Macroeconomic Analysis Of South Africa

Macroeconomic Analysis Of South Africa Introduction The financial crisis, in fact, affects the global world since 2008. There is high inflation, increasing unemployment rate, low export, decreasing GDP and so on. In every country as well as in South Africa that also faces the macroeconomic problems, representing by the falling of the output, high inflation, and the microeconomic problems also affect to the economic market. Therefore, the objective of this report is to analyze and focus on the macroeconomic environment and formulate a strategy in responding to the Economic crisis in South Africa. The reason to know and analyze the macroeconomic in a country is, because the microeconomic, institutional changes are unlikely to be implemented if the economy is in a state of macroeconomic chaos-plummeting widespread unemployment and hyperinflation. Macroeconomic stabilization must and can precede the more fundamental microeconomic, institutional transformation. Macroeconomics in terms of business is dealing with the performance, structure and the behavior of national or regional economy as a whole. It is also a study about GDP, unemployment rates, national income, output, inflation, savings, investment, international trade and economic growth. Macroeconomic Background South Africa Located in base of the continent of Africa, South Africa is a diverse nation with an appealing mix of people, culture, faith and languages. Despite the people, South Africas physical state also has its own distinctive features. It has its own unique geological formations that aids in producing the mountains, plains and coasts. South Africa also has large amount of fertile land. Furthermore, a more extraordinary feature about South Africa is that it is home to the rarest species of wildlife and plant life. The nation has a total area of 1, 127 200 square kilometers and it is divided in four provinces, which are the Cape Province, the Transvaal, the Orange Free State and Natal. Being located in a subtropical area, South African generally enjoys warm weather all year round. Naturally, being located in Southern Hemisphere, winter is experienced during June and summer is experienced in December. Demographic South Africa has a population of 49 billion people (2009). It has particular demographic due to the heterogeneity in population base, apartheid, ethnic groups and emigration Table: Population % (Wikipedia, 2010) Basically the black people theyre the ethnic group like Zulu, Xhosa as well as immigrant form the other parts of Africa (mostly from Nigeria and Zimbabwe). The whites theyre the descendants of French, British or German settlers whom arrived to Cape Town from the late of 17th century. Some of them are from immigrants from Europe and Portuguese colonies left over. Coloureds are the descendants of earliest settlers, their slaves and indigenous people. The last part of racial population can be counted as Indian or Asian (Chinese) Table: Age structure % (Wikipedia, 2010) The average total fertility rate from 2001s to 2009s is 2.41 children born per woman. So thats why each family in South Africa usually has more than 2 children In the country they have around 11 official languages, the most spoken language of black people is 30.1% speak Zulu, 22.3% speak Xhosa while most the white residents speak Afrikaans at home (59.1%), 39.3 speak Englishà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Wikipedia, Demographics of South Africa, 2010) Political situation South Africa has multi-party system where the President Jacob Zuma is the head of government and the parliament. The African National Congress is the ruling party in the national legislature, which received 65.9% of the votes during the 2009 general elections and has 74.25% of total seats in the parliament. Democratic Alliance is the second major party that received only 16.66% of the votes and has 11.75% of total seats. All the other parties represent less than 20 %. From this huge gap between the ruling party and the democrats we can see that political situation is stable and will stay like that in near future. (Parliament monitoring group 2009); (Number of Political Party Seats: National Assembly May 2009 | Parliamentary Monitoring Group | Parliament of South Africa monitored) Laws regulations South Africa has progressive legal framework. The legal system is based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law. Commerce and labour legislation is well developed while laws relating to competition policy, copyright, patents, trademarks and disputes conform to international norms and conventions. South African commercial laws and company laws are similar to the laws of the United Kingdom. Sanctity of contract is protected under common law, and independent courts ensure respect for commercial rights and obligations. The independence of the judiciary is guaranteed by the Constitution. South Africas financial systems are sophisticated, robust and well regulated. Banking regulations rank with the best in the world, while the sector has long been rated among the top 10 globally. Foreign banks are well represented and electronic banking facilities are extensive. (South Africa info 2008); (South Africa: open for business SouthAfrica.info) South Africas economy South Africa is one of the most stable economies in the Arican continent. Its