Alzheimer’s disease Essay Example Essay Example

Alzheimer’s disease Essay Example Paper Alzheimer’s disease Essay Introduction This specific instance is about Eli Lilly developing a new drug which is said to cure Alzheimer’s disease. However, when patients started taking the drug, their condition even regressed. Moreover, they risked developing skin cancer. Although there are various aspects involved here, the problem that this paper will address is that of ethical practices. Lilly obviously conducted laboratory tests which proved successful. When they tested the drug in real people with Alzheimer’s, they realized that it’s not working and it’s even contributing to a worse case of Alzheimer’s. But what could have been done in order to prevent this type of scenario? The next question here is, to what degree must human testing be done in order to serve the common good? Given that the experiment was successful, the next the Lilly will do is to mass produce and manufacture this drug and sell it to people with Alzheimer’s. But now that it turned wrong, were the experiment participants insured before the experimentation began? Should the experts considered stopping the experimentation when the first few symptoms of regression appeared? Lilly is a global pharmaceutical plant leading in most researches to discover new medications for various types of disease. However, in this particular experimentation procedure, pharmaceutical ethics were not applied. There could be a â€Å"greater good† which needs to be attained—even though it means sacrificing other people to do so. Anyway, since the experimentation was not successful and Lilly expressed that it will not continue the research on this drug anymore, then goals were not met. Alzheimer’s disease Essay Body Paragraphs There was no wonder Alzhemier’s drug that was created and it even caused more suffering both to the Alzheimer’s patients who tested the medication and their family. Bibliography Kolata, G. (2010, August 18). Doubt on Tactic in Alzheimer’s Battle. Retrieved August 21, 2010, from http://www. nytimes. com/2010/08/19/health/19alzheimers. html? _r=1ref=health Appendix A Doubt on Tactic in Alzheimer’s Battle By GINA KOLATA Published: August 18, 2010 The failure of a promising Alzheimer’s drug in clinical trials highlights the gap between diagnosis — where real progress has recently been made — and treatment of the disease. It was not just that the drug, made by Eli Lilly, did not work — maybe that could be explained by saying the patients’ illness was too far advanced when they received it. It was that the drug actually made them worse, the company said. And the larger the dose they took, the worse were patients’ symptom s of memory loss and inability to care for themselves. Not only that, the drug also increased the risk of skin cancer. So when Lilly announced on Tuesday that it was ending its large clinical trials of that drug, semagacestat, researchers were dismayed. â€Å"Obviously, this is disappointing news, to say the least,† said Dr. Steven Paul, an Alzheimer’s researcher and a recently retired executive vice president at Lilly. Beyond the setback for Lilly, the study raises questions about a leading hypothesis of the cause of Alzheimer’s and how to treat it. The idea, known as the amyloid hypothesis, says the disease occurs when a toxic protein, beta amyloid, accumulates in the brain. The idea is that if beta amyloid levels are reduced, the disease might be slowed, halted or even prevented if treatment starts early enough. The Lilly drug, like most of the more than 100 Alzheimer’s drugs under development, blocks an enzyme, gamma secretase, needed to make beta amy loid. It was among the first shown to breach the blood-brain barrier and reduce levels of beta amyloid in the brain. And, company studies showed, it did reduce amyloid production. â€Å"We did get enough in the brain to have an effect,† said Dr. Eric Siemers, medical director of Lilly’s Alzheimer’s disease team. â€Å"Unfortunately, the effect was not what we wanted. † Now researchers are focused on what went wrong, and why. Some, like Dr. Lon Schneider, an Alzheimer’s researcher at the University of Southern California, say the drug’s failure may mean the field is rushing off a cliff in its near single-minded focus on blocking the production of amyloid. Dr. Schneider, like most leading Alzheimer’s researchers, consults for a number of drug companies, including Lilly. The Lilly study’s failure, he said, â€Å"chips away at that approach to testing the amyloid hypothesis. † â€Å"We don’t know what the drug target s for Alzheimer’s disease are,† Dr. Schneider said. â€Å"We don’t know because we don’t know the causes of Alzheimer’s. † At the very least, said Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy, an Alzheimer’s researcher at Duke University, the Lilly result â€Å"clearly tells us that our current views may be too simplistic. † Dr. Doraiswamy said he was not abandoning the amyloid hypothesis. But, he said, â€Å"this is a time of major soul-searching in the field. † â€Å"What worries me is that we don’t know if this was a toxicity unique to Lilly’s drug and this late-stage population or whether it also applies to similar anti-amyloid therapies given at earlier stages of the disease,† Dr. Doraiswamy said. The bad news came on the heels of what researchers see as a resurgence of hope in this challenging field. With new cooperation in research they have made advances in diagnosing Alzheimer’s, a disease that used to be uncertain until autopsy. And those new diagnostic tests are still exciting, researchers said. PET scans of amyloid plaques in the brain and tests of cerebrospinal fluid can show amyloid accumulation long before people have symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and, as recently reported, appear to identify people at high risk of the disease. Researchers believe the best time to try to alter the course of the disease is before memory loss. By then, brain cells are dead or dying and are unlikely to be restored. At this point, though, when there is no treatment, those tests are primarily a benefit for companies testing new therapies and researchers trying to understand the disease’s progress. . The long journey of semagacestat began more than a decade ago when Lilly scientists discovered it could block gamma secretase in laboratory experiments. Years of work followed, showing it appeared safe, that it got into the brains of people, that it reduced the production of amyloid in t he brain. Finally, in 2008, Lilly began two large studies of semagacestat, enrolling more than 2,600 people with Alzheimer’s disease. The company did not expect its drug to reverse the disease — patients’ brains were too ravaged for that, said Richard Mohs, Lilly’s team leader in Alzheimer’s research. But it did hope to slow the disease’s progression. Now, with the abrupt end of the studies, patients will continue to be followed but no one will be taking any more of the drug. â€Å"The fact that people got worse means there is biology we don’t understand,† Dr. Mohs