Explain the bilateral trade flow between China and Australia through Essay

Explain the bilateral trade flow between China and Australia through the traditional and modern trade theories - Essay Example (Chambers, 2006). On the other hand, Australia’s economy has turned out to be extremely prominent and so the bilateral trade between China and Australia. The economic boom in China cannot be ignored world wide and constitutes a number of opportunities to trade with Australia. The gas treaty between the two countries had established as the predecessor in order strengthen their trade relationship. However, China needs to have raw materials and is an eminent buyer of liquid gas and minerals from Australia. The Prime Minister of Australia John Howard and President Hu Jintao of China decided on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as well. Hence china has become Australia’s chief customer whether it is Australia’s natural possessions or it the iron ore, which has made Australia expand its seaport to export more iron to China. The international relationship of China with Australia has been progressing since the year 1973 when the two governments signed the trade agreement and the bond between these two countries is growing even stronger day by day. The joint accords have been established since past 32 years related to numerous commodities such as dairy products, agriculture, raw materials, natural gas, iron ore, energy, hygiene guidelines along with capital protection and support for traditional aspects that have developed the business association of the two countries. *Footnote: Thomas Nicholas, Re-orienting Australia- china relations 1972 to the present, Great Britain, MPG Books LTd.2004. The relationship has further enhanced due to their combined Participation in APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation). The study also focuses on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the challenges along with opportunities for Australia and China where the involvement of WTO (world trade organization) also plays a vital role. Initially the conciliation tool place in Sydney in 2005, May and continued till the beginning of year 2008 and had 11 negotiable meetings. A free t rade agreement is a contract between two countries where tariffs are excluded from deals and it lies under the rules set by WTO.( Thomas, 2004) A gauge to determine the economic conditions of a country is its gross domestic product (GDP) which refers to a final worth of every product in a particular time frame and is measured in terms of comparison with last year (quarter of full year), e.g. if the current GDP of a country comes out to be 5%, it shows that the economy has raised by 5% in the current year. A negative GDP value indicates a state of recession in a country, leaving the investors in trouble due to economic crisis. A strong economy will lead to good salary increments as the companies stay in profit, while a fluctuation in GDP (up or down) will also affect the stock market and the investors. GDP may be calculated in two ways: first method is to calculate the total earnings and profits, and second way is the calculation of expenditure (amount spent in a year). China is cons idered as one of the largest economies in the world. According to The Economist 2004a, china stood at 3rd number in increasing global GDP and importing goods from the year 2000 – 2003. The country is famous for a wide range of products whether food stuff, machines, toys, plastics goods, electronic products, appliances, industrial goods such as food processing units, rubber goods, furniture, etc. The GDP of China is increasing by seven percent every year since last 5 years. The contribution of China to global economy is growing gradually and trade constitutes as a chief feature in making its

Consumer buying behaviour blogs and portfolio Essay

Consumer buying behaviour blogs and portfolio - Essay Example However certain experience annoys customers in context of purchasing a branded good or service. I usually preferred branded products because I thought money value of the brand is worthwhile. In terms of behavioural sciences of consumer behaviour it is clearly evident that psychological needs usually influence an individual to purchase a brand. I had a bitter experience with two well known brands Samsung and Levis. These two brands were my favourite and I was ready to pay premium prices for these brands. In my college days I used to wear Levis jeans because I felt that its quality or texture will not degrade. I was literally shocked when I saw my perception about the brand was totally wrong. There are two or three Levis outlets nearby my locality and I usually purchase jeans from these outlets from past many years. Recently some new sales person was hired in this retail outlet and they did not have friendly behaviour. I purchased two jeans and it was expensive but my shopping experien ce was more pathetic. None of the sales person in the outlet helped me to select the best product and I had to find the best fit for myself (Cheryl and Thuhang, 2007). This in turn had drawn a negative image about the brand in my mind. However after sales service of Levis jeans were worse because one of the jeans turned out to be of low quality and I had to return it back. I nearly spend half day resolving issue at the outlet since they were not ready for cash back. From that day I have decided that I will avoid any form of branded items. Samsung was another brand which had annoyed me to a great extent. I purchased an electronic item of Samsung few months back but it failed to deliver desired service level. On the other hand one of my friends had bought same electrical device from not so well known brand and it performed well. Customer perception is difficult to change since it is based on attitudes and beliefs.