a middle-income country, emerging market with rich supply of natural resources. The country has fully developed infrastructure supporting efficient distribution of goods throughout the southern African region ,with well-developed financial, legal, energy, communications, a stock exchange ranked among the top 20 in the world. The primary sector, based on manufacturing, services, mining, and agriculture is well developed. Economic growth was strong from 2004 to 2008 due to macroeconomic stability and a global commodities boom. Because of world financial crisis in the second half of 2008 economy began to slow down. GDP was growing 5.1 % in 2007 and 3.1 % in 2008. In 2009 it fell nearly 2 %. Unemployment is high (24 % in 2009). Daunting economic problems remain like poverty (47 % in 2009 below poverty line), lack of economic empowerment among the disadvantaged groups. South African economic policies, which are focused on controlling inflation and attaining budget surplus, are efficient. Inflation rate in 2009 was 7.2 %. To welcome the foreign investment in South Africa, the government has made it clearly by investor- friendly policies. Corporate tax is 29%. VAT on hotels and retirement hostels are charged at 8.4%. South Africa has a huge potential as an investment destination, offering the first world developed infrastructure with a vital emerging market economy. It is also one of the most advanced and useful economies in Africa. (CIA World Factbook 2010); (CIA The World Factbook South Africa) Monetary Policy and Exchange Rate Monetary policy can be defined as the measures taken by the monetary authorities to influence the quantity of money or the rate of interest with a view to achieving stable prices, full employment and economic growth. The South African Reserve Bank conducts monetary policy in South Africa. (About SA Economy, 2009) Exchange rate: Rand (ZAR) per US dollar in 2009 (8.54), in 2008 (7.95); (About SA Economy, 2009) As we know the macroeconomic discussion focuses on monetary policies in the country. And any decision of the government can affect the business-cycle changes in output, inflation, exchange rate or employment. South Africa emerged out of a recession in Q3 2009. A pick up in capital inflows and support from expansionary monetary and fiscal policy is contributing towards its recovery: (Euromonitors Economic Review of Emerging Market Economies: January 2010) A rebound in the manufacturing sector and increased government spending on the construction of roads, railways and infrastructure for the 2010 World Cup helped stimulate growth. The manufacturing sector, which accounts for 15 % of GDP expanded by 7.6% over the previous quarter in Q3 2009; The South African rand appreciated to R7.48 per US$ in December 2009 from R9.97 per US$ in the same month of 2008, suggesting a gain of 25.0% in 2009. It has been one of the best performing emerging market currencies in 2009 attracting capital inflows due to rising liquidity and commodity prices. Nonetheless, this limits the recovery process as a stronger rand weakens exports. So far, the government has not intervened in the foreign currency markets to help curb the unprecedented rise in the rand; In November 2009, the annual rate of inflation eased for the ninth consecutive month to 5.8%, below the central banks target rate of 3.0-6.0% for 2009. The South African Reserve Bank is likely to keep its key interest rate (repo rate) unchanged at 7.0% in the beginning of 2010, despite calls from labour unions for an interest rate cut. Unemployment problem :Picture 1.png (South Africa Country Profile 2010, December) Year Unemployment rate Rank Percent Change Date of Information 2003 37.00 % 18 2001 est. 2004 31.00 % 24 -16.22 % 2003 est. 2005 26.20 % 161 -15.48 % 2004 est. 2006 26.60 % 168 1.53 % 2005 est. 2007 25.50 % 172 -4.14 % 2006 est. 2008 24.30 % 169 -4.71 % 2007 est. 2009 22.90 % 170 -5.76 % 2008 est. 2010 24.00 % 171 4.80 % 2009 est. (South Africa Country Profile 2010, December) The unemployment rate was 24% (2009 est.) and was highest among 15 to 24 year old, at 48.4 percent, and lowest among 55 to 64 years old, at 6.8 percent. Of South Africas estimated 49.3-million people, around 31-million people are between 15 and 24 years old. Today, the government gives some change for SAs unemployed who dont have education by create the training of unemployed project that aims to minimize the negative effects of the recession. The project trains people as electricians, boiler-markers, welders and mechanics, so when they are trained and easy to get the job and facing with the world with confidence. Inflation C:Documents and Settingshim.STUDENTMy DocumentsDownloadsSouth-Africa-Inflation-Rate-Chart-000002.png Market structure Automotive industry The country is one of the best performing automobile market in the world. In 2006, it brought around R118 billion of increasing to sales. In 2007, vehicle exports were about 170 thousand unit sales which were expected to jump up to 285 thousand in 2008. The vehicle market had a huge development when comparing to year 1997, the unit exported only 20 thousands. The sector is about 10% in account of manufacturing exports, 7.5% of contribution in GDP with the employment of around 36 thousand people. The government aims to increase the vehicle production to 1.2 million units by 2020 because of the definition of the automotive