The impact of oil price change on USs economy Research Paper

The impact of oil price change on USs economy - Research Paper Example An increase of 54% in the prices of crude oil in 2011 would lead to a double recession in the U.S. This paper aims at examining how shocks of oil prices in the past have impacted the U.S. economy, and makes predictions on how the economy will do in light of the recent oil prices. Using the methodology of forecasting from Hamilton (2008) with time analysis, the paper will use the impulse response functions from the prices of oil to predict the response of GDP. The literature review will be used to describe how oil is an integral part of the economy, and how recessions and oil shocks have coincided ever since World War II. The paper will point out the disagreements in the literature about the impacts of oil shocks on the U.S. economy as well as the asymmetry of price increases and price decreases. According to Hamilton (2010) when an embargo on oil was instituted by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) the global supply of oil fell by 7.5%. The 1973 oil crisis effects were far reaching. According to Forrester (1984), the U.S set the target of reducing the consumption of oil by 25% at that time led by Richard Nixon. A country wide speed limit of 55 miles per hour was temporarily passed by the congress, and this continues until 1988 (Frum, 2010). The use of Christmas trees was banned in Oregon State (Frum, 2010). Many gas stations in the U.S were shut down as a result of insufficient oil supply, as many other gas stations rationed the gasoline supply (Hamilton, 2010). The American lifestyle was threatened by the Middle East instability which had a huge effect on the American people (Dahl, 2003). As a result of the political turmoil in Libya in 2011, the prices of crude oil went up to two and a half year high. As the issue was addressed by the U.S president, it became clear that, the U.S used 7% less oil in 2011 than in 2005, but still depends on the foreign oil. According to the U.S. imports over 55% of crude oil from outside.

U,S Economy Change Before and After WWII Ended Essay

U,S Economy Change Before and After WWII Ended - Essay Example Most of the sectors which oriented themselves to defense kind of production were like electronics and aerospace. Therefore, despite the fact that numerous Americans feared the return of the depression that had hit the nation before the war, after this war, they got quite a significant rise in personal income during the war that reached the year 1945. (Tassava, 2010) The two decades following WWII, are best described economically as ‘Growth period’. Despite the fear of most Americans that depression would haunt America again after WWII; up to 1970s, the economy experienced just mild recessions. An example to show this growth is that the period running from 1945-1960, the real GNP growth rate was (52%) fifty two percent. During the same period per capita GNP escalated by (19%) nineteen percent. Most notable after the WWII was the rise in production of consumer durable commodities. These commodities were like TVs, Cars as well as household appliances. The US’s service industries also expanded a great deal. (Walker, 1996 p

Unemployment statistics in US Essay Example for Free

Unemployment statistics in US Essay Unemployment refers to a situation whereby a person who is able and willing to work is currently without a job. The total number of employed people plus the number of unemployed persons who are seeking work is referred to as labor force (US Bureau of Labour Statistics, 2010). The participation rate is the labor force divided by the total number of working age population that is not institutionalized (US Department of Labour, 2010). The unemployment level is the difference between the labor force and the total number of people who are currently employed. The unemployment rate is the level of unemployed divided by the total number of working population. There are different types of unemployment types in the overall macro-economy. They include frictional unemployment, structural unemployment, natural rate of unemployment and demand deficient unemployment. Frictional unemployment reflects the time taken by individuals to find and get settled in their new jobs. Structural unemployment is the difference between the skills and other attributes possessed by the labor force and what the employers actually demand. This type of unemployment considers employees who are undergoing re-training in order to start a new job as being unemployed. It is usually increased by technological changes. Natural rate of unemployment is the sum total of frictional and structural unemployment. It is considered to be the lowest rate of unemployment that is expected to be achieved by a stable economy. Demand deficient unemployment is the level of unemployment which is beyond the natural rate unemployment. Causes of unemployment According to Keynesian economics, unemployment results from deficit in effective demand for both goods and services in an economy (US Bureau of Labour Statistics, 2010). Other schools of thought attribute unemployment to structural problems and inefficiencies which are common in the labor markets. Classical economics attribute unemployment to rigidities in labor markets resulting from external environment such as unionization of workers, taxes, minimum wages and other factors that may limit hiring of new employees (US Department of Labour, 2010). Other economists view unemployment as a voluntary choice of the unemployed and the time it takes them to find a new job also referred to as frictional unemployment. Efficiency wages and sticky wages are seen by behavioral economists to be a cause of unemployment. Unemployment level in US Unemployment in 27 US states was reported to have increased in February 2010 while seven states reported a drop in unemployment. There was an increase in unemployment in the state of Mississippi by 0. 4 percent (highest increase). The unemployment in Detroit fell from 15. 3 to 14. 8. The unemployment nationally by February 2010 was reported by Labor Department to be 9. 7 percent. However, job layoffs were fewer than previously anticipated (Trading Economics, 2010). Since the onset of recession in December 2007, 8. 4 million jobs had been lost by March 2010. The US official unemployment was reported to be 9. 5% in June 2010. This accounted for about 14. 6 million unemployed Americans. The black teens were leading with unemployment of 39. 9% Asians had the lowest unemployment rate of 7. 7%. The total number of officially unemployed and the hidden unemployment (29. 1 million) account for 18. 2% of the labor force. The graph below illustrates the levels of unemployment in US between 1999 and 2009.

