment decisions are adapted to the investment environment, the market is effective. On the contrary, when investors' investment decisions and the investment environment are not suitable, the market will have behavioral deviations and behave ineffective(Andrew,2018). Based on this hypothesis, this article empirically analyzes the adaptability characteristics of China's stock market. The market adaptability test mainly proceeds from the following aspects: (1) The effectiveness of the market and its stability (2) The stability of the relationship between income and risk (3) The relationship between risk premium and stock market measurability and the environment in which it is located. Its research characteristics are: (1) Taking the representative indices of China's stock market: Shanghai Composite Index and Shenzhen Stock Index as the research object, discussing the applicability of AHM in emerging markets; (2) Analyzing the uncertainty of stock market effectiveness indicators, verifying stock market returns and risks The time-varying relationship is explained by the ecological evolutionary viewpoint; (3) The relevant indicators are used to represent the financial market environment variables, and the impact of market conditions changes on stock market returns and measurability is measured to validate the natural selection viewpoint emphasized by AHM.
As a rapidly developing emerging market, China's stock market has unlimited prospects for its future development. Therefore, verifying the applicability of AHM theory in China's stock market is crucial to its universal applicability. At the same time, the research work in this study will help to further discover the AMH evidence in emerging markets, providing a strong factual basis for the improvement of AHM's theoretical system as well as provide new empirical evidence and ways for China's stock market investment and risk management policies in the future.
Empirical research models and methods analysis
Time interval: 1995.01~2018.07
Data pre-processing: In the daily data, the Shenzhen Stock index is actually duplicated on 2010.12.01, and the data needs to be removed. In addition, the timeline of Shanghai Composite Index and Shenzhen Stock index is matched and processed in Excel. The required data is finally compiled into data_daily_1995.csv. And data_weekly_1995.csv.
Automatic mixing test AQ test (automatic portmanteau Box-Pierce test)
Hybrid testing is widely used to test the zero hypothesis of the yield series.
Among them, it is the autocorrelation coefficient of the j-order lag term of the rate of return. Escanciano and Lotabo propose an automatic test whose optimal value is determined by the degree of complete data dependence. More specifically,pi is the optimal lag term determined by the AIC (Akaike's information criterion) criterion and the BIC (Bayesian information criterion) criterion.
It is the i-order auto-covariance estimator of the yield Y_t, ? ?_i^2 is the auto-covariance of Y_t^2, T is the number of observations. The AQ statistic progressively obeys the chi-square distribution with a degree of freedom of 1. If the AQ value is greater than 3.84 or the accompanying p value is less than 0.05, the null hypothesis of the no-revenue autocorrelation is rejected at the 5% significance level.
AVR and WBAVR test (Wild boot-strapped automatic variance ratio test)
The null hypothesis is the same as AQ test.
We consider the variance of an asset's return when the holding period is k, as V_k. Then we define the variance ratio VR(k) as the ratio of the variance of the k-period to the variance of the first-period:
Where ?_j is the autocorrelation coefficient of the j-order lag term of the yield. The null hypothesis of the variance ratio is VR(k) = 1 (or equivalent to, given all k, ?_j = 0). In this test, the choice of holding period k is arbitrary and there is no statistical judgment as a basis. Choi proposes a full data-dependent estimation method for the optimal estimate of k. Given all j, T is the number of observations, under the null hypothesis, Choi proposes that the assumption of independent and identical stock market returns is as followings:
When the benefits belong to the unknown form of conditional heteroskedasticity, Kim proposes the original self-help method of statistics to improve the small sample characteristics. Let the income for the moment t. It can be derived in the following three steps:
The value of the AVR statistic and the p value are calculated in the case of satisfying the standard normal distribution. Here the p value needs to be compared with the 5% significance level. If it is less than 5%, the zero correlation hypothesis is rejected, and the window is considered to have profit predictability.
GS test (generalized spectral test)
Let the income for the moment t. Assuming that the stationary time series obeys the difference sequence, the null hypothesis is that ? is a real number. The above null hypothesis is equivalent to the following conditions:
Y_j (x) is an autocovariance in the nonlinear framework, x is any real number, 1 ? j ? T and is an integer. Escanciano and Velasco propose a generalized spectral distribution function( Khuntia & Pattanayak,2018).Under the null hypothesis, the statistic of the test is constructed as follows:
? is any real number in [0,1]. The sample of the above distribution function is estimated as:
In this formula, Under the null hypothesis, H(?, x) = ?_0(x) ?, the statistic for checking H_0 is constructed as follows:
Escanciano and Velasco finally came up with GS statistics:
The GS test given above does not have a standard progressive distribution. In order to use this test for a limited sample, Escanciano and Velasco used the original self-help method, that is to say, the p-value of the test can be derived from the original self-service distribution as described by the AVR test. If the p-value is less than 5%, then this window is considered to have revenue predictability.
BDS test (Brock, Dechert and Scheinkman test)
The BDS test is a nonparametric test method used to test the independent and identical distribution hypothesis of a time series( Wolff,1994). The BDS test statistic is based on the concept of integrals. More specifically, Let Y_t be the gain at time t, (t=1,...,T), let m-dimensional vector Y_t^m=(Y_t,Y_(t+1),...,Y_(i+m-1) )^', It is called m-dimensional history. The associated points are defined as follows:
In the formula,
This is quivalent to an indicative function. The associated integral mainly measures the probability that the distance between any two embedded vectors Y_t^m and Y_s^m in the embedded space is less than ?. The null hypothesis: H_0: {Y_t } is independent and identically distributed. Brock proposed BDS statistics under the null hypothesis H_0 in 1996:
Where ? ?_m (?) is an estimate of the asymptotic standard deviation of C(N, m, ?) - C(N, 1, ?)^m. When H_0 is established, it can be obtained from statistical conclusions that the asymptotic distribution of BDS(m, ?) statistic is a standard normal distribution. On the contrary, when H_0 is not established, the BDS(m, ?) statistic has a tendency to stay away from zero. In general, the embedding dimension m is limited to between 2 and 5.
