Welfare Effects of a Tariff Essay Example for Free

Welfare Effects of a Tariff Essay Free trade necessarily works to the advantage of domestic consumers boosting their choice of goods and services, the quality as well as reduced prices while protectionism is considered by some to be disruptive and harmful to the efficiency of international trade besides harming consumer interests, but even so, trade has never been and may never be free. While free trade has various advantages; protectionism too has a few if not helpful, necessary benefits to a country, Feenstra Taylor (2007). These benefits are hardly set in stone and depend on manifold factors which are equally variable and thus determining the true effect of a tariff requires a case by case assessment of the effects. This essay will asses the common reasons for the use of tariffs and presents the general welfare implications of the tariff on both small countries as well as large countries. Background Tariffs are the most commonly applied ways of protectionism in trade so much so that the WTO was founded in part to create a frame work to allow countries to negotiate a reduction in tariffs in trade. A tariff refers to customs, tributes, tolls or duties, or a schedule of them, imposed by governments on merchandise imported or exported as it crosses international borders. As such every country has a separate system of tariffs as well as regulations and tariffs may take one or more of the following forms; revenue tariff, specific tariffs, protective, ad valorem tariffs as well as protective tariffs each, according to their nature or differing objectives, Pugel Peter Lindert ( 2000). Revenue tariffs are imposed by governments not to bar importation but raise revenues and are mostly imposed on goods or services with inelastic import demand. On the contrary, protective tariffs are imposed by governments to keep out imports and thusly they are set as high as can be possible to render their domestic prices uncompetitive while protective tariffs aim at reducing imports enabling local production to compete with imports. Other classifications of tariffs are based on the nature of taxes and their administration and these in clued ad valorem tariffs which are imposed as a proportion of the value of imports while specific tariffs are simply imposed on imported goods and services according to their amounts in volume, weight or number and not their values. Intuitively, the reasons for the imposition of tariffs vary from protection of infant industries in less developed countries so they can mature and compete favorably with others to other protection of jobs in developed countries, Kraus (2000). In protection of fledge ling industries commonly touted as import substitution practiced by developing countries, tariffs are imposed on goods or services with local production that the country wishes to encourage growth. This would effectively raise the domestic prices of imports thusly rendering domestic products competitive on price terms and shields them from being edged out of the market through predatory pricing which will foster maturity of those industries and facilitate the transformation of less developed economies from agricultural to industrial economies. Tariffs are as well imposed to protect domestic jobs by shielding domestic industries from foreign competition. Lack of regulations, cheap labor, deplorable working conditions and export subsidies in foreign countries would make their exports more competitive price wise and to the disadvantage of local industries who must cut costs by laying off staff. This is well evidenced with the Chinese exports to the United States and European Union and the attendant controversy. Consumer protection is often another motive for imposition of tariffs aimed at stopping goods and services that the government deems harmful to its population. In addition, countries impose tariffs on goods and services that are seen as crucial to the national security. In this, regard defense industries enjoy special treatment as they are deemed important for the interests of a nation; a good example of this includes the protection of aircraft manufacturing industries Boeing and Air Bus in the United States and Europe respectively, Yarbrough Yarbrough (1991). Tariffs have as well been used as political instruments from the days of Alexander Hamilton in protecting infant industries which used tariffs on the back of which a new nation to the 21st century America imposing tariffs on imports from politically incorrect countries. Tariffs may as well be imposed on a country’s goods if their trading partners consider them as employing unfair practices for instance export subsidies. Retaliation can as well be used to achieve a number of political ends by countries. Welfare effects of a Tariff Small Country The welfare analysis begins with the case with a small country, not geographically but one whose import policies have no considerable impact on the international terms of trade, Bowen et al (1998). The analysis is a partial equilibrium analysis considering the market for a single good or service, this assumes that the market is relatively small to have a considerable effect on other markets and thusly it is safe to ignore those interactions. In addition, the model assumes that the tariff is in fact the only one imposed or one of only a few and thusly would not be appropriate in the analysis of welfare impacts involving the implementation of numerous tariffs as would be the case in a trade round. Consider the diagram below. Fig A The diagram shows the respective demand as well as supply curves of an imported good inside a country. The world prices represented as PW are assumed to be below the domestic prices shown in the diagram as by the direction arrow. Under autarky the quantity demanded from domestic production of good X is equal to the quantity indicated by the direction arrow between Stm and Dtm. When an autarky opens up to international trade, the domestic prices tumble to Pw so that there is an excess demand of good X in the country represented by Dft of which on Sft would be supplied by domestic producers at the prevailing world prices and as per the demand and supply curves. The consumer surplus in the country is given by the area above the world supply curve Pw but below the domestic demand curve, Pugel Peter Lindert (2000). . When a specific tariff t is imposed on good X, the world prices Pw would not be affected since a country’s imports are relatively small to have any considerable effect on the world prices and demanded quantity, instead, a tariff would have the impact of raising domestic prices by the amount of the tariff to reach Pw+t. The rise in domestic prices would induce local producers to step up their production to Stm since below this level domestic production is more efficient than foreign production. Thusly the producer surplus would rise by the area shown in the diagram by A, thus this represents a gain by domestic producers due to increased prices and a rise in production resulting from the imposition.