said. There are several possible explanations. One is that the drug altered the functioning of other proteins in the brain and body — it now appears that gamma secretase is involved in the production of about 20 proteins in addition to beta amyloid. Companies, including Lilly, are developing drugs that block gamma secretase from making amyloid but have little effect on other proteins. One company, Bristol-Myers Squibb, says that is what its drug does. Its drug is now being tested in two clinical trials. In one, the participants have Alzheimer’s. In the other, they have lesser memory impairment and have brain amyloid PET scans and tests of cerebrospinal fluid showing amyloid is accumulating in their brains, indicating that they are likely to develop Alzheimer’s. â€Å"We still like the amyloid hypothesis,† said Charlie Albright, a Bristol-Myers group director in neuroscience biology. The Lilly drug failure â€Å"doesn’t affect our enthusiasm about going forward. † Another possibility is that the enzyme is decreasing production not just of a dangerous form of amyloid, known as a beta 42, but also of another form, a beta 40, that may protect the brain. Companies are developing so-called selective gamma secretase inhibitors, Dr. Paul said, which only block the production of a beta 42. Lilly and other compan ies are also testing monoclonal antibodies to reduce amyloid levels. And companies are pursuing a more difficult target — blocking a protein, tau, that accumulates in dead and dying nerve cells after the disease is under way. But Alzheimer’s experts worry about the future. The research is extremely expensive — Lilly spent hundreds of millions of dollars on its failed drug — and it can take a decade or more to know if a drug works. It can take even longer if drugs are tested in people with mild symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease or in people who are at high risk but have no symptoms yet — a direction many think is necessary to really make a difference. â€Å"Failures certainly don’t build energy and enthusiasm,† said Dr. Samuel Gandy, an Alzheimer’s researcher at Mount Sinai Medical Center. â€Å"The market is still there, but failures do take their toll. † A version of this news analysis appeared in print on August 1 9, 2010, on page A14 of the New York edition. 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50 Idioms About Meat and Dairy Products

50 Idioms About Meat and Dairy Products 50 Idioms About Meat and Dairy Products 50 Idioms About Meat and Dairy Products By Mark Nichol Expressions that figuratively to livestock and other animals and animal products abound in English idiom. Here are many such morsels. 1–2. To â€Å"bring home the bacon† is to earn money at a job, but to â€Å"save (someone’s) bacon† is to help or rescue someone when they are in trouble or risking failure. 3–5. To â€Å"beef about (someone)† is to complain or criticize, but â€Å"have a beef† with someone is to hold a grudge, while to â€Å"beef up† something is to strengthen it. 6. â€Å"Where’s the beef?† is a challenge or claim indicating that an idea is without sufficient substance. 7–8. A â€Å"chicken† is a fearful person, and to â€Å"chicken out† is to opt, out of fear, not to do something. 9. A â€Å"chicken-and-egg argument† is a circuitous one. 10–12. â€Å"Chicken feed† is an insubstantial amount of money, and â€Å"chicken scratch† is illegible writing, while to â€Å"play chicken† is to engage in a standoff to determine who will back down first. 13. To say that â€Å"the chickens have come home to roost† means that consequences are imminent. 14. The exhortation â€Å"Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched† cautions one not to act as if a hoped-for outcome has already occurred. 15. One who is â€Å"no spring chicken† is not young anymore. 16. To â€Å"run around like a headless chicken† (or â€Å"like a chicken with its head cut off†) is to panic or worry aimlessly. 17–19. To have â€Å"bigger fish to fry† is to have more important things to do, but a â€Å"fine kettle of fish† is an unfortunate situation, while â€Å"a different kettle of fish† suggests something is unrelated to the topic 20–21. To â€Å"make hamburger† or â€Å"make mincemeat† of someone or something is to defeat or destroy the person or the thing. 22. To be a â€Å"meat-and-potatoes† person is to like simple things. 23. A â€Å"meat market† is a venue people frequent to seek sex partners. 24. Something that is â€Å"meat and drink† to someone is a skill or pastime that they enjoy and that is very easy for them. 25. One who is â€Å"dead meat† is a target for harm or punishment. 26. To say that â€Å"one man’s meat is another man’s poison† is to say that what one person may like, another may dislike. 27. The â€Å"meat of the matter† is the essence of an issue or problem. 28. Something that is â€Å"pork barrel† is a government spending project cynically designed to garner support. 29. To â€Å"pork out† is to eat too much. 30. To stop â€Å"cold turkey† is to do so abruptly. 31. To â€Å"butter (someone) up† is to flatter that person. 32. To say that â€Å"butter wouldn’t melt in (one’s) mouth† is to imply that they are feigning innocence by looking calm and cool. 33. To â€Å"cheese (someone) off† is to anger or disgust someone. 34. A â€Å"big cheese† is a leader or somewhat important (sometimes jocularly rendered in French: le grande fromage). 35. To â€Å"cut the cheese† is vulgar slang meaning â€Å"produce flatulence.† 36. â€Å"Say, ‘Cheese!’† is an exhortation to smile for a photograph. 37–38. The â€Å"cream of the crop† is the best in its class; the â€Å"crà ¨me de la crà ¨me† is the best of the best. 39–40. A â€Å"good egg† is a good person, and a â€Å"bad egg† is a bad person. 41–45. To â€Å"put all (one’s) eggs in one basket† is to risk everything at once, but to â€Å"lay an egg† is to perform poorly, and to have â€Å"egg on (one’s) face† is to be left embarrassed or humiliated, while to â€Å"egg (someone) on† is to goad someone to something that is generally ill advised. A â€Å"nest egg† is a savings fund. 46. To say that one â€Å"can’t make an omelette without breaking some (or the) eggs† means that nothing can be accomplished without some difficulty. 47. To â€Å"cry over spilled milk† is to dwell over something that cannot be undone. 48. To be â€Å"full of the milk of human kindness† is to generously display kindness and/or sympathy. 49–50. To â€Å"milk (someone) for (something)† is to pressure the person, but to â€Å"milk (something) for all it’s worth† is to exploit something to the greatest extent possible. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:When to use "on" and when to use "in"How to Play HQ Words: Cheats, Tips and TricksPreposition Review #1: Chance of vs. Chance for

Marketing research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8500 words

