Admire Person - 1676 Words

The person I want to describe is my mother. She’s 55 years old, medium-built, and she’s about 166 centimetres in height. She has an attractive face and looks younger than her age. She has round face, big eyes, and beautiful eyelashes. She likes wearing casual clothes unless she’s at work when she normally wears lady’s formal wear. My mother works as an accountant in a trade company. She studied accounting at Fudan University and she has always been working as an account since graduation. She’s warm-hearted, open-minded, and always willing to help other people who are in need of help. Although she’s not a young lady anymore, she’s very willing and ready to accept new things. She likes singing, dancing, watching movies, reading, planting†¦show more content†¦I still have his early work on my walls, and I am still in love with it and being inspired by it. Also, Santjes Oomen was an artist whose work -- while I never acquired any -- lingers in my mind, and I recognize how it has influenced me. And, finally, I have to say the work of Philip Seymour Hoffman has inspired me tremendously. He is more than an actor; he is an artist, and if you pay attention to the subtleties of his work, his delving into the psychology of the characters he plays -- its really amazing. There is something about his work that moved me to get up off of the couch and start making stuff again. The park I want to describe is Yan’an Park. It’s very close to my home, just behind the Sheraton Hotel. One can either enter the park through the main gate on Yan’an Road, or from the east gate on Yili Road. The park is really beautiful. It’s got quite a few different areas and it is very peaceful. There are pathways all around the park and a lot of grass and trees. There are two ponds in the park – a small one where you can go fishing in the summer time, and a very large pond where you can go skating in the winter time. Near the large pond is a picnic area where you can sit down and relax. It’s nice and shady because there are many tall trees nearby. There’s also a play area for small children with games and rides, a restaurant and a snack bar, and an indoor swimming pool. I first found theShow MoreRelatedThe Is The Person That I Admire1230 Words   |  5 PagesLecrae Moore is the person that I admire and look up to the most. Lecrae is a Grammy winning contemporary Christian rapper. But if you ask him, he will tell you that he is a Christian and he is a rapper but he is not a Christian rapper like his world attained title proclaims him to be. He claims that his faith doesn’t define his career. For example, we don’t call the local car mechanic the â€Å"Christian car mechanic†. He is just the car mechanic. Being a Christian in modern day America isn’t easy, butRead MoreThe Person I Admire Most1083 Words   |  5 PagesTHE PERSON I ADMIRE MOST Talk about the person that I admire so much, a lot of names run through my mind. My mother, sister and some good friends. I even wanted to write about Shim Changmin, the man that made my eyes pop out and he is my love at first sight among the Korean boy bands. But then , I decided to write about a person whom I admire so much and who has influenced me a lot . she is my best friend from my hometown, Kerteh , Terengganu. Her name is Khairunnisa and everyone calls her NIsaRead MoreA Person Who I Admire833 Words   |  4 PagesA person who I admire A person who I admire is an interesting topic. I believe you can admire more than one person. A typical admiration I have seen is when people boy, are admiring a very famous singer, actor etc. although it is typical, it is still a good admiration because you can use that person as your role model or idol. Fx. If your role model is a sportsman, then you can admire his performing skills, and maybe learn something from him or her. But trough my life I have admired many personsRead Morethe person I admire most1743 Words   |  7 PagesThe person whom I admired first time is my mother. But, if we talk about the famous person, I can say that, he is Mahatma Gandhi. He was from India. He is known as the â€Å"Father of nation† in India as he played a very important role in gaining the freedom of India. Mahatma Gandhi gave the Indian People not only freedom but also the new thoughts on non-violence and sustainable living. There are some qualities about him like trust, non-violence, legacy, etc. These qualities are the ones that inspiredRead MoreThe Person Whom I Admire2369 Words   |  10 PagesNAME : MIRA SAFINA BINTI MR. YALEE CLASS : 2 ARIF TEACHER : MADAM ASIFAH THE PERSON WHOM I ADMIRE The person whom I admire ,let’s see? Recently I’m interest with the K-POP idols, G-Dragon. He is a leader of a group name Big Bang, it is a group that popular in Korea ,Malaysia or even everywhere, let’s just say anywhere you’re going they will know about this group if you ask them. Big Bang is even popular amongst uncle and aunty or in Korean ‘Ahjusshi’ and ‘Ahjuma’Read MoreThe Most Influential Person Who I Admire933 Words   |  4 PagesThe person who I am going to write about, is also the most influential person who I admire greatly, my mother. My mother, a single parent has raised two children for the past thirteen years without the help of our father. Being a single mom, she has been the one who has supported me throughout my childhood, both in the good and bad times. I personally feel the knowledge I have gained from the wisdom and skills she has taught me during the past will only benefit me in the years to come. ThereRead MoreMy Father: the Person I Admire Most Essays1008 Words   |  5 PagesMy Father: The Person I Admire Most Over time, there have been several people who have influenced various aspects of my life, based on their personal characteristics, accomplishments, and values. I have been privileged to have had numerous teachers and professors who I respect for their patience and intelligence. There are artists that have inspired me by their natural talents and original creativity. I value many political leaders, who have inspired me by their contributions to society, andRead MoreMy Father: the Person I Admire Most3465 Words   |  14 Pagesequilibrium. Example of thermal equilibrium A wet towel is placed on the forehead of a person who has high fever. Initially the temperature of the cloth is lower than the body temperature of the person. Heat energy is transferred from the forehead to the towel until thermal equilibrium is reached. The towel is rinsed in tap water and the procedure is repeated. In this way heat energy is removed from the person. Cooling drinks A hot drink can be cooled by adding a few ice cubes to the drink. HeatRead MoreTattoos in Society1619 Words   |  7 Pagesespecially those of younger ages, are more open to the idea of tattoos and the reason for having them. There are still people that believe that having a tattoo either means that you are a bad person or that you’ve been to jail, or that people use them as a way to rebel against society. Individuals who think that about a person are stereotyping without knowing the real meaning of them. Whatever the reason is for getting a tattoo be ready to get a ttention from it, it might be in a good way or in a bad way. Read MoreHow The Environment Affects A Person And Many Places1643 Words   |  7 Pagesunderstanding with what brings them peace. It has been shown that places actually do bring a certain emotion or feeling onto a person, almost like an extra sense. â€Å"Modern science is confirming that people’s thoughts, feelings and actions are indeed shaped not by just their genes and neurochemistry, history and relationships but also by their surroundings. How the environment affects a person and several places that are considered by some cultures to be sacred and discussed.† (Gallagher, 1993, p. 62) A place

Support For The Sub Primary Market Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 30 Words: 9098 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? The financial turmoil that engulfed the US during 2007-09 began in the mortgage lending markets. Indicators of the emerging problems came in early 2007 when, first, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (commonly known as Freddie Mac or Freddie) announced it would no longer purchase high-risk mortgages and, second, New Century Financial Corporation a leading mortgage lender to riskier customers filed for bankruptcy. The crisis set in as house prices started to fall and the number of foreclosures rose dramatically. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Support For The Sub Primary Market Finance Essay" essay for you Create order This in turn caused credit rating agencies to downgrade their risk assessments of asset-backed financial instruments in mid-2007. The increased risk restricted the ability of the issuers of these financial products to pay interest, and reflected the realisation that the bursting of the US housing and credit bubbles would entail unforeseen losses for asset-backed financial instruments. Between the third quarter of 2007 and the second quarter of 2008, $1.9tr of mortgage-backed curities received downgrades to reflect the reassessment of their risk. This represented an immediate and severe dislocation of the financial markets.The odds are only about 1 in 10,000 that a bond will go from the highest grade, AAA, to the low-quality CCC level during a calendar year. So imagine investors surprise on Aug. 21 when, in a single day, SP slashed its ratings on two sets of AAA bonds backed by residential mortgage securities to CCC+ and CCC, instantly changing their status from top quality to pure junk. Amidst continuing tight credit markets, 5mortgage and financial firms received support from the Federal Reserve (Fed) through short-term lending facilities and auctions for the sale of mortgage-related financial products. However, such actions were unable to prevent rapid falls in asset prices as institutions sought to relieve themselves of these risky burdens and replenish their risk-weighted 6capital ratios. Mortgage lender Countrywide Financial was bought by Bank of America for $4bn in January 2008, while many other firms had their credit ratings downgraded  [1]  . It would have been hard, even a few months prior to the collapse of Lehman Brothers, to anticipate the impact that the global financial crisis would have on the Indian economy. This is because the Indian banking system did not have any direct exposure to subprime mortgage assets or any significant exposure to the failed institutions, and the recent growth had been driven predominantly by domestic consu mption and investment. And yet, the extent to which the global crisis impacted India was dismaying, spreading through all channels the financial channel, the real channel and the confidence channel. The reason why India was hit by the crisis was because of its rapid and growing integration into the global economy.  [2] CHAPTER 1 GLOBAL CRISIS; ITS ROOT CAUSES The global economic crisis that began in 2007 was largely unexpected. Just before the crisis, the IMF in its bi-annual World Economic Outlook announced that risks to the global economy had become extremely low, given that capital inflows pushed up borrowing and asset prices, while reducing spreads on risky assets. 9 Also, since 2000, the world economy had continuously expanded at high rates. High growth of the world economy was spread across advanced, emerging and developing countries and allowed unemployment and poverty to decline (Figure 1). High demand from fast-growing developing and emerging markets led to high commodity prices that benefited growth in natural resource-rich countries. 