Underground Railroad :: essays research papers

One Way Trip to Freedom One hot day in 1850, a man named Jeb staggered out of the woods, looked about him to get his bearings, and plunged down a lane toward the river. He only had a few moments of freedom before he heard the baying of hounds. He splashed up to his knees in the shallow stream and wade. The dogs tried desperately to pick up the scent but the water had destroyed it. He had no time to waste. All he could think of was the North Star. That was his hope. That was where his freedom lay. (Flight to Freedom, Henrietta Buckmaster.) The Underground Railroad was a desire for all slaves. They would use the Underground Railroad when they were fed up with working for their owners to escape for freedom. The Underground Railroad is a part of my history. It has always interested me so I decided to look deeper into the history, the influential people, and the actual journey of the Underground Railroad.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Slavery had lain like a terrible sore on our country for two hundred years. Many were ashamed of it. Slave smuggling had became so profitable that the master of a slave ship could permit nine slaves out of ten to die from neglect and still lose no money. Humane men were deeply shock. They protested, and then they did more than protest they helped the Negro. The Black Africans who were enslaved fought against it from the start. Men like Thomas Jefferson, preparing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution tried to have slavery outlawed. To abolish slavery meant to abolish profits which were astronomical, profits which were shared North and South. But to not abolish slavery struck at some of the deepest principles of Americans. For the next sixty years-until the crash of the Civil War- no issue was as important as slavery. It divided homes, it spoke for the conscience, it made political parties, it challenged religion, and it turned men into brutes and in to heroes. It created the Underground Railroad. The first slave who helped a fellow slave to escape drove the spike in this invisible railroad. The unknown first fugitive, the softly stepping men and women who dared the dangers of swamps and mountains and of cold and rain, the outstretched hands of friends, the disguises, the courage, the gunshots along the border, and a long invisible â€Å"train† which chugged so silently and sent up such invisible smoke- all these proved in the end irresistible.

Discipline in the Classroom Essay

â€Å"You’re nothing but a wuss. Your mama ain’t here to help you now so why don’t you stand and fight me like a man†¦. That’s right, saying nothing is going to make the situation better. You gonna go cry to Mrs. Wilson about it now? † This type of harassment in the classroom distracts the students from their main objective-to learn. Disciplinary problems in the classroom interrupt the atmosphere of the classroom, a place where learning takes precedent above all else. A tense environment detracts from learning and everyone loses. Mrs. Wilson got upset, the other school children endured constant harassment, and the children responsible for this harassment got lost in the system. Although experts cite many responses, multicultural education remains an answer that benefits both the teacher and all of the students. Disciplinary problems not only disrupt the serenity of the classroom, but if left untreated, manifest into societal problems. Violence grows as America’s answer to any problem. This trend has been growing steadily in our nation’s classrooms, and recent incidences like that of Columbine High School remind us that angry children become everyone’s problem if no one reaches out to them. cal1966, please do not redistribute this work. We work very hard to create this website, and we trust our visitors to respect it for the good of other students. Please, do not circulate this work elsewhere on the internet. Anybody found doing so will be permanently banned. Detention, suspension, and expulsion remain popular methods for dealing with discipline, but these methods serve only to remove rather than to solve the problem. Multicultural education stimulates the children to incorporate their own life experiences into what they learn and makes them active participants in their own learning process. Multicultural education serves to help bridge gaps between different classes, races, and genders. Not a seemingly easy task, drastic measures are imperative when the future of our country rests on the futures of our children. Take an eighth grade classroom located in a rural district with only three middle schools servicing the entire county. Mark and Jake, two white boys, constantly disrupted Mrs. Wilson’s Social Studies class. The situation distracted the teacher from her lesson plan, meaning that the other children’s learning fell behind their peers. Also, Mark and Jake jeopardized their own academic careers and threaten to become societal menaces. If left untreated their problems might develop into larger societal ills that hurt members of the population at large through their abuse of welfare or filling up the jails. Previously detention failed to help Mark and Jake correct their behavior, but Mrs. Wilson felt that the rest of the class should not suffer because of two members of the class. Disciplinary problems usually stem from some deeper anxiety that the children are facing. Mark’s parents work in an assembly line of a car manufacturer and net $40,000/year combined. They work long hours and spend little time with Mark after school. He takes the school bus to and from school, and he lives in a poor area of town where the houses are run down. Neither of his parents finished formal high school, although they both received GED’s. He has several younger siblings that look up to him as an example, but education is not stressed in his family. This hypothesis from studentcentral. o. uk Part of his disciplinary problem could be that he resents the fact that the state requires him to go to school. Mark