In the rolling subsample window method, our aim is to track the predictability of stock market returns. Based on the simulations of Escanciano and Lobato and Kim, the combination of China's stock market opening time is only about recent 20 years, and related to more major domestic or international events. In order to better reveal the predictability of stock market returns and meet the sample size requirements, we select 260 observations for the weekly data,that is, 5 years totally. As for the daily data, we select 252 observations, that is, 1 year.
The steps of the rolling subsample window test are as follows: After the first subsample is checked, the window scrolls forward one observation value, recalculates the test statistic, and through the rolling calculation, finally calculates the p value of the test statistic as a function of time. The daily data p value is the calculation result of the current time t to t - 1 year period, and the weekly data p value is the calculation result of the current time t to t - 5 year period. If the p-value is less than 0.05, then the revenue predictability of this window is significant at the 5% significant level. In this way, a statistically significant period of revenue predictability can be identified, and this period may be related to a corresponding significant event.
The daily data provides more detailed information than the weekly data, so there may be deviations in the capture of the daily and weekly data over certain time periods, and the weekly data response will be relatively insensitive.
From the top left corner, through the AQ test of the Shanghai Composite Index Weekly data, we can see that the AQ statistic is greater than 3.84 around 2008, capturing the predictability of the Chinese stock market. For the Shanghai Composite Index and Shenzhen Component Index, the AQ statistics captured the predictability of earnings around 1998, around 2008, and around 2016.
AVR test
Drawing time series chart: The two figures below show the time series of the yield of the Shanghai Composite Index and Shenzhen Component Index. It can be clearly seen that the fluctuations in yields around 2008 and 2016 are more severe and obvious than in other time periods.
Drawing a histogram: The two images below show the histogram of the yield series for the two major indices. As can be easily seen from the distribution map, the distribution of the two indices is roughly the same as the normal distribution.
Due to the fact that the daily data volume is too large, thus we only performed the WBAVR test on the weekly data, and the results were basically consistent with the AQ test. Revenue predictability can be captured around 2008 and around 2016. The chart clearly illustrates the time-varying characteristics of stock market return predictability. Although China's stock market returns are unpredictable during most sample periods, there is still significant partial predictability.
Results
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Get custom essayOverall, in the early stage of stock market development, since the development model has not yet formed, participants have a wait-and-see attitude or learn from the theory of mature foreign markets. Therefore, the relationship between stock market returns and risks is not much.
The financial crisis that occurred in 2007-2008 took a major impact on the United States, it was considered the most dangerous crisis since the Great Depression. Due to the fact that this crisis did not just effect the US, it continued onto a global level. It started off in 2006 when the pricing of many houses started to decrease, while realtors assumed this was a good thing due to an “overheating housing market” realtors predicted that housing prices would regulate. However, one of the most important factors to buying a house, having good credit, was not seriously considered. In other words, so many of the home owners had bad credit and were unable to keep up with paying their installments due to their questionable sense of credit. Many banks were pushed to give out a loan to people with substandard credit, which was blamed for the Community Reinvestment Act. The CRA is proposed to push banking establishments to help meet the credit needs of specific networks, including low-and direct wage neighborhoods. However, this wasn’t the only cause of the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
Get original essayThe real cause of the crisis was the Gramm-Rudman Act, it enabled banks to take part in exchanging gainful subordinates that they sold to speculators. The subordinates made a voracious interest for an ever-increasing number of home loans. The Federal Reserve trusted the subprime contract and would stay limited to housing. Home loan banks not only holds credit, they’re able to get a month to month checks from the home loan holder. Most of the time they sold these credits to a bank or to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, two government-sanctioned establishments made to purchase contracts and give contract loan specialists more cash to loan. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may then pitch the home loans to speculation banks that would package them with hundreds or thousands of others into a “home loan sponsored security” that would give a wage stream involving the greater part of the whole in the month to month contract installments. Then the security would be cut into maybe 1,000 smaller pieces that would be sold to financial specialists, frequently misidentified as good speculations. Sustained authorities didn’t know how far the harm would spread. They didn’t comprehend the genuine reasons for the subprime contract until some later time. They thought a protection item called credit default swaps ensured them. A conventional insurance agency known as the American International Group sold these swaps. At the point when the subordinates lost their esteem, AIG didn’t have enough income to respect every one of the swaps. This created a domino effect in which the federal reserve started to liquidate and break down banking systems by the term auctions facility. This sold term assets to safe organizations. All store organizations that were qualified to get under the essential credit program were qualified to partake in TAF barters. All advances were completely collateralized. Each TAF sell off was for a settled sum, with the rate controlled by the sale procedure (subject to a base offer rate). However, this wasn’t enough to stop the financial crisis.
The Feds went to an investment company called Bear Stearns, which sought out to JP Morgan with a $30 billion-dollar deal to help revive the downfall. Then later on the feds used $85 billion dollars to bail out the AIG company to prevent bankruptcy and further downfall on the economy, which later on increased to about $150 Billion dollars that October. To prevent any of this from occurring again the feds came up with a system in that they submitted a plan to Congress of a $700 billion bailout bundle. Their quick reaction persuaded organizations to keep their cash in the currency advertise accounts. Then for two weeks Republicans hindered the bill, because they did not want to safeguard banks. They didn’t favor the bill until the point that worldwide securities exchanges nearly crumbled. After this the economy was stable and the feds had to come up with a different way to avoid another financial crisis.
After the 2008 money related emergency and recession, the Fed made the uncommon stride of expanding its property of government securities and home loan related securities from $900 billion to $4.5 trillion of every push to turn the economy around. Presently the Fed trusts the recuperation is on a solid track, so America no longer needs a major security net.