1980-1999 200-2008 Here blue colour shows world, whereas red is for advanced economy and green is of emerging and developing economy. The Great ModerationÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬- was considered to be the result of several developments: for one, business and financial deregulation as w ell as financial innovation had created a more flexible and adaptable economic system. Financial assets were considered to be less risky than before, giving rise to higher levels of financial intermediation which in turn helped fuel growth as well as greater financial innovation, especially through hedge funds. Volatility of business cycles had also declined because the world experienced abundant liquidity-partly reflecting surplus savings in a number of emerging markets-giving the false sense that stability was due to some structural improvement in the financial system. Also, growing globalization and free trade, partly boosted by Chinas entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001, as well as the buoyant growth of China and other newly emerging economies was expected to keep inflation at bay even as global growth accelerated  [3]  . Causes of the financial turmoil The US housing market ; Creation of a housing bubble  [4] US house prices rose dramatically from 1998 until late 2005, more than doubling over this period (see Chart 2), and far faster than average wages. Further support for the existence of a bubble came from the ratio of house prices to renting costs which rocketed upwards around 1999. Furthermore, Yale economist Robert Schiller found that inflation-adjusted house prices had remained relatively constant over the period 1899-1995. Pointing to the escalation in house prices and marked regional disparities. The rise in house prices reflected large increases in demand for housing and happened despite a rise in the supply of housing. The significant increase in the demand for housing is attributed to a number of factors. Low interest rate Sustained low interest rates from 1999 until 2004 made adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) appear very attractive to potential buyers. At least in part, low interest rates were driven by the large current account deficit run by the USA, mirrored by capital inflows from countries like China which avidly purchased US Treasury bonds , but also the decision (justified by a new economic paradigm) on the part of the Fed to keep interestrates lower than in similar previous scenarios. The Fed and many of the worlds other leading central banks continued to pump liquidity into credit markets to ensure credit would continue to flow at low rates of interest. Support for the sub primary market  [5] There is strong evidence to suggest that, in many parts of the US, it had become a lot easier, and cheaper, to receive a mortgage. A Federal Reserve study found that the gap between the interest rates facing the sub-prime and prime markets, Americas most and least risky borrowers, fell dramatically from 2.8% in 2001 to 1.3% in 2007. Mortgage lenders who had previously sold their subprime loans on to Fannie and Freddie were threatening to bypass the middle-man and sell straight to the banks who sought to bundle up the loans into profitable securities. This activity posed a serious risk of moral hazard. As mortgage lenders became more profitable, selling riskier loans became more attractive as banks could sell on these mortgages. Empirically, this process of securitisation has been associated with a decline in credit quality. Accordingly, they devised teaser schemes with initially low-interest rates or even interest-free mortgages to attract buyers who saw it as a chance to cast a bet on the continuation of the inexorable rise in house prices. The initial lower rate period was also attractive for the banks as it gave them time to sell on mortgages before they defaulted. In addition, down payments were reduced, mortgages increasingly required little or no documentation or proof of income, and in some cases required no income, job or asset at all to qualify for a mortgage. In spite of its legal mandate to regulate abusive lending practices, the Fed failed to prevent such predatory lending. It is also likely that many of the mortgages were underpinned by fraudulent activity perhaps up to 70% in the case of some lenders . Speculations  [6] The upward rise in house prices was accentuated by property speculation. In some markets, 10% to 15% of buyers were speculators. Speculative activity was exacerbated by the USs comparatively generous foreclosure rules: unlike in the UK, where foreclosure is likely to result in personal bankruptcy, homeowners in the US can generally just walk away from their home and mortgage. Consequences Together, these factors created a huge housing bubble. By 2005-06, the value of subprime mortgages relative to total new mortgages was estimated at 20% as opposed to less than 7% in 2001. Subprime mortgage lending rose from $180bn in 2001 to $625bn in 2005. New Alt-A mortgages, the risk level between subprime and prime, had risen from 2% in 2001 to 14% by 2006. Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, valued the housing bubble at $8 trillion. The collapse of the bubble By 2006 a number of factors had conspired to burst the bubble. First, average hourly wages in the US had remained stagnant or declined since 2002 until 2009; in real terms this represented a decline. Consequently, prices could not continue to rise as housing became increasingly unaffordable. Second, growth in housing supply tracked price rises. 5While prices were able to withstand this downward pressure until 2005, once demand had subsided excess supply exacerbated the sharp fall in prices. Third, as interest rates rose to a peak of 5.25%, ARMs became less attractive and effectively removed many non-prime prospective buyers from the market in the first half of 2006, the Mortgage Bankers Association found the value, and total number, of subprime mortgages to be down 30% on the second half of 2005. Fourth, as personal saving from disposable income fell below zero, fewer households had the requisite finance to support increases in debtThe collapse in house prices affected the ability, and the willingness, of mortgage owners to meet their payments. In some cases, house-owners with ARMs simply could not face the rise in their payments resulting from the steep rise in the Fed funds rate. As house prices fell, the options of either selling the property or re-financing the mortgage also diminished. This unfortunate position was exacerbated by the decline in the net savings rate, which meant homeowners had fewer financial reserves to help themselves. In other cases, there existed an incentive to voluntarily foreclose where the value of the house (and future gains associated with a stronger credit rating) was smaller than the value of the outstanding mortgage because of generous foreclosure legislation The rise in interest rates and fall in property values had a particularly damaging impact on those with ARMs. Consequently, 2007 and 2008 saw significant rises in delinquency and foreclosures. Serious mortgage delinquency rates rose in both the prime a nd subprime markets, although the latters rise from just over 6% in 2006 to 18% in 2008 was particularly salient. The number of properties subject to foreclosure filings rose by 79% in 2006 to reach 1.3m in 2007, and increased by a further 81% to 2.3m in 2008 (a 225% increase on 2006). The expansion of credit to risky borrowers in the US extended beyond the housing market. Although mortgages were the largest single component, the value of non-mortgage asset-backed loans also grew considerably; accordingly, the issuance of asset-backed securities. (ABSs) quadrupled from 2001 to reach $1.3tr in 2006. These ABSs had gone through the same securitisation process as mortgage-backed securities (see below) and were thus equally vulnerable to collapses in the value of their underlying assets  [7]  . The role of the financial industry The web of financial instruments The problems that arose from the housing bubble multiplied exponentially because of the manner in which they were re-packaged and distributed to the global financial markets. Complex innovations designed to maximise efficiency and profits by allocating risk to those happiest to bear it revolutionised finance in the mid 1990s. 67 The genesis of mortgage loans generally followed an intricate process where the initial loans were passed through a number of agents, and ended up scattered across financial markets  [8]  . The securitization process At the first stage in the process a household buys a mortgage from a mortgage lender. A rate of interest, fixed or variable, is agreed to be paid to the mortgage lender over a given period of time. The long-term interest rate is assessed on the basis of their credit history and score, and is greater where the risk of default is believed to be higher. At stage 2, the mortgage lender relieves himself of the risk of default by selling the mortgage on to a mortgage banker. Traditionally, mortgage bankers like Fannie and Freddie would issue bonds to purchase mortgages and sell the loans in parcels to the market. However, the innovative new financial process saw the mortgage banker in turn sell the mortgage on for a profit to an investment banker. This third stage may not occur where a mortgage bank also served the function of an investment bank as was the case with Fannie and Freddie. Diagram 1 provides an overview of the process. Overview of the financial process Household mortgageStage 1 Mortgage LenderStage 2 Mortgage BankerStage 3 InvestmentBanker/Underwriter-Stage 4 Credit Rating AgencyStage 5 Investor- Insurer Stage 6 At the fourth stage, the investment banker collects a large number of mortgages (or structured mortgage-based financial products) that it underwrites for the purpose of creating a security it can sell to investors. Using complicated financial instruments, investment bankers would pool together a large number (usually between 1,000 and 25,000) of mortgages into a security known as a mortgage-backed security (MBS) or a collateralised debt obligation (CDO) where the security could contain different types of assets including mortgages as collateral. By pooling together large numbers of assets, these securities dramatically reduced the risk of total default although maintained the same expected return (and risk-neutral credit spread ). Even where defaults occurred the owner would still receive returns from the acquired collateral (usually the house itself). A host of more complicated synthetic products such as CDO-squared were backed by the original securities, and were sold in a simila r manner. The MBSs and CDOs varied in composition and form but yielded returns either cash flows over time or market value depending upon their risk profiles It is at stage 5 where the risk profile was generally calculated: credit rating agencies (CRAs) would make their risk assessment of these assets and their different tranches, and this would price the security offered to the market by the investment banks but would also serve to inform risk-weighted capital requirements under the Basel II capital framework. Given that 80% of subprime MBSs were rated AAA (the highest credit rating level) and 95% at a least grade A, the securities appeared to be highly attractive investments, liable to offer generous returns which could be marked as low-risk assets on a firms balance sheet. Once rated, the securities were either kept by investment banks as investments or collateral or parcelled off and purchased by investors including other banks, hedge funds and pension funds, as part of t heir asset portfolios  [9]  . The issuer would also receive a fee for managing the asset. Economist Markus Brunnermeier finds that pension funds generally