The Marshall Plan Essay -- George C. Marshall The Marshall Plan Essays

The Marshall Plan First and foremost, a great deal of Europe’s success would not have happened without its initial aid from the United States. After helping destroy so much of the continent, the U.S. pumped billions and billions of dollars back into the European economy through The Marshall Plan. It was named after Secretary of State George C. Marshall, who said â€Å"The world of suffering people looks to us for leadership. Their thoughts, however, are not concentrated alone on this problem. They have more immediate and terribly pressing concerns where the mouthful of food will come from, where they will find shelter tonight, and where they will find warmth. Along with the great problem of maintaining the peace we must solve the problem of the pittance of food, of clothing and coal and homes. Neither of these problems can be solved alone. (DeLong)† In the first two post-World War II years the U.S. contributed through this plan, about four billion dollars a year to relief and reconstruction. The Marshall Plan continued these flows at comparable rates and was a multi-year commitment. From 1948 to 1951, the U.S. contributed $13.2 billion to European recovery. $3.2 billion went to the United Kingdom, $2.7 billion to France, $1.5 billion to Italy, and $1.4 billion to the Western-occupied zones of Germany (DeLong). An astounding $15.5 billion had been provided to Europe before the Marshall plan was enacted (Wegs, 66). The availability of Marshall Plan aid gave European countries a pool of resources that could be used to cushion the wealth losses sustained in restructuring. Countries that received large amounts of money from the Marshall Plan invested more. Countries could buy the amounts of coal, cotton and petroleum needed (all of these were in short supply) when needed because of Marshall Plan aid. Great Britain used the Marsh all Plan aid to retire public debt (DeLong). The Marshall Plan did have strings attached however. Countries had to agree to balance government budgets, restore internal financial stability, and stabilize exchange rates at realistic levels. Marshall plan aid was available only if Europe was committed to the "mixed economy" with the market playing a large part in the mix (DeLong). On their own, some countries were able to rebuild or repair slightly damaged factories and warehouses. Contrary to popular belief, factories... ...re slow to get into the automobile production game. They refused to merge with other companies, instead vying to produce many kinds of automobiles, none of which got a great deal of market share. None until the Mini came along, breaking from old traditional large British cars, creating a new craze (Wegs, 77-78). Not all was utopian forever in Europe though. All good things generally come to an end, and in the 1970s, the economy began to flounder. But for nearly twenty years, the western portion of Europe rebounded from nothingness, surged in no time, flourished for many years, became a major player in the economic world once again, and truly rose like a phoenix from the ashes of war. Works Cited DeLong, J. Bradford, The Economic History of the Twentieth Century: Slouching Towards Utopia? (University of California at Berkely and NBER: http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/TCEH/Slouch_Present19.html , 1997) . Kindleberger, Charles P., â€Å"The One and Only Marshall Plan,† National Interest, Vol. 11, 113-115. Wegs, J. Robert and Ladrech, Robert, Europe Since 1945: A Concise History, 4th ed. (Boston: St. Martin’s Press, Inc., 1996) 3, 12, 45-47, 65-79.