Throughout this recession both family unit utilization going down and credit accessibility ending up more rare and costly, it isn’t good that corporate venture fell and unemployment spiked. The United States entered a profound subsidence, with very nearly nine million employments lost jobs in 2008 and 2009, which showed to be around 6% of the workforce. It additionally it debilitated numerous from attempting to reappear in the workforce after the financial crisis, driving the work investment rate to plummet. This implied consequent estimations of the jobless rates having a tendency to downplay the genuine jobless rate. Even estimated jobless rates climbed each month from 6.2% in September 2008 to 7.6% in January 2009. U.S. lodging costs declined around 30% by and large, and the U.S. securities exchange fell around half by mid-2009. The U.S. car industry was additionally hit hard, auto deals fell 31.9% in October 2008 compared to September 2008.8.2 million jobs were lost, a lot of male dominating companies in construction and manufacturing took a big loss.
Critic Bradbury states that “With light taxation, no inflation, cheap food, cheap labour, a plentiful supply of domestic servants, many ordinary middle class families with modest incomes lived full and comfortable lives. No wonder that so many who came from such families and survived the War, looking back, felt that there was a grace, an ease, a security of living then which has since been lost forever” (62). This statement clarifies the difference between the individual free from the modernist influence and the individual adversely affected by the modernist influence. It attests to the notion that the extreme physical and mental anguish suffered at the hands of the battles in WWI was not the only burden facing those under the modernist guise, those experiencing despair, ambivalence, and loss of meaning in existence, among other sentiments. These newly established financial burdens also served as a source of contention and despair for those families who made it through WWI.
Get original essayIn Dubliners, James Joyce conveys this message in two ways. First he does so from a third person point-of-view, depicting lower class financial woes in “Two Gallants” through the characterization of Lenehan. Joyce also depicts middle class jealousy of the financial comforts afforded to the upper class in “The Dead” from a third person point-of-view. In Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf conveys the message of financial grief in several passages, primarily highlighting the differences between the “haves” and the “have nots” using characterization, irony, and symbolism.
Security is directly related to the Modernist movement, and it is an issue that can be construed both financially and emotionally. According to Bradbury and McFarlane, “…the middle and upper classes of England and of Western Europe enjoyed a freedom and a security almost impossible to recapture today.” (62) As stated earlier, this security and freedom stemmed from “light taxation, no inflation, cheap food, cheap labour” and “a plentiful supply of domestic servants” (62), all economic concerns. Of course it was not only these increasing monetary burdens that lessened notions of security. The severe mental and physical toll that WWI took on several nations surely caused emotional insecurities. This being said, tangible monetary insecurity, manifested in Dubliners and Mrs. Dalloway certainly played a role, especially for the middle class.
In “Two Gallants” from Dubliners, Joyce fully portrays this economic insecurity. He uses Lenehan, the seemingly average foil to the extraordinary, adventurous Corley to express financial strife. Upon witnessing Corley sooth-talk a woman, Joyce uses a third person narrative to objectively delve into Lenehan’s economic troubles: “This vision made him feel keenly his own poverty of purse and spirit. He was tired of knocking about, of pulling the devil by his tail, of shifts and intrigues. He would be thirty-one in November. Would he never get a good job? Would he never have a home of his own?” (51) Here we see longing that is strictly economic. He expresses despair about remaining as a middle class society member. It is learned from the notes on the story that “pulling the devil by its tail” is slang for “living on the brink of financial catastrophe.” (264)
Joyce’s diction is carefully crafted in the above passage. The slang that Lenehan uses, or in this case internally conceptualizes, reflects his lower social status and the relatively feeble chance that he has of overcoming the barriers between the upper and lower classes. Lenehan is unable to identify means of autonomously breaking free from the lower class position, a primary source of his despair. Joyce does not allow Lenehan to feel personally responsible for resolving his plight, as that would suggest a personal misgiving on Lenehan’s behalf. Instead the financial crisis is one that the third person narrator suggests Lenehan might be able to solve by marrying a rich woman: “He might yet be able to settle down in some snug corner and live happily if he could only come across some good simple-minded girl with a little of the ready.” (52) Again Lenehan is only able to mentally construct his circumstance in lower class terminology. “A little of the ready,” is slang for “with immediate access to significant funds.”(264) Thus Lenehan longs to reverse his social status as fast as possible, and the only way that he views this as possible is to marry into wealth. He does not even consider taking it upon himself to earn a good living, or simply making the most of his current state of affairs. Lenehan’s exclusive concern in this passage is his future financial arrangement. Marriage, a supposed well-thought out, irreversible decision is reduced in his mind as merely a means to a superior financial end. He does not even consider the personal, emotional, social, or other implications that incorporating a woman into his life would entail. In this way, Joyce shows that security can sometimes be purely financially motivated. This case demonstrates that other factors are detached and for the sake of financial well-being.
It has thus far been suggested that the bleak tenets of Modernism, namely ambivalence, loss of meaning, and despair were not solely caused by the physical and emotional battles of war, but were also caused by bleaker economic conditions. These economic conditions affected certain classes more than others. It can be argued that the middle class lost the most from the financial downturn after WWI. The poor did not have enough to lose, and the rich did not feel the effects as much considering they had more to lose. The middle class, however, was forced to forgo some of the comforts. This being said, it is interesting to consider what determines social standing as this will be imperative in the interpretation of Woolf. Surely there are “rages to riches” stories throughout history, but in the early 1900’s, birth was the primary determining factor for class, as is identified by Bradbury and McFarlane in this passage: “If this picture of Europe before 1914 appears unattractive, it is because, in concentrating the main features into a few paragraphs, one distorts the cultural context. Much has been written nostalgically about la belle ?poque and the Edwardian peace, much of it exaggerated in reminiscence. But there is truth in this, especially if one was born into the right class” (62).
Therefore satisfaction was a lot more difficult to come by after WWI, in large part due to the increasing economic sanctions mentioned at the beginning. While Bradbury and McFarlane do admit that some of the magnificence described prior to WWI may be hyperbole, the upper and middle classes certainly experienced less financial regulation from the government and lower prices on goods from private businesses, which in turn increased their financial standing as well as their quality of life.
In Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf also depicts financial plight of a secondary character, one that is not the protagonist. However, the social scene is reversed from that of Joyce, and the narrative is in first person. Clarissa Dalloway, the narrator in this passage is of high social standing. As such, she criticizes Miss Kilman for being insecure about her personal finances:
“...she was never in the room five minutes without making you feel her superiority, your inferiority; how poor she was; how rich you were; how she lived in a slum without a cushion or a bed or a rug or whatever it might be, all her soul rusted with that grievance sticking in it, her dismissal from school during the War- poor embittered unfortunate creature!” (11)
Virginia Woolf employs irony in this passage to portray both the “have” and the “have not” perspectives. Clarissa Dalloway characterizes Miss Kilman’s insecurity about finances as a personal misgiving. Although a case could be made that Miss Kilman’s conversations and social nuances are empathetic and selfless insofar as they seem to compliment others at her own expense, Clarissa Dalloway clearly does not see Miss Kilman in this light. Clarissa’s characterization of Miss Kilman as a “poor embittered unfortunate creature” is highly ironic; from Clarissa’s view, the conditions that Miss Kilman faces, namely “dismissal from school” and “living in a slum”, do not warrant the sympathy that Miss Kilman seeks.
Nonetheless, Miss Kilman’s longings are also chiefly financial. She characterizes the source of all her distress as being a part of the “have not’s”. As a result, Clarissa expresses disdain:
“For it was not her one hated but the idea of her, which undoubtedly had gathered into itself a great deal that was not Miss Kilman; had become one of those spectres with which one battles in the night; one of those spectres who stand astride us and suck up half our life-blood, dominators and tyrants; for no doubt with another throw of the dice, had the black been uppermost and not the white, she would have loved Miss Kilman! But not in this world. No.” (12)
The dice in this passage seem to represent the life chance that humans face. In Mrs. Dalloway the life chance is the difference between being a “have” or a “have not”, the difference “had the black been uppermost and not the white,” or as Bradbury calls it “being born into the right class.” (62) Clarissa hates “the idea” of Miss Kilman because it represents someone financially consumed, but someone that is not wealthy. In the same way that Joyce expressed Lenehan’s discontent for his position in the world as an aging, poor man, Woolf expresses Miss Kilman’s insecurity in comparison with Clarissa. However, the tone that each author uses suggests a discrepancy between the ways that each message is received. In “Two Gallants,” the reader can somewhat sympathize with Lenehan as he seems trapped in a society that thwarts social mobility. In Mrs. Dalloway, the tone is critical, causing the reader to renounce the “have not’s” who complain of financial constraints. Whether or not financial worries should be lamented or sympathized, they clearly permeate both of these works as sources of insecurity for lower class characters who cannot achieve the success of the middle class, and for middle class citizens who cannot afford the comforts of the upper class.
The comfort of life was severely reduced by the financial worries of the Modernist era. Recall that before WWI, economic conditions warranted “light taxation, no inflation, cheap food, cheap labour, and a plentiful supply of domestic servants,” (62) which allowed “many ordinary middle class families with modest incomes” to lead “full and comfortable lives.” (Bradbury, 62) After the war, the emotional loss not only resided in the toll taken from losing friends and family to battle; the financial toll also eliminated these economic conveniences that existed beforehand. Thus, while the lower class was faced with insecurity, the middle class was faced with inconvenience. The reassurances that people had before the war were replaced by financially stressful situations during the Modernist Era.
In “The Dead” from James Joyce’s Dubliners, this clash between middle and upper classes created jealousy. “‘To be sure’, said Aunt Kate, What a comfort it is to have a girl like that, one you can depend on! There’s that Lily, I’m sure I don’t know what has come over her lately. She’s not the girl she was at all.”(181) In a way, this passage resembles Miss Kilman resenting her position as a “have not”, but not quite to the same extent. Whereas Woolf’s tone posits Miss Kilman as a nag or a pest to Clarissa Dalloway, Joyce’s characterization of Aunt Kate is less critical. She is described as lively and healthy, and it does not seem as if she continuously admonishes her social position and praises a higher social position as a means of complaining about financial burdens in the way that Miss Kilman did.
This one instance of Aunt Kate expressing approval of Mrs. Conroy having Bessie, “a girl like that, one that can be depended on,” highlights an inconvenience of the middle class. This is different from the way in which Mrs. Kilman dwells on her financial misgivings. Whereas Miss Kilman mourns the discrepancy between “the haves” and the “have nots”, Aunt Kate mentions in passing the convenience that Mrs. Conroy is afforded at the hands of a respectful, subservient daughter.
While the source of contention for Aunt Kate’s daughter Lily is not revealed in this passage, surely part of it can be attested to the jealously of the higher class. Whereas Bessie is afforded the comforts of the Conroy family, Lily’s family is not as financially well-off. To reiterate, the contention among the middle class concerning the upper class is not something that many people were faced with prior to the Modernist era. After the war taxation, inflation, higher expenses, and fewer available servants all triggered an inconvenience placed upon the middle class that often resulted in jealousy towards the upper class because of their ability to maintain “the comforts of life.” (62)
Woolf presents many symbols of grandeur that separate the middle and upper classes in a similar manner. The rich seem able in almost every circumstance to afford the prized possessions, while the middle class does not exert the same life comfort. One symbol that Woolf uses depicting the comforts of the upper class is in the practice of feeding babies. First, Woolf suggests that breast feeding is a sign of lower social status with this image: “The mothers of Pimlico gave suck to their young.” (7) In the notes accompanying the story it is revealed that Pimlico is “home to persons of more modest income than the Dalloways.” (193) Thus, the prevalence of breast-feeding in a financially inferior geographical area suggests that this natural practice is associated with lesser classes. This being the case, feeding newborns with baby formula, then, is evidence of more financial resources and a higher social status.