Liver is the largest gland

Liver is the largest gland Liver Liver is just not like any other organ, which can be compensated by other organs or human machines. It is one of the important parts of body which performs many vital functions. Physically it is positioned in the upper part of the abdomen precisely on the right side, just beneath the diaphragm. Its physical looks are reddish brown with four lobes bulging out. Basically livers main role is to store and filter blood. Without liver all the sugar intake by human body would never be passed out until it converts sugar to glycogen which dissolves in blood and excretes the waste. It also produces biochemical such as bile which helps in digesting food. Liver is the largest gland in the human body. It is also a complex structured gland. This organ at any moment stores around 1 pint of blood, which Is equivalent to 13 percent of human blood. The liver basically has 4 sections, which is also known in medical terminology as lobes. These lobes are divided equally on either side of the liver. The lobes are structured in multisided units which we call the lobules. Amazingly a liver has around fifty to hundred lobules. Within the lobules are separators called cavities, which makes the liver spongy in order to hold blood. Furthermore these lobules have a bile capillary, which transfers the bile away from liver. As soon as the bile is excreted out of the liver it forms a hepatic duct. A liver produces bile even when there is no food to process. In this situation the excess bile has to be excreted through the gall bladder. Amazingly scientific researchers have found more than 500 functions of liver. As mentioned above some functions would be to produce bile by hepatic cells, secrete glucose, create vitamins, and to convert ammonia to urea and other metabolic activities. Other than this the liver main function is to digest food. This is done by the bile produced by liver which flows through the small intestine and dissolves the food we eat. Historically liver in Greek was named as hepatic, thus today all the medical term related to liver starts with hepato. Let us now look at the key feature of liver, which is the blood flow. The liver is also called the dual blood supply because it transfers 75 percent of blood supply around the body. Along with blood it contains oxygen supply which is required to reach in all parts of the body. Its key feature of eliminating waste and observing minerals and nutrients make it vital for survival. Thus without the liver a person would loose energy and its blood would not be able to clot normally. Apart from blood supply it also acts a reservoir for the human body essential vitamins. It stores gloucose, vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin B-12, Iron and copper. After storing these it also excretes albumin, which is an important ingredient for blood serum. It also synthesizes angiotensinogen, which is essential for the kidney to raise blood pressure when needed. Not only this, liver also stores food in itself. This food is released when the body requires the minerals and nutrients it needs in the blood. Every organ of a human body is prone to diseases. Due to the fact it is a vital organ needed to function other organs, its lack of functioning would harm the whole body and survival will become critical. Commonly hepatitis A, B, C, E is associated with liver disease. But there are many more such as alcohol damage, cancer, fatty liver and drug damages, which affects the liver. When a person is affected with one of the diseases mentioned above then the risk of getting jaundice increases. Basically the reason behind this is the increased level of bilirubin produced by distortion of red blood cell. Bilirubin is a yellow fluid produced in the liver when worn-out red blood cells are broken down. The liver is a strong gland and holds a great power to regenerate and become stable again. But if the damage is high then symptoms could lead to a disastrous outcome. In order to prevent this, a liver function test is performed. A liver function test is clinical laboratory test, whereby blood assays are designed to show the patients liver state. Basically liver diseases are hard to detect at start, this is because the signs of diseases are low and undetectable at early stage to the patient. Some of the signs are pale stools, dark urine, swelling and bruising. These symptoms may be caused by other conditions also, thus it is difficult to identify the real source. One of the major diseases called diabetes is sometimes led by fatty liver, commonly occurring in obese person. Some people may also experience autoimmune hepatitis. This condition has to do with the body producing antibodies that actually attack liver cells. Normally Young to middle aged women are often diagnosed with this condition but it is becoming more common among elderly people. Some of the symptoms may include extreme fatigue, jaundice and even blood tests that show there is liver damage (liver tissue, 2010). High alcohol consumption is one of the most common causes of liver disease. However, high alcohol consumption as a cause for abnormal liver test results is often not evident and may even be denied. A readily obtainable blood test to reveal whether alcohol is the likely cause would be valuable. However, many patients who doubtless consume high amounts of alcohol and indeed are alcohol-dependent and display elevated serum aminotransferase levels do not show a high AST/ALT ratio (Nyblom, 2004). Alcohol consumption leads to cancer of liver, pancreas, mouth, and throat. The seriousness of liver disease can be seen by United States statistic of 43967 people death due to liver cancer itself. Liver cancer is regarded as the seventh biggest cause of death in United States (Hilal, Ali A., and John D.S. Gaylor, 2006). In order to prevent these diseases, an individual should maintain good hygiene. As mentioned above he/she should restrain from drinking alcohol as it could lead to cirrhosis of the liver. He/she should also refrain from going in a chemical or biohazard factory, whereby the pollutants may enter the lung and damage the liver. If the persons diagnostic test results in a disease, the person would require staying in bed, have lots of water and eat well. As liver is a combination of sensitive tissues good care is vital. The striking feature of liver is that it is the only gland able to regenerate its lost tissues. If the liver is cut 75%, the remaining 25% has the ability to regenerate into a whole liver. This process takes only a week or maximum few weeks. This capability of liver has been acknowledged since the ancient Greek times. In fact there is a story about Prometheus being chained to a rock in the Caucasus mountain and his liver being partially eaten during the day by an eagle only to â€Å"regenerate† in the night. This scenario actually symbolizes how a liver half eaten could become full (Michalopoulos, George, 1997). For example, surgeons can remove a section of a healthy liver from an adult and transplant it into a child who has a diseased liver. The adults liver will rapidly regenerate and be restored to full size. The childs new liver will grow as the child grows (thinkquest, 2010). Work cite Hilal, Ali A., and John D.S. Gaylor. â€Å"Bioartificial liver: review of science requirements and technology.† World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development 3.1 (2006): 80-97. inderscience. Web. 20 Apr. 2010. . â€Å"Liver tissue.† livertissue. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2010. . Michalopoulos, George K., and DeFrances, Marie C., Liver regeneration:, Science, 4 April 1997: Vol. 276. no. 5309, pp. 60 66: Nyblom H, Berggren U, Balldin J, Olsson R (2004). â€Å"High AST/ALT ratio may indicate advanced alcoholic liver disease rather than heavy drinking†. Alcohol Alcohol. 39 (4): 336-9. doi:10.1093/alcalc/agh074. PMID15208167. http://alcalc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=longpmid=15208167. Thinkquest. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2010. .