purchased the safest tranches, hedge funds purchased riskier portions and the issuer retained the riskiest tranches for monitoring purposes. Selling such a security can benefit the issuer by providing cheap and diverse financing and removing risky assets from the balance sheet. The use of credit derivatives Banks needed to manage their risk and to meet their Basel capital requirements. Consequently, they sought protection against the riskiest securities issued in stage. This came in the form of a financial derivative called a credit default swap (CDS) which, in return for a fraction of the potentially large return, insured the holder of the MBS or CDO against the risk of default. The existence of naked CDSs CDS contracts where neither party actually held the underlying asset created fertile ground for speculation on a firms future creditworthiness as well as risk management. Insurance firms like AIG could make as many CDSs as they wished given that the market was unregulated. The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 specified that CDSs were not defined as insurance, securities or futures contracts (and therefore went unregulated). As long as the insurer remained AAA-rated, they did not need to put up any collateral; moreover, CDSs could be posted as profits immediately usi ng default probabilities based on recent experience. Given that the CDS market contained considerable speculation upon the outcomes of the insurance/swap contracts, this ensured that derivatives traders across the world spread risks across an even broader spectrum of investors. Broadening the appeal of the process The process quickly grew in popularity as it promised significant profits at each stage. It is pertinent to note that throughout this chain each actor is betting on the same favourable outcome. Opportunities for involvement were magnified by a number of factors. In April 2004, a ruling by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) permitted large investment banks to borrow more, and thereby allowing them to purchase and sell on more of the MBSs which were believed to offer excellent low-risk returns. This saw the investment banks raise their leverage ratios from the traditional level of approximately 12 dollars ofdebt for every 1 dollar of equity as high as 40 to 1 . In conjunction, investors began adopting a more complacent approach to risk, having seen the Fed respond to previous asset bubbles by supporting liquidity injections. In the words of then President Bush, Wall Street got drunk. Riskier prospects were particularly attractive at a time when bond yields had been driven down by low interest rates and the significant investment by China, among others, in US Treasury bonds. Moreover, mortgage brokers knew that the issuers of securities could sell almost any mortgage on the market, and accordingly this encouraged lenders to provide more loans. Lehman Brothers, for example, appeared to encourage generous lending standards and fraudulent activity at the mortgage lending firms (such as First Alliance) it had acquired. This cycle ensured that the market in MBSs, CDOs and CDSs reached vast proportions by 2007 MBSs valued at more than $2tr were issued into the bond market; CDOs were issued to the value of $521bn; although 90% of the CDS m arket was based on speculative bets, its notional value 88 soared to $62tr by December 2007. The housing crash and the finance industry  [10] As the bubble burst, two key features endangered the returns from mortgage-backed assets: first, default meant that a large cash flow was halted; second, the housing collateral on which this was based saw a significant depreciation. Although the collapse of the subprime market cost the economy more than $1tr, the damage was greatly magnified by the web of financial instruments constructed around it or the chain reaction as US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson described it. Underpinning the complex financial instruments were a number of problems that broadened the collapse of the housing market to the financial sector as a whole. First, the formal and informal risk analysis underpinning the actions of each of the actors in Diagram 1 failed to accommodate the collapse of the housing bubble. Many models failed to integrate common shocks, and paid too little attention to unlikely but highlycostly tail risks. Moreover, the formal statistical models used in the banks, CRAs, insurance firms and regulators made predictions which relied upon historical housing data generally only going back as far as two decades and which failed to reflect the relaxation of credit standards. Second, the credit ratings recommended by the CRAs may have suffered from inadequate risk analysis, conflicts of interests and a lack of competition. Third, the regulatory bodies failed to effectively oversee such activity and detect risks to the system. Many large, and systemically important, institutions had substantially increased their leverage both on and off their balance sheets. As leverage ratios reached50 in some cases, the potential losses associated with even a small fall in asset values increased dramatically. The new dynamic was particularly marked among the five large US investment banks following the SECs 2004 rule change, and especially so at Bear Stearns where its leverage ratio reached 40 to 1  [11]  . The financial crisis quickly spread to affect the US and world s real economy. Whether or not financial losses and uncertainty induced an irrational fear of further defaults (or hysteresis, in economic terminology), suspicion of financial firms ensured that interbank lending rates soared. In addition, banks and hedge funds experienced runs from depositors seeking to redeem their investments; this, in turn, required financial institutions to de-leverage further. Banks, without knowing the value of their assets, became uncertain of their lending capacities and became increasingly reluctant to make loans to institutions of uncertain creditworthiness. Firms that had used MBSs and CDOs as collateral for asset-backed commercial paper essentially a short-term loan agreement engaged in by banks and corporations could no longer receive the necessary loans as interest rate spreads spiked. Following the failure of the seemingly impregnable Lehman and AIG, money markets became highly conservative in their short-term lending. Consequently, a credit crisis developed which damaged firms in the real sector which relied upon loans for credit as well as financial firms needing large loans to increase their liquidity  [12]  . CHAPTER 2 POLICY RESPONSE FOR FINANACIAL CRISIS Severity of the 2008-2009 Recession The 2008-2009 recession was long and deep, and according to several indicators was the most severe economic contraction since the 1930s (but still much less severe than the Great Depression) . The slowdown of economic activity was moderate through the first half of 2008, but at that point the weakening economy was overtaken by a major financial crisis that would exacerbate the economic weakness and accelerate the decline. When the fall of economic activity finally bottomed out in the second half of 2009, real gross domestic product (GDP) had contracted by approximately 5.1%, or by about $680 billion. At this point the output gap-the difference between what the economy could produce and what it actually produced-widened to an estimated 8.1%. The decline in economic activity was much sharper than in the nine previous post-war recessions, in which the fall of real GDP averaged about 2.0% and the output gap increased to near 4.0%. However, the recent decline falls well short of the experience during the Great Depression, when real GDP decreased by 30% and the output gap probably exceeded 40%. As output decreased the unemployment rate increased, rising from 4.6% in 2007 to a peak of 10.1% in October 2009, and remaining only slightly below that high into 2011. The U.S. unemployment rate has not been at this level since 1982, when in the aftermath of the 1981 recession it reached 10.8%, the highest rate of the post-war period. (During the Great epression the unemployment rate reached 25%.) This rise in the unemployment rate translates to about 7 million persons put out of work during the recession. Another 8.5 million workers have been pushed involuntarily into part-time employment. The recession was intertwined with a major financial crisis that exacerbated the negative effects on the economy. Falling stock and house prices led to a large decline in household wealth (net worth), which plummeted by more than $12 trillion or about 20% during 2008 and 2009. I n addition, the financial panic led to an explosion of risk premiums (i.e., compensation to investors for accepting extra risk over relatively risk-free investments such as U.S. Treasury securities) that froze the flow of credit to the economy, crimping credit-supported spending by consumers, such as for automobiles, as well as business spending on new plant and equipment. The negative shocks the economy received in 2008 and 2009 were, arguably, more severe than what occurred in 1929. However, unlike in 1929, the severe negative impulses did not turn a recession into a depression, arguably because timely and sizable policy responses by the government helped to support aggregate spending and stabilize the financial system.6 That stimulative economic policies would have this beneficial effect on a collapsing economy is consistent with standard macroeconomic theory, but without the counterfactual of the economys path in the absence of these policies, it is difficult to establish wit h precision how effective these policies were  [13]  . Policy Responses to the Financial Crisis and Recession Both monetary and fiscal policies as well as some extraordinary measures were applied to counter the economic decline. This policy response is thought to have forestalled a more severe economic contraction, helping to turn the economy into the incipient economic recovery by mid-2009. These policies are likely continuing to stimulate economic activity into 2014 Monetary Policy Actions To bolster the liquidity of the financial system and stimulate the economy, during 2008 and 2009 the Federal Reserve (Fed) aggressively applied conventional monetary stimulus by lowering the federal funds rate to near zero and boldly expanding its lender of last resort role, creating new lending programs to better channel needed liquidity to the financial system and induce greater confidence among lenders. Following the worsening of the financial crisis in September 2008, the Fed grew its balance sheet by lending to the financial system. Between September and November 2008, the Feds balance sheet more than doubled, increasing from under $1 trillion to more than $2 trillion. By the beginning of 2009, demand for loans from the Fed was falling as financial conditions normalized. Had the Fed done nothing to offset the fall in lending, the balance sheet would have shrunk by a commensurate amount, and the stimulus that it had added to the economy would have been withdrawn. In the spri ng of 2009, the Fed judged that the economy, which remained in a recession, still needed stimulus. On March 18, 2009, the Fed announced a commitment to purchase $300 billion of Treasury securities, $200 billion of Agency debt (later revised to $175 billion), and $1.25 trillion of Agency mortgage-backed securities. The Feds planned purchases of Treasury securities were completed by the fall of 2009 and planned Agency purchases were completed by the spring of 2010. At this point, the Feds balance sheet stood at just above  [14]  . Fiscal Policy Actions Congress and the Bush Administration enacted the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-185). This