industry is a key growth sector Many of multinational companies such as Ford, Toyota, GMà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦use South Africa as source components and assemble vehicles for both the local and overseas markets. From 2000 to 2006, the investment in production and export infrastructure was multiplied by four, which was R1.5-billion to R6.2-billion. An R4-billion in investment was expected in 2008. Most of the investment came from foreign where the parent companies wanted to expend the local operations to improve product capacity, support export and infrastructure (Big Media Publishers, South Africas automotive industry, 2008) 690-1823-0-0_1464872.jpg Table: Automotive revenue (Big Media Publishers, 2008) Mining and mineral resources South Africa is well-known in the world by its wealthy in mineral resources. The wealthy of the country has been built on the countrys vast resources. There are various kinds such as: Platinum, Chrome (which the quality is the 1st in the world), Gold (1st largest producer), Diamond (4th largest producer)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦but only crude oil and bauxite is those that the country doesnt have. Mining was an industry that contributed 21% total exports of goods in 2006 Gold was once the keystone of South Africa but it has been diminished in importance due to economys diversity. From 1970s to 1980s, the exports of gold were the predominant source of country foreign exchange earnings which made up a 14% of total value added in economy. In the year of 2007, this shifted to 5.8% contribution to country GDP of mining and quarrying. The mining industry is South African biggest employer. It attracts more than 860 thousand employees of labor force Currently, more than 70% of mining industrys labor force is black. Opposite of that number, its just only less than 5% of managerial positions belongs to black people. The mining sectors key issue is transformation. The target has been set by the government that an expect of 40% managerial positions would be held by South Africans in all mining companies (Big Media Publishers, 2008) 692-1827-2678-0_1452532.jpg Table: Mineral resources (Big Media Publishers, 2008) Agriculture South African agriculture isnt dominated by subsistent farming. In fact, it has both well developed commercial farming which is predominant and more subsistent influenced in deep areas. The country has more than enough output to export massive amounts of agricultural produce. Because of the variousness of climates, there are good conditions (such as mix farming in winter rain fall and in summer rain fall) for growing different crop production in South Africa. The diversity in climate, which is tropical, sub tropical and desert allows diversity in products either. South Africa also has advantages in marine resources which is 3000km of coastline that is appreciated to develop mariculture and aquaculture. The main agriculture export production can be listed as: maize (some southern African countries rely on this import), wine (South Africa is the 5th largest producer worldwide), fruits (grapes, pears, peachesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦), livestock farming (sheep, cattleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) Agricultural contribution represents less than 4% of GDP but 10% of total reported employment in accounts while farming is 8% of countrys total exports. The key agricultural trading partners of South Africa are America and some countries in EU. They gain the benefit from the market by exporting through number of trade agreements. The agriculture sector is highly protected and evolved to governments control. In 1996, the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act they closed agricultural marketing boards, eliminated subsidies and set the import tariffs to protect South African farming from unfair international competition. So the South African farmers and agribusiness could be placed themselves as players in a globally competitive environment. Nowadays there are still some factors that even though the government has tried to implement, these couldnt bring any efforts to the rest of the economy. For examples: most of indigenous people are subsistence farmers, subsidies from other developed countries, climate changeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦are reducing sector growth (Big Media Publishers, South African agriculture, 2008) (Wikipedia, 2010) Infrastructure Energy infrastructure Among the countries that have the lowest cost of electricity, however South Africa has to face its problem of the demand for power outstripping supply. The economy grows strongly, a lot of rapid industrialization development, the electrification programme is being mass led and distinct lack of investment are all the issues which cause the power supply crisis in South Africa. As a result, the state energy company Eskom and the government has come up with a projected ZAR 343 billions over five years to fund new power stations for energy increasing such as nuclear and electricity storage. Eskom also aims to reduce the demand of electricity by 3 000 megawatts in 2012 and 5 000 megawatts more in 2025 Table: Energy Overview (Big Media Publishers, 2008) There are some thought about using natural energy as wind or solar. Despite South African sunny weather, the ideas