Alphonse mucha - Cigarette Job :: essays research papers fc

Cigarette Job - Alphonse Marie Mucha The purpose of this Essay is to discuss an example of design from the late 1800s, I will relate it to the social, economic, technical and cultural context of that time. . I intend on delivering details of the artist and his life experiences as well as his style and possible interests. I will also evaluate the subject with my own opinion, likes and dislikes, with comparisons of work and artists from within that period up to the present date The design I have chosen to focus on is ‘Cigarette Job’ (1898) by the great Alphonse Marie Mucha. Alphonse Mucha was born in 1860 in Czechoslovakia and died in 1939. He is most often remembered for the prominent role he played in shaping the aesthetics of French Art Nouveau at the turn of the century, he was in fact the most famous artist of the Art Nouveau period. His imagery was so inextricably entwined with Art Nouveau that the entire movement was referred to by Goncourt as the 'Mucha Style'. Famous throughout Europe and the Americas, he inspired other artists and designers who copied him and plagiarised him so that for years the image of the Muchaesque beauty surrounded by her characteristic symbols was enshrined in advertising, magazine covers and illustrations, book jackets, posters, paintings and numerous artefacts. Art Nouveau is the Decorative style of the late 19th century and the early 20th that flourished principally in Europe and the USA. Although it influenced painting and sculpture, its chief manifestations were in architecture and the decorative and graphic arts. It is characterized by sinuous, asymmetrical lines based on organic forms; in a broader sense it encompasses the geometrical and more abstract patterns and rhythms that were evolved as part of the general reaction to 19th-century historicism. There are wide variations in the style according to where it appeared and the materials that were employed ‘Florated madness, liniar hysteria, strange decoratve disease, stylistic free-for-all’, such were the terms its contemporaries used to describe Art Nouveau, the first international design style. Art Nouveau was the rebellion against the entire Victorian sensibility, steeped as it was in the past. The exponents of the style hoped to revolutionize every aspect of design in order to set a standard that would be compatible with the new age. Art Nouveau was a direct descendant of the Arts and Crafts movement and influenced by celtic ornament as well as Japanese woodcut prints, all this resulted in an international style based on decoration.