act was a $120 billion package that provided tax rebates to households and accelerated depreciation rules for business. Congress and the Obama Administration passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA; P.L. 111-5). This was a $787 billion package with $286 billion of tax cuts and $501 billion of spending increases that relative to what would have happened without ARRA is estimated to have raised real GDP between 1.5% and 4.2% in 2010 but will increase real GDP by a smaller amount in 2011 and an even smaller amount in 2012. In terms of extraordinary measures, Congress and the Bush Administration passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-343), creating the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). TARP authorized the Treasury to use up to $700 billion to directly bolster the capital position of banks or to remove troubled assets from bank bal ance sheets. Congress was an active participant in the emergence of these policy responses and has an ongoing interest in macroeconomic conditions. Current macroeconomic concerns include whether the economy is in a sustained recovery, rapidly reducing unemployment, speeding a return to normal output and employment growth, and addressing governments long-term debt problem  [15]  . Is Sustained Economic Recovery Underway? Evidence indicates that the economy, as measured by real GDP growth, began to recover in mid-2009. However, the pace of growth has been slow and uneven with a pronounced deceleration evident during 2011. During 2009 and 2010, growth had been sustained by transitory factors, such as fiscal stimulus and the rebuilding of inventories by business. Economic growth in 2010 showed signs of being generated by more sustainable forces, but the strength of those forces continues to be uneven, and a slowing of growth during 2011 prompted concern about the recoverys sustainability. The economy began to recover in mid-2009. For the remainder of 2009 and through 2010, real GDP (i.e., GDP adjusted for inflation) increased at an annualized rate of 3.0%. However, during 2011 growth slowed to 1.6% and in the first quarter of 2012 that pace improved only slightly to 2.2%. In comparison to previous economic recoveries, growth at 3.0% is relatively weak, but is fast enough to at least make slow progr ess at reducing the large output gap and at reducing unemployment. However, growth at less than a 2% annual rate may not be fast enough to close the output gap and keep the unemployment rate from rising. Through 2010, much of the economys upward momentum was sustained by the transitory factors of inventory increases and fiscal stimulus. Sustainable recovery would depend on more enduring sources of demand, such as consumers spending and businesses reviving, and providing momentum to the recovery. While business investment spending has been relatively brisk during the recovery, consumer spending was relatively tepid in 2011. Weak consumer spending along with the rapidly fading effects of fiscal stimulus and weaker growth in Europe raises concern about the sustainability of U.S. economic recovery in 2012  [16]  . Credit conditions have improved, making getting loans easier for consumers and businesses, loosening a constraint on many types of credit supported expenditures. The Fe ds survey of senior loan officers indicates that, on net, bank lending standards and terms continued to ease during 2011 and that the demand for commercial and industrial loans had increased. Manufacturing activity is increasing. Through March 2012, output had increased 3.8% over a year earlier and capacity utilization has risen from a low of 65% in mid-2009 to 77.8%. (A capacity utilization rate of 80% 85% would be typical for a fully recovered economy.) Since mid-2009, non-farm payroll employment has increased by about 3.1 million jobs. Monthly gains have been consistently positive since late 2010, but often not at a scale characteristic of a strong recovery. Recent months have seen employment gains steadily falling, down from 275,000 workers in January 2012 to 115,000 workers in April 2012. The stock market has rebounded and interest rate spreads on corporate bonds have narrowed. The Dow Jones stock index had plunged to near 6500 in March 2009 but through April 2012 had regained about 90% of its lost capitalization. Spreads on investment grade corporate bonds, a measure of the lenders perception of risk and creditworthiness of borrowers, have fallen from a high of 600 basis points in December 2008 to less than 100 basis points in 2012. China, Asias other emerging economies, and Latin America are growing rapidly, which is transmitting a positive growth impulse to the United States by boosting demand for U.S. exports. Also the dollar is very competitive from a historical perspective, adding support to U.S. exports  [17]  . On the other hand, significant economic weakness remains evident. In the third quarter of 2011, the economy had regained its prerecession level of output. But it took 15 quarters to accomplish this as compared to 5 quarters on average in previous post-war recoveries. However, since potential GDP has also continued to grow, the output gap over this time period has only narrowed from about 8.1% to 6.1%. Consumer spen ding, the usual engine of a strong economic recovery, remains tepid, generally slowed by households ongoing need to rebuild substantial net worth lost during the housing crisis and the recession, continued high unemployment and underemployment, and a surge in energy prices in the first half of 2012. Employment conditions remain weak. The unemployment rate, which had peaked at 10.1% in October of 2009, has only fallen to 8.1% in April 2012. However, much of this improvement occurred during 2010, with essentially no net improvement during 2011, because economic growth in 2011 was only just fast enough to keep the unemployment rate from rising. This high rate of unemployment after more than two years of economic recovery is unusual and a source of concern. Also some of the fall of the unemployment rate does not reflect people finding jobs, rather it is caused by discouraged workers leaving the labor force. Another measure of labor market conditions, the employment to population rati o, which is not affected by changes in labor force participation, shows a labor market that is essentially treading water. During the recession that ratio fell from 63% to 58%, and it has remained near that low through nearly three years of economic recovery. The housing market remains depressed. Mortgage loan foreclosures continue to rise, house prices are still falling in many regions, and millions of mortgage holders are under-water, with the market value of their house below the amount of their mortgage. Beyond the direct effect on economic activity through lower rates of new construction, housing market weakness has a strong negative indirect effect on the balance sheets of households and banks. The sharp fall in household net worth caused by the fall of house prices has been an important factor dampening current consumer spending and the pace of overall economic recovery. Growth in the Euro area has been weak and fiscal austerity measures to stem the growth of public deb t have likely pushed the region back into recession, slowing growth there further. Slower growth in Europe, a major U.S. export market, will likely transmit a contractionary impulse to the United States, which could slow the pace of the U.S. recovery  [18]  . The Shape of Economic Recovery In the typical post-war business cycle, lower than normal growth of aggregate demand during the recession is quickly followed by a recovery period with above normal growth of spending, perhaps spurred by some degree of monetary and fiscal stimulus. The degree of acceleration of growth in the first two to three years of recovery has varied across post-war business cycles, but has been at an annual pace in a range of 4% to 8%.This above normal growth brings the economy back more quickly to the pre-recession growth path and speeds up the reentry of the unemployed to the workforce. Once the level of aggregate demand approaches the level of potential GDP (or full employment), the economy returns to its pre-recession growth path, where the growth of aggregate spending is slower because it is constrained by the growth of aggregate supply, which in recent years is estimated to have been at an annual pace of near 3.0%. (A subsequent section of the report looks more closely at aggregate s upply.) There is concern, however, that this time the U.S. economy, without supporting stimulus from policy actions, will either not return to its pre-recession growth path, perhaps remain permanently below it, or return to the pre-crisis path but at a slower than normal pace, or worse, dip into a second recession. Below normal growth would almost certainly translate into below normal recovery of employment, whereas a second round of recession could increase the already high unemployment rate. The next sections of this report discuss problems on the supply side and the demand side of the economy that could lead to a weaker than normal recovery  [19]  . CHAPTER3 IMPACT ON INDIAN ECONOMY Impact of the international crisis on the Indian financial system It would have been hard, even a few months prior to the collapse of Lehman Brothers, to anticipate the impact that the global financial crisis would have on the Indian economy. This is because the Indian banking system did not have any direct exposure to sub prime mortgage assets or any significant exposure to the failed institutions, and the recent growth had been driven predominantly by domestic consumption and investment. And yet, the extent to which the global crisis impacted India was dismaying, spreading through all channels the financial channel, the real channel and the confidence channel. The reason why India was hit by the crisis was because of its rapid and growing integration into the global economy. Under the impact of external demand shock, there was a moderation in growth in the second half of 2008-09 compared to the robust growth of 8.8% per annum in the preceding five years. The deceleration was more noticeable in the negative growth in industrial output in Q4 2008-09 the first decline since the 1990s. The transmission of external demand shock was severe on export growth, which deteriorated from a peak rate of about 40% in Q2 2008-09 to (-)22 per cent in Q4, ie the first contraction since 2001-02. Simultaneously, domestic aggregate demand also moderated due to a sharp deceleration in the growth of private consumption demand  [20]  . With regard to financial markets, India witnessed a reversal of capital inflows following the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Due to a heavy sell-off by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) there was a significant downward movement in the domestic stock markets. The withdrawal by FIIs and the reduced access of Indian entities to external funds exerted significant pressure on dollar liquidity in the domestic foreign exchange (FX) market. This created adverse expectations on the balance of payments (BOP) outlook, leading to downward pressure on the Indian rupee and increased FX market volatility. While th e banking system was sound and well capitalised, some segments of the financial system such as mutual funds (MFs) and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) came under pressure due to reduced foreign funding and a subdued capital market. Moreover, the demand for bank credit increased due to the drying up of external sources. Against this backdrop, the Reserve Bank of India stepped in with liquidity-supplying measures both in the rupee and in foreign currency and