havent really taken off and there are some concerns that the country somehow isnt appreciated with the wind energy. Energy contributes an amount of 15% country GDP. The country is 11st country in the world that has highest commercial primary energy intensities due to its large scale economy structure, mining industries and some benefit based on minerals activities which push the usage of energy above average (Big Media Publishers, South Africas energy supply, 2008) Source: EIA Transportation The transport network has been identified and highlighted as a competitive advantage in global market. The road system in South Africa has a total of 754 thousand km in which 9.6 thousand km is national road. 2.4 thousand km are toll roads. However the road infrastructure needs to be constructed due to overloading of heavy vehicles and volumes increasing of road freight vehicles. It has approximately 95% of country trading business are done by passing through the sea as well as the traffic from others countries like Europe, Asia, America and even Africa itself. The railway system is also one of the main transportation which is 10th longest in the world. It connects all the parts in the country together so it can be used for transporting goods or even tourism. The airline industry carries about 33 million passengers a year. There are a lot of airports such as Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban which are the 3 main international airport and the others at South Africa (ArriveAlive, 2010) ( Publishers, 2008) Technology sector Technology sector is well developed with modern manufacturing sectors like machinery, scientific equipment and motor vehicles. South Africa has strong technological research centers. South Africa has developed a number of leading technologies, principally in the fields of energy and fuels, steel production, mining, and telecommunications. There is all necessary technology for hospitality industry. (South Africa info 2008) Tourism in South Africa South Africas major attractions for tourists are mainly involved with nature. They are the large variety of game parks, nature parks and a magnificent scenic diversity of landscape varying from desert plains blooming with spring flowers to mountains overlooking vineyards, valleys and large farmlands, tribal communities and modern cities. The countrys coastline, which represents many names to our world today, such as; Africas southern most coastline and the base of the large continent, is 3000km long. This 3000km long coastline is nothing but serene sandy beaches with charismatic seaside resorts scattered along. Some of these locations are famous beaches and surfing areas. For animal lovers, there are other attractions that are available. For example, in Pretoria there are various botanical gardens, bird sanctuaries, aquariums and zoo. The National Zoological Gardens in Pretoria is ranked to be the top ten zoos in the world. Some examples of daytime activities are coach tours, ocean cruises, museums, art galleries and a wide range of sports. Other famous attractions in South Africa are the wines produced. South African wines are categorized under New World Wines. These wines are famous all over the world. South Africa is the worlds most known hunting destination. It offers hunting at large land areas that are protecte d under legislative laws and hunters can find many rare species. Hunting seasons are usually between May to July. And the Professional Hunters Other outdoors activities for tourists that are famous in South Africa are canoeing, river rafting, safaris, wilderness trails and rambling. Hiking as well has a rising popularity as the National Hiking Way has been developed and improved. All activities mentioned are easily accessible by the generally good infrastructure in South Africa. Overall, most tourist attractions in South Africa are not for the faint hearted and for nature lovers. According to some reports, international travel to South Africa has increased, in 1994 the year South Africas first democratic elections, only 3.9 million foreign tourists to the country. By 2004, the international visitors have more than doubled to 6.7 million. And in 2007 the total number of 9.07 million foreigners visited South Africa- 8.3% increase compared to 2006- as the country broke its annual tourist arrivals record for the third year running. In South Africa, nowadays, Cape Town has become an important retail and tourism centre, and attracts the largest number of foreign visitors come here for their holidays. (South Africas tourism industry SouthAfrica.info) International tourist arrivals (in millions) nternational tourist arrivals in South Africa (Source: Department of Tourism); (South Africas tourism industry SouthAfrica.info) Tourism is also one of the fastest growing sectors of economy in South Africa, and it contributed to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of country increasing from 4.6% in 1993 to 8.3% in 2006. Tax system Untitled.png Table: Paying taxes (IFC, 2010) SWOT analysis Strength South Africa has a world class infrastructure as their competitive input, like 3 deep water ports, 3 international airports, a network of roads and high ways, well developed cold chain facilities and a sophisticated financial sector. These infrastructures are even comparable to first world developed countries and its cost is