Marketing - Research Paper Example The new system created a good data warehousing and customer data-analysis systems. The new system resulted in the a 300% increase in returns on investment between 1998 and 2000 (Gamble et al, 2010). Through the system, Cathay Pacific got information to support decision making. This resulted in the consolidation of data, more personalized service and improved target marketing. The Airline also introduced the Marco Polo Club in 1995 which is a brand loyalty programme meant to reward customers and encourage them to get some kind of compensation to stick to the Cathay Pacific (Horner & Swarbrooke, 2012). Marco Polo Club is a part of One-World Alliance. The Marco Polo Club has four classes, Green, Silver, Gold and Diamond. Each class has its own benefits. Amongst the many benefits include the fact that Silver members can pay the rate of the economy class and check in at the business class. Gold members on the business class can check into One World Alliance Executive lounges in Airports a round the world. Diamond members can have some excess luggage when they travel in the business class. (Horner and Swarbrooke, 2012). This programme has worked successfully for Cathay Pacific for all these years. Research Question Questions Cathay Pacific is currently a very profitable business venture. It is successful in many different areas and parts of Asia and the Pacific region. The Airline continues to attract more customers and it remains competitive ahead of other regional players like Emirates and other players from different parts of the Southern continent world. This research would seek to examine some important elements and important components of the success of Cathay Pacific. This research would set off to ask: what customer relations management system does Cathay Pacific use? What is the role of the customer information system in promoting customer relations in the Airline? What is the system of operation of the One-World Alliance and Marco Polo Club? What do customer s say about these loyalty programmes and systems of Cathay Pacific? Research Aims and Objectives The aim of the research is to examine: the effectiveness of the customer relations management systems of Cathay Pacific in the promoting corporate image and enhancing customer loyalty. In doing this, the following objectives would be assessed: 1. A critical examination of the customer relations management (CRM) system of Cathay Pacific. 2. An assessment of the effectiveness of the Cathay Pacific loyalty programmes. 3. Effects of customer loyalty programmes of Cathay Pacific on customer loyalty and corporate image. 4. Examination of the impact of customer relationship management on Cathay Pacific. Research Method The research methodology is the approach that is used to enquire into a given matter to attain the objectives of a given research (Saunders et al, 2009). The research methodology refers to the various activities that are carried out in order to attain the aim of a research. In or der to attain the research results, there would be four distinctive phases that would be carried out to complete the study. The research would involve the collection of data, analysis of the data and conclusion. Data Collection Data would involve information collected from primary and secondary sources. This data would be collected in correspondence with the four objectives. In the first phase, data would be collected from secondary sources. This would involve inf

International Law - tax system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Law - tax system - Essay Example The meaning of tax can be actually described as the money, which is charged by the government for Public Sector Borrowing Requirement (PSBR) (Public Acts 1994). When we interpret the definition, we may find out the reason why countries charge tax. The governments levy tax upon its citizens because they want money to regulate it in the whole country. It as actually meant for the betterment of the country and the nation itself. Governments may built roads, built a better infrastructure, improved public organization services, improve the level of education, building schools to remote areas, proving better and free health care, etc. Government may charge the tax to invest back to the country in turn. Where as international law refers to the general rules and regulations practiced in most part of the world (Mifflin 2007). It is the law which is followed by all the countries worldwide and so it is called international. There are certain rules and procedures which are followed in every country of the world. These practices are important to carry out in the country, as they enable governments to work and perform better and in organized way. Those laws are called international, as they are practiced in every country and are accepted as well. ... but the thing which binds then together is the law which they practice in the country, only that is common in them and it keeps the countries linked together. This essay will include all the necessary and valid information about the international laws regarding the taxation issues. As far as the case study is concerned, I will try to ensure the reader abut the authentication of the information and will make sure that my answer shall convince the reader as well. The essay will proof to be the perfect guide for the three friends for their decision about the avoiding tax and the OECD proposal about the business. As described in the case study, that the friends do not want to pay taxes and their nature of business is to contribute to the tertiary sector of the country. It is yet no specified that whether the owners plan is to provide services to the country only or to the rest of the world as well. The type of job which these friends are going to do can be practiced in a country as well as outside the country, ignoring boundaries. It is because of the reason that, the friends will have headquartered at one place and will precede the business from there only. That means headquarter; will exist in one place, yet their operation in different part of the world at the same time. This is what most of the translational companies do, ignoring the boundaries. But trans-national businesses do not try to void tax and in this case, the partners are trying to ignore the tax as well. Now, it is very essential to understand the two types of taxes, direct and indirect. Before I shall proceed, I may make it clear that the direct taxes are unavoidable. This means, the direct taxes cannot be ignored and we have to pay them even if do not want to. These taxes are the

Analysis of Free Trade and Free Trade Agreements