the government implemented fiscal stimulus measures, a more detailed account of which is given below  [21]  . Indias balance of payments in 2008-09 captured the spread of the global crisis to India (see Table 1). The current account deficit during 2008-09 shot up to 2.6 percent of GDP from 1.5 percent of GDP in 2007-08 (Table 1). And this is the highest level of current account deficit for India since 1990-91 (Chart 1). The capital account surplus dropped from a record high of 9.3 percent of GDP in 2007-08 to 0.9 p ercent of GDP. And this is lowest level of capital account surplus since 1981-82. The year ended with a decline in reserves of US$ 20.1 billion (inclusive of valuation changes) against a record rise in reserves of US$ 92.2 billion for 2007-08. Impact of the global financial crisis on different markets 1. local money markets, Although the direct impact of the sub prime crisis both on Indian banks and on the financial sector was almost negligible because of their limited exposure to the troubled assets, the prudential policies put in place by the Reserve Bank and the relatively low presence of foreign banks in the Indian banking sector, there was a sudden change in the external environment following the failure of Lehman Brothers in mid-September 2008. The knock-on effects of the global financial crisis manifested themselves not only as reversals in capital inflows but also in adverse market expectations, causing a sharp correction in asset prices on the back of sell-offs in the equity market by FIIs and exchange rate pressures  [22]  . The withdrawal of funds from the Indian equity markets, as in the case of other emerging market economies (EMEs) and the reduced access of Indian entities to international market funds exerted significant pressure on dollar liquidity in the domestic FX market. With a view to maintaining orderly conditions in the FX market which had become very volatile, the Reserve Bank scaled up its intervention operations, particularly in October 2008. However, the FX market remained orderly in 2009-10 with the rupee exhibiting a two-way movement against major currencies. Indian financial markets, particularly banks, have continued to function normally. However, the cumulative effect of the Reserve Banks operations in the FX market as well as transient local factors such as the build-up in government balances following quarterly advance tax payments had an adverse impact on domestic liquidity conditions in September and October 2008. Consequently, in the money market the call money rate breached the upper bound of the informal Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) corridor during mid-September-October 2008. However, as a result of the slew of measures initiated by the Reserve Bank (referred to in detail below) the money market rates declined and have re mained below the upper bound of the LAF corridor since November 2008. In the current financial year, the call rate has thus far hovered around the lower bound of the informal LAF corridor. The indirect impact of the global financial turmoil was also evident in the activity in the certificate of deposit (CD) market. The outstanding amount of CDs issued by scheduled commercial banks (SCBs), after increasing between March and September 2008, declined thereafter until December 2008 as the global financial market turmoil intensified. With the easing of liquidity conditions, the CD volumes picked up in the last quarter of 2008-09. The weighted average discount rate (WADR) of CDs, which had increased with the tightening of liquidity conditions, started declining from December 2008 onwards. Commercial paper market developments were similar. As explained above, the rates in the unsecured (call) market went above the LAF corridor from mid-September to October 2008 as a consequence of th e liquidity pressure in the domestic market. The rates in the collateralised money market (Collateralised Borrowing and Lending Obligation (CBLO) and repo markets) moved in tandem but remained below the call rate  [23]  . 2.Repo Market The Indian repo markets were broadly unaffected by the global financial crisis. Currently, only government securities are permitted for repo and a select set of participants (regulated entities) is permitted to participate in repos. All repo transactions are novated by the Clearing Corporation of India and settled on a guaranteed basis. The interbank repo markets continued to function, without freezing, during the period of global financial turmoil. During the period June-October 2008, the repo volumes fell marginally but subsequently recovered. There was no incidence of settlement failure during the global financial crisis. 3.Money Market The total volume in the money market segments decreased during September and October 2008. In October 2008, the decrease was more pronounced in the collateralised segment compared to the uncollateralised segment. The volume in the call market actually increased in October 2008. Moreover, the average daily amount of liquidity injected into the banking system through the LAF increased substantially during September and October 2008. The total money market average daily volume increased after December 2008 and was around Indian rupee (INR) 800 billion in March 2009 and around INR 900 billion in October 2009. 4.Security market The Indian government securities markets have been broadly insulated from the global financial crisis. There has been no incidence of settlement failure or default. The muted impact of the global crisis on the Indian government securities markets can be attributed, nter alia, to the calibrated opening of the markets to foreign players. Internationally, it has been observed that capital flows to EMEs dried up during the crisis period on account of the flight to safety, despite the interest rate differentials. In the Indian context, however, the investment limits for FIIs in the Indian government securities markets have been put in place to contain the volatility and are being revised in a calibrated manner, taking into consideration macroeconomic factors. Currently, the investment limit for FIIs is USD 5 billion and its utilisation is about 62.60% (as of 9 October 2009).The yields began to firm up in March 2008, tracking the policy rates in the wake of inflationary pressures and the benchmark 10-year yield reached a peak of 9.48% in mid-July 2008 (see the chart below). The failure of Lehman Brothers and the subsequent global developments followed by sharp reductions in policy rates (the repo rate was reduced from 9.00% to 4.75% during the period October 2008-April 2009 and the reverse repo rate was reduced from 6.00% to 3.25% during the period December 2008-April 2009) resulted in a softening of government security yields coupled with higher turnover in the secondary market. However, the increased borrowing requirements by the central and state governments on account of various countercyclical fiscal measures taken to stimulate the economy resulted in a huge supply of government securities impacting on the interest rates. The benchmark 10-year yield, which had touched a low of 5.27% on 31 December 2008, rose to around 7.41% during early September 2009 on account of concerns over excess supply and inflationary expectations  [24]  . CHAPTER 4 INDIAS TCTICS FOR FACING THIS CRISIS The Reserve Bank subsequently employed a combination of measures involving monetary easing and the use of innovative debt management tools such as synchronising the Market Stabilisation Scheme (MSS) buyback auctions and open market purchases with the governments normal market borrowings and de-sequestering of MSS balances. By appropriately timing the release of liquidity to the financial system to coincide with the auctions of government securities, the Reserve Bank ensured a relatively smooth conduct of the governments market borrowing programme, resulting in a decline in the cost of borrowings during 2008-09 for the first time in five years  [25]  . In 2008-09, the Indian rupee, with significant intra year variation, generally depreciated against major currencies except the pound sterling on account of the widening of trade and current account deficits as well as capital outflows. The rupee exhibited greater two-way movements in 2008-09. For example, it moved between INR 3 9.89 and INR 52.09 per US dollar. The FX market remained orderly during 2009-10, with the rupee exhibiting a two-way movement against major currencies. In the current financial year, the rupee appreciated by 9.7% against the US dollar and 2.6% against the Japanese yen, whereas it depreciated by 5.7% against the pound sterling and 3.2% against the euro. In terms of the real exchange rate, the six-currency trade-based real effective exchange rate (REER) (1993-94 = 100) moved up from 96.3 at end-March 2009 to 104.2 by 23 October 2009  [26]  . Following the intensification of the global financial crisis in September 2008, the Reserve Bank implemented both conventional and unconventional policy measures in order to proactively mitigate the adverse impact of the global financial crisis on the Indian economy  [27]  . The thrust of the various policy initiatives by the Reserve Bank since September 2008 has been on providing ample rupee liquidity, ensuring comfortable dol lar liquidity and maintaining a market environment conducive to the continued flow of credit to productive sectors. For this purpose, the Reserve Bank used a variety of instruments at its command such as the repo and reverse repo rates, the cash reserve ratio (CRR), the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR), open market operations, including the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF), the MSS, special market operations and sector-specific liquidity facilities. In addition, the Reserve Bank used prudential tools to modulate the flow of credit to certain sectors consistent with financial stability. The availability of multiple instruments and the flexible use of those instruments in the implementation of monetary policy enabled the Reserve Bank to modulate the liquidity and interest rate conditions amid uncertain global macroeconomic conditions. When the global markets became dysfunctional in September 2008, the macro financial conditions remained exceptionally challenging from the standpoi nt of the implementation of the Reserve Banks policies, as it had to respond to multiple challenges, from containing inflation in the second half of 2008 to containing the deceleration in growth, preserving the soundness of banks and financial institutions, ensuring the normal functioning of the credit market and maintaining orderly conditions in the financial markets in the first half of 2009. The Reserve Bank was able to restore normalcy in the financial markets over a short period of time through its liquidity operations in both domestic and foreign currency. The evolving policy stance was increasingly conditioned by the need to preserve financial stability while arresting the moderation in the growth momentum. The Reserve Bank acted aggressively and pre-emptively on monetary policy accommodation, both through interest rate cuts and a reduction in reserve requirements in terms of both magnitude and pace  [28]  . The policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facili ty (LAF) was reduced from 9.0% to 4.75%. The policy reverse repo rate under the LAF was reduced from 6.0% to 3.25%. With receding inflationary pressures and the possibility of the global crisis affecting Indias growth prospects looming on the horizon, the Reserve Bank switched to an accommodative stance in mid-October 2008 when it reduced the CRR by 250 basis points from 9% to 6.5%. Between 11 October 2008 and 5 March 2009, the CRR was reduced by a