Later on, when a faint airline advertisement passes in the sky, Mrs. Coates guesses that it is an advertisement for “Glaxo, a brand name for a babies’ formula milk product.” (199) The imagery that Woolf employs in this scene further portrays baby formula as a status symbol. As a part of a group of non upper class citizens flocking around a busy place near the Mall, Mrs. Coates views the advertisement almost as a majestic sign from the above. “Glaxo” as a superior company and the notion of superiority regarding baby formula in general are so engrained into her experience that she is “strained” and “awe-stricken” (20) by an airplane advertisement that she even erroneously construes; the advertisement did not even read “Glaxco.” Woolf’s distinction, however, between the practices of breast feeding and feeding with formula serves as an example of a symbol she exercises as a means to highlight the comforts of the upper class and the inconveniences of everyone else. These inconveniences, for everyone else, were large sources of burden.
Thus, through the lens of Bradbury and McFarlane and using examples from James Joyce’s Dubliners and Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, we see there is a substantial difference between individuals before and after the Modernist movement. To generalize the difference between the pre-modernist individual and those affected by Modernism, one can say that the external conditions were remarkably dissimilar, and as a result the internal feelings or sentiments of the people also varied tremendously and were often the precise antithesis of one another. WWI is widely viewed as a turning point in this matter. Certainly the physical and mental impairments suffered at the hands of this catastrophic event must be considered a primary contributor to the Modernist sentiments of ambivalence, despair, internal strife, and others. However, the Modernist plight cannot be solely relegated to this realm; the financial stresses during the time period also played a major role in the matter. The taxation, inflation, food and labor expenses, lessened availability of servants, and other fiscal inconveniences that were non-existent prior to WWI, soon became bitter realities. In both Mrs. Dalloway and Dubliners, Virginia Woolf and James Joyce use characters, themes, point-of-view and symbols to convey the ever-present realities of emotional, physical, and financial losses.
Works Cited
Bradbury, Malcolm. Modernism : A Guide to European Literature ,1890-1930. Ed. James McFarlane. New York: Penguin Books, Limited, 1991.
Joyce, James. Dubliners. New York: Penguin Books, Limited, 2000.
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Get custom essayWoolf, Virginia, and Bonnie Kime Scott. Mrs. Dalloway. Ed. Mark Hussey. New York: Harvest Books, 2005.
With all the technological advancements in the medical field, the United States has yet to provide free healthcare to it citizens. Healthcare in the United States is still treated as a privilege, in which only a select few that can afford it have access to it. Those who are unable to afford it, are essentially left with no health insurance leaving them unprotected. Many individuals are deprived of their right to healthcare simply because of the way that the healthcare system is setup. This paper will discuss how financial factors like funding sources, reimbursement methods, economic factors, business influences, and cost attainment have influenced the healthcare system today.
Get original essayPresident Obama enacted The Affordable Care Act (ACA) or commonly known as Obamacare in 2010. It was established to provide comprehensive and affordable health insurance to all the citizens of the United States. ACA essentially allowed more uninsured Americans to become insured by creating online markets where people could shop for their own insurance. Through ACA, millions of people were able to get affordable health insurance for themselves and their families. Most importantly, ACA helped eliminate the part in the previous healthcare system that allowed insurance companies to decline people with pre-existing conditions like cancer, diabetes or asthma. ACA practically helped set motion so that health insurance companies’ protocols through several regulation changes ensuring millions of citizens the opportunity to obtain health insurance.
The ability to fund healthcare services is a major contributing factor in the quality of care a person receives. In the United States, health insurance is funded by a combination of public and private funds. Programs like Medicare and Medicaid are jointly funded by the government and taxpayer dollars. These programs help support people older than 65 years old and those have very low income. Another source of funds for health insurance companies is through private funded healthcare. Private funded healthcare includes self-paying for treatment without insurance and insurance provided to an individual by an employer. Also, it is important to recognize that someone’s socioeconomic status influences the type of care one receives. A person who has access to more money can afford better care because it allows access to better physicians and quicker treatment. Unfortunately, for someone who is not fortunate enough to have the same financial means it could mean putting off seeing a physician simply because they don’t have health insurance or enough money to pay a copayment. Hence, having access to health insurance is imperative so everyone can receive the quality care they deserve.
The Affordable Care Act is paid for by cuts in government spending and tax increases. Another way that ACA is financed is by imposing penalty payments for those who choose not to buy it. As well as penalizing employers who do not provide health insurance for the workers. Regardless of how it is funded ACA is a beneficial program that provided many uninsured Americans more benefits and various protections making health insurance of greater quality for Americans.
Everyone likes to get reimbursed for the services they provide to others. Hospitals and physicians are no different. Physicians get reimbursed through insurance companies or government agencies.
The single most determining factor for patient treatment is their socioeconomic status. It is known that individuals who have lower economic status are more commonly affected and at greater risk for health conditions that lead to higher mortality and morbidity rates. It is no secret that people with lower socioeconomic status often delay seeing doctors because of factors like accessibility to facilities and transportation to the doctor’s office. These are just some of the factors that can deter individuals from receiving appropriate care. There is no doubt that those individuals with a lower socioeconomic status are impacted more profoundly that those who have a higher socioeconomic status.
Disparities in the United States are all too real in our society. Health disparities are very common especially for immigrants, Hispanics, and African Americans. ACA was implemented to reduce these health disparities by providing affordability and availability. ACA helped those who belong to minority population gain access to healthcare as well as those who had preexisting conditions who were previously denied. The Affordable Care Act was established diminish the healthcare gap and make healthcare a right to all Americans instead of a privilege to those who have the means to afford the coverage.
Healthcare for all its intent and purposes is first and foremost a business. Like a business, it will always be chasing more money. With, health insurance companies will cater towards those individuals that can afford to pay more because it will garner more revenue. Under ACA, companies must provide health insurance to employees if the company has more than 50 workers. Health insurance premiums have steadily been raising year after year and it has become increasingly difficult for businesses to provide health insurance to the workers so unfortunately some people are being let go.