Analysis of Free Trade and Free Trade Agreements Introduction In 1776 Adam Smith published â€Å"The Wealth of Nations†, in which he introduced the proposition that free trade among nations improves overall economic welfare. The concept of free trade has since become a generally accepted principle. A considerable number of economists assume that free trade is beneficial for countries involved in and raises overall economic welfare. Free trade, generally explained as the elimination of tariffs, quotas, or other governmental restrictions on international trade. This allows each nation to specialize in the production of goods that it can produce relatively cheaper and more efficient than other countries, which eventually results in higher real income. In spite of free trades benefits, it sometimes hurts the domestic industry, because the removal of tariffs makes it difficult for domestic firms to compete with the cheaper imports of that good coming from partners. Free trade agreements among countries are set up multilaterally, bilaterally or regionally. Multilateral agreement involves a number of countries, which is currently promoted by World Trade Organization (WTO) that also permits implementation of bilateral (involves two countries) and regional (involves two or more countries in a region) arrangements. WTO website reports that 462 bilateral and regional trade agreements are in force up to February 2010. In this report, the theory of free trade agreements is analyzed on the basis of economics along with their practice in real life taking into account the examples of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the European Union (EU). Furthermore, given empirical evidence related to free trade agreements provides a clear picture of the pattern of those agreements. Economic Integration Free trade agreement (FTA) is a negotiated treaty among a designated group of countries that have accepted to eliminate trade barriers between them. As a consequence, member countries allow one another preferential consideration in trade. In order, this results in closer economic integration between nations. Economic integration is materialized under several associations. First of those is free trade areas (FTAs), under which tariffs and non-tariff barriers on trade have been eliminated between members, nevertheless, each country preserves its private trade policies outside the region. The second preferential trade institution is customs union, in which countries create free trade among members and keep hold ofcommon tariffs and other policies outside the organization. Common markets, the third type of preferential trade, is a further step of customs union, which not only promotes elimination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers with common tariffs for non-members, but also free moveme nt of capital and labour across internal borders within the market. The last form of arrangement in terms of preferential treatment is economic union, in which countries go further beyond by bringing together their economies with setting up a common currency, in order a unified monetary policy, at the same time as other economic institutions. The most essential example of such a group of member countries is the European Union, which initially started as a customs union and eventually reached to an economic union.According to Cooper (2005), majority of recent FTAs comprise rules oneconomic activities along with trade in goods, including foreign investment, intellectualproperty rights protection, treatment of labor and environment, and trade in services.The dimension and complexity of the FTA will predominantly demonstrate the size and difficulty ofthe economic relations. Economics of Free Trade Free trade agreements are believed to bring economic growth to member countries with respect to the volume of trade. According to Trentmann (1998:226), â€Å"thedoctrine of free trade, that provides unrestricted commodity exchange between places is the best way to advance their mutual prosperity†. To explain the benefits of free trade, economists use David Ricardos theory of comparative advantage and basic tariff or quota analysis. In 1817 Ricardo presented the concept of comparative advantage, which is regarded as one of the most significant laws of economics. It refers to, for a country,producing a good or a service at a lower cost compared to another good within an economy. Therefore, the comparative advantage ability of a nation contributes to trade with its partner. Even if a country has an absolute disadvantage in producing any good than the other nation, there is still a foundation for joint beneficial trade. According to the theory, bearing in mind two goods, the first nation should specialize in production and exportation of the good, in which it has smaller absolute disadvantage and importationof the item in which its absolute disadvantage is greater.As a result, specialization among nations, allows them to allocate their scarce resources to the production of the certain goods and services, in which that country has a comparative advantage. Since free trade grants specialization among countries, this expands worldwide output level. The welfare of specialization with economies of scale, which is the fall in costs because of output increases, makes the global production possibility frontier to enlarge. This displays the fact that under free trade the quantity of produced goods and services is higher than the previous level, which leads to international economic prosperity. Another method of describing the advantage of free trade is using a basic tariff analysis. A tariff is a tax on imports, which simply raises the price collected by domestic producers of that good. Figure 1 shows the benefit of free trade with the example of tariff assumption. The above graph illustrates the imposition of an import tariff on a made-up good. Previous to tariff, Pworld is the price of the good in the world market. However, the levied tax on the good increases the domestic price from Pworld to Ptariff. As a consequence of higher prices, the domestic production grows from Qs1 to Qs2 at the same time domestic consumption shrinks from Qc1 to Qc2. The increase in price due to introduced tariff has significant effects on the welfare of the society. This ultimately leads to a decrease in consumer surplus with the new border of Ptariff level, a rise in producer surplus up to Ptariff level, and additional revenue for the government (the blue area). Nevertheless, the consumer loss is considerably more than the profits of producers and the government together. The size of societal loss is shown by the two triangles. Hence, imposition of tariff makes society worse off, vice versa; free trade would provide a net gain for society. The similar analysis of export tariffs, import and export quotas all generate practically very same results. This makes consumers occasionally better off and producers worse off or sometimes consumers worse off and producers better off, yet establishing trade barriers create a net loss to trading countries as the amount of losers from trade limitations is greater than winners from those restrictions. Landsburg (2004), based on empirical evidence, states that free trade also produces winners and losers; nonetheless, the volume of gains from free trade is bigger than the losses. Hence, being under free trade positively affects nations economic welfare. Economic impact of free trade Formation of free trade agreements throughout the world raises notions about their impact on member countries and nonmembers. The issue has been discussed by economists and separated them into those who are strongly against the free trade and find it economically inefficient, and those who are in