Thursday, October 31, 2019
Psychoanalytic criticism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Psychoanalytic criticism - Essay Example After ordering beer for both of them, the girl is standing and looking at the hills. Her mind is clearly not focused on the drinks ordered, but other things. She could be thinking about a new life and the operation. She makes the comment "They look like white elephants" (2). She is avoiding the topic of abortion, and the superego is acting as a conscience. The first to broach the subject of the abortion is the American man. He begins the conversation with no pretext leading to the subject: "It's really an awfully simple operation, Jig" (3). He is attempting to convince her to go through with the operation. When he brings the subject to light, she looks at the ground. This could be seen as a struggle between the man's id and the woman's superego. He further presses her on the subject by saying "I know you wouldn't mind it, Jig. It's really not anything. It's just to let the air in" (3). He has become pushy on the issue. Again, Jig says nothing. Not only is she submissive, but she is allowing him to bully her into a decision she is not yet ready to make. Yet, Jig's superego is still overriding the desires of the man's id. The man makes the statement that he does not want anyone else but her. He is stating very clearly that he does not want the child.
Monday, October 28, 2019
President Andrew Jackson Essay Example for Free
President Andrew Jackson Essay Introduction            Jackson, Andrew, the seventh President of the United States. His election in 1828 marked the end of the aristocratic tradition in the Presidency that had prevailed since the nation’s beginning. Jackson, a self- made man, frontiersman, and military hero, was the first President from west of the Appalachians. He was identified with a new kind of democracya democracy embracing the entire population rather than only those who were wealthy or owned property.            Jackson was neither an original nor a profound thinker, and did not always follow or understand the principles of the â€Å"Jacksonian democracy†that bears his name. However, he did know how to interpret the aspirations and viewpoints of the common people who were clamoring for a voice in government. Jackson was skilled and astute politician, who molded a faction, composed mostly of Southerners and Westerners into the Democratic Party. Although politically conservative and a believer in states’ rights, he expanded the powers of the Presidency and was fervently committed to the preservation of the Union.            Jackson had a domineering personality. He was proud, ambitious, and aggressive. Throughout his life, his temper frequently caused him to act hastily or injudiciously, and he was often swayed by personal prejudices. However, his fearlessness, honesty, and loyalty endeared him to wide sections of the populace. His influence was felt well beyond his two terms, and the period from his election to that of Abraham Lincoln is often referred to as the â€Å"Age of Jackson†. Discussions Early Life                        Jackson was born March 15, 1767, in a backwoods settlement called Waxhaw on the border between North Carolina and South Carolina. Jackson said South Carolina was his birth place, but there has been much controversy on the subject. His father, mother, and two brothers had arrived there in 1765 from Northern Ireland. His parents had been linen drapers. His father, for whom he was named, died in an accident shortly before Andrew was born.                        Jackson had attended school for a while before British troops began operating in the Carolinas during the Revolutionary War. Though only 13, Jackson joined a local militia company along with his brother Robert in 1780. Their older brother Hugh had already been killed in the war. After a skirmish with the British in 1781, Jackson and his brother were captured. When a British officer ordered Andrew to polish his boots, he refused and demanded to be treated as a prisoner of war. The angry officer slashed Jackson with his saber, leaving him scarred for life            The brothers were sent to a military prison, where they contracted smallpox. Their mother won their release. But Robert died on the way home. Not long after, Mrs. Jackson died while nursing two of Andrew’s cousins, who were soldiers imprisoned by the British. Andrew was left alone at the age of 14. â€Å"Old Hickory†           Jackson lived at the Hermitage managing his business holdings until the outbreak of the War of 1812, when he volunteered his services and was commissioned a major general of U.S Volunteers. In 1813 Creek Indians massacred the inhabitants of Fort Mims in what is now Alabama. In 1814, Jackson led his troops against the Creeks, routing them at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. His endurance in the field won Jackson the nickname â€Å"Old Hickory,†after one of his soldiers remarked that he was â€Å"tough as hickory†.            