Loves Executioner, by Irvin D. Yalom Essay -- Literary Analysis, Yalo

In the story, â€Å"Loves Executioner†, Yalom treats and old woman named â€Å"Thelma† that is overly obsessed with her a former therapist from ten years ago named Matthew. Yalom feeling though that he is drawn to the facets of her dilemma decides to do everything he can to empower Thelma move past the obsessions that had been wrecking havoc on her mental health. Although Thelma’s love obsession with her therapist, and her subjective experiences on life of what is preventing her from living in the present, Yalom attempts to treat a 70-year-old woman only to learn that being love executioner more complicated as he had anticipated. First and foremost are Yalom and Thelma’s first meeting. In beginning, Yalom is intrigued with her love obsession with Matthew and couldn’t understand why her former therapist that was considerably younger would even want to have sexual relations Thelma as he describes her as, â€Å"a shabby old woman† (Yalom, 2000). The possibly of helping her move past her obsession to ease her suffering, were the reasons why Yalom ultimately decides to treat her. I thought that though Yalom had good intentions from the start to treat her, I think that he was thrown off by her demands as she tells him right from the start, â€Å"Eight years ago I had a love affair with my therapist. Since then he has never left my mind. I almost killed myself once and I believe I will succeed the next time. You are my last hope.† (Yalom, 2000 p. 18) A person that has been seeing therapists for over twenty years and be stuck on an obsession for ten, I thought, was rather intimidating and I think that Yalom did the best he could to remain optimistic. If I had a patient like Thelma that told me that I was her last hope and if I could not help her she wi... ...ought that in some ways Yalom lost his patience, but he was on time constraints had more time to work with Thelma, therapy may have turned out different. This was defiantly one most confusing and intricate stories I have read in Yalom’s book and that the overall take home message I took from this was that, love and obsessions are hard to intellectualize and understand objectively as much as we would like to. Although what may be logically the best decision, love is not based on logic and that the only loves executioner cannot come from the suggestions of another person or therapist, but more from themselves and within. I think this quote states the story best, â€Å"Love and Psychotherapy are fundamentally incompatible. A good therapist fights darkness and seeks illumination, while romantic love is sustained by mystery and crumbles upon inspection† (Yalom, 2000 p. 17)