Cost containment methods in healthcare are always being pursued by insurance companies and hospitals. Before the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies centered cost containment methods on lowering providers payment rates. Now, cost containment methods are aimed to encourage providers to find ways to deliver quality care without needless use of services. By cutting the use of unnecessary services to treat patients it is saving the hospital millions of dollars. In addition, Medicare was a key provision that was targeted to help produce savings, by providing regulatory framework for containing costs in Medicare. This was done by setting a per capita target for spending growth and developing a plan to monitor and maintain spending. By having these sort of cost containment methods there is less strain on the healthcare system.
Since the passing of ACA nurses have been granted more opportunities to help their patients receive the best possible care. Nurses are responsible to ensure that all healthcare services that a patient needs remains affordable to them. Nurses also need to ask if patients can afford their home medications. If not, nurses should work together with social workers to view what other options or resources a patient can utilize so that the medication or medical supplies that is needed is made affordable. Most importantly, the nurse is an advocate for patients who are unable to afford a medication.
The Affordable Care Act changed the lives of millions of people in America. It allowed millions on uninsured Americans to become insured by making it more affordable to everyone. The ACA is not without flaws and sure there is some tweaking that can be done to the bill, so it does not discriminate against those who are high earners but overall it is on the right track for providing affordable healthcare to all citizens. A good healthcare system both affordable and able to provide quality care. In an ideal world, health insurance would be free for everybody because being able to see a doctor should not be a matter of being able to afford it, everyone should have access to quality care regardless of their socioeconomic status.
It has been debated time and time again over whether or not abortion should be legal but the fact that most people don't remember is abortion is already legal. Though since it has become legal, those against abortion have been trying to make it harder to obtain an abortion with raising the costs, 24 hour waiting period, mandatory ultrasounds and the thousands of protesters that both verbally and physically attack abortion clinics everyday. Due to the fact that many women cannot afford reproductive healthcare services, the federal government should help aid those in need by making services like abortion readily available and at a lower cost.
Get original essayPro-Lifers’ argument is that the fetus is a human being from the moment of conception to the moment of birth and should have the rights of any fully alive human. However, with highly opinionated statements such as these, it seem to place the life of the unborn fetus before the well-being and possibly the life of the mother which is not making every life matter, as that is what their goal is. The fact that millions of women all over the world risk their lives attempting to terminate pregnancies in unsafe ways such as drinking bleach or stabbing their reproductive systems with sharp objects is a problem that needs to be taken care of. (Bring Abortion). If that many women are choosing to risking their lives, then the United States government should be providing safe, and affordable alternatives to women who choose to abort in attempt to save the lives of women who had no other choice. Lastly, due to a deep stigma attached to abortion, many women from rural areas use traditional methods for termination of the fetus which are extremely unsafe and sometimes fatal. These unsafe abortions create significant maternal health challenges around the world (Breaking Taboo). The health of the mother, both physical and mental, should take priority over the life of a yet to be born child. If there was safer alternatives and proper care, there would be many lives saved.
With abortion, the lack of affordability causes far more problems than just monetary. It can bring hardship in both physical health and mental health just from the wait while the pregnant woman raises the money for the termination of her child. Seven out of every ten women that receive an abortion would rather have it earlier but must wait due to the cost being too much of a strain on their budget (Abortion Coverage). The wait has the potential to be the hardest part of the abortion process because there is numerous amounts of pressure given from people who do not wish the fetus to be aborted, even if it is the best for the women involved. Delays lead to higher costs in travel, and childcare in addition to the wages lost by taking time off work (Abortion Coverage). This makes getting an abortion even more of a hardship on the women and her family because many struggle to come up with the thousands of dollars being charged for abortions. Since the supreme court already declared a woman's right to choose abortion protected under the right to privacy, then it must be made affordable to the common citizen. Certainly, in the past half a century women’s rights have improved greatly but have not yet made easily accessible; including the with the case of Roe v. Wade bringing progress to women’s control of their own body. This was a major step towards empowerment and has grown to be a symbol of women’s independence (Partial Birth). With this evidence it is apparent that the problem at hand this was a case of great importance and will continue to be remembered long after the controversy on abortion is over.
Many Pro-Lifers state that if a woman or family cannot afford a pregnancy then they should have never gotten pregnant in the first place and this justifies defunding abortion clinics and reproductive health centers such as Planned Parenthood (Abortion Choices). Nonetheless, for nearly a century, Planned Parenthood has promoted and aided in every women’s health and well-being, and is strictly based on respect for each individual’s right, no matter the situation, to make informed, independent decisions about their own reproductive health and family planning. Their services include cancer screenings, birth control, STD testing, and many more preventative services in addition to safe abortions that are all affordable options to the average woman (Planned Parenthood). Although abortion has been legal for 36 years, poverty stricken women still struggle to obtain the reproductive health care that could provide or even prevent abortions due to rising costs and lowering insurance coverage. (The Abortion Choices of Poor Women). Due to the fact that many women still struggle to get reproductive health services, the federal government should help aid those in need, and make the services readily available. Finally, confidential health care is a law upheld to the federal level. For women of a lower socio-economic level, the more realistic option that people are choosing is paying $30 dollars for a risky and illegal abortion pill that might not even work as opposed to having affordable and safe reproductive health care made available by the government. (Abortion Choices). This is a devastating reality that many people face everyday. Just because a women doesn’t have much money shouldn’t mean they have to go to that length for their own health.
Abortion continues to be a heated issue even long after it was declared legal in 1973. Due to the fact that many women cannot afford reproductive healthcare services, the federal government should help aid those in need by making services like abortion readily available and at a lower cost. With financial aid for reproductive health care the government would prevent more injuries and fatalities due to unsafe termination methods. There are many hardships that come along with an abortion but the financial aspect of it should not be one of them as it only causes delays, debt, and disappointment.
There have been some recent reports of malpractices with respect to Jan Dhan accounts. In this context, it may be interesting to know the grass-root level challenges that are impacting financial inclusion. In India, where nearly one-fourth of population is illiterate and below the poverty line, ensuring financial inclusion is a challenge. The two indicators, poverty and illiteracy, vary widely between different States in India. Rural poverty is above 30 per cent of population in places such as Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Manipur. Rural poverty can be attributed to lower farm income, lack of sustainable livelihood, lack of skills, under employment and unemployment. Thus, ensuring deposit operations in these accounts is a challenge.