Shortly after being commissioned a major general in the United States Army, Jackson expelled the British from Florida. Then with a motley force that included Jean Lafitte’s pirates, he repulsed a British attack on New Orleans. Ironically, the peace treaty had been signed before the battle was fought on January 8, 1815. Jackson’s victory made him a national hero. In 1818, invades Florida and defeats Seminole Indians. In 1821, was appointed military governor of Florida while also resigned within the year. 1823, he was again elected to U.S Senate from Tennessee and resigns in 1825. Then on 1828 he was elected President of the United States. First Administration (1829- 1833)            Jackson chose his cabinet from among his and Calhoun’s supporters without much regard for their ability. He made little use of the cabinet, except for Secretary of State Martin Van Buren and Secretary of War John. H. Eaton. Instead, he often sought advice from personal friends, who came to be called his â€Å"kitchen cabinet†. Jackson’s replacement of his incumbent officeholders with his friends and allies gave rise to the term â€Å"spoils system†. Jackson did not originate this practice, however, but merely carried it out on a larger scale than previous Presidents had done. During his eight years as President, Jackson replaced about one- fifth of all federal officeholders.            The first crisis of the new administration was caused by the so- called â€Å"petticoat war†. The wives of other cabinet members snubbed Margaret O’ Neal Eaton, wife of Secretary of war Eaton, because she had reputedly had an affair with Eaton while married to her fist husband and because she was a travernkeeper’s daughter. Jackson, remembering the attacks against his wife, angrily came to Mrs. Eaton’s defense. Cabinet members took sides over the issue, with Van Buren aligning himself with Jackson and Eaton in opposition to Calhoun and his supporters. This led to political conflict that continued until Jackson reorganized the cabinet in 1831. The protective tariff, opposed by the agricultural South, was a major issued during Jackson’s first term. Vice President Calhoun contended that South Carolina should nullify or set aside the tariff of 1828, the Tariff of Abominations, because it violated states’ rights. The South Carolina nullificationists were confident that Jackson, a Southerner, would support them, but he was a moderate on the tariff issue, holding some protection necessary. He also believed nullification would lead to dissolution of the Union. In July, 1838, Congress passed a more moderate tariff bill, but it was still considered oppressive by South Carolina. In November, a state convention declared the law null and void. Jackson reacted by sending a warship and revenue cutters to Charleston, warning that â€Å"Disunion by armed force is treason.’ The crisis was resolved when Henry Clay secured passage of a compromise tariff in 1833. This bill satisfied South Carolina, which then repealed the nullification ordinance. Jackson’s early administration had been marked by intense rivalry between Vice President Calhoun and Secretary of State Van Buren, both of whom hoped to succeed him. As Jackson’s first term ended, it became apparent that Van Buren had the upper hand. Calhoun, at odds with the President on nullification, resigned the Vice Presidency in 1832. Jackson had long disapproved of the Bank of the United States, which he regarded as an agency of monopoly and special privilege. When it was proposed to renew the bank’s charter in 1832, four years before its expiration date, he vetoed the measure. Henry Clay made this veto an issue in the 1832 Presidential campaign. The voters supported Jackson, however, and he defeated Clay by 219 electoral votes to 49 and a popular vote of 687, 502 to 530, 189. Van Buren was Jackson’s running mate on the ticker of the Democratic Party. This was the first election in which all candidates were nominated by national conventions. Second Administration            Reassured by his heavy election majority in 1832, Jackson indicated early in his second term that the Bank of the United States would no longer be a depository for public funds and ordered them deposited instead in certain state banks called pet banks by Jackson’s enemies. This act eventually destroyed the Bank of the United States, but it also contributed to a financial panic.            In 1835, for the first time in the history of the nation, the national debt was paid off. The government had a surplus of $37,000,000, much of it deposited in the â€Å"pet†banks. The following year Congress voted to divide the federal surplus among the states. The â€Å"pet†banks faced a crisis when the government began to withdraw its funds, leading to the financial and commercial panic of 1837, which occurred after Jackson had left office. Another cause of this panic was Jackson’s Specie Circular of 1836, which ordered that payment for government land be made in gold or silver rather than in paper money. This act was intended to curb land speculation but hurt the Western banks. In foreign relations, Jackson faced few major problems. Relations with Great Britain went smoothly. A long- standing claim against France for damages to American shipping during the Napoleonic Wars caused a crisis in 1835-36 but was settled favorably. Texas won independence from Mexico in 1836, but the United States was not yet involved in its affairs, although Jackson recognized its independence on his last day of office. III. Conclusion            Jackson was a few days short of 70 years of age when he left office-the oldest President until Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was more popular when he retired than when he took office as President. Although in ill health, he remained active in party affairs. An opposition party-the Whigshad been formed during his Presidency, and from that point on the two- party system remained in effect. Jackson died on June 8, 1845. References: Latner, R. B. The Presidency of Andrew Jackson (University of Georgia, 1979). Remini, R.V. Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Empire, 1767-1821(Harper Row, 1977). Remini, R.V. Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Democracy, 1833- 1845(Harper Row, 1984). Sabin, Louis. Andrew Jackson: Frontier Patriot (Troll, 1985). Schlesinger, A. M. The Age of Jackson (Little, Brown, 1945).