favourable (the cost of electricity is still remain inexpensive and competitive in labour rates as well) (Big Media Publishers, South African agriculture, 2008) The free trade agreement and high technology, high infrastructure offering are the key values for international investment from America and European Union The strength includes the mineral resources as well as South Africa is considered as a major mining country. Its the world largest producer and exporter of gold and platinum. They also have a high level of technology (such as a ground-breaking process that converts low-grade superfine iron ore into high-quality iron units) and production expertise (the raw materials such as iron, carbon steelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦were added more values before exporting) which make mining industry is one of the key sectors of the country Weakness South Africa has a high ratio of unemployment which is from 30% 40%. The education of the labour force is still very low, especially black people. A result showed us that just 22% of Black Africans have completed high school. When we do comparison, it has difference amount of 70.7% of Whites have completed high school More than 5.7 million South Africans are infected with HIV in which 350 thousand have already died of Aids with millions of South Africans have been victims of violent crime Opportunities The FIFA World Cup 2010 will be held at South Africa this summer so this will be not only the opportunities for the South Africa itself to increase their international images and reputations. Its a good change to advertise and promote the values of the country so itll attract more investment and partnership from foreign and internal either. For the FIFA World Cup 2010, South Africa has a plan to include a Bus Rapid Transit system which will promote the use of public transportation between host cities as Cape Town, Durban with other cities. They also received an amount of R9 billion investments and an incentive from FIFA to improve the infrastructure in the nine host cities due to the expected massive visitors. It means a lot of upgrades to countrys airports and general transportation including taxi system, passenger trail and bus (Osec, 2010) Threat Because South Africa is an export led economy, its very easy to be influenced by global demand. The depreciation in price of commodities which go deeper to very low levels could be resulted to job losses The power supply crisis leads to needs of diversity in energy mix including natural gas, nuclear power and various forms of renewable energy as well. The indigenous source of energy is coal which use to produce electricity and its one of the causes of greenhouse gases. The activity to increase electricity by using coal can pollute the environment and it requires the government have to have plans to prevent global warming The roads system needs to be constructed because of massive traffic and transportation. An official report said that it would be cost around R65 billion for urgent repair. Otherwise the cost for a year due to overloading will be surpassed R650 million in destruction to roads (Osec, 2010) Future development When South Africa decides to invest into other countries of Africa, they are helping to diversify African economies and reduce the dependent on primary sector industries. South Africa doesnt focus only on oil and gas, but they concentrate about telecommunicating, banking service, mining also. They enter the African market, but creating them as well by building infrastructure, transferring technology and knowledge, encouraging the foreign country to enforce laws and strengthen democratic institutions. For examples: South Africa exported to the rest of Africa a R43 billion worthy, most of involved import related to oil from Nigeria which was R5 billion. That number show an imbalance in South African goods and services with African consumers. The countrys companies also try to integrate themselves with the local economies by hiring local staff or buying materials from local procedures. In return, South Africa received the favour by investment from the other African countries which is go od for South African own domestic economy. Thats why South African engine is very important for economic development across the African continent (Leon, 2004) In 2009, the government spent a total amount of R787 billion on public infrastructures over the next 3 years which would push the countrys budget deficit to 3.8% of GDP in 2009. They explained that it was necessary to borrow the funds to finance planned public infrastructure projects due to the decreased demand for South African commodities and lower output. In the R787 billion: R390 billion would be spent on state owned enterprises R25 billion for Rail Computer Corporation R12 billion for the Bus Rapid Transit system R1.6 billion South African Airways Conclusion After we analyzed the economy of South Africa and predict the future of the country, we realize that South Africa has potential to invest money in this country which can create profit for us as entrepreneurs as well as for the countrys economy. South Africa has many strong sectors but we decide to invest our money in health care sector which is currently not strong in this country. We believe this is the right decision which will bring to us return on investment and profit for the future.