cumulative 400 basis points to 5.0%. The statutory liquidity ratio (SLR), a legal obligation on banks to invest a certain proportion of their liabilities in specified financial assets including cash, gold and government securities (under Section 24 of the Banking Regulation Act 1949), was one of the instruments used during the crisis to modulate the liquidity conditions in the economy. Variation of the SLR has an impact on the growth of money and credit in the economy through the government debt market. Accordingly, on 1 November 2008, the SLR was reduced to 24% of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) with Effect from the fortnight beginning 8 November 2008. The liquidity situation remained comfortable from mid-November 2008 onwards, as reflected in the daily surplus being placed by banks in the LAF window of the Reserve Bank. In view of this, the SLR was restored to 25% of NDTL with effect from the fortnight beginning 7 November 2009  [29]  . The key policy initiatives taken by the Reserve Bank in response to the Developments after September 2008 to improve the availability of FX liquidity included the selling of US dollars in the market by the Reserve Bank, the opening of a new FX swap facility for banks and the raising of interest rate ceilings on non- resident repatriable deposits to attract larger inflows. A cumulative increase of 175 basis points in the interest rate ceilings on each of the aforesaid term deposits was affected between mid-September and November 2008. Banks were permitte d to borrow funds from their overseas branches and Correspondent banks to a maximum of 50% of their unimpaired Tier 1 capital or US$ 10 million, whichever was higher. The systemically important non-deposit- taking non-banking financial companies (NBFC-ND-SI) and housing finance companies (HFCs) were permitted to raise short-term foreign currency borrowings. The ceiling rate on export credit in foreign currency was raised by 250 basis points to Libor+350 basis points on 5 February 2009. Correspondingly, the ceiling interest rate on the lines of credit from overseas banks was also increased by 75 basis points to six-month Libor/euro Libor/Euribor+150 basis points. The policy on the premature buyback of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) was liberalised in December 2008, recognising the benefits accruing to Indian companies as well as to the economy on account of the depressed global markets. Under this scheme, the buyback of FCCBs by Indian companies was allowed under both the approval and the automatic routes, provided that the buyback was financed by foreign currency resources held in India or abroad and/or by fresh external commercial borrowings (ECBs) raised in conformity with the extant ECB norms and by internal accruals. Considering the continuing tightness of credit spreads in the international markets, the all-in-cost ceilings for different maturities were increased in respect of ECBs (150 to 250 basis points) as well as trade credit (75 to 150 basis points).Furthermore, the all-in-cost ceiling for ECBs under the approval route was dispensed with, initially until 30 June 2009, and later extended until 31 December 2009  [30]  . Measures were also initiated to safeguard the interests of Indias export sector which was affected by the global economic recession. The period of realisation and repatriation to India of the amount representing the full export value of goods or software exported was enhanced from six months to 12 mont hs from the date of export, subject to review after one year. Similarly, as a relief measure to importers, the limit for the direct receipt of import bills/documents from overseas suppliers was enhanced from US$ 100,000 to US$ 300,000 in the case of imports of rough diamonds and rough precious and semi-precious stones by non-status holder exporters, enabling them to reduce transaction costs  [31]  . Economic Recovery From all accounts, except for the agricultural sector initially as noted above, economic recovery seems to be well underway. Economic growth stood at 8.6 percent during fiscal year 2010-11 per the advance estimates of CSO released on February 7, 2011. GDP growth for 2009-10 per quick estimates of January 31, 2011 was placed at 8 percent. The recovery in GDP growth for 2009-10, as indicated in the estimates, was broad based. Seven out of eight sectors/sub-sectors show a growth rate of 6.5 percent or higher. The exception, as anticipated, is agriculture and allied sectors where the growth rate needs to higher and sustainable over time. Sectors including mining and quarrying; manufacturing; and electricity, gas and water supply have significantly improved their growth rates at over 8 percent in comparison with 2008-09. When compared to countries across the world, India stands out as one of the best performing economies. Although there was a clear moderation in growth from 9 percent levels to 7+ percent soon after the crisis hit, in 2010-11, at 8.6 percent, GDP growth in nearing the pre-crisis levels and this pace makes India the fastest growing major economy after China. In order for Indias growth to be much more inclusive than what it has been, much higher level of public spending is needed in sectors, such as health and education along with the implementation of sectoral reforms so as to ensure timely and efficient service delivery. Plan allocations for 2010-11 for the social sectors have been stepped up, as can be seen from the figures below, this process however needs to be strengthened and sustained over time. As expected, the measures undertaken by government of India to counter the effects of the global meltdown on the Indian economy have resulted in shortfall in revenues and substantial increases in government expenditures, leading to deviation from the fiscal consolidation path mandated under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRB M) Act. The gross tax to GDP ratio which increased to an all time high of 12 percent in 2007-08, thanks to the conomy riding on a high growth trajectory, has steadily declined to 10.9 percent in 2008-09 and 10.3 per cent in 2009-10 due to moderation in growth and reduction in tax/duty rates. At the same time, total expenditure as percentage of GDP has increased from 14.4 percent in 2007-08 to 15.9 percent in 2008-09 and 16.6 percent in 2009-10. The fiscal expansion in the last 2 years has resulted in higher fiscal deficit of 6 percent of GDP in 2008-09 and 6.7 percent in 2009-10. Moreover, the revenue deficit as percentage ofGDP has worsened to 4.5 percent and 5.3 percent in 2008-09 and 2009-10 respectively. The revenue deficit and fiscal deficit in 2009-2010 are higher than the targets set under the FRBM Act and Rules. the deviation from the mandate under FRBM Act and Rules was resorted to with the objective of keeping the economy on a high growth trajectory amidst global slo wdown by creating demand through increased public expenditures in identified sectors. While the intent of the government, it says is to bring the fiscal deficit under control with institutional reform measures encompassing all aspects of fiscal management such as subsidies, taxes, disinvestment and other expenditures as indicated in the Budget 2009-10, there is unfortunately no movement on any of these fronts, Considering the current inflationary strains, the as yet excessive pre-emption of the communitys savings by the government, the potential for crowding out the requirements of the enterprise sector, and rising interest payments on government debt, it is extremely essential to reduce the fiscal deficit, and more aggressively, mainly by lowering the revenue deficit. Correction of these deficits would, inter alia, require considerable refocusing and reduction of large hidden subsidies associated with under-pricing in crucial areas, such as power, irrigation, and urban transport . Food and fertilizer subsidies are other major areas of expenditure control. Be that as it may, the process of fiscal consolidation needs to be accelerated through more qualitative adjustments to reduce government dissavings and ameliorate price pressures. The step-up in Indias growth rate over much of the last two decades was primarily due to the structural changes in industrial, trade and financial areas, among others, over the 1990s as the reforms in these sectors were wide and deep and hence contributed significantly to higher productivity of the economy. Indeed, there is potential for still higher growth on a sustained basis of 9+ percent in the years ahead, but among other things, this would require the following: Revival and a vigorous pursuit of economic reforms at the center and in the states; A major effort at raising the rate of domestic savings, especially by reducing government dissavings at the central and state levels through cuts in, and refocusing of, expl icit and implicit subsidies, stricter control over non-developmental expenditures, improvements in the tax ratio through stronger tax enforcement, and strengthening incentives for savings; Larger investments in, and bett

Origins of the Jammu and Kashmir Conflict

When India and Pakistan became separate and independent nations in August of 1947, theoretically they were divided along sectarian lines. In the Partition of India, Hindus were supposed to live in India, while Muslims lived in Pakistan. However, the horrific ethnic cleansing that followed proved that it was impossible to simply draw a line on the map between followers of the two faiths - they had been living in mixed communities for centuries. One region, where the northern tip of India adjoins Pakistan (and China), chose to opt out of both new nations. This was Jammu and Kashmir. As the British Raj in India ended, Maharaja Hari Singh of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir refused to join his kingdom to either India or Pakistan. The maharaja himself was Hindu, as were 20% of his subjects, but the overwhelming majority of Kashmiris were Muslim (77%). There were also small minorities of Sikhs and Tibetan Buddhists. Hari Singh declared Jammu and Kashmirs independence as a separate nation in 1947, but Pakistan immediately launched a guerrilla war to free the majority-Muslim region from Hindu rule. The maharaja then appealed to India for aid, signing an agreement to accede to India in October of 1947, and Indian troops cleared the Pakistani guerrillas from much of the area. The newly-formed United Nations intervened in the conflict in 1948, organizing a cease-fire and calling for a referendum of Kashmirs people in order to determine whether the majority wished to join with Pakistan or India. However, that vote has never been taken. Since 1948, Pakistan and India have fought two additional wars over Jammu and Kashmir, in 1965 and in 1999. The region remains divided and claimed by both nations; Pakistan controls the northern and western one-third of the territory, while India has control of the southern area. China and India both also claim a Tibetan enclave in the east of Jammu and Kashmir called Aksai Chin; they fought a war in 1962 over the area, but have since signed agreements to enforce the current Line of Actual Control. Maharaja Hari Singh remained head of state in Jammu and Kashmir until 1952; his son later became the governor of the (Indian-administered) state. The Indian-controlled Kashmir Valleys 4 million people are 95% Muslim and only 4% Hindu, while Jammu is 30% Muslim and 66% Hindu. Pakistani-controlled territory is almost 100% Muslim; however, Pakistans claims include all of the region including Aksia Chin. The future of this long-disputed region is unclear. Since India, Pakistan, and China all possess nuclear weapons, any hot war over Jammu and Kashmir could have devastating results.