Saturday, October 26, 2019
The Great Depression: Causes and Effects
The Great Depression: Causes and Effects It has been observed that the modern world has never experienced an economic crisis as severe as the `Great Depression. The term was first coined in the United States to describe the economic collapse that, by 1931, had shattered the US economy and Americans faith in the future. Europe and the rest of the world were also badly hit, and while they first called the crisis `a slump, in time the label `Great Depression was adopted on both sides of the Atlantic to describe this unprecedented global economic crisis.[1] The ramifications of the 1890’s depression were circumscribed by comparison with the Great Depression. In the 1930’s, national economies were sorely tested and shaken to their foundations. Economic and social statistics unequivocally attest to the chronic condition of national economies in industrialised nations during the period of 1929-1939. McGovern presents the figures, which characterise 1933 in the USA.[2] The most serious failure in terms of its human consequences was, of course, unemployment. According to official figures, this peaked in 1933 at 12.8 million or 25% of the workforce, figures that barely changed in 1934 after one year of the Roosevelt administration when 11.3 million were jobless, still nearly 22% of available workers. 11 Expert advisors to the government calculated even higher numbers for 1933, with monthly unemployment averaging 13.1 million. March 1933 was the nadir for the entire 1930s, with 15 million, nearly 30%, out of work. Since unemployed workers usually had families exclusively dependent on them, between 40 and 50 million Americans were without regular job income during the most severe period of the Depression. Another large number of workers with dependents, (larger even than the number unemployed), were forced to work with reduced income as part-time workers. Furthermore, the period of 1932-1933 is universally described as a dire state for nations and entities such as USA, Europe and Australia, indeed a period popularly referred to as the ‘nadir’ of the depression. Regardless of which barometers of economic strength are consulted, there is a prevailing sense of economic and social malaise, throughout the industrialised world, in these particular years. Powell notes[3] during the 1930s, the Great Depression was widely blamed on stock market speculation, reckless banking practices, and a concentration of wealth in too few hands. The New Deal laws were drafted accordingly. Subsequent investigations, however, have convinced most economists that the Depression had little to do with any of those things. The most influential single work is A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960, published in 1963 by Milton Friedman and Anna Jacobson Schwartz, which documented the catastrophic one-third contraction of the money supply between 1929 and 1933. Princeton University economist Paul Krugman remarks that, Nowadays, practically the whole spectrum of economists, from Milton Friedman leftward, agrees that the Great Depression was brought on by a collapse of effective demand, and that the Federal Reserve should have fought the slump with large injections of money. Smiley contends that adopting the gold standard was a primary cause for the depression, inducing differential inflation rates among the Allies, which in turn doomed those economies to the self-inflicted injuries of deflation. Fear of inflation at the Fed plus the failure to protect the financial sector did considerable damage. Clavin explains the USA’s role in bringing Europe to the brink, in the early 1930’s.[4] Europe as a whole received some $7.8 billion between 1924 and 1930. But when these American loans dried up, as they did dramatically after 1929, Clavin asserts that problems in European economy resurfaced with a vengeance. Within the USA, up to 1933, according to Reed, [5] production at the nation’s factories, mines, and utilities fell by more than half. People’s real disposable incomes dropped 28 percent. Stock prices collapsed to one-tenth of their pre-crash height. The number of unemployed Americans rose from 1.6 million in 1929 to 12.8 million in 1933. One of every four workers was out of a job at the Depression’s nadir, and ugly rumours of revolt simmered for the first time since the Civil War. The critical question involves being definitive about the attributable causes of the severe economic pervasive conditions and their consequent social ramifications globally. It is problematic to determine causality and which antecedents have the dubious credit of creating the severity of 1932-1933. A range of social and economic factors is cited selectively by proponents of polarised political positions. Particular economic paradigms are entertained, so that the mistakes of the Great Depression, as the theorist interprets them; may be used as a precedent to lend intellectual support to a particular approach to economic theory, providing ‘a correct approach’ to present day and future economic challenges. In simple terms, two broad approaches to economic function, include classical economics, which examines macroeconomic effects of money supply and the supply of gold which backed many currencies before the Great Depression, including production and consumption. Conversely, structural theories, including those of institutional economics, point to under consumption and over investment (economic bubble), malfeasance by bankers and industrialists or incompetence by government officials.