Causes and Effects of Land Pollution

Land pollution is one of the gravest kinds of pollutions. I say so because we do not realize when and how we pollute land due to different things we do and decisions we take. We realize the air is getting polluted when we step out of our houses and take a deep breath. We know when our actions cause water pollution, for we can see for ourselves the quality of the water worsening. Similarly noise, light, visual pollution can all be monitored, because we can all see or sense these kinds of pollution. However, land pollution is a hard one to get since we do not understand and we cannot comprehend which of our actions cause destruction of land.What is Land Pollution? When the anthropogenic effects of development adversely affect land (especially in turns of quality of land), it can be termed as land pollution. This brings us to an important question – what counts as an adverse effect? The answer is simple – anything that reduces the productivity and potential of a piece of l and. Here, ‘productivity and potential' refers to prospective uses of a piece of land for any of the different purposes for which land is used; including infrastructure, housing, services, agriculture, forestry, etc.If any of the effects of human development reduce the potential of a piece of land to be used for any good purpose, it amounts to land pollution. Causes of Land Pollution 1. Degenerative Actions encompass a lot of human actions, including – deforestation, overuse of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, desertification, mining, inefficient and / or inadequate waste treatment, landfill, litter, etc. Many of these are unavoidable; however, definitely the severity of these actions in terms of the effects they have on the land can be reduced by taking appropriate and adequate corrective measure.For example, the amount of litter produced can be hugely reduced if we all strictly say NO to plastic. The key here is to conduct a thorough EIA – Environmental Imp act Assessment. 2. Misuse of Land mainly refers to felling of trees to clear land for agriculture, as well as processes like desertification and land conversion. Desertification is when anthropogenic effects of human development and / or other actions converts a piece of (essentially) fertile land into desert-land or dryland. Isn't that a scary thought?Land once converted to desert-land can never be reclaimed by any amount of corrective measures. This is also a serious issue because t does not only affect the land, but also the overall biodiversity of a place, specially when land is cleared for agriculture. A lot of indigenous flora and fauna is lost in the process. 3. Inefficient Use of Land – surprised? Does inefficient use of land count as a cause of land pollution? Yes. Why? Due to the consequences of inefficient use of land. Inefficient use of land as such is not going to cause land pollution.However, inefficient use of land amounts to wastage, and hence shortage of land ; and it is precisely during such conditions that man has to resort to measure such as deforestation and others to meet his needs. It is an important, albeit an indirect cause of land pollution that is often largely neglected. 4. Soil Pollution is when the top-most ‘soil' layer of land is destroyed or polluted. Soil pollution is again another cause of land pollution that affects not only the land, but also a lot of other things such as forest cover of a region, productivity of land in terms of agriculture, grazing etc.Soil pollution is also caused by wrong agricultural practices, such as overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This causes non-biodegradable chemicals to enter and accumulate in the food-chain – a process often referred to as biomagnification of a pollutant. 5. Land Conversion is the process whereby a piece of land is converted from its indigenous form to a form used for either agriculture or infrastructure. Land conversion is especially a growing problem that we possibly do not have a good – or a good enough – solution for.The best way to avoid land conversion is to make efficient use of the available land. Using a piece of land to its maximum potential is the key to eliminate many of the causes of land pollution. Other key causes of land pollution include – urbanization, improper waste disposal, industrial activities, nuclear research, chemicals released by all sorts of heavy industries, coal-fired power plants, metals production industries, etc. Effects of Land Pollution 1. Effects on Climate Land pollution can affect the general environment of the Earth.Land pollutions leads to loss in the forest cover of Earth. This is in turn going to affect the amount of rain. Less rains mean lesser vegetation. The effect of all different kinds of pollution will eventually lead to problems like acid rains, greenhouse effect, global warming. All of these problems have already initiated and need to be curbed before t he situation runs out of control. 2. Extinction of Species One of the major causes of concern is the extinction of species. Species are pushed towards endangerment and extinction primarily by two processes.Habitat fragmentation is the fragmentation of the natural habitat of an organism; cause primarily by urban sprawl. Habitat destruction, on the other hand, is when land clearing adversely affects animals special such that their natural habitat is lost. Both the actions can cause some species to go extinct and others to become invasive. 3. Biomagnification Biomagnification is the process in which certain non-biodegradable substances go on accumulating in the food-chain (in one or more species).The most common example is of methylmercury in fish and mercury in eagles. Not only does biomagnification put the particular species at risk, it puts all the species above and below it at risk, and ultimately affects the food pyramid. 4. Effects on Biodiversity Species extinction and biomagnif ication is going to overthrow the balance of nature very significantly. The main reason for this is disturbance created in the food chain. To give you a very simple example – on account of biomagnification of mercury in eagles, they might go extinct in the subsequent years.However, we know eagles prey on snakes. Less (or no) eagles will then result in more number of snakes! As you may have realized, land pollution is indeed going to affect a lot more things than we though it will. Hence, I leave you with some corrective measure you can take on a personal level to reduce land pollution. Encourage organic farming – buy organic food. Proper garbage disposal – separate your garbage before you give it to the garbage collector; and strictly say NO to plastic.Encourage recycling – buy recycled products, notebooks, paper, etc. Restrict use of herbicides and pesticides – they are not only used in farm, but in your own backyard as well. If we reduce our cont ribution to garbage and litter, therein itself we will be able to significantly reduce land pollution and probably curb it entirely in the near future. Also do realize this isn't only about land pollution; it is about all kinds of pollution. We need to take steps to prevent damaging our Earth. We have no other place to go.