favour of it and believe that it creates freer trade. To build their analysis on the impact of the free trade, economists use the theories of trade creation and trade diversion. Jacob Viner first introduced these theories in 1950, whose work later has been mostly applied for free trade agreements. The concept of trade creation is based on the assumption that a member country substitute domestic production of a good with imports of that good from another member, since launch of free trade makes it more profitable to import rather than produce domestically. This is also described as a shift from a higher cost domestic zone to a lower cost partner source. Trade creation with an example of a European Union (EU) member. A member country should import from a EU partner, which charges a lower price thanks to termination of tariffs and this leads to a rise in consumer surplus. The creation of trade contributes to economic welfare within the member countries as resources are utilized more efficiently. Trade diversion is implemented when a member country shifts its import of a good from an efficient nonmember to a less efficient partner in view of the fact that elimination of tariffs among the members and imposition of tariffs on imports from nonmembers make it more affordable to do so. It is a shift from lower cost international territory to a higher cost regional partner source. The graph of trade diversion again using the example of EU. In view of the fact that, EU is a customs union, it has a common external tariff on products coming from nonmember countries. This raises the price of imports from the rest of the world, which at the same time brings inefficiency by reducing consumer surplus. Consequently, costs are higher for a EU country if it formerly had entry for a lower cost producer. The graph also shows the deadweight losses as a result of trade diversion. Trade diversion is meant to lower economic welfare as a less efficient producer now uses resources rather than an efficient one. In general, creation of free trade agreements are subject to both trade creation and trade diversion. When countries are forming a freer trade among themselves, with respect to pattern of the agreement, they could be economically and financially deteriorated. This would be a result if diversion of trade exceeds its creation according to Lipsey and Lancasters (1956) general theory of the second best principle. Therefore, forming a FTA does not always improve efficiency or bring prosperity, but sometimes moving to it may reduce the national welfare of the nations involved. Empirical Evidence Foundation of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947, significantly affected expansion of world trade by reducing tariff barriers on manufactured goods. Over the years, average tariffs have fallen from around 40 percent to about 5 percent currently. GATT became World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995 and now involves worlds 153 countries. Although WTOs success on world trade, it still has the problem of maintaining and extending liberalism in the global trading system. Multilateral negations, which include many trading partners, over trade liberalization move very slowly. Besides this, it has not had a great success in liberalizing trade in agriculture, textile, or apparel industries. For this reason, rather than multilateral negotiations, bilateral or regional trade agreements has become a preference for a number of countries. Source:http://www.unescap.org/tid/projects/rtaap_overview.pdf The rapid increase in the regional trade agreements from the 1950s hitherto. It is indicated that around 450 RTAs have been notified to the WTO, of which almost 250 are currently in force. Source: http://www.unescap.org/tid/projects/rtaap_overview.pdf Source: http://www.unescap.org/tid/projects/rtaap_overview.pdf In its early years, implementation of a free trade agreement was subject to free trade of only goods, however, currently trade agreements involves trade in services as well. According to the UNESCAP (2009), out of current 246, 171 RTAs cover trade in goods, 61 trade in services and 15 are accessions to existing RTAs. Besides this, 70% of RTAs being reached an agreement but not yet in force, provides free movement of services on trade. Source: http://www.unescap.org/tid/projects/rtaap_overview.pdf The above chart displays that the majority of trade agreements with 82% are free trade areas, whereas only 11% of those account for customs union and the remaining part belongs to partial scope. Slow progress on the multilateral agenda has led to many countries to attain more efficient negotiations for the deeper regional integration.One of these agreements is North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). NAFTA NAFTA is a trilateral free trade treaty that came into force in January 1994 involving three countries-United States, Canada, and Mexico. The fundamental object of the agreement was to put an end to the huge majority of trade barriers among the members. The formation of NAFTA led to the instant removal of tariffs on US-Mexico business transactions, whereas nearly all US-Canada trade was already tax-free. According to Hufbauer and Schott (2005), NAFTA was created to boost economic growth by stimulating competition in domestic markets and promoting investment through national and international sources. They also state that this has worked and consequently has brought efficiency and productivity to North American Firms. Currently, they can benefit from economies of scale in production and intra-industry specialization. NAFTA at a Glance NAFTA Partners Canada U.S. Mexico Combined Population (2008 est.) 33.3 million 304.1 million 106.7 million 444.1 million Languages English and French English Spanish GDP (2008) 1,501 billion 14,441 billion 1,087 billion 17.0 trillion Trade with NAFTA 570.8 billion 919.9 billion 393.5 billion 946.1 billion Inward FDI (2008) 240.0 billion 229.8 billion 156.0 billion _1 Jobs created (1993-2008) 4.3 25.1 9.3 39.7 Employment Level, 2008 17.1 145.4 43.2 205.7 Source: http://www.naftanow.org/facts/default_en.asp Establishment of NAFTA has contributed significantly to the trade relations between Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Although, economists disagree whether the growth is a direct outcome of the agreement, the expansion is proved by the facts from the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). USTR (2008) reports that trade within the members more than tripled between 1993 and 2008, from $297 billion to $946.1 billion. Besides this, business investment in the United States has risen by 117 percent between the same years, as compared to a 45 percent rise in the fourteen years prior. Trade with NAFTA members, currently, makes up more than 80 percent of Canadian and Mexican trade, and more than a third of U.S. trade. NAFTA has allowed North American businesses to have a better entry to sources including materials, technology, investment and human capital accessible within the partners. This brings competitiveness