[6] These two broad interpretive frameworks, within which the Great Depression is understood, have stifled insight into the genuine causes of the depression as a whole as well as the reasons underpinning the severity of 1932-1933 in particular. Entrenched and formulaic economic explanations, are often little more than efforts to politicise the depression, in order to reinforce the mantra of left or right wing political philosophies. This practice can be well illustrated, through the writings of economists such as Paul Ormerod, chairman of an organisation known as Post-Orthodox Economics. Ormerod contends, that, â€Å" the left tends to see the current crisis as a failure of markets. Whether the call is for more or, in Third Way style, better regulation, the argument is the same: the unrestricted workings of markets are causing problems, so governments must step in to show that they can run them better. But all this misses the most important point. The Great Depression of the 1930s was not primarily a failure of markets but a failure of government. The Federal Reserve slashed the money supply at a time when it should have expanded it. This is the lesson to be learnt. Forget fears of inflation. Expand the money supply to cut off the risk of a second great recession. [7] Ormerod’s position finds support from the Mackinac Centre for Public Policy: Myths of the Great Depression, by free market economist and historian Lawrence W. Reed. Reed states in a nonchalant manner that the mythical explanation of the depression is, â€Å"An important pillar of capitalism, the stock market, crashed and dragged America into depression. President Herbert Hoover, an advocate of â€Å"hands-off,†or laissez-faire, economic policy, refused to use the power of government to intervene in the economy and conditions worsened as a result. It was up to Hoover’s successor, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, to ride in on the white horse of government intervention and steer the nation toward recovery.[8] Unabashed, Reed continues to emphatically advocate governmental responsibility for the onset or deterioration of the Great Depression within USA, and one could safely assume, Reed would apply his free marketeering philosophy, to equally account for the severity of the depression in other democratic nations in the 1930’s. Reed asserts [9] in â€Å"1929, the wild manipulation of the currency by the Federal Reserve shows that government, far from a disinterested bystander, was the principal culprit of the stock market crash.†Furthermore, he attributes blame to politically strategic blunders throughout the 1920’s within the USA. â€Å"The genesis of the Great Depression lay in the inflationary monetary policies of the U. S. government in the 1920s. It was prolonged and exacerbated by a litany of political missteps: trade-crushing tariffs, incentive-sapping taxes, mind-numbing controls on production and competition, senseless destruction of crops and cattle, and coe rcive labour laws, to recount just a few. It was not the free market which produced 12 years of agony; rather, it was political bungling on a scale as grand as there ever was.[10] Within the United Kingdom, renowned writer George Orwell provides a poignant anecdote in his 1936 book ‘Road to Wigan Pier’, indicating the severity of the Great Depression for unemployed men and women in northern England. : Several hundred men risk their lives and several hundred women scrabble in the mud for hours searching eagerly for tiny chips of coal in slagheaps so they could heat their homes. For them, this arduously-gained free coal was more important almost than food.[11] Indeed, according to Rothermund, in Britain, there existed a â€Å"conflict of interests among three major groups: the City of London as the centre of world finance, British industry, and labour. The City had reached its aim of returning to the gold standard which enabled it to transact international business along the lines of prewar times. The return to the gold standard at the prewar parity in 1925 had been a mistake, as it forced the City to adopt a deflationary course so as to support the overvalued pound. This affected British industry both with regard to its export position and its access to credit.[12] Rothermund again contends, â€Å"While the deflationary policy of the Bank of England had already made matters worse, when the bank had to raise its discount rate at a time of intense American speculation, the tension increased.†According to Clavin,[13] between 1924 and 1929 over 40 countries returned to gold or joined the system for the first time. This was done in the belief it would stabilise product price and promote international trade. Nonetheless, by the early 1930’s many countries began to abandon the gold standard Rothermund notes, â€Å"Keynes had written to Macdonald in August 1931, advising him that the game was up and that Great Britain should abandon the gold standard and head a new sterling bloc.