Gender Roles: The Building Blocks of American Society Essay

Ever since I could remember most of what I learned about being a male came from a series of components, majority include my parents, family, television, school, toys, the media, and peers. Gender expectations were embedded within me by society and I had no clue of what was happening. When I was young it was expected of me to play with toys that suited males i.e. batman, spiderman, superman, watch television shows that encompassed male behavior, I even had to perpetuate dominance over my male counterparts as a means of sustaining my masculinity. This was all taught to me by the constructs of masculinity developed by society. I can recall many instances in which my stepfather would punish me if I stayed inside on on Saturday/Sunday mornings because in his time period, boys were expected to be outside performing manual labor while the woman were expected to cook and clean. It is the roles of American society that have plagued the notion of dominant and subordinate gender roles of male a nd female. I learned to perpetuate masculinity without even understanding what masculinity or femininity even meant, it was taught to me as a natural way of being, something that I never questioned because I simply thought it was the correct way of living, and even though it did not quite make sense to act tough or to act male, I still followed everything I was taught. All my life I acted the way I was expected to act, as a Hispanic male, I had to stay within the confines of my ethnicity and gender. Males where not expected to be emotional or to have feelings. Within a family that honors male dominance and power that males can perpetuate, none of my uncles show any signs of weakness or vulnerability, as it is taboo for the men in my family to show any sign of softness. I however, always had problems with living my life in  this order and having to perpetuate male behavior. I can recall one instance where I wrapped my hair in a towel after a shower because I saw my mother always doing it and I wanted to as well, it was not until my mom caught me, when she instantly put me in place and told me to never do that again. She specified that if my dad witnessed what I had done I would never see the light of day. Ever since I could remember, the ways in which I performed my gender role was not necessarily performed the way society constructed it. I never performed what was expected of me, most of the time I would sit on the side of my house crying after being yelled at by my stepfather for not being boyish enough for him. I always had my mind on being who I thought I should be i.e. free and able to explore as I wanted, and not what people told me to be. All my life, I have witnessed male family members and their inability to console or give proper advice to anyone because there was always an ego bias due to their lack of feeling and emotion. My father is a prime example, no matter what he discussed with me as a child it always related to male dominance and woman subordination and the idea of the other. I come from a family with ego gratification issues, most of my uncles including my father suffer from perpetuating masculinity and male dominance, and they thrive off of not showing an ounce of weakness or vulnerability. Within the confines of my family it is actually frowned upon to express feeling or even express care of love towards anyone, it is a sad fact, but it is the learned male dominant/ female subordinate roles that have convoluted American society to act in this specific manner. Nonetheless, it is a sad feat of American life. If I suddenly woke and I was female my life would change dramatically, the result would impact my whole center of being substantially. Not only would the mechanics of my body entirely change, my entire conception of self would as well. I could no longer go to the bathroom the same, use masculinity as a crutch to get ahead in society, my entire notion of self and the makeup of who I am as a person, and as a dramaturgical actor would be in chaos. The building blocks that I was founded upon would completely rearrange, everything I have learned my whole life would be flipped. I would no longer see myself in the same light, as I now have to relearn what it means to begin living a life that I have no real first hand experience within. My entire life revolves around my conception of myself as a male, my  educational level, my acquired dominance in society from just being a male, my role as a man, and my privilege in society. This change would alter my conception of what it means to be a human entirely. As our entire lives are shaped by gender expectations and societies ideas of what it means to be a male and female. It would be a tough change nonetheless. My gender performance would have to be re-built from the ground up. I would have to learn to act like a female, to make my way in the world as a female, I would lose certain privileges that come along with being male such as job opportunities, respect, power, and would have to completely relearn gender roles within a female body. For some, this would be the worst possible outcome that could ever happen to a male, not only because of everything that comes along with being a male, but also everything that comes along with being a female. Females are stigmatized for their femininity, their roles as woman in society, their sexual partners, the clothes that they wear, the way that they look, there are so many things that woman have to deal with that many men simply do not understand. This would be an eye opener, everything I have learned and got away with, as a male such as freely exploring my manhood and eating disgustingly, would be redefined. In society woman are held to the highest degree of observance and are forced to stay within the lines of femininity. Everywhere you look, on billboards, magazine covers, newspapers, and tabloids there is the romanticized version of what it means to be a woman and the standard that they are held up to is simply unreachable. No one can measure up to societies standard of what it means to be a woman, they are constantly broken down and told they are not pretty, they are not desirable, they are not what they should be, they are promiscuous, and if a guy does the same things he is not scrutinized for his actions. My entire life as a woman would be a new understanding, an entire new journey and experience. Learning what it means to be stigmatized and talked down upon if I decided to be who I was as a man, but as a woman. I woul d no longer be able to shove food down my throat, act vulgar, run around with my shirt off, jog around at nighttime because of the fear of being raped, or abducted. It would totally reshape everything I was taught and defined as in society. Even though acting masculine or acting feminine is a social construct, it has consumed me everyday, I have always filled that masculine role that society has brought me up within and even though  everything about myself is wrapped up within my gender specific role as a Hispanic male, becoming a female would totally change my gender experience. I would be reborn, forced to learn everything about myself as a female, and what it means to be a female and act like a female in society. Nonetheless, it would completely reshape my views and ideas about gender.