to the businesses in the North America as a consequence of trade liberalization. In order, trade liberalization makes an important role in promoting economic growth. Since NAFTA came into force, the economy of member countries has more than doubled in size. As it is shown in the Figure 4, in 2008, the combined gross domestic product (GDP) for partners exceeded US$17 trillion, up from US$7.6 trillion in 1993. Both Mexico and Canada have experienced economic growth since the formation of NAFTA. Being a member of this institution caused a rapid increase in trade with the United States for these economies. Thanks to trade liberalization, a substantial reduction in prices for Mexico and Canadas consumers occurred as a result of tariff removals along with bringing up efficiency in business relations.In case of United States, NAFA countries became top two largest export markets in 2008. USTR (2009) reports that the value of U.S. exports to NAFTA was $412.4 billion in 2008, up 7.2 % ($27.6 billion) from 2007, and up 190% from 1993 (the year before NAFTA). The top export categories (2-digit HS) in 2008 were: Machinery ($63.5 billion), Vehicles (parts) ($59.5 billion), Electrical Machinery ($49.2 billion) and Mineral Fuel and Oil ($27.9 billion), and Plastic ($22.3 billion) (USTR. 2009). U.S. exports to NAFTA evaluated 32.0% of total U.S. exports in 2008, down slightly from 32.2% in 1994. Whereas U.S. imports from NAFTA accounted for 26.4% of overall U.S. imports in 2008, down from 26.9% in 1994. NAFTA countries Canada ($339.5 billion) and Mexico (215.9 billion) are totaled the largest and third largest importers for U.S. respectively in 2008. U.S. goods imports from NAFTA accounted for $554.4 billion in 2008, up 5.2% ($27.7 billion) from 2007, and up 268% from 1993 (USTR, 2009). The five largest categories in 2008 were Mineral Fuel and Oil (crude oil) ($157.8 billion), Vehicles ($79.7 billion), Electrical Machinery ($63.5 billion), Machinery ($46.5 billion), and Special Other (returns) ($14.3 billion). It is very obvious that NAFTA has become very successful in soaring trade between its member nations. Yet, it is not very clear to understand whether the increase is really contributed to world trade or whether the increase actually symbolizes trade diversion. Just like any other free trade area, NAFTA members are subject to hold their own external tariff for third countries. This behavior of FTAs features Rules of Origin (ROO) concept. Its intention is to prevent trade deflection, i.e. goods or services accessing the member country with the lowest tariff for the object of trans-shipment. Although a product, coming from a member, has an access of free entry, if it contains material or processing from a third country it is then necessary to set which such inputs are permitted (Augier). A quite number of negative effects are attributed to ROO in economic literature. It could be said that these rules are protectionist and leads to negative economic welfare.Krueger (1997) states that eve n where the purpose of ROO is not protectionist, they provide a great amount of cost for producers and administrators. NAFTA possesses restrictive rules of origin procedure as well.Hufbauer and Schott (2005:23) comment that in a few industries, most notably textiles and apparel where yarn forward rules of origin were imposed specifically to make US textile firms the preferred suppliers for Mexican apparel manufacturers, NAFTA has indeed fostered trade diversion†.The rules of origin have possibly brought about trade diversion for certain industries under NAFTA. European Union European Union (EU) is the worlds largest trading bloc. The Treaty of Rome established the foundation of the EU in 1958. This treaty created a supranational institution called European Economic Community (EEC) between six countries (France, Western Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg). The primary purpose of the EEC was to create a customs union and an incomplete common market. Customs Union has entailed free trade between members with the protection of the union against the rest of the world. Merging markets brought up rapid progress in the 1960s and early 1970s. The following objective was to implement an economic union by setting up common policies. In 1993, the Maastricht Treaty implemented the single market and the European Union was formally established. Currently, the EU involves 27 countries with over 500 million population. The advantages from free trade predicted by theory encouraged the founders of EU to adopt removal of barriers on trade. In the 1970s and 1980s the new partners both those, which joined in 1972 (the UK, Ireland and Denmark) and those, which joined in the 1980s (Spain, Portugal, and Greece) eliminated all tariffs and quotas in intra-EU trade. After the completion of the customs union, the EU has picked a common external tariff (CET) in their relation with the rest of the world. The CET principle applies generally to all manufactured products. Until recently it did not apply to agricultural products market, which is protected by the EU. Nonetheless, being under a customs union has had a favorable influence on the EU members so that trade among member states overweighs the trade with the third countries. Between 1958 and 1972, the trade among the six original EU members had increased by nine times, whereas goods trade with the third countries grew by three times (Molle, 2006). This was attributed to the trade creation effect of the EU. In 1993, the completion of single market provided removal of all trade barriers and free movement of goods, services, capital and people within the EU. It is believed that the single market actually benefits the union with reducing the business costs along with stimulating competition and increasing efficiency for the advantage of consumers. BIS reports that in 2006 the EUs GDP was 2.2% higher than it would have been in the absence of the Single Market, which benefited consumers by an average increase of â‚ ¬518 per capita. Furthermore, an extra 2.75 million jobs have been created as a result of the single market across Europe. Molle (2006) states that in the period 1960-2000 intra-EU trade has expanded by almost 7 per cent annually, which is considerably in excess of GDP growth. The main factors of this growth were the EU integration and ongoing liberalization of world trade. After the enlargement of Austria, Finland, and Sweden in 1995, original members trade with the three new partners increased significantly, indicating an effect of integration. In 2004 and 2007, EU experienced its biggest enlargement by the join of 12 Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs). This resulted in changes in the EUs trade pattern because enlargement made the new partners as a part of intra-EU trade, which used to be considered as an extra-EU commerce. As a result, EUs internal trade accounted for nearly two thirds of the EUs total foreign trade, summing approximately â‚ ¬4.9 trillion in 2006 (Panorama of European Union Trade). David (2009) based on his