sees that his parents struggle to get by, but no connection between improving his situation and education in his mind exists. People who succeed in class and come from upper-middle class backgrounds receive the brunt of his harassment. He feels resentment towards these students because he feels that he tries hard but society and good fortune still shun him. Jake’s parents come from working class backgrounds, and he lives in an area that is close to Mark’s house. His parents experienced marital problems lately. They fight constantly, and his one younger sister also experienced problems in school. His father graduated from technical school and works as a mechanic in a local garage, and his mother works at Kroger. His disciplinary problems relate to the fact that his parents fight a lot and offer to get into screaming matches. With so much tension in his home he feels the need to lash out at someone, and conveniently finds other students to harass-students who he already resents because of their higher social status. His disciplinary problems started about the time that his parents started having problems. However, his parents failed to communicate their problems on to Mrs. Wilson, so she understands little about the reason for Jake’s disciplinary problems. cofb fbr sefbfbw orfb fbk infb fofb fb. Mrs. Wilson, a 35-year old white teacher, became exasperated because Mark and Jake refused to respond to what she viewed as adequate attempts to reach them. They reserve their harassment for children who identify with the pper-middle class or excel in schoolwork. Because she experienced no contact with either set of parents, she remained unaware of the home problems that contribute to Mark and Jake’s frustration with the school system. Her training also left her unprepared to deal with types of children who shrink away from contact with other people. The boys consistently under-perform in all their subjects. Although they received extra help in the past, they refused to take an active inter est in learning, and instead tried to disrupt class time. Mrs. Wilson gave them extra help by working with them during class, and also assigned group partners to them, but the hostility the boys exhibited towards their partners made the working environment tense. They also disrespected Mrs. Wilson, and she felt like she lost all control because they refused to listen to anything she said. They removed themselves from the social scene of the school and appeared to not trust anyone but themselves. The harassment of other students needs to stop because everyone suffers in this situation. All the students fail to get to as much information as other classes with no disciplinary problems. These students will then experience a disadvantage next year when they compete against students from other classes. Also, Mark and Jake acted out and created this disturbance in class for some reason. If Mrs. Wilson fails reach them then their class disturbances might turn into societal disturbances. The importance of the situation remains for all involved to receive some help. This hypothesis from studentcentral. co. uk Mark and Jake’s harassment needs to stop for the benefit of all involved. Multicultural education ensures that every child receives a proper education and an equal chance of success later in life. Like a runaway effect, the problems snowball setting students back and preventing them from attaining success in schools and jobs. In a multicultural setting ideally all the students express their individual voices in the class and its pedagogy. Multicultural education address typical disciplinary problems because the themes that of the process builds around active thinking by the students themselves about the world around them. Multicultural education helps remedy this situation, because everyone’s culture needs to gain acknowledgement by the teacher. However, since limited diversity exists in the classroom, Mrs. Wilson tries to incorporate other cultures as well to make all her students more accepting and understanding of everyone’s lifestyle. Although the classrooms contain relatively new textbooks, they should be discussed critically in class so that the students feel like active participants in their own education. Mark and Jake may be acting out because they feel a lack of control over their own education and their situation in life. Mrs. Wilson realized she had failed to stimulate stimulating them enough, and so they act out to try to grab attention. Rather punish these students, Mrs. Wilson tries to understand their motives and then to try to help them in whatever way the teacher deems possible. This hypothesis from studentcentral. co. uk Nieto writes, â€Å"all teachers can become role models for all students as long as they are understanding, caring, and informed. One way in which teachers can build substantial relationships with students is by offering help to those who do not seek their aid† (331). Mark and Jake try to get attention by lashing out. Mrs. Wilson must dig deeper than usual to get at the root of the problem if she wants to help them. Mrs. Wilson reaches her students through multicultural education. Her determination to reach students who have been labeled as â€Å"problem children† determines the rest of their scholastic careers. For her first step, Mrs. Wilson reevaluates whether her accusations about the children’s behavior warrants concern. Her actions could stem from her preconceived notions of lower, working class families since the children causing the disturbance are poorly dressed and do not have the best hygiene. If Mrs. Wilson holds any bias then she needs to address her own personal bias so that the children do not suffer from her one-sidedness. coce cer sececew orce cek ince foce ce! Once Mrs. Wilson ascertains that these children pose a serious disturbance in her classroom, then her objective reworks itself into new inventive ways. The benefits of conventional negative reinforcement seem to not pose any threat to Mark and Jake, so perhaps she can try positive reinforcement. Also, if