The Aral Sea Desertification

The Aral Sea Desertification Desertification is the process by which a habitable place of land becomes a desert due to climatic changes or ill human practices in the environment. The Aral Sea is a victim to such adversity due to malpractices and power hungry nature of humans. Thus becoming a saline lake from its previous form of being the 4th largest lake in the world. It used to be the leading site of fisheries, reed growing and other trading due to its ports. All these services have been vanquished due to the desertification which seeped into the sea and its atmosphere. Thereby becoming one of the worlds greatest disasters caused humans. People have always had a greed for power and gold. Such was an instance for the Soviet Government in the 1960s. The need to grow heat absorbing crops such as rice, cotton, grapes and other vegetables made two prime rivers The Amu Darya and The Syr Darya, feeding the Aral Sea to be diverted to irrigate the crops. Due to such malpractices the Aral Sea shrunk in size from being the worlds 4th largest sea to a dry barren sea basin. But even though they have caused an ecological disaster, actions are now being taken to replenish the sea of its thirst and recover it back to its natural beauty. The Aral Sea : The Aral Sea has a catchment size of 1,549,000 km2 . It was a sea that situated in Central Asia and lay between Kazakhstan in the north and Karakalpakstan, (a region of Uzbekistan) in the south. It used to have an area of 68,000 square kilometers and it was due to the two main rivers, in fact the 2 largest rivers in central Asia the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya to fill up the sea. Around 1960, about half of this water replenished the Sea the rest evaporated, transpired, or filtrated into the ground naturally as the rivers flowed through the deserts and some was taken for other human uses. Everything was going well keeping the environment intact until the former Soviet Union decided to divert the rivers to grow white gold- cotton, rice and other vegetables. This was a major plan for them to become a lead exporter in cotton. Which eventually happened as Uzbekistan is one of the lead exporters of cotton to this very day. But cotton and rice being extremely thirsty plants required immense amounts of water and instead of the 2 rivers irrigating the desert it was used to irrigate the 7.6 million hectares of thirsty crops. Due to the diversion of the water the water level started to decrease as the river discharge started to drop. Subsequently as the years passed by the rivers brought lesser water to the sea. The sea was retreating from its original shores, leaving behind dry land covered by the crust of salt. The irrigation project was enormous and no attention was given to downstream requirements. The irrigation techniques were not efficient with open waterways leading to waste. Very little care was given to the need for proper drainage. On average there was a decline in water level during the 1960s of 0.21 m/year, in the 1970s of 0.6 m/year, and in the 1980s of 0.8 m/year. Now it has lost 80 % of its volume and uncovered 3.6 mil hectares of seabed .The surface level has contracted by half, the level significantly reduced by 19 m and in some areas the seas edge is more than 100 km from its former shore. The Soviets were not surprised of the slow recline and eventual fading of the Aral Sea, as they had predicted this to happen. In 1964 , at the Hydroproject Institute Aleksandr Asarin stated that the lake was doomed, explaining It was part of the five-year plans, approved by the council of ministers and the Politburo. Nobody on a lower level would dare to say a word contradicting those plans, even if it was the fate of the Aral Sea. Plans were taken to refill the Aral Sea after a while but the estimated costs were staggering, the authorities rejected the project in 1966. Ecology ,environment and climate : The future of the Aral Sea looked very grim. The surrounding environment and the marine ecology of the started to depreciate. The local climate, hydrology and natural habitat were also affected greatly due to the declining sea- level. As the sea level reclined, few areas started to get exposed. The deltas in the sea was lush and abundant with flora and fauna that provided flowing food supplies for the livestock , and reeds for the industry , an abundant breeding ground for its fish industry and sites for hunting. When the deltas started to dry up, deserts started to form thereby the number of wildlife, fish and livestock started to drop. Only 38 of the 173 living species that once habited the deltas survived. Just 30 years ago the sea was a major contributor to the fishing industries; in 1957 Muynak and Aralsk were flourishing sea ports processing catches of 48,000 metric tons of fish. Now these fishing ports are situated many kilometers from the sea line and the fisheries are only open at very expensive costs with fish coming in from the Barents and the Caspian Seas. By the 1980s almost 20 of the 24 native sea fish species disappeared. The Soviet planners realized that if they were to expand the irrigation systems it would have contrary impacts on the sea, yet still nothing was done about it. They did not realize that it would have an effect on the surrounding natural climate. As the irrigation and the recline of the Aral Sea continued huge dust storms developed due to the sea drying up. As a result the agricultural productivity started to decline making it inhospitable for crops. As the sea dried up more places in the sea started to get exposed and at the upper layer of the seabed the concentration of the toxic salts at the seabed combined with the lack of water and its nutrients made it difficult to provide a stable plant cover. Due to this dust storms started to brew and this increased in frequency and magnitude, as a result it carried an estimated of 43 million metric tons of salt per year over the enormous areas. These dust storms contained sodium chloride and sodium sulfate, which are toxic to plants. As the salt levels in the regions started to rise in the water and soil contents it started having adverse effects on the agriculture in the region. Due to this excess of water was needed to meet the requirements of the plant but the problem was drainage was often poor together with the fact that it was more saline than the soil. This accumulates and raises the level of the groundwater table. As the water table rises into the root zone, the crops suffer from curtailed oxygen supplies. Thus the capillary action draws salts from the shallow groundwater tables upward toward the surface. As the water evaporates, high concentrations of salt are left on the surface, thereby ruining the agricultural potential of the land. Soviet research suggests that 60 percent of the irrigated soils in Uzbekistan, 80 percent in Turkmenistan, 35 percent in Tadzhikistan, 40 percent in Kirghizia, and between 60 and 70 percent in Kazakhstan suffered moderate to strong salinity problems in 1985. The climate of the area was also affected, summers have become hotter, winters have become cooler and growing seasons have significantly become shorter. Precipitation has also decreased thereby increasing daytime temperatures. Average May temperatures were 3.0-3.2 degree Celsius higher, average October temperatures are 0.7 to 1.5 degrees higher and the growing season has declined by 10 days. The Aral Sea, a large saltwater lake, is losing more than half of its surface area in 40 years. 