Get original essayIndia has a literacy rate of 73 per cent with some States such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan where the literacy rate ranges between 62 per cent and 70 per cent. The banks have devised ways to address limitations arising out of illiteracy by ensuring biometric access to bank accounts. However, Aadhaar seeding implies that some numericals have still to be punched in the machine to operate an account. As all the numerals are in English, only the banker or the business correspondent (BC) can punch in the Aadhaar number. Similarly, the messages that are received on mobile phones from banks are also in English and therefore the illiterate person has to seek someone’s assistance to understand and interpret the message.
In each of the above cases, the privacy of an individual’s bank balance is breached. This makes the illiterates, and population confined at home – females and elderly – vulnerable to malpractices. There are also anecdotes that enterprising BCs, to ensure ease of business, give the same Personal Identification Number (PIN) to all the residents in a single village. This can further compromise privacy and cause embarrassment to the authorities when direct benefit transfers through bank accounts are implemented on a larger scale. Therefore, a financial inclusion strategy sensitive to regional, demographic and gender related factors, needs to be carefully crafted.
Further, it needs to be considered that why despite extensive efforts from authorities, the Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Accounts (PMJDA) have underperformed. This could be, in addition to poverty and illiteracy, due to the type of products being offered to the unbanked population. Illustratively, recurring deposits are products which are more suitable to the salaried income group rather than people in informal sector whose incomes are uncertain, seasonal and unplanned.
In the opening of PMJDA, mainly public sector banks (PSBs) rose to the occasion in ensuring that every unbanked household had a bank account. Now that 25 crore PMJDAs have been opened in the last two years, a feat unparalleled in history of financial inclusion, it needs to be considered whether is it also the responsibility of the PSBs to ensure that these are operational. The opening of PMJDA was a mammoth task, as in March 2014 just before PMJDA, total accounts on books of commercial banks were around 1 lakh crore. As can be imagined, given the limited resources in banking sector, opening of such large number of PMJDA within 24 months in far flung areas diverted the attention of bankers from their principal activity of mobilizing resources and lending to reliable borrowers.
The next challenge is monitoring existing borrower accounts. Therefore, to ensure that the banking industry is robust and existing banking assets safe, given that heavy lifting has been done by PSBs, should the newly opened PMJDA in rural areas and some in urban too, in a sequentially planned manner be moved to rural and urban cooperatives? Further, at present, there are a number of regulatory authorities that have a role to play in financial inclusion – Reserve Bank, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Securities and Exchange Board of India, Small Industries and Development Bank of India, and MUDRA bank.
There is a need to fix responsibility on a single regulatory authority to ensure that JDAs are operational. In this context, given that NABARD has an extensive presence across the country and was formed for the purpose of development of agriculture and rural areas, it should be made the nodal and accountable agency for financial inclusion. NABARD may not have the existing capacity, as of now, to accept the challenge but can certainly be prepared in a phased manner in next few years. It has been investing in modernizing, and infusing technology in cooperative institutions.
There is also need for further research on why the moneylender despite persistent efforts by institutions in formal sector has continued to flourish in the financial market. Money lenders continue to account for nearly 30 per cent of total banking business. This then gives rise to an interesting related question: do interest rates matter? In modern times, if interest rate matters, why do people prefer to go to moneylenders, despite a network of banks, cooperatives, MFIs and SHGs? Is it simply due to ease of doing business or some other factors? This is one area which requires grass-root level research. One of the main reason behind this activity is the illiteracy prevailing in India. People in remote parts of India are incapable in analyzing the harmful effects of taking money from the moneylenders. Ideally it is a matter of concern the entire economic development of the country and it also promotes illegal activities on a large scale.
Equity crowdfunding
Get original essayAdvantages Risks
Entrepreneurs:
Investors:
Regulations
Regulation and legislation should aim to protect investors while stimulating market efficiency and transparency. Today because of incumbent investor protection, regimes exclude a large number of potential investors. Crowdfunding provides new and different opportunities to ensure transparency and protect investors.
In Europe, crowdfunding is largely regulated by national law, since investors try to escape the high administrative and financial costs of European legislation, but this fragmentation makes cross-border transactions impossible (or too much expensive for SMEs). For this reason, potential investors are currently excluded from crowdfunding opportunities solely based on their geographic location.
Challenges for the future
Loan types
Secured Loans
Given the need for collateral, secured loans are often seen in the shape of mortgages, which can help early stage social enterprises reduce one of the largest costs of many businesses: renting premises.
Unsecured Loans
Unsecured loans might be more suited to scaling up workforce and working capital, and therefore productivity with the expectation of higher revenue.
Considerations:
Revenue Participation Agreement
What is a Revenue Participation Agreement?
It allows the investor to collect part of the revenues from a charity or social enterprise invested. This solution helps those organizations where the share capital is not possible due to the legal structure, and also for those in which debt financing is too expensive. The sale of a Revenue Participation Agreement establishes a relationship of buyer and seller, while in a loan we find a relationship of a borrower and lender. The risk of the investment is shared between the investors and investees, and the investors are rewarded for the investment made. The investor will decide whether or not to invest based on the likely levels of the future revenue streams.
This financial instrument guarantees a share of revenues, not profit. The investee is not worried about profitability, which may lead to zero returns to the investor: there may be incentives to manipulate information just to avoid paying out if we consider the profit instead of the revenues.
The risk of a loan in lower than the risk of investing in a Revenue Participation Right: with a loan, it is always possible to get something in case of default, whilst with this mechanism it is not possible. So, it is expected that the investors require a higher return. Usually, investors expect a target IRR of around 10% and determine the return on projected future cash flows based on that.
Revenue Participation Agreement
What types of Revenue Participation Agreements we may find?
