GLOBAL INEQUALITY

/in /by

Based on the required readings of our course, Lecture Posts and discussions so far:

Write an essay discussing the evolution of income inequality in the world, covering issues that have led to increases and decreases in inequality within and between countries in at least the last 200 years (approximately since the Industrial Revolution).

In your answer make sure to discuss the following issues (but not only these)
o What is global inequality
o What is the Kuznets curve and the mechanisms behind it exactly how it works (Simon Kuznets)
o What are Kuznets waves (Branko Milanovic)
o Give at least two examples of factors that makes inequality decrease
Make sure to explain why these factors have made inequality go down
Make sure to specify when in history this happened and give examples of countries where this happened.
o Give at least two examples of factors that makes inequality go up
Make sure to explain why these factors have made inequality go up
Make sure to specify when in history this happened and give examples of countries where this happened.
o Has global inequality been going up or down in recent years? Discuss at least one explanation for this.

In case I detect plagiarism in your test, for every sentence plagiarized you will lose 10% of the final grade. I will use safe-assign therefore plagiarism will be very easily flagged even when between peers.
Before handing in your essay, go through the grading criteria and make sure you fulfilled all the requirements.
Grading Criteria and Grade Breakdown:
In the essay the student clearly defined and discussed
1) What is global inequality (1)
2) What is the Kuznets curve and the mechanisms behind it exactly how it works (1)
3) What are Kuznets waves (1)
4) Give at least two examples of factors that makes inequality decrease (1)
o 4.a) Made sure to explain why these factors have made inequality go down (2)
o 4.b)) Made sure to specify when in history this happened and give examples of countries where this happened. (2)
5) Give at least two examples of factors that makes inequality go up (1)
5.a) Made sure to explain why these factors have made inequality go up (2)
5.b) Made sure to specify when in history this happened and give examples of countries where this happened. (2)
6) Has global inequality being go up or down in recent years? Discuss at least one explanation for this. (3)

7) The student discusses at least one other relevant issue in Global Inequality research (1)

8) The essay is clear and demonstrates a good overall knowledge of the topic 

o 1. Interesting and clear Introduction (1)
o 2. Good Development (1)
o 3. Clear conclusion (1)

Extra Points Question (Worth 5 points)
The current COVID-19 pandemic has raised issues of the long run consequences for populations around the world, particularly in what relates to poverty and inequality. Given what you know about the effects that previous pandemics had on inequality throughout the history of the world, what can we expect will be the effects of this pandemic on inequality? Be sure to explain the mechanisms that led previous pandemics to affect inequality in the past the way it did and how the present pandemic might (or might not) be different.

The five pillars of Islam

/in /by

Topic MUST be THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM

Essay

1. Choose one of the world religions listed in the course outline and prepare an 8-10 page
essay on one aspect of the religion.

2. A good place to begin is Eliade, Mircea and Ioan P. Couliano with Hillary S. Wiesner. The
Eliade Guide to World Religions. San Francisco, CA: Harper, 1991.

3. Secondary sources should be consulted and properly footnoted. These sources together with the text should be listed in your bibliography

4. The essay should be 8-10 pages and use the Chicago Style of documentation.

5. The essay should be double-spaced with careful attention to style, grammar and spelling.

Rare diseases caused by mutations

/in /by

Dr. Nora Yang is Senior Scientist for the Rare Diseases unit at the National Institutes of Health and she leads research efforts on treatments for these diseases. She has published a number of recent papers describing efforts to develop “gene therapy” treatments for diseases, like muscular dystrophy.

1) Please read a brief biography for Dr. Yang.

2) We’ve already learned a bit about muscular dystrophy, but we will review two more videos regarding this disease as a way to refresh our ideas about a variety of concepts we’ve studied.  First review this video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebu8W8Osuxk ) on muscular dystrophy. Then review this video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PHhTtb1OVA ) on gene therapy for muscular dystrophy. This is directly from the research group with which Dr. Yang works!