3 Cows walk in the desert which used to be the seabed of the Aral Sea 4 Human Impacts : Not only was the climate and animal life affected but even humans were affected from this disaster. Drinking water supplies were contaminated by pesticides. Many other diseases were released due to the desertification. Over the last 15 years diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis B, kidney disease, gallstone ailments, chronic gastritis have increased; infant mortality rates have gone up and the frequency of esophagus cancer and tuberculosis have reach epidemic levels. One survey found 80 percent of the women suffering from anemia and 70 percent of the children ill. Due to the rise in morbidity and reduced mortality in the people, hospital rates went up and poverty increased. Because of the vast no. of health problems in the population hospitals were lacking in essential medicines and health care. On account of the rising diseases, many of them were found in the blood and breast milks, as toxins found in pesticides and other toxic gases from the dust storms seeped into foods and contaminated food supplies. As the waters are highly saline and contaminated, drinking water supplies have significantly decreased leading to liver and kidney diseases. The people have also been exposed to airborne toxins found in the dust storms causing respiratory diseases. Due to the desertification the fishing industry and other local occupations such as reed growing, farming and other occupations disappeared causing unemployment rates to sky rocket, leading people to poverty. They were unable to grow agriculture due to the high salinity of the water. Shipping ports closed and the Aral Sea became a ship graveyard. Aral Sea Restoration : Finally attention was given to the Aral Sea in the 1980s and 1990s but the government realized that it would not be possible to restore the Sea to its original size back in 1960. But if it was left to continue to degrade a major catastrophe would occur. Looking into the problems 5 countries volunteered to try and restore or at least alleviate the cataclysm. Those 5 countries are: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan; the countries that neighbor the Aral Sea. They created the ASBP (Aral Sea Basin Program) in 1994 which was established to be conducted in four steps: To stabilize the environment of the Aral Sea Basin, To rehabilitate the disaster area around the sea, To improve the management of the international waters of the Aral Sea Basin, To build the capacity of institutions at the regional and national level to advance the programs aims. More water would have to pump into the Aral Sea if it had to be revived. The five countries referred to Interbasin Transfers (IBT); but it has not been put into place. They projected to divert the Caspian Sea into the Aral Sea but they anticipated that the same catastrophe might occur in the Caspian. This was just a hypothesis to be carried out, so ASBP was put into place. The first phase was to directly improve the land around the basin without touching the water system. This began from 1992 until 1997. This was because they found it difficult to implement the phase. Phase two began in 1998 till 2003. They wanted to increase awareness of the area to the public but they had little concern of the propaganda thus causing this plan to fail as well. Phase three was implemented in 1997 as the government constructed a new plan to back up the previous ones. The main objective of this plan is to improve the irrigation systems that are still there but aiming at the water management at a local view. The North Aral Sea is the largest project of this phase. The main idea is to build a dam across the Berg Strait ( a channel which connects the North and South Aral Sea). The dam is eight miles long and can facilitate twenty nine cubic kilometers of water to be stashed away in the North Aral Sea and allowing the excess water to overflow into the South Aral Sea. Currently work is going on in the North Aral Sea to restore it. Irrigation in the Syr Darya have been improved and mended to increase the flow of water. In October 2003 the government began construction of a concrete dam, Dike Kokaral which separates the Aral Sea from the North and South. Construction finished in August 2005 and due to the dam water level in the North has increased also decreasing the salinity of the river. It is a minute growth but a valuable one over time. Few of the fish stocks were released into the river to bring back the past occupation and revive the fishing industry once again. This outstanding project caused small changes to the climate causing few rain clouds to brew up. The sea depth and sea surface has increased over the years. Seeing these achievements in the area the government has decided to construct a second dam to further the healing process of the Northern side. The South of the Aral Sea only receives overflowed water from the North of the Aral Sea but apart from that no other measures have been taken. But plans have been pulled up to create a channel to connect the North and South and continue the replenishing projects in the South as well but political constraints are limiting its progress because of the oil exploration in the South of the Aral Sea. Conclusion: The Aral Sea was the fourth-largest Sea in the world at one time but today it does not exist in any last apart from the top ten ecological disasters caused by humans. Even though measures are taken to restore the Aral Sea back to its original form predictions are being made that because only the North Aral Sea is being refilled it may divide up into the North Aral Sea and the South Aral Sea as two completely separate basins. All these decades of problems and catastrophes were just over the greed of making more money, yes maybe it might increase the revenue of a nation but it should not be at the cost of another whole biome. There is a sufficiency in the world for mans need but not for mans greed. -Mahatma Gandhi