The History Behind Crayola Crayons

Crayola brand crayons were the first kids crayons ever made, invented by cousins, Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith. The brands first box of eight Crayola crayons made its debut in 1903. The crayons were sold for a nickel and the colors were black, brown, blue, red, purple, orange, yellow, and green. The word Crayola was created by Alice Stead Binney (wife of Edwin Binney) who took the French words for chalk (craie) and oily (oleaginous) and combined them. Today, there over one hundred different types of crayons being made by Crayola including crayons that sparkle with glitter, glow in the dark, smell like flowers, change colors, and wash off walls and other surfaces and materials. According to Crayolas History of Crayons Europe was the birthplace of the â€Å"modern† crayon, a man-made cylinder that resembled contemporary sticks. The first such crayons are purported to have consisted of a mixture of charcoal and oil. Later, powdered pigments of various hues replaced the charcoal. It was subsequently discovered that substituting wax for the oil in the mixture made the resulting sticks sturdier and easier to handle. The Birth of Crayola Crayons In 1864, Joseph W. Binney founded the Peekskill Chemical Company in Peekskill, N.Y. This company was responsible for products in the black and red color range, such as lampblack, charcoal and paint containing red iron oxide which was often used to coat the barns dotting Americas rural landscape. Peekskill Chemical was also instrumental in creating an improved and black colored automobile tire by adding carbon black that was found to increase the tire tread life by four or five times. Around 1885, Josephs son, Edwin Binney, and nephew, C. Harold Smith, formed the partnership of Binney Smith. The cousins expanded the companys product line to include shoe polish and printing ink. In 1900, the company purchased a stone mill in Easton, PA, and began producing slate pencils for schools. This started Binney and Smiths research into non-toxic and colorful drawing mediums for kids. They had already invented a new wax crayon used to mark crates and barrels, however, it was loaded with carbon black and too toxic for children. They were confident that the pigment and wax mixing techniques they had developed could be adapted for a variety of safe colors. In 1903, a new brand of crayons with superior working qualities was introduced - Crayola Crayons.

Performance Analysis Of Reits In Malaysia And Uk Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1478 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Securities Commission of Malaysia defines REITs as an investment vehicle that proposes to invest at least 50% of its total assets in real estate, whether through direct ownership or through a single purpose company whose principal asset comprise real estate. Shares of REITs company are publicly traded in major stock exchange and it is viewed as a good way for investors to own a property indirectly by owning the shares of the property. It would also be the only way for ordinary investors to have the opportunity to invest in large scale commercial properties. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Performance Analysis Of Reits In Malaysia And Uk Finance Essay" essay for you Create order REITs usually generating income by owned and operating income producing real property such as offices, shopping centers and service apartments. Meanwhile it may invest in real estate-related securities, cash or fixed deposit and whole loans. However, most of the earning of a REIT company is produced from the recurrent rental incomes of the real properties owned. The unit holders of REITs will receive return in the form of dividends from the net income of the REITs generated. Due to the stable flow of incomes, it is considered as a lower risk investment tool to the investors. REITs are considered to be under the category of unit trust funds which are being professionally managed. The organisation structure is alike for both REITs and unit trust funds. Experienced real estate professional would be appointed as the management team of REITs which must be headed by a registered valuer to manage the investment and operations of REITs. It would be the same as unit trust funds where ot her than the management company, a professional fund manager will selects and manages the investment. The management team of REITs are accountable both to their board of directors as well as the shareholders of the REITs. REITs are viewed as the best combination of investment in real property and stocks. Investment in REITs by buying the shares of REITs would provide the investors a way to reduce loan and interest paid to own a property as investment. The return is indeed lower then stocks but would be more stable as it generates stable incomes to REITs. This is the unique of investing in REITs and awareness of this profit-driven investment tool is risen and promoting the growth of REITs in many countries. This investment tool has a long history in United State and Australia which had achieving stable market and growth over the past ten years. REITs had start becoming popular and achieving growth in many of the South East Asia countries in recent years, for instance, Singapore and Japan. REITs are considered as a new concept in Malaysia since 2005, which is the transformation from property trust fund. Securities Commission as the core regulator of all the unit trust funds and REITs are responsible in monitoring development of the industry. This statutory body had issue new guideline for REITs on the 3rd January 2005 to replace the old rule for Property Trust Funds. The issuance of the new guideline was indeed promoting the REITs due to the one level taxation. background of study The REITs market different from countries to countries, as well as the determinant factors of the performance of REITs in the specific