†[14] The severity of the Great Depression, can also have regard to the societal regression it promoted.[15] Export and credit failure, meant nations adopted protectionist mindsets, helping to spawn totalitarian regimes in Europe from the mid 1930’s. Claven contends that loss of US credit, determined that countries had to raise interest rates, thus making it more difficult for businesses and farms to borrow money at precisely the time they needed to do so to combat depression. Governments, too, began to feel the squeeze as their levels of revenue from taxes fell dramatically just when they needed to spend more money on unemployment benefit and public work schemes to mop up unemployment and to kick-start recovery. Across Europe, parliaments like Britain and Germany in the summer of 1931 became deadlocked over the issue of government spending. As confidence dropped, governments, companies and individuals cut back on spending. Demand for industrial and agricultural products dried up, and this caused prices to fall still further. By the end of 1930 the price of wheat sold on the Liverpool exchange had fallen by 50 per cent and the price of meat by 40 per cent. Desperate to protect their own markets from the threat of cheap foreign imports being dumped on them, levels of trade protection began to rise dramatically. By 1932 France had introduced strict quotas on over 3,000 different products entering France, and German tariffs rose by 50 per cent after 1929. Most startling was Britains retreat into protection in the autumn of 1931, ending a commitment to the ethos of Free Trade that had lasted 85 years. The world was now divided into competing economic blocs. Countries which depended heavily on the export of agricultural produce were especially hard hit because agricultural prices fell more dramatically than those of industrial goods. A Polish farmer who paid 100 kg of rye to buy a new plough in 1928, now found that the same plough cost 270 kg. By the summer of 1931, the European economy began to crack under the strain of the continued fall in prices, the lack of demand and spiralling levels of unemployment. Economic, political and financial pressures combined to produce a financial crisis that swept across Europe like a flash flood. In countries, like Austria and Germany, where the banks had a particularly close relationship with industry, the collapse of private companies forced banks, too, to shut up shop. With some of Europes most prestigious banking houses facing ruin, the German and Austrian governments were forced to become directly involved in managing the financial system. They also introduced exchange controls to stop the further export of gold or foreign currency from German or Austrian banks to banks in Switzerland or Britain. McGovern contends that the great fear among consumers, induced by the failure of the stock market and over 5,000 commercial banks between 1929 and 1932, prompted cutbacks in their spending. This, in turn, led to contractions in capital goods industries (especially steel and their suppliers), in construction, mining, and transportationâ€â€hence, to broad layouts of workers. The downward curve then accelerated, with unemployment leading to further cutbacks in consumption and consequently also production. [16] Finally, it is worth pointing out that since the effects of the depression were challenging within some parts of Britain and devastating in others, it is clear that its impact was not uniform, but reactive to particular social, political and economic circumstances. Areas heavily dependent upon the shipping industry, such as Newcastle –Upon- Tyne, were decimated by the events. The later Jarrow Street March in 1936, saw the frustration spill over into public, unified action, on behalf of ship workers and miners, who marched from the North- East of England to Parliament to lobby for change. Bibliography Books Rothermund, D. The Global Impact of the Great Depression, 1929-1939, London, Routledge, 1996. Claven, P. The Great Depression in Europe, 1929-1939 in History Review, History Today Ltd 2000 McGovern, J. And a Time for Hope: Americans in the Great Depression, Praeger, 2000 Orwell, G. Road to Wigan Pier, Left Book Club, London, 1937, Smiley, G. Rethinking the Great Depression: A New View of its Causes and Consequences, Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2002 Articles Ormerod, P New Statesman, Vol. 127, October 9, 1998 J. Powell, Did the New Deal Actually Prolong the Great Depression? The American Enterprise, Vol. 13, March 2002 Websites http://eldoradogold.net/pdf/October%202005/GreatDepression.pdf Mackinac Center for Public Policy: Myths of the Great Depression. 