Comparison John Updikes AP and Timothy OBreins How to Tell a True War S

Comparison John Updikes AP and Timothy OBreins How to Tell a True War Story Although the short stories, â€Å"A&P,† by John Updike, and â€Å"How to Tell a True War Story,† by Timothy O’Brien, are both written in the technique of first person narrative, the two stories are conveyed to the reader in very different styles. John Updike, who was 29 at the time when he wrote â€Å"A & P,† narrates his story from the point of view of a 19 year old boy. The narration of the story of â€Å"A & P† illustrates the scene of the grocery store in which the teenage boy, Sammy, is a cashier who witnesses everything that goes on during the day. The store is a theater, having numerous skits taking place throughout the day with no script. Sammy is in the audience where he came only observe the acts to make up his own story and narrate the scene to others. Every important detail is observed through Sammy’s eyes and is expressed in the narration of his story of the A & P grocery store. Sammy sets the scene of a sunny, summer beach day in which three young girls dressed in nothing but bathing suits enter the store to buy some snacks for their day in the sand. Sammy is deeply intrigued by the girls and watches every move they make while ringing in other customers at the store. The girls parade through the isles as if they are putting on a show, just for Sammy. This is Sammy’s first live â€Å"girlie show† and he doesn't want to miss one single detail. Sammy expresses his excitement and fondness of one particular girl as he conveys the details of the one scene: She has on a kind of dirty-pink -- beige maybe, I don’t know -- bathing suit with a little nubble all over it and, what got me, the straps were down. They were a little off her shoulders... ... voices in the story, one for the part telling the actual war story to the other soldier, and one telling the whole story to the reader; war story and it’s reasons. The paragraph following the descriptive tale of his two buddies fooling around with the smoke grenades suggests this theory. In any war story, but especially a true one, it’s difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen. What seems to happen becomes it’s own happening and has to be told that way...The story as a whole was written to share with the soldiers who were there with the added tips guidelines to help them tell their own â€Å"true war stories,† and have them be remembered, as well as believed. The graphical depiction of the story is for the fortunate who were not present at the time of the war, who should always be reminded through out time how horrible and unnecessary war is.