research, states that the enlargement led to a net trade creation caused by notable gross trade between the EU and CEECS. Although exports from older 15 members to new eastern European members surpass their imports, this in general increases liberalized trade between partners and creates overall positive impact. Free Trade Area vs Customs Union Both of these two major forms of economic integration have a distinctive behavior that has notable implications. For an FTA, with every single country possessing its own external tariff, the ROO is the typical feature. In terms of a CU, the distinguishable factor is the common external tariff (CET), which is related to third countries. When a common external tariff is the case, imports into the unions area meet the same tariff in each member country; therefore there is no incentive for trans-shipment of imports among members. Mirus and Rylska statethat the once CET established, it remains non-negotiable, although this may result in increase in non-tariff barriers, common commercial and trade policies would limit such attempts. The administrative simplicity in a CET makes it easy to implement, promoting efficiency and competition as a result of lowered input costs. Taking into account FTAs ROO feature, Krueger (1995) has revealed that an FTA does not cause more net trade creation than a CU for the same partners. Besides this, an FTA will not be economically more successful than a CU for the same members, if the CET is placed below the level of the high cost country. In this situation, trade is created when the high cost nation lowers production because of tariff cuts, in contrast an FTA would maintain the tariff and creates less trade. Considering the protectionist (trade-diversion) effect of ROO, this accounts for more trade creation and less trade diversion for a CU. Bearing in mind the borders and separate customs operation under an FTA, a CU resembles a larger single market, in which the power of interest groups compared to an FTA is significantly low and scale economics along with competition effects are importantly greater. Furthermore, a fairly large CU will have a remarkable influence on the prices of globally traded products, compellin g non-member countries to undertake the existed prices inside the CU. As a result, non-members will export to the CU at prices that contains CET and transport costs, granting an aspect of monopsony power to the CU. This effect is not that clear for an FTA with similar partners. Hence, the welfare-enhancing benefit of a CU is greater than those of an FTA. Conclusion This report provides analysis of free trade and free trade agreements with their economic implications including economic integration, comparative advantage, trade creation and trade diversion effects. Moreover, the practical impacts of NAFTA, the worlds largest free trade area, alongside the European Union, which is the worlds biggest customs union, are surveyed. The results reveal that formation of both of these institutions has enormously increased the dimensions of trade among members. In addition, a rise in investment, competition and closer economic integration has contributed economic welfare of the countries involved. Welfare enhancing characteristic of free trade as a consequence of elimination of trade barriers stimulate nations to implement free trade agreementsacross the world. This was primarily undertaken by GATT/WTO, however, inefficiency and inadequacy of this institution in trade liberalization required countries to move towards the bilateral and regional trade agree ments preferred to multilateral trade negotiations. Under regional trade agreements, Bhagwati (1992) states that trade diversion is more likely to prevail trade creation in most cases. Besides this, the dominant view among mainstream economists is that regionalism is disadvantageous for the multilateral trading system because they bear discriminatory features in their nature. In contrast, Krugman favors regional agreements and states that contemporary trade barriers are much more complicated to agree on multilateral level, whereas, negotiating in regional forums is really easy to cope with. Moreover, he does not find regional trade agreements to have any kind of negative effect on multilateral structure. Recent studies demonstrate that,under regional and bilateral trade agreements, trade diversion effects are limited and a significant amount of trade creation effects dominate under those treaties (Urata and Okabe, 2007).Both the cases of NAFTA and the European Union show that the tr ade creation effects prevail, as a result, this generates economic welfare.

Bubble Gum :: essays research papers

Have you ever wondered who invented bubble gum, or why it’s pink? How do you go about getting the answers to these questions? Easy. Think way, way back, not to prehistoric times but close, 1928. Popular With Children, Unpopular with Parents and Teachers. The first known bubble gum appeared in 1906, and was a dud. Known as Blibber Blubber, it was sticky, brittle, and insufficiently cohesive. In 1928, an accountant, Walter Diemer, invented an improved version of bubble gum. The only food coloring he had on hand was pink, so for many years, pink was the common color of bubble gums. Diemer arranged to market the bubble gum in Philadelphia candy stores and the product became wildly popular with children. Fleer Company purchased the recipe, and named the product Dubble Bubble. By World War II, the sales of bubble gum in the United States reached about $4.5 million annually. The war caused a shortage of Siamese jelutong, a latex secreted by the jelutong tree. The domestic production of bubble gums needed to be curtailed, but production resumed in the post-war years and surged to new heights. By 2000, children in North America spent about a half billion dollars annually on bubble gums, and used some 40 million pieces daily. Bubble gum made the Guinness Book of World Records, with the largest bubble ever made measuring 22 inches in diameter. The greater the molecular weight of the gum, the stronger is the film, and the larger the bubble that can be blown. On the other hand, increasing the molecular weight or size also tends to make the gum more difficult to chew. A technical breakthrough in 1999 allowed manufacturers to create uniquely textured bubble gum by using soft candy or toffee manufacturing equipment. The resulting bubble gum is similar to chewy candy, but lacking the stickiness. In the late 1970s, popular interactive candies for children were Pop Rocks and Space Dust. As children chewed these candies, tiny bubbles of pressurized carbon dioxide popped and fizzled, and resonated thunderously in the inner ear in a series of explosions that took place in the mouth. As described by children "it sounds like a storm in your mouth. If you swallow them fast, they crackle all the way down." Later, General Foods rejuvenated its carbonated-candy technology and created carbonated bubble gum. This product also provided the crackling sensation of the original Pop Rocks and Space Dust.