–In the videos, pay special attention to terms we’ve recently studied, like actin, CK, fibrosis/scar tissue – and terms from earlier in class – chromosomes, genes, nucleotides, codons, replication, stop codons, exons, and amino acids!–

After reviewing these resources, write your responses. You might wish to discuss any or all of the following topics:

1)  What was most interesting or most confusing about the these resources?

2)  What did you learn about how muscular dystrophy impacts muscle fiber and sarcomere physiology?  What did you learn about how muscular dystrophy and gene therapy impact transcription and translation?

3)  What do these resources tell you about the types of people that do science?

4)  What new questions do you have after reviewing these resources?

– Global Business Week 9

/in /by

Assignment Content

Review the following Case Study taken from your text, and answer the critical thinking questions that follow.

Subaru’s Sales Boom Thanks to the Weaker Yen
For the Japanese carmaker Subaru, a sharp fall in the value of yen against the U.S. dollar has turned a problemthe lack of U.S. productioninto an unexpected sales boom. Subaru, which is a niche player in the global auto industry, has long bucked the trend among its Japanese rivals of establishing significant manufacturing facilities in the North American market. Instead, the company has chosen to concentrate most of its manufacturing in Japan in order to achieve economies of scale at its home plants, exporting its production to the United States. Subaru still makes 80 percent of its vehicles at home, compared with 21 percent for Honda.

Back in 2012, this strategy was viewed as something of a liability. In those days, one U.S. dollar bought only 80 Japanese yen. The strong yen meant that Subaru cars were being priced out of the U.S. market. Japanese companies like Honda and Toyota, which had substantial production in the United States, gained business at Subaru’s expense. But from 2012 onward, with Japan mired in recession and consumer prices falling, the country’s central bank repeatedly cut interest rates in an attempt to stimulate the economy. As interest rates fell in Japan, investors moved money out of the country, selling yen and buying the U.S. dollar. They used those dollars to invest in U.S. stocks and bonds where they anticipated a greater return. As a consequence, the price of yen in terms of dollars fell. By December 2015, one dollar bought 120 yen, representing a 50 percent fall in the value of the yen against the U.S. dollar since 2012. 

For Subaru, the depreciation in the value of the yen has given it a pricing advantage and driven a sales boom. Demand for Subaru cars in the United States has been so strong that the automaker has been struggling to keep up. The profits of Subaru’s parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries, have surged. In February 2015, Fuji announced that it would earn record operating profits of around 410 billion ($3.5 billion) for the financial year ending March 2015. Subaru’s profit margin has increased to 14.4 percent, compared with 5.6 percent for Honda, a company that is heavily dependent on U.S. production. The good times continued in 2015, with Subaru posting record profits in the quarter ending December 31, 2015.

Despite its current pricing advantage, Subaru is moving to increase its U.S. production. It plans to expand its sole plant in the United States, in Indiana, by March 2017, with a goal of making 310,000 a year, up from 200,000 currently. When asked why it is doing this, Subaru’s management notes that the yen will not stay weak against the dollar forever, and it is wise to expand local production as a hedge against future increases in the value of the yen. Indeed, when the Bank of Japan decided to set a key interest rate below zero in early February 2016, the yen started to appreciate against the U.S. dollar, presumably on expectations that negative interest rates would finally help stimulate Japans sluggish economy. By late March 2016, the yen had appreciated against the dollar and was trading at $1=112 yen.

Critical Thinking Questions:
1. Why do you think that historically, Subaru chose to export production from Japan, rather than set up manufacturing facilities in the United States like its Japanese rivals?
2. What are the currency risks associated with Subaru’s export strategy? What are the potential benefits?
3. Is Subaru wise to expand its U.S. production capacity? What other strategies could the company use to hedge against adverse changes in exchange rates? What are the pros and cons of the different hedging strategies Subaru might adopt?
Your submission should be a minimum of one-half page of content in length. Please type the question as well as your answer. Properly cite any references utilized in APA format.