market. Regulation may be the core factors in this context. Undeniably, other several factors for instance property market climate of the country may in fact influence the performance of the REITs for the country. REITs market was success in many several countries, especially United State which had matured in the REITs market. Many countries start introducing the REIT regime and putting effort to develop this industry as it was one of the valuable investment to the country. United Kingdom was one of the countries which were newly entered into the REIT regime. The REIT legislation was introduced by the United Kingdom government at the 1st of January, 2007. Interestingly, within two years of the operation, the UK REITs market had achieve to the ranking of forth in terms of their REITs market capitalisation, which was about US$ 41 million (Global RE ITs Report 2008, Earnst Young). In fact, United Kingdom have their own way of REITs regulation, long period of time was used by the UK government in consultation to introduce the most suitable legislation for REITs. There are many other factors which may contribute to the a growth of REITs in UK. The different in managing their investment portfolio of REITS Company of United Kingdom and the implementation of some specific regulation for REITs in United Kingdom may be the underlying reasons for the growth of REITs. These factors which influenced the performance of UK-REITs will be explored in this study. Yet, before this could be carrying out, performance analysis will first be done to have better indicator of the following study. This study may explore the unique of the UK-REITS and simultaneously compare with Malaysia context for further recommendation. objective of the study To study the concept, mechanism and regulation of REITS in Malaysia and United Kingdom To analyze and compare the performance of the selected REITS of Malaysia and United Kingdom To identify the factors which contribute to the variant of performance as to the M-REITS and UK-REITS. SCOPE OF study This study will be focused on the performance of M-REITS and UK-REITS. Three largest REITS of both countries will be chosen for the performance analysis. The REITS company chosen must also be listed in their respective stock market, i.e. be listed in Bursa Malaysia for M-REITS and London Stock Exchange for UK-REITS. The collection of data for this study lay between the timeframe of 2007 to 2009. This is due to the reason that REITs of United Kingdom was introduced on the 1st of January 2007. reseach methodology Quantitative method will be adopted as the research methodology. Relevant statistics, graphs, charts obtained will be analyzed in order to compare the variant performance of the selected REITs in UK and in Malaysia. The data can be extracting from the annual report of the REITs company, Bursa Malaysia, London Stock Exchange and online database. Secondary sources will be considered as well, for instance, articles, journals, research papers, reference books and the guidelines for REITs published by the Securities Commission in Malaysia context and the guidelines and regulation in United Kingdom context. significance of the study This study intended to benchmark the performance of REITs in Malaysia with United Kingdom. Through the analysis, improvements in terms of property portfolio management, regulation and investment direction could be done to achieve better performance of Malaysia REITs market. Investors as well as the managers of the REITS industry may benefit from this study which provides detail information and performance of selected REITS. Investors may have better information of the REITs market whether in Malaysia or United Kingdom, which may help while making decision of the investment in any REITs. Furthermore, the mechanism and regulation of REITS discussed in literature review will benefit new investors of REITS. limitation of the study This study will be focus on three largest REITS of both Malaysia and United Kingdom. The analysis could only be done for a limited number of REITS due to time constraint. Complexities and diversities could be reduced significantly while limited to few numbers of REITs. This study would also limit to the selected listed M-REITS and UK-REITS as at 31st December 2009. Structure of the study In first chapter, a brief introduction of the topic of research is given. The background of the research is introduced by explaining the reasons of choosing this topic as research topic. Subsequently, the statement of research problems, objectives of the study, scope of the study, research methodology, significance of the study, limitation of the study and structure of the study are identified and explained in sequence in chapter 1. Second chapter will be the literature review of the research topic. Journals, articles, reference books will be using as sources of the literature review for further understanding of the REITs market and mechanism as in United Kingdom context. Detail of the REITs related rules will be discussed in detail for both Malaysia and United Kingdom. The third chapter will explained the methodology of this research. The types and sources of data to be collected will be specified in details. Furthermore, the terms used in analyzing the performance of REITS will be identified and elaborated explicitly. Chapter four is the presentation of the analysis of findings and discussion. The performance and the property portfolio of the selected REITs will be analyzed. The background of the REITs company will be analyzed as well for further understanding of the nature of the selected REITs. Comparison study will later presented between REITs of Malaysia and REITs of United Kingdom. Finally, chapter 5 will be the conclusion of the study based on the analysis done. The arguments which arisen throughout the research will be summarized. In addition, suggestions and recommendations will be given for further research purposes.