Individualism vs. Societal Norm and Acceptance Essay

In the community of Salem, Massachusetts of 1692, their community is set as a theocratic society, where the church and the state come as one. Moral laws and state laws are also combined as one. Everyone is expected to live up to the established social norms. Any individual within the Puritan community whose private lives doesn’t conform to the moral laws established by the government is represented as a threat to the community and to the rule of God and true religion. In Salem, everything and everyone belongs to either God or the devil, anything that is unlawful is considered a devil’s work. Everyone in this community is expected to meet the expectations of the society, every little thing they do will be held against them. John Proctor is an example of an individualist in this society. John Proctor was unfaithful to his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, when he had committed an affair with a younger female, Abigail Williams. Committing adultery and telling lies are some examples of sinning in the Puritan community. John Proctor is breaking from the mores, beliefs and ethical codes of the Puritan community because not only does he commit adultery, but he also hides it from the community. His actions were the main cause of false accusation of witchcraft in this society. Eventually, when he realizes everyone else’s life is at risk because of him, he confesses. John proctor chose to hide his adultery because he was afraid of his reputation being ruined and having his life put at risk because he went going against the Puritan law. Another way John Proctor breaks away from the united societal norm of the Puritans is going against the court. The court is in high power in this society. At first, he lies to the court, admitting to witchcraft to save his own life, but when John proctor realizes it is wrong and a sin to the religion to tell a lie, he goes against his false confession to witchcraft. He caused contempt at court while trying to prove everyone’s innocence, but it did not go so well. John Proctor went against the Puritan law because he does not want to dishonor the innocent prisoners and he will not be able to live with himself knowing that other innocents died while he committed sins and the innocents were paying for it. The following quote said by John Proctor in Act IV, clearly shows contempt at court in the Puritans’ way of life:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!† At the end, John Proctor was hung. He was hung for his mistakes, and died without lies to his name. In a theocratic society, where the church and state comes as one, every little thing you do is held against you in the long run. Individuals in the Puritan community whose lives did not meet moral laws were considered a â€Å"witch.† In Salem, everything and everyone belongs to either God or the devil, anything that is unlawful is considered a devil’s work.

Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club Essay

Analysis of the Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club for 1983 and 1984. In reviewing the Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, and hearing arguments from both the owners and player there have been some interesting findings. We see that both parties are motivated towards getting more actual cash flow for their respective sides. Using different accounting techniques resulted in two very different financial statements for the Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club. Although, both teams seem to agree on most of the financial statements there seem to be three specific areas that are causing dispute. The three causes of disputes are roster depreciation, overstated player salary expense, and related party transactions. Roster Depreciation According to the owners the 50% of the 12 million dollar purchase price is being depreciated as roster depreciation. The reasoning behind the 50% rate of depreciation is that it is the maximum rate allowed by the IRS. This clearly shows that the owners are trying to cover as much profit without actual cash outflow through the depreciation expense. According to the players there is an appreciation rather than depreciation as the players actually improve their skills as they increase in experience. Considering the facts it does not add value to depreciate teams that generally appreciate and therefore should not be included in the financials. Overstated Player Salary Expense There are three points of disagreement on player salary expenses; sign up bonuses, deferred compensation, and non-roster player salaries should be expensed in the year that it is paid. Sign-up Bonuses: The players feel that the sign-up bonuses should be amortized over the contract of the players. This seems inconsistent with their prior argument to have the financials match cash flow as much as possible with an argument against depreciation. It doesn’t make sense to  amortize part of a salary as an asset. Since the sign-up bonus is a cost incurred by the owners in one payment it should be expensed in the year in which it was incurred. Deferred Compensation: Most players receive only 80% of their contracted amount with the remaining 20% deferred for 10 years. The argument of the players is that the salaries which aren’t incurred for 10 years are expenses a decade before they are due. It was also brought up that some companies put aside this money and others do not. Considering the fact that the remaining 20% is used as a pension for player’s who would no longer be on the roster an adjustment is due. The deferred salaries expense should be taken out of current expenses and put on the balance sheet as a liability if there is no separate fund. If there is a separate fund this can be put on the balance sheet as a other asset till they are expensed in the year they become a current payable. Non-Roster Player Salaries: Since the players that are released have the possibility of getting signed-on with another team who would take over the contract there does not seem to expense the full amount in one period. Similar to the deferred salaries the cost of contracts released should be expensed as each year’s liability comes due and not before. Considering the fact that Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club is expensing everything ahead of time it is important to note that they will not have these costs to offset profit from future years. The only Way to keep these expenses would to be to carry high player turnover on the teams which is not beneficial in an operational standpoint. However, since net operating losses are allowed to be carried forward 20 years by the IRS, Zephyrs managers may be able to extend the theme of no profit through off-setting future profit with prior year losses with their accounting methods in 1983 and 1984. Related Party Transactions: The player’s argue that since two of Zephyrs’ owners are also sole owners of the stadium which is charging 80% more that other stadiums as well as similar activities with broadcast companies that own teams. However, they are comparing different contracts and an even wider  spectrum of contracts with broadcast companies. It is difficult to gauge the claim on assumptions and the PBPA itself admits that it is something ‘hard to do’. As a result it seems more based on opinion than hard fact. There would be no way to arbitrate stadium and broadcast charges based on unique situations and contracts. The stadium costs would stay the same. If the above recommended changes are implemented income before taxes will rise to $1,668,300 (Operating Income after other expenses). Therefore we see that Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club is profitable.