ethan frome motif essay - 975 Words

English 11 AT set 1 B/D Ethan Frome Essay Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome: Connections to Motifs Motifs are interesting literary devices, treasured by many authors, to make up or help support the plotline of each story written. In the novella Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton, she uses the motif of parallelism of the setting of Starkfield, Massachusetts, and other characters such as Ethan Frome and Mattie Silver, to help describe the way that Starkfield and other factors entangle each character mentally, emotionally, and physically. The importance of this is evident, as it shows during key periods in the story. The parallelism all begins with the snowy, New England town of Starkfield, Massachusetts. The small community is a place†¦show more content†¦He is ultimately in the same position with Mattie, but with a more intense situation, making him rather impotent. Mattie is trapped mentally by the fact that her becoming paralyzed enervated her, and she can do little to nothing about it, as shown in the quotation, â€Å"Yes: it’s pretty bad. And they ain’t any of ‘em easy people either. Mattie was, before the accident; I never knew a sweeter nature. But she’s suffered too much-that’s what I always say when folks tell me how she’s soured (Ethan Frome pg. 98).† Mrs. Hale explains her as â€Å"sour†, which contrasts her usual, pre-accident imagery of sweet, showing her change and mind set as foul and more of a complaining boor than her past self. Lastly, the parallelism of Starkfield can be juxtaposed to Mattie and Ethan in an emotional state. Ethan is stuck in an emotional labyrinth: He knows that he must care for Zeena, his wife, but he also loves Mattie. He ultimately decides that life with Zeena would be worse than dying next to his true love, Mattie, which causes his suicide attempt, which he bails out on at the last second, causing his disfigurement. Mattie is trapped emotionally in the same way: her love for Ethan. She shows her feelings multiple times, with the major attempt during their dinner alone. Her plan is to eventually get him away from Zeena and to marry her instead, but this is not a valid option in Ethan’s eyes, again pointing back to the sledding accident. All in all, EdithShow MoreRelatedEthan Frome : The Parallels Of Ethans Arrivals1139 Words   |  5 PagesEthans Arrivals= In //Ethan Frome// Edith Wharton illustrates how Ethan views Zeena versus Mattie through the parallel scenes of when Ethan is greeted by Zeena/Mattie at the door of his farmhouse first coming home from the dance and second coming home from. Although both scenes play out almost identically, Wharton uses the slight differences to emphasize how Ethan sees Mattie as beautiful, submissive, and attractive compared to Zeena who he only sees as an obstacle. As Ethan comes up to the door

A report on transport layer security (TLS) and secure shell (SSH) Free Essays

Introduction Transport Layer Security (TLS) vs. Secure Shell (SSH) – A battle for security. In this modern time, individuals, businesses and organizations worry about security on a regular basis, be it online or offline, over a network computer or just with a personal computer. We will write a custom essay sample on A report on transport layer security (TLS) and secure shell (SSH) or any similar topic only for you Order Now Security of a computer connected to the internet and within a network is very essential as people need to protect their information and data from unwanted or unauthorised access. My task here is to look into two most widely used security protocols on the internet network, these protocols are Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Shell (SSH). I will be comparing these two protocols, looking into their similarities and differences, advantages and disadvantages and giving related examples where necessary. An Overview of the Protocols First and foremost what is TLS It is the replacement for secure socket layer (SSL) and it is a protocol that makes sure that there is privacy between a communicating application and its users on the internet. TLS offers an end point authentications and communications privacy over the internet using encryptions. For instance, if a server and a client communicate, TLS makes sure that no one without the right authority can listen, intrude or forge any messages between them. TLS has two layers, the TLS record protocol and the TLS handshake protocol. The TLS Record Protocol is at a lower level where it is placed on top of some reliable transport protocol as Transport Control Protocol (TCP). This is needed in other to send messages in two directions, forward and backward and it also has a security property that is used to establish a reliable and private connection. The record protocol is then responsible for changing position of data between two ends of the link using the values agreed through the handshake protocol. The information that then come from the application to the TLS record protocol, are compressed and encrypted as required before they are sent to the other end. And if the other end is valid, the information is then uncompressed and decrypted before delivery. The TLS handshake protocol also uses the record protocol to send its messages during the hand shake stage. There are additional offers that are commonly overlooked which are provided by TLS, â€Å"integrity guarantees and replay prevention†. TLS streams communication have inbuilt controls to prevent tampering with any portion of its encrypted data. And there are other inbuilt controls to stop captured streams of TLS information from being replayed at other times. On the other hand, SSH is a protocol that determines the performance of a secure communication over a network. This has been used to replace telnet, rsh, rlogin for insecurity. Prior to any transfer taking place, the SSH client and server must first establish a secure connection. This will then allow them to share private information between each other. The SSH protocol is responsible for authentication, encryption, and the way data is transmitted over a network. â€Å"The encryption used by SSH is intended to provide confidentiality and integrity of data over an unsecured network, such as the Internet†. There are two types of versions for the SSH, the first is SSH1 and the second is SSH2. Although, these two protocols are different. The SSH1 is the original protocol and it has its own shortfalls, so it is not normally recommended or in use today. But SSH2 is the common of the two SSH protocols and is commonly used today as it is more secure and efficient than SSH1. The SSh1 uses server and host keys to verify the networks while SSH2 uses just the host keys to verify the networks and even more, they are not compatible with each other. SSH works in the following way When a client contacts a server, they disclose the SSH protocol versions that they support. Then, they switch to a packet based protocol. When the server identifies itself to the client and provides session parameters, the client then sends the server a secret key. Both sides turn on encryption and complete server authentication. Then, a secure connection is created. Similarities and Differences Similarities In terms of similarities, one can say they provide the same level of security within any giving scenario. They both make sure that information passed about over the internet is protected with dependable encryption. They can also make sure that the server a user connects to is the right one. The two protocols provide 128-256 bit encryption. Differences In respect to their similarities, they do have some differences as well. Most obvious is the fact that SSH uses username and password to authenticate its users which is inbuilt. While TLS â€Å"authentication is left up to the daemon receiving the connections† SSH is at the top of the model at the application layer while, TLS is able to offer security at the transport layer. SSH is connection oriented which use TCP only, and it is primarily used for shell based solutions. SSH offers number of client authentication options, TLS only uses the public key option. There are SSH components such as its connection protocol SSH-CONN. SSH-CONN provides multiple logical data channels to the applications using SSH-TRANS which TLS does not have. SSH Advantages and Disadvantages Advantages It is reliable, it is available free and also in commercial versions It never trusts the network If the network is experiencing a hostile takeover, it will only disconnect the SSH, but any decryption or connection take over is impossible. It is possible to tunnel TCP based applications through SSH, e.g., email protocols. For system administrators, SSH is a popular remote administration platform. Although, the server runs on UNIX, Linux and VMS, SSH clients can run on most platforms. â€Å"Many authentication methods including Kerberos, TIS, SecurID and RSA.Can be SOCKS5 proxy aware† Disadvantages SSH is not designed to be added into network gateways such as routers or firewalls. Performance for SSH can be a problem on old machines. Its port range and dynamic ports cannot be forwarded. A client on the Internet that uses SSH to access the Intranet can expose the Intranet by port forwarding. When a user authenticates themself on a server, it is always sent in clear text TLS Advantages and Disadvantages Advantages TLS is easy to use. Probably the most used security on the internet. TLS do not need any Operating system support. When messages are exchanged over the Internet, they are checked while transmitting from one computer to another. This feature offers reliability of the web based communication. TLS protocol stops unauthorized user access from interfering as a third party in the middle of a communication on the Internet. The third party will only take part in the communication when it has been noticed by two authorized users TLS is in use by most web browsers It is widely recognized as the secure HTTP (HTTPS) Protocol Disadvantages TLS often mistake firewalls as man in the middle attack. It is exposed to clogging over TCP Security Weakness Examples TLS can be used in many applications; client/server applications but it has mostly been used with the Hypertext Transfer Protocol â€Å"HTTP† for security. This allows it to offer an encrypted conversation and to securely identify a network web server. The added security it offers allows HTTPS to be used for all level of transaction over the internet world wide. Secure Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions â€Å"SMIME† when combined TLS can be used to secure IETF VoIP signalling. TLS can also be used in these following applications: PKIX, LDAP, BEEP, SASL, L2TP, SMTP, IMAP, and POP3. An example can be seen below with my home web browsers. I have two screenshots from Internet Explorer and Firefox web browsers. Internet Explorer 9Firefox version 3.6.15 SSH can also be used in some applications as well. SSH do have some features such as port forwarding and secure tunnelling. Port forwarding can tell the SSH daemon to listen to information conversations on a particular port and forward this conversation to an encrypted SSH session. This allows protectection for other services as well. Summary there are no magical solution for web, but good enough protocols, the real deal is that there is no better protocol, they all have their benefits. In order to decide which one to use, one really need to understand what one is trying to secure. References I have been able to obtain and generate ideas from the following sources Books Mark Minasi, Christa Anderson, Michele Beveridge, C.A. Callahan Mastering Windows Server 2003, copyright, 2003 Sybex Inc O’Reilley. Daniel J Barrett, Richard E Silverman and Robert G Byrnes SSH, the secure shell, the definitive Guide, copyright, 2005 William Stallings. 2006 Fourth Edition Cryptography and Network Security Bill Ferguson (Sybex) Network + Fast Pass, copyright 2005 IBM TCP/IP Tutorial and Technical Overview December 2006 Internet Research Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Shell#Definition Last modified on 16 March 2011 at 10:48 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Shell#Definition Last modified on 16 March 2011 at 13:11 How to cite A report on transport layer security (TLS) and secure shell (SSH), Essay examples

Kung! free essay sample