Easter Island’s End

2013-04-16 ENGL 102 Essay #1 Longer summery In the article, â€Å"Easter Island’s End† by Jared Diamond, he states that the overpopulation and overusing the natural resources can affect and destroy our environment. Easter Island can be used as a warning that cultural and environmental dangers exist due to overexploitation. Although, civilizations have vanished from the island it still has a remaining mystery and history to its untouched landscape. Easter Island was formed out of an ancient volcanic eruption; the island is only sixty-four square miles with habitable land and subtropical weather that makes the soil fertile.Easter Island is famous for its tight-lipped statues that stand across the island, which were erected by the native Rapa Nui people. These are ancient wonders of the world that are still being studied to get a full understanding of how and why these statues were created. From written history, the explorer’s first impression of the island was that it has nothing but a sand island, there were nothing left on the island except for hundreds of the Rapa Nui statues. According to Diamond, the climate and location of the Easter Island should create abundance of trees, soils and other natural resources.Many questions have arisen to Easter Island’s current existence. After many years of research, scientists and sociologists have come to a conclusion that the natural resources of the island were used by the islanders to survive their daily life, they cut down woods to transport those Rapa Nui statues and build canoes in order to find food. As time goes by, the population of Easter Island increased rapidly, and these islanders started to utilize all the natural resources abusively until the last tree was cut down.With today’s rising population around the world, we have been exhausting our limited natural resources, if we do not learn to conserve all the limited natural resources, we will have nothing left for our future generations. Longer summery reflection I was very interested in the Easter Island topic when I first saw the title of the article. I have always seen pictures of the statues on Easter Island and wanted to visit there someday. I thought this would be good information to know about, so I started to read the article â€Å"Easter Island’s End† by Jared Diamond.After I finished reading it the first time, I think I understood most of the article. But I still didn’t understand how the islanders collapsed the Easter Island. So I went on google and did some research. I found a Ted talk by Jared Diamond about how human collapsed the natural and civilization. After watching the video, it helped me a lot in understanding how human are slowly destroying our own planet, similar to what happened on Easter Island. After viewing the video, I went back to read the article again, and started to write down notes.I divided my long summery into five sections, the first section consis ting of the main idea of the article, over population and over using the natural resources lead Easter Island to an end. The second section is about the history of Easter Island, and what was on the island before it was destroyed. The third section is about the condition of Easter Island after it was destroyed. The fourth section is the conclusion of the summery, we can see that Easter Island is the miniature version of our earth, if we don’t stop over using our limited natural resources, our earth will end up like Easter Island. Shorter SummeryIn the article, â€Å"Easter Island’s End† by Jared Diamond, he states that the overpopulation and overusing the natural resources can affect and destroy our environment. Easter Island can be used as a warning that cultural and environmental dangers exist due to overexploitation of natural resources. The local inhabitants of Easter Island over-utilized the island's natural resources to the point of a complete extinction o f those very resources that were sustaining them. Easter Island can be thought of as a small scale model of the earth, and what could hypothetically happen if we do not exercise natural resource sustainability and management.Shorter summery reflection I found that writing a short summery is much harder than writing a longer summery, especially on keeping it under 100 words. At the beginning, I didn’t know how to start with the shorter summery, but I thought a good way to do it is to condense my longer summery and make it into 100 words. So I start with filtering out the least important information from the longer summery. First thing I took out was the history and introduction of Easter Island. Then I filtered out the information about the gigantic statues. Finally, I deleted the example of how they waste the natural resources.After I have the edited version of the summery, I read it again, and thought that the most important part is the author’s thesis, which is †Å"he states that the overpopulation and overusing the natural resources can affect and destroy our environment. † So I decided to keep the same sentence. In the article, the author clearly illustrate that the cause of the ending of the Easter Island is because of the islanders didn’t use their resources wisely. He wants to warn us that the Easter Island is a lesson for us and if we don’t want to end up like the islanders, we should stop abusing our limited natural resources.I expanded the information what I think I have learned from the article, and then make them into a academic form. This is how I put my shorter summery together. Critique and essay In â€Å"Easter Island’s End†, published by Discover Magazine in 1995, written by Jared Diamond, a professor of geography and physiology at UCLA, has shown us the beginning till the end of the former heaven, the Easter Island. In the article, Diamond illustrates that overpopulating and overusing natural resources will result in destroying our natural environment. Easter Island is located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean.When the European explorers reached the island in 1722 they found a desolate landscape with less than 2,000 people existing there. They noticed that the islanders lived in caves and had a very limited supply of food. And they also found these gigantic statues that were carved out of stone. Those were evidence which proves that refined civilization once existed in Easter Island. Because of the unique location of the Easter Island, it has very good climate that creates abundance of natural resources. â€Å"In theory, this combination of blessings should have made Easter a miniature paradise, remote from problems that beset the rest of the world. (165) However, when explorers discovered Easter Island, it was a completely opposite of the â€Å"paradise†. It makes us wonder what happened in this Island. The first hypothesis the researchers considered was the fo rest was lost because of climate change, but evidence quickly pointed to the hypothesis that the people had gradually destroyed their own island. Researchers predicted that the trees provided wood, building material for houses and canoes, fruit to eat, fiber for clothing. Most importantly, lots of woods were used as the first resource to move the stone statues.These statues are 33 feet tall, and weighed up to 99 tons. Some of them are very far from where they were constructed in the quarries to the coastal sites where they were positioned. With the trees slowly been cutting down, rain would have eroded the soil away. Population raised rapidly over generations, people started to unmanageably use the limited natural resources on the overpopulated island. As a result the islanders turned against one another because of the shortage of food. â€Å"Gradually trees become fewer, smaller, and less important.By the time the last fruit-bearing adult palm tree was cut, palms had long since ce ased to be of economic significance. †(173)The life of paradise Easter Island has come to an end. In the article, Diamond has point out that we can consider our planet as a large version of the Easter Island. We have a potentially non-sustainable eco system. If we look at our progression over the last 300 years that we have inhabited North America, we will notice that we have removed many natural resources. Such as Trees in the Northwest, plains in the Midwest, the marshes of Florida, all of which have been devastated by humans in the past centuries.Our great grandparents did not notice the destruction, nor will I ever be able to actually notice some of it myself. We must learn from the lesson of the Easter Island and start to use our natural resources wisely. If we don’t preserve our environment by recycling, saving trees, and protecting land, we will be forced to face the same ending as the islanders. Natural resources are important and limited, if we don’t pro tect them, the nature will pay back to us and there will be nothing left for our future generation. Citation Diamond, Jared. â€Å"Easter Island's End. † Science and Society (2007): 164-74. Print.