Case Study Healthcare Provider Essay

Scenario A large, regional healthcare provider is developing a new, integrated wellness and prevention program (IWPP) for their patients. This involves developing an overarching strategy and aligning existing prevention capabilities. The client has employed Point B to facilitate the development of the plan’s strategy, conceptual design, and roadmap for initial implementation. Describe how you would approach this effort. Approach: Broadly, the approach has three steps starting with the leadership team and then engaging the entire organization: I. Leadership Strategy Development and Plan II. Organization Engagement and Strategy Refinement III. Initial Implementation I. Leadership Strategy Development and Plan Once the leadership participants are confirmed with the sponsor, facilitated workshops will be structured to shape the key deliverables: business strategy, conceptual design and roadmap. Workshops will focus on: Finding a common understanding of what is a successful IWPP. This includes: †¢ Identifying current challenges for the healthcare provider as a whole and specific to an IWPP †¢ Agreeing to the existing strengths overall but with a focus on existing prevention capabilities †¢ Understanding what has and has not worked in the past †¢ Defining a common IWPP vision and values Defining what capabilities are needed and how to measure a successful IWPP. Capabilities will shape the conceptual design and span such things as: †¢ Technology †¢ Business processes †¢ Applications †¢ People/organization structure †¢ Information †¢ Geographic location Identifying the activities (immediate and future) to create a new IWPP. For example: 1 Case Study – Healthcare Provider May 20, 2014 †¢ People – assessing the organization’s culture and behaviours for integrative wellness, prevention and medical care †¢ Process – redesign business processes to emphasis case management and cross organization collaboration per patient(s) or member(s) †¢ Technology – data conversion to a common rollout schedule for compliance standards across the network e.g. ICD 10 Activity timing will determine when capabilities are in place to chart a roadmap of changes to the organization. II. Organization Engagement and Strategy Refinement The second step is the most intensive and often the most overlooked when developing strategy. The leadership team will be required to engage the broader organization to test the strategy, conceptual design and roadmap. This requires cascading participation from management, team leaders and front-line staff. For a healthcare provider this is critical given the complexity and diversity of the network (complementary service providers, insurers, medical providers, members and patients). Input is also required regarding how best to monitor progress, to measure outcomes and to continuously collect feedback once implementation is  underway. Step II has the following benefits: †¢ Improve the leadership team’s work by adding operational detail †¢ Create strategy awareness so the organization’s day-to-day decision making better aligns with the strategic vision and intent. †¢ Start to foster ownership and champions for IWPP changes III. Initial Implementation The third step focuses on identifying the activities that can be implemented first. Activities will be assessed by not only business value to achieve a new IWPP but also by other planning constraints such as the availability of people with the right skills, funding and interdependencies with existing project work. Step III also requires the establishment of implementation processes to monitor progress, to measure outcomes and to continually improve implementation methods based on feedback.

Impact of the European Economic Crisis

What determines whether or not a resource is scarce? Why is the concept of scarcity important to the definition of economics? The determination of whether a resource is scarce is its supply in relation to demand such as land, labor capital and human capital. If there is not sufficient amount of resource to satisfy the demands, then resources are set to be scarce. On the other hand if supply exceeds it demand, then the resource is not scare not only that if the supply of a goods or service is low, the market price will rise, providing there is sufficient demand from consumers. Goods and services that are in plentiful supply will have a lover market value because supply can easily meet the demand from consumer. However there is excess supply in a market, then we can expect to see price fall. The concept of scarcity is because in order to differentiate good in relation to the market, because of the scarcity of resources we need an economic system to determine where and who gets the resources. In capitalism it is the free market system that determines this. In socialism the government owns the resources and determines who gets them. . In the coordinate system of graphs, there are two main relationships between two variables. With the use of numerical examples, describe these two relationships. The two variables is positive means when two variables changes in the same direction and negative means when two variables changes in opposite directions, the relationship is when one variable rises the other variable falls. Positive relations is to say the I need to ex ercise 5 hrs a week to loss 2lbs so the next week I will have to work 10 hrs a week to loss 4lbs and 15 hrs to loss 6lbs so on. Negative is buy 1 CD for $5 and when you by three it is 10 so you will pay $3. 33 for one CD on so on . 3. Why is choice important in economics? What are the costs of choice? Choice is important in economics because of is the scarcity of goods in the marketplace. Scarcity means that goods are limited in the marketplace, and consumers must choose wisely which items they will purchase to meet their needs or wants. Consumers will place an internal value on goods they purchase partly based on the available amount of the good. Scarcer goods will force consumers to purchase these items first, making the economic choice easier for them. Cost choice is the value given up when choosing to purchase one item over another. The item not purchased represents an opportunity cost, the second-best item available, that the consumer lost purchasing a different item. For example you have to buy $100 worth of groceries but you only have 75, so you decide to forgo and buy the necessary basic food item that is needed like bread, milk, water, etc. The Role of Choice in Economics | How. com  http://www. ehow. com/about_5398568_role-choice-economics. html#ixzz1jBKaEUeF

Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address - Coursework Example In his inaugural address, Roosevelt directly blamed businessmen and bankers for being greedy and short-termed (Allswang, p. 89). Roosevelt believed that they were the villains that caused economic crunches and its moral dimensions.The first phase (1933-34) tried to deliver recuperation from the Great Depression. This was through programs that regulated business and agriculture, price stabilization, inflation, and public works. Getting-together in (1933) in special session, the Congress established several emergency organizations, remarkably the National Recovery Administration (NRA), the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Public Works Administration and Civilian Conservation Corporation among others (Allswang, 1978). The Congress also instituted farm relief, stiffened finance and banking regulations, and established the Tennessee Valley Authority. Afterward, Democratic Congresses dedicated themselves to intensifying and modifying these laws. In 1934, Congress established the Federal Communications Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission and passed the National Housing Act, Trade Agreements Act and currency acts business (Allswang, p. 17).The second phase of the New Deal (1935-41), continued with relief and recovery measures, providing for economic and social legislation to help the mass of working people. In 1935, the social security system was set up. In the same year, the Work Projects Administration and National Youth Administration were established (Allswang, 1978). The Fair Labor Standards Act was approved in 1938. The Revenue Acts of 1935, 1936, and 1937 provided techniques to democratize the federal tax structure. In 1935, a number of New Deal methods were overturned by the Supreme Court, however; the National Recovery Administration was struck down and the subsequent year the Agricultural Adjustment Administration was annulled. President fruitlessly sought to reorganize the Su preme Court. Meanwhile, other laws were replaced for legislation that had been affirmed unconstitutional (Allswang, 1978).

Evaluating practice through theories and models Essay - 1

Evaluating practice through theories and models - Essay Example He was being taken care of by his wife, who was elderly too. The patient had a history of heart failure, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. His condition was worsened by the fact that he had a low self-esteem, to a point that he wished himself death to unburden his family. He had difficulty in breathing caused by increased ultra filtration. He also had limited water intake because of his renal treatment. In addition to this, he had failed in maintaining his regular food and water balance because he refused to eat and drink. Renal failure also caused him to have difficulty in passing urine (OSU 2013). Mr. Lim depended on his wife and nurses to help him with his activity of daily living (ADL). Mr. Lim and his wife both lacked the critical knowledge of maintaining his condition. These include lack of the will to follow his regimen and dietary adjustments (NKF 2013). Also captured were the psychological effects of the disease on him, and his family’s lack of motivation characterized by depression of both of them. Mr. Lim was negatively affected by these circumstances, and his condition, as a result. Introduction of Orem’s self-deficit theory seemed the best option to get the patient and his family to cope with management of the patient’s condition. Both the patient and his wife were to be subjected to Orem’s self-deficit theory to enable them gain the appropriate knowledge that will benefit all of them. This is because their lack of knowledge of self-care management and supportive education that was essential in Mr. Lim’s management of his chronic condition (Curtin et. al. 2005). Orem’s self-deficit theory was applied, in this case, to improve the condition of Mr. Lim and the psychological well being of his wife. The program took about three months, and the results were encouraging. Mr. Lim was able to portray a positive aura, which was the most essential step in the road to his recovery. This

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Research Paper Example It was an all high for female in both public and private nonprofit institutions. The reverse was witnessed in the private for profit institutions, with males being more than females at forty-eight percent and thirty-six percent respectively. Every start of an academic year comes with an ever-increasing price of college education. An interview conducted on persons of ages eighteen to sixty-five, found out that sixty-five percent of the respondents believed that college prices were growing at a faster rate than other items and services. Eighty three percent went on to explain that students borrow too much to go to school. The school year 2013-2014, recorded an average tuition and fees for undergraduate at public four-year colleges at $8,893 a two point nine rise from the previous year. The private non-profit four-year colleges recorded an average tuition fee of $30,094, which was a three-point eight percent from the previous year. For over the last decade, an increase in tuition and fees has been on a rise. At the four-year public colleges the raise has hit a fifty-one percent rise. The private non-profit four-year colleges, the raise was at twenty-five percent. This raise has resulted to an increased number of students in need of financial assistance. The last decade has witnessed the number of Pell grants rise from four points eight to eight point eight million. The retention of University student is of importance more so to the college administrators in trying to improve the graduate rates and decreasing of tuition and fees since the economy is known to have a noticeable effect on the retention