JanMar Case Study Case Analysis

The US paint industry is divided into three broad segments: architectural coatings, original equipment manufacturing (OEM) coatings, and special-purpose lacquers. The paint industry is a maturing industry. In 2004, sales were estimated to be slightly over $16billion and an average growth of 1-2% per year. Architectural Paint Coatings Industry The industry estimates that architectural coatings and sundries (brushes, paint removers, thinners, etc. ) created sales of $12 billion in 2004. The architectural paint coatings segment is also considered to be projected between the 1-2% increase per year. The demand level for this segment is reflected by the level of home improvements and redecorating, the sales of new and existing homes, commercial and industrial construction. Competition Competition within this segment has been a result of slow sales growth and new governemtn regulations. The number of competitors has decreased by 40%; however, major competitors with low prices have come into place such as Sherwin-Williams and others who account for 60% of sales within the segment. They market paint under their own names as well as for private retailers. Architectural Sales Breakdown and Consumer Purchase Behavior About 50% of architectural sales are sold under private controlled brands such as Sears and Wal-Mart, 36% of sales are sold in specialty paint stores, and 14% are sold in hardware and lumberyards. There are three types of buyers of architectural paint which account for percent of total sales: â€Å"Do It Yourselfers† who account for 50%, professional painters who account for 25% and contractor/government sales who account for 25%. Home Improvement Research indicated that the â€Å"Do It Yourselfers† have increased the product line carried by retail outlets and spend on average $74. 0 per purchase on architectural paints and $12 on sundries. JanMar Coatings, Inc. Company JanMar, Inc. is a privately held corporation that produces and markets architectural paint under the JanMar brand name. They also sell sundries and operate OEM coatings. The company’s architectural coatings and product sales totaled to b e $12 million and $1. 14 million in net profit before taxes in 2004. Dollar sales have increased at 4% on average for year for the past decade. The company distributes in 200 independent paint sores, lumberyards, and hardware outlets. They service 50 counties in the Dallas Fort Worth Area and Non-Dallas Fort Worth Area. Of their outlet sales, 40% is based in the 11 counties within the Dallas-Fort Worth area while the remaining outlets are in the surrounded non-Dallas Forth Worth area. Of the industry findings, 70% of sales in the Dallas Fort Worth area are to professional painters who account for 25% total sales while 70% of sales in the Non Dallas Fort Worth area are to â€Å"Do it Yourselfers† who account for the 50% of total sales. (See exhibit 1. 1). JanMar Coatings, Inc. Company Current Situation. Competition has accelerated in recent years at the retail level and JanMar Coatings, Inc. is the highest priced paint in their service area. Therefore, JanMar, Inc. is in need of how and where to deploy corporate marketing efforts among the various architectural paint coatings markets in the southwest United States area in a cost effective way to increase market share, revenue, and awareness. Four Proposed Tactical Strategies Given by the Vice Presidents Among the four proposed tactical pans from the different vice presidents at JanMar Coatings, Inc. the solution to the problem is the Vice President of Sales strategy of increasing the sales force and here’s why: 1) Increasing the advertising budget through television could have a positive effect because of the current 25% awareness to consumers who purchase paint. However, research shows that consumers choose a store location before choosing the brand and 70% of the consumers reached through advertis ing are not buying paint. The advertising budget is already 3% of sales, so in 2004, the advertising budget was $360,000 which is reasonable for selling paint. To efficiently create awareness, JanMar would need to produce a cooperate ad with a retail outlet to get the buyer in the store. They would also need to increase sales by 8. 3% or $1 million to cover the cost of increase in advertising. (See appendix 1. 2). 2) To make a price cut of 20% would be unreasonable considering the costs of JanMar are unlikely to go down. Cutting price by 20% with the same variable costs would bring their contribution margin down to 19%. To get the same net contribution of $4. million using their current new contribution margin, they will have to generate $22,105,264. 16 in sales which is far above their past sales of $12 million and creating more volume to increase sales at this lower cost is not feasible which just one manufacturer in the Dallas Fort Worth area. (exhibit 1. 3) JanMar needs to focus not on cutting prices but positioning themselves differently from competitors as a superior quality and service company since they are a privately owned, focuse d just in the market of southwest United States. ) Increasing the sales force could have a positive effect if the sales representative is assigned to the non Dallas Fort Worth area since account penetration there is only 16% and focusing on the â€Å"Do it Yourselfers† because of the amount of sales they accumulate in that area. The amount of sales revenue needed to cover the cost of the one added sales representative of $60,000 base salary is $171,428. (See Appendix 1. 4) This amount of sales needed to incur this cost will be easy to achieve since the sales representative will be focusing on sales in the new area. ) JanMar has continuously controlled their 35% margin and costs even with added research and development. However, there are more competitors on the rise at big retail outlets such as Sears and Wal-Mart that the â€Å"Do it Yourselfers† will fall for if not guided properly. Therefore even though JanMar will be profitable if they keep everything the same as how it is with controlling costs and guarding the mar gin, they still cannot predict the future and there is growth within the marketing of 1-2%. Recommendation The problem that lies at hand is that there have only been five added accounts in the past five years. The account penetration in the Non-Dallas Forth Worth area is only 16%. With an added sales representative reaching out to the Non-Dallas Forth Worth area where half the sales and most the dealers already exist, they can focus solely on the retail account and â€Å"Do it Yourselfers† who contribute $6 billion to the total market sales per year of architectural products. (Appendix 1. 1) The sales representative will focus on the â€Å"Do it Yourselfers† in the non-Dallas Forth Worth area since they accumulate 70% of sales in that area as it is. We do not want to focus on the professional painters since 70% of our sales already comes from them in the Dallas Forth Worth area, and professional painters will chose our brand as it is because of the quality and knowledge and service of our representatives. We have to focus on reaching out to the â€Å"Do it Yourselfers† through retail accounts which is what the new sales representative will do. â€Å"Do It Yourselfers† 1) pick their project and product, 2) they gather information, 3) decide on the store, and 4) decide on the product they buy. So through a four step decision process of a â€Å"Do It Yourselfer† is where the sales representative will come into the picture to push them along to make the decision of choosing JanMar’s brand. Even if the sales representative made no new sales (which would not be the case if hired properly) and only was paid his salary, JanMar, Inc. still would still make $1,080,000 net profit before taxes which is smarter than implementing an added advertisement budget strategy, or cutting the price by 20%, or staying the same. It is better to have more people working in order to reach out to consumers and sell the product and brand. Sales representatives can truly connect to the â€Å"Do it Yourselfers† through their knowledge and passion; rather than just focusing solely on a mass advertising plan that wastes money reaching out to people not even needing paints or cutting the costs so low that it takes away from the superior quality aspect. Therefore, I suggest that you hire a new sales representative because this option will be the most cost effective way to increase market share, revenue, and awareness in the architectural paint coatings marketing in the Southwest United States.