2000 accessed 23 March 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression_in_the_United_Kingdom accessed 23 March 2007 1 Footnotes [1] P. Claven, The Great Depression in Europe, 1929-1939 in History Review, History Today Ltd 2000, p. 30 [2] Ibid p.4 [3] J. Powell, Did the New Deal Actually Prolong the Great Depression? The American Enterprise, Vol. 13, March 2002 [4] P Claven The Great Depression in Europe, 1929-1939 in History Review, History Today Ltd 2000, p. 31 [5] L.W. Reed. Myths of the Great Depression, at http://eldoradogold.net/pdf/October%202005/GreatDepression.pdf, Mackinac Centre for Public Policy, 2000 [6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression_in_the_United_Kingdom [7] P. Ormerod; New Statesman, Vol. 127, October 9, 1998, p.1 [8] L.W. Reed. Myths of the Great Depression, at http://eldoradogold.net/pdf/October%202005/GreatDepression.pdf, Mackinac Centre for Public Policy, 2000 [9] Ibid p.6 [10] Ibid p 16 [11] G. Orwell, Road to Wigan Pier, 1937, Left Book Club [13] P. Claven, The Great Depression in Europe, 1929-1939 in History Review, History Today Ltd 2000, p. 30 [15] P Claven The Great Depression in Europe, 1929-1939 in History Review, History Today Ltd 2000, p. 30 [16] J. McGovern, And a Time for Hope: Americans in the Great Depression , Praeger, 2000
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Shakespeares The Winters Tale :: Shakespeare Winters Tale Essays
The Characters of Hermione, Perdita, and Paulina in The Winters Tale   Although Hermione is one of the main characters, we see very little of her in the play. She is horribly betrayed by her husband, but we never really see her feelings on the subject. In many other plays, Shakespeare uses asides and soliloquies to give insight into the characters mind. Hermione must be having complex and very troubling thoughts, but we never see them. Hermione is in Act I Scene ii where she plays the perfect royal hostess. In Act I Scene iii, she is accused of adultery with Polixenes by Leontes and taken to prison. She is not seen agian until Act III Scene ii, where she stands trial for her treason. Immediately after this scene, she dies, or appears to die, offstage. The audience is given no indication that she is still alive until Act V Scene iii, where the statue becomes flesh. Hermione is portrayed as an innocent victim throughout the play. When her husband fist becomes jealous, she is puzzled by his behavior and wonders if affairs of state are bothering him. Her lack of knowledge about his jealousy gives credit to her plea of innocence. She had obviously never been an unfaithful wife, therefore she had no reason to worry that her husband would suspect her. Polixenes flees in fear of death, but he leaves Hermione behind. If she had known that she was guilty and was facing punishment, she could have left with Polixenes. When she comes back to life as a statue, she says that she has preserved herself in the chance occurance that Perdita was alive. The audience is never given any further explaination, so we cannot conclude that she even saved herself in an illegal or false fashion. The character of Perdita is a wonderful study in the sociological theories of nature versus nurture. She leaves the royal court when she is only days old and is raised by and old shepherd and his son, the Clown. Although the family found a great deal of money when they found the baby, the upbringing she recieved could not have been equal to a traditional royal upbringing. Nevertheless, Perdita seems to be endowed from birth with a royal manner. She has been crowned Queen of the sheep-shearing feast when we first see her again, and she has won the deep love of a prince.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Responsible Borrowing Worksheet Essay
Many students borrow federal student loans to pay for college. The goal of this assignment is to help you learn how to borrow responsibly, which may mean that you do not borrow at all or that you borrow only what you truly need. To borrow responsibly, you must understand your options and establish a financial plan for your entire program. With that plan in place, you can then focus on your classes and making connections with instructors and other students. There are three steps listed below for this assignment. Respond to the questions for each step in this worksheet only and submit your completed document to the Assignment Files tab. Step 1 Watch the â€Å"Responsible Borrowing (Financial Aid)†video on the orientation website located here: http://www.phoenix.edu/student-orientation.html. Respond to the following three questions in the spaces provided below: What is financial aid? How do grants differ from loans? What effect does class attendance have on funding availability? Step 2 Navigate to the Personal Finance category of the GEN/127 PhoenixConnect ® Community. Explore the resources provided and view some of the discussions shared by the community members. Respond to the following two questions in the spaces provided below: What did you find about student loan repayment plans? Why is having an educational financial plan important? Step 3 Access the Financial Plan at www.phoenix.edu/financialplan. Enter your program and respond to the questions. Explore the information about options for payment, reducing cost, and military students (if applicable). If you have already completed the plan as part of the enrollment process, you can use those results for this step. Respond to the following two questions in the spaces provided below: Based on this plan, what is your estimated monthly payment when you enter repayment? As a result of completing the plan, what changes can you make to reduce the amount you may borrow? Why?