1. Ernestine Friedl says that the position of women is higher the more they are involved in (l) primary subsistence (as owners or controllers, NOT merely as laborers) and (2) the PUBLIC distribution of the product of subsistence. Use this argument to account for the position of women in Kung society. Make sure you use both part (l) and part (2) of Friedl’s argument. (Do not worry that Friedl’s argument is simplistic; she is not trying to say that women’s role in subsistence is the ONLY factor that affects their position in society.) Friedl states that the position of women is higher the more they are involved in primary subsistence, and the public distribution of that subsistence. I think this classes Kung! Women pretty high up the social ladder. Kung! Women, help gather a large portion of the food (almost all), and help with a lot of the tasks. They do care for the young, but they also help make the shelter, and help carry the few possessions they have from camp ground to campground (5). We will write a custom essay sample on Kung! or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Most of what the Kung! Do in their down time is similar to their counterparts. They both tell stories, argue (but never get physical really) and even do the same medicine dances, and jokes. There is no â€Å"arrogant† men stereotype as it is considered rude to boast in Kung society (6). There really is no difference when it comes to communal actions between men and women. It comes down to marriage, and a bit of political rights which are a new invention in the Kung! Society. That is why women have such a high level in Kung! Society. 2. Construct arguments for the following two propositions: (l) that Kung men have higher status and greater power than Kung women and (2) that there is equality between Kung men and Kung women. Which position do you agree with, and why? The Kung! Are a very peculiar case to me. There are very good arguments to say that the Kung have a higher status, and thus a higher amount of power than women, and an equally good arguments that men and women are pretty equal in their society. For example, the women and men tend to share the â€Å"load† of the child. Yes, women take young children with them when they gather, but when it comes to carrying them around, men and women both tend to do it, until the children are weaned of this. A good example of equality, is how the men make sure to help the women wean the child, say when Nisa wants to keep drinking breast milk, the father pulls her off and threatens to hit her saying â€Å"cant you see how swollen your mother is? † (47). Though, on the other hand, the men can have multiple wives while women can not. Though, the women can â€Å"chase† off the other wives, as nisa did.   I personally agree with the idea that Kung men have a higher status and power in society. Men, can get away with much more, and do have the power to hit their wives in fights (they seem, at least from the book to be the ones to strike first). Women, often fight back, but they rarely start the hitting. Additionally, the fact that men can have multiple wives, and it may not be considered cheating, shows me that Kung! Men have more power. What effect has modernization had on gender roles and gender relations among the Kung? What do you foresee for the future? The Kung! s way of life is shown to be threatened in this book. Tswana and Herero villages started to encompass more of the Kung! s water holes, the Kung! Way of life has become threatened (194). If you cannot get water in the harsh desert, you cannot survive. To survive, you have to either work to take handouts, or you must work for the other tribes, such as animal herding for the Tswana. Because this was a more sedentary living, the amount of permanent structures increases. People dont go from water hole to water hole, they start to stay near the work, the food, and the traders. Pots pans colorful cloth goats all made it easier to stay in one place. This also made the Kung! Womens childbearing cycle shorter, making there be more children. With more children, women become more dependent on their significant others, as they cannot hold two children and gather at the same time (195). As said in the book, this can upset the fragile relations of kung men and women in society. If women are bringing home less food, and men are increasing their participation in politics, the gender equality shifts to the right, to men being considered â€Å"superior† 195. In the future, I see that as globalization continues to occur for the Kung! , western ideals will sadly lower the place of women in their society. To me, there is not much hope until the influences (in this case, the other â€Å"civilized† tribes) start to treat women the same amount, and allow them into politics. Works Cited Shostak, Marjorie. Nisa, the life and words of a ! Kung woman. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1981. Print.

Is Shakespeare Still Relevant free essay sample

â€Å"Oh, what a noble mind is here oerthrown! — The courtier’s, soldier’s, scholar’s, eye, tongue, sword, Th expectancy and rose of the fair state, The glass of fashion and the mould of form, Th observed of all observers, quite, quite down! And I, of ladies most deject and wretched, That sucked the honey of his music vows, Now see that noble and most sovereign reason Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh; That unmatched form and feature of blown youth Blasted with ecstasy. Oh, woe is me, T have seen what I have seen, see what I see! †You may be saying to yourself right now, what did I just read? or Why is this important at all? Well what you just read was a monologue from on of William Shakespeare’s famous plays Hamlet. Now you may be questioning why that is relevant to today when Shakespeare died so long ago? Well it is actually extremely relevant, Shakespeare has been relevant for many years. We will write a custom essay sample on Is Shakespeare Still Relevant or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page There are many reasons as to why Shakespeare is relevant. According to Petri (2012) â€Å"Whenever I want to depress myself, I make a list of Shakespeare plays and cross out all the ones whose plots would be ruined if any character had a smartphone. It’s a depressingly short list. † (Petri, 2012) â€Å"Romeo and Juliet would just text each other about the poison, audiences would point out. Why doesn’t Hermia use her GPS? If he was so worried about the ideas, Caesar should have just telecommuted. † (Petri, 2012) â€Å"There’s a certain level of celebrity occupied by people who are famous primarily because they are famous. † (Petri, 2012) â€Å"He’s an awfully hard man to nail down. As a historical figure he is proverbially skittish. He may have been Francis Bacon, for pete’s sake. His play’s still tell the truth, boiled down to their essences. † (Petri, 2012) In conclusion Petri says In their proper place, the bright lines that have since sunk into cliche still retain their power to dazzle. Write what you know? Shakespeare adamantly didn’t. But in the process, he wrote what we all know. And he didn’t need a smartphone to do it. † (Petri, 2012) Another Idea by Stephenson (2009) is William Shakespeare’s legacy of written words, ensures his relevance to society, past and present never wanes. â€Å"His characters and stories reveal universal truths about the human condition in a way we all can relate to; whether it is the tragic outcome of unchecked greed and ambition, an unrelenting desire for revenge, or the pursuit of love. † (Stephenson, 2009) â€Å"His representation of the human spirit is just as relevant today, as it has been through the centuries. † (Stephenson, 2009) â€Å"For such a prolific writer , it is truly amazing that Shakespeare continually produced both poetry and prose of such high standard! Thought the language itself may seem daunting at first glance, a teacher or study guide will assist in helping you interpret the words, so you can fully appreciate and indeed marvel at their potency. † (Stephenson, 2009) It is genuinely memorable, moving and mesmerizing. â€Å"His works teach us the power of words as an instrument of communication. † (Stephenson, 2009) â€Å"A successful writer keeps his reader engaged, explores pertinent issues, challenges thoughts and opinions, and uses effective language to convey the content. In conclusion† (Stephenson, 2009) Stephenson says Shakespeare ticks all the boxes†¦ and then some! A third writer Dekker (2011) states that Four hundred years away from his time and as far as possible from his place, Shakespeare has not lost his following. â€Å"Shakespeare is one of the great studiers of life. His observations are poignant and relevant and challenging. † (Dekker, 2011) â€Å"Henry V is about war and the politics of nations, danger and excitement, vibrant and contemporary to debate in any country. Winter’s Tale is about redemption and how we forgive each other, and is an important and humanising conversation to have. † (Dekker, 2011) â€Å"Shakespeare remains relevant because he still exists in the consciousness of people, is still part of our culture and in a world sense is relevant as an artist. His words still attract a readership, study and interest in production. † (Dekker, 2011) In conclusion Dekker says, His works exist as individual works of art and also a whole body, part of our psyche and culture one of the pillars of civilisation. A fourth source Hong (2009) is that The language is now archaic, 500 years since the plays were first performed in Elizabethan England. â€Å"His plays touch on timeless themes such as love, friendship and vengeance. Who has not heard of one of the most classic love stories of all times, Romeo And Juliet? This story about the star-crossed lovers, doomed to separation by their feuding families, has been adapted countless times for stage, film, musicals and opera. † (Hong, 2009) The characters are fallible and real. â€Å"The characters in Shakespeare are like you or me, even though they may be kings, queens or noblemen and women. † (Hong, 2009) â€Å"Repository of commonly used phrases and words today. It is no fluke that Shakespeare is the most quoted author in the Oxford Dictionary. Some of his phrases are so well known that we have forgotten the man who first said it. Like a rose by any other name, or parting is such sweet sorrow, or the world is my oyster. † (Hong, 2009) Gave voice to the marginalised in society. â€Å"Shakespeare was quite forward-thinking for his time, especially in an age when women were not even allowed to perform on stage. His female characters (then played by men) were not sidelined; in fact, many of them had critical roles to play in his dramas. † (Hong, 2009) This author concludes that The Bard has not become obsolete because he wrote about human issues that have remained unchanged over the years. Yet another Idea, from Bantick (2013) is that Shakespeare was an A-list personality. Since his passing, his life has been anything but his own. Shakespeare continues to divide opinion. â€Å"The problem with Shakespeare is not so much the plots of the plays or the historical times, but the language. All those thees and thous are a turn-off, it seems. Really? The evidence says otherwise. If Shakespeare was such a turn-off why, then, would The Bell Shakespeare Company, for example, be performing to more than 80,000 school children in all states and territories annually? Simply put, Shakespeare is clearly alive. † (Bantick, 2013) The point about Shakespeare is that he still speaks to audiences today. â€Å"Why, then, is the teaching of Shakespeare not explicit in the National Curriculum, whereas indigenous and Asian literature is? This is denying children the opportunity to discover the Bard. † (Bantick, 2013) â€Å"Not relevant? Too hard? Not really. Take the tragedy Romeo Juliet This tender teenage love story is about passion beyond the expectations of an arranged marriage, which goes fatally wrong. It still has huge appeal. So much so that there is now a tweet version. † (Bantick, 2013) This author concludes that, What does not change is that Shakespeare speaks to us wherever we are and in whatever time. The world is indeed a stage and we are mere players, if not posting, on it. Another Idea by Lloyd (2013) is In secondary schools today we force our children to study Shakespeare from first form through to till fifth form and for those fortunate few also in sixth form.