There are two types:
Returns linked to gross revenue: a specified share of gross annual revenue is given to the investor;§ Returns linked to incremental revenue: the investor receives a share of gross annual revenue less restricted grants, and/or annual revenue above a certain level. In the first type, if there is already a certainty about the viability of the investee, we may consider this agreement similar to a preference share; in the case of a startup, the approach is closer to an equity risk. In the second type, the risk faced by the investor is higher, given that only the revenue streams from “trading” activities are considered and/or only get returns above a certain threshold. Nevertheless, the second type is closer to an equity approach.
It is very important that the seller knows his profit margins very well. If the margins are not that large, the seller may not be able to cover the business expenses due to the loss of a percentage of revenue over time.
Revenue Participation Agreement
What the advantages over debt and equity, both for the social enterprises/charities and for the investors?
The investor uses the gross income to determine the IRR, but it is worth noting that only money coming from the unrestricted income can be transferred to pay back the investment. Those who offer grants, which is considered as a stream of restricted income, would not enjoy seeing their money being used to pay these investments.
A problem that may arise in the market is the potential adverse selection, where there is a big chance of strong organizations rejecting deals because they consider it to be too expensive and weak organizations accepting any deal. It is crucial that the forecasts are as accurate and realistic as possible, given that the IRR depends entirely on it. The margin of error considered by the investor in those forecasts are used when deciding how much the IRR should be.
Social Enterprises and Charities Investors
Hybrid security: single financial security that combines two or more different financial instruments. In impact investment is usually seen as a combination of grants and debt.
Most common example: Recoverable Grant
Definition: Loan that only needs to be repaid if the invested company reaches a pre-determined success outcome. In case of failure to meet the success requirements, this loan is converted into a grant.
Access Foundation: it supports the development of enterprise activity to grow and diversify income. They do this with 2 main programs:
Clean Vehicle Assistance Program: it helps lower-income families in California to buy electric or hybrid cars. It combines an initial grant for the down payment of the loan with monthly installments using fair interest rates.
Hybrid of grants and loansMain challenges for hybrid financing:
Why do we need grants and not just loans when financing SPOs?
But one thing is agreed by most of the investors, grants should not be given in perpetuity to SPOs. Grants should be in place to create incentives for growth and close some investment gaps in this financial industry.
Vision stagekey challenges key needs
High degree of risk and sweat equity
Access to support and capital
Limited financial resources
Develop budget forecats and articulated financial goals (thatalign with social ones)
Overly dependent on a few funding sources and most of themare donations
Define social outcome metrics and means of collection
At this stage, the impact venture has an elevated need for external financing in order to enhance development its, yet it lacksretained earnings
The majority of the businesses with a social impact represent for investors a high-risk investment mostly due to lack of pastinformation. Due to this, very few impact ventures can take equity investment, thus, it would be hardly possible to grantinvestors a large financial return.Due to this, equity crowfunding seems to be the most suitable especially because of its collective aspect. Moreover, it offersthe possibility to offer non-financial rewards like invitation to events or merchandise. The only drawback is that it might bedifficult to attract the necessary amount of crowfunding investors without investing time and capitdal in a crowfundingcampaign.
Another feasible instrument is a hybrid of grants and loans, in particular convertible grants, because it creates incentives for entrepreneurs to take on risky projects that may have positive impact. The iinitial grant is crucial for enterprises in the vision stage because they have no assets nor credibility to secure loans.
Start-up stagekey challenges key needs
Difficulty in managing cashflows
Reinforced need for adequate financial management skills and capabilities within social enterprises
Building financial capacity
Need to support all the costs related to the initial phase of their activity.
Balancing social and financial objectives
Developing a timeline for addressing social issues
The social enterprise has been operative for a few years yet the main issue is that revenue merely covers for operating costs.
The majority of impact venture in this stage of their lifecycle struggle with the management of cash flow that adds up to the difficulty to invest in new assets.
A solution to this could be represented by unsecured loans. This will allow investees to obtain a loan without the obligatio to secure it to na asset. This seems feasible because in this stage not many impact venture own assets nor have the necessary capital to obtain it. Another advantage for the social enterprise is that it allows to negotiate the terms of hte repayment yet the interest rates of unsecures loans tnd to be high.
Growth stagekey challenges key needs
Managing the bottom lines and building ethical organisations, inside and out
Growth Capital (EXPAND)
Ensuring there is the equipment and infrastructure to build growth
Reliable and diverse funding schemes
Achieving financial sustainability goals
Debt and Equity capital in different formsIn this stage, impact venturea have managed to further develop their products or services and are aiming at gaining long-term financial stability. In order to do that, it would be advisable to purchase an asset.
Social banks offer commercial mortgages with guidelines similiar to the ones of general banks. These share similar risk as failing to repay will lead to the sell of the asset but unlike high street banks, social banks take more into account the social apect of the enterprise.
Hybrid of grants and loans for the growth stage, gap between philanthropic capital and social investors (too big for philanthropists and too small for social investors)
Moreover, companies are looking for financial sustainability, they need to growth, but senior debt requires them to take a higher interest rate, to accept covenants. Also, if the cost of debt is acceptable but the risk of a floating interest rate is too high, then quasi-equity can be a good solution. It only requires a share of the revenues, which allows the company to control how much to pay back.
They do not pay more than what they can afford.
Scaling stagekey challenges key needs
Managing the bottom lines and building ethical organisations
Growth Capital
Ensuring there is the equipment and infrastructure to build growth
Reliable and diverse funding schemes
Achieving financial sustainability goals Debt and Equity capital in different forms This stage refers to the possibility for the impact venture to make proper use of their financial stability to explore expansion possibilities. The social enterprise might decide to undertake new social projects or to target new markets. The impact venture will shift focus from short-term survival to long term planning.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
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Get custom essayCrowfunding seems to be a suitable option at this stage too as Financial sustainability is often mentioned as one of the main barriers to a scaling trajectory, and a financinggap has been identified for early-stage social enterprises wishing to scale.