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Financial Analysis for Jack in the Box Inc.
Financial Analysis for Jack in the Box Inc. Introduction The financial statements do not provide a comprehensive overview of the financial performance of the company. Therefore, it is important to use several techniques to evaluate the financial performance of the company. An example of such a technique is ratio analysis. Ratio analysis enables the stakeholders to evaluate the profitability, liquidity, and solvency of the company.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Financial Analysis for Jack in the Box Inc. specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Besides, ratios provide a common base for comparing the performance of the company with other companies in the same industry. This guides the stakeholders in making decisions that relate to their association with the company. The treatise provides an analysis of the information presented in the balance sheet. It also carried out ratio analysis. Current assets The current assets in the balance sheet should be arranged in the or der of liquidity. This implies that the most liquid asset should be recorded first. In most cases, cash will be the first item because it is the most liquid. The balance sheet of Jack in the Box Inc. follows this order. The most liquid item that is, cash and cash equivalent is first in the list while the last item is other current assets. The balance sheet can also be prepared in order of permanence. In this case, the non-current assets will be first in the list followed by current assets arranged in order of permanence. The value of current assets declined from $231,181 in 2012 to $175,429 in 2013. The decrease amounted to $55,752. Total assets The company classifies the assets into current assets and records the non-current assets in separate lines for each of the items. Therefore, the current assets are listed and a total of the current assets is provided. The other assets that are listed on separate lines are property and equipment (at cost, accumulated depreciation and net book value), goodwill, and other assets. The total assets amounted to $1,463,725 for the year 2012 and $1,360,418 for the year 2013. Therefore, there was a decline in the value of total assets by $103,307. Cash equivalents Cash equivalents are investment securities that have low risk and low return. These securities are extremely liquid, they are short-term and have a great credit quality. The examples of these securities are corporate commercial paper, Treasury bills, and certificates of deposits. Current liabilities The reported amount of current liabilities at the end of the year 2013 was made up of current maturities of long-term debt ($20,931), accounts payable ($26,594), and accrued liabilities ($169,792). The total current liabilities at the end of that period amounted to $217,317. Further, the items that made up current liabilities for the year 2012 were current maturities of long-term debt ($15,952), accounts payable ($94,713), and accrued liabilities ($164,637). Thus, the tota l current liabilities at the end of the year 2012 amounted to $275,302. Therefore, it can be noted that there was a decline in the amount of current liabilities by $57,985.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Usefulness of the balances reported Analysis of current assets, total assets and current liabilities of the company is an important aspect to a potential investors, creditors and employees. The current assets and current liabilities give information on the working capital financing policy used by the company. It also provides information on the liquidity of the company. For example, the value of current liabilities exceeded the value of current assets. This shows that the company is experiencing problems in paying current liabilities. It may also imply that the company is using an aggressive working capital financing policy. This may not be a good indication to in vestors, creditors and employees. The value of total assets gives information on the asset base of the company. Growth in the value of total assets shows that the company is experiencing growth in performance. However, a decline in the amount of total assets does not provide a favorable sign to the potential investors, creditors and employees. Calculation of ratios The table presented below shows the calculation of ratios. The end year values will be used in the calculation. Ratios 2013 2012 Liquidity Current ratio Current assets / current liabilities 175,429 / 217,317 0.8072 231,181 / 275,302 0.8397 Quick ratio (Current assets – inventory) / current liabilities (175,429 – 8,203) / 217,317 0.7695 (231,181 – 7,752) / 275,302 0.8116 Receivables turnover Credit sales / accounts receivables 1,151,886 / 41,972 27.44 1,160,397 / 78,798 14.73 Inventory turnover Cost of sales / inventory 1,151,886 / 8,203 140.42 1,160,397 / 7,752 149.69 Profitability ra tios Asset turnover Sales / total assets 1,151,886 / 1,489,407 0.7734 1,160,397 / 1,529,650 0.7586 Profit margin Net profit / revenue 28,324 / 1,151,886 2.46% 45,174 / 1,160,397 3.89% Return on assets Net profit / total assets 28,324 / 1,489,407 1.90% 45,174 / 1,529,650 2.95% Return on common stockholder’s equity Net profit / shareholder’s equity 28,324 / 417,231 6.79% 45,174 / 411,945 10.97% Solvency ratios Debt to total assets Total debt / total assets (359,514 + 20,931) / 1,489,407 0.2554 (405,276 + 15,952) / 1,529,650 0.2754 Times interest earned Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) / interest expense 101,506 / 12,061 8.4161 times 89,704 / 14,962 5.9955 times Interpretation of ratios Liquidity The current ratio declined from 0.8397 in 2012 to 0.8072 in 2013 while the quick ratio declined from 0.8116 in 2012 to 0.7695 in 2013. The decline is not a good indication and it may discourage the debt providers, creditors and investors. It shows th at the company is facing problems in paying debts. Besides, it shows that the current assets cannot adequately cover current liabilities. Receivables turnover increased from 14.73 in 2012 to 27.44. The ratio shows an improvement in efficiency because the company can collect debt within a shorter period of time. The inventory turnover ratio declined from 149.69 in 2012 to 140.42 in 2013. The decline is not a good sign because it shows a reduction in the movement of stock. A supplier, debtor, debt provider, and an investor will be interested in these ratios because they measure the efficiency and management of liquidity. Profitability The asset turnover ratio declined from 0.7586 in 2012 to 0.7734 in 2013. The increase was attributed to a decline in the value of total asset. It shows that the amount of sales generated per unit of total assets increased. The profit margin declined from 3.89% in 2012 to 2.46% in 2013. The decline implies that the profitability reduced. It shows that the company is not efficient in managing pricing and the cost of running the business.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Financial Analysis for Jack in the Box Inc. specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Further, return on assets declined from 2.95% in 2012 to 1.90% in 2013. This shows a decline in the ability of the company to generate sales from the assets available. Finally, the return on shareholder’s equity declined from 10.97% in 2012 to 6.79% in 2013. This shows a decline in efficiency of the company in using the capital provided by shareholders to generate profit. Profitability ratios are important to all the users these are, debtors, supplier, investors, employees, government, investors, community, and debtor providers. Solvency The debt to asset ratio provides information on the leverage level of the company. The ratio declined from 0.2754 in 2012 to 0.2554 in 2013. This shows a decline in leverage. A potentia l investor and a debt provider will be interested in this ratio because it gives information on the leverage risk of the company. A low ratio implies that the company has a low level of leverage risk and this will attract investors. The times interest earned ratio measures the number of times the interest expense can be paid from EBIT. The ratio increased from 5.9955 times in 2012 to 8.4161 times in 2013. The increase can be attributed to an increase in profitability and a decline in interest expense. A potential investor and a debt provider will be interested in this ratio because it measures the solvency of the company. Conclusion The discussion above shows that the company experienced a decline in performance in the year 2013. First, the company reported a decline in total assets and current liabilities. It implies that the overall financial position of the company declined. Secondly, the liquidity ratios reveal that the company is experiencing problems in paying current obligati ons. Thirdly, the profitability ratios show that there was a decline in profitability in 2013. Finally, the leverage level and solvency of the company improved because the amount of debt reduced. Therefore, it can be concluded that the overall financial position of the company declined in 2013.
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