she practices what Nieto outlined as a multicultural classroom (p. 05) then she creates an environment where the children feel comfortable approaching her. Perhaps by gaining their confidence she then determines the root of their discipline problems. Before implementing multicultural education, Mrs. Wilson first identifies the reason for Mark and Jake’s outbreaks in class. Until now she treated them as regular problem children, but since none of the conventional disciplinary methods worked, she needs to sort out the root of the problem. Their problems at home cause their harassment of their peers. However, since the parents fail to return phone calls, Mrs. Wilson writes them and requests that they come in for a parent/teacher conference. If this measure fails to get the parents to school, then she plans to go visit them in their home. Because the parents are usually busy, there do not often communicate with the school. If the school approaches the parents in a non-threating manner, then perhaps the parents shed some light on their sons’ behavior problems. With more parental involvement, the boys feel more pressured to shape up. The home environment remains difficult to overcome, especially without the parents’ help. However, Mrs. Wilson needs to make the effort to at least try to contact them so that she has more input to correctly identify the reason Mark and Jake are acting out. Nieto writes â€Å"teachers can encourage parents to give their children jobs at home, and then support them when they do† (328). Maybe if Mark and Jake feel more important at home then they lose the urge to act out at school. Another method Mrs. Wilson employs to draw in outside resources for her classroom involves meeting with Mark and Jake’s other teachers. Outside input also influences learning because if she experienced disciplinary problems in her class the boys probably act out in all of their classes. By calling a meeting with everyone involved, the teachers might be able to trace commonalties between all of the disciplinary outbreaks. If they see what sets the boys off then they prevent cause of the harassment, or at least create an opportunity to talk to the boys about their behavior. If the teachers pinpoint the cause of the boy’s disciplinary problems within the classroom, then they know how to solve the problem more effectively. A reason for their frustration within the classroom stems from the fact that Mark and Jake feel left out of the education process. If Mrs. Wilson’s teaching style revolves around lectures they become bored and act out because of their boredom. The difficulty lies in making students pay attention in the classroom if their families devalue education at home. The teaching style induces no stimulation for them to want to learn. By using multicultural education, Mrs. Wilson aims to instill a love of learning in the students. Perhaps if Mrs. Wilson incorporates other methods of learning like hands on learning, group projects, or presentations by students for the rest of the class then she receives more positive behavior from all her students. If she can relate the student’s life and how education increases knowledge, then she makes not only Mark and Jake realize the importance of education in their lives but the importance of education to all of her students’ lives. Mrs. Wilson tries to incorporate other multicultural ideas in her lesson plan in order to accommodate the behavior of Mark and Jake. When they cover the holocaust she shows them Schindler’s List to illustrate its impact on the Jewish people. Movies help show history in vivid detail, and the brutality of the film helps bring this terrible period in history to light. This helps her students realize that other people endure suffering, and by showing them a real example of suffering they might feel more compassion for others. She also shows that other groups have suffered more than her students. The suffering that their class endures pales in comparison to the plights of other ethnicities. When Mark and Jake see the brutality of war and the horrible consequences of fighting, they realize other methods for solving their internal conflicts exist. Mrs. Wilson also engages the students in a unique manner that tries to draw their attention onto examples that shape our modern day world. Examples that relate to the student’s lives impact students more forcefully instead of assigning them reading and expecting them to pick up all the material. By relating the assignments in class to their every day lives she shows them examples of how education better their own situation. The learning becomes much more personal and effects them more. Mrs. Wilson also changes the structure of her class. If she includes more history about the working class and their importance in situations like the Industrial Revolution, then she makes all the students from working class backgrounds feel more important and a sense of pride in their heritage. Nieto writes that teachers can â€Å"use the experiences and understandings her students bring to class rather than an exotic or irrelevant curriculum† (338). She needs to uphold and validate their culture because Mark and Jake feel like their culture contains no importance and that could be a reason for their lashing out. The punishments that the boys get assigned could take a more inventive twist in order to quelch their behavior. If assigned community service Mark and Jake see that many others in their community undergo more hardship then their families. Nieto also writes â€Å"opportunities for after-school work or community service can be provided in much more substantial ways than they currently are† (328). The boys gain a perspective on their own problems by comparing them to others less fortunate. Such epiphanies might improve their behavior in the classroom. Multicultural education starts in the classroom but affects a wide array of social problems. Discipline, if left untreated, expands into larger social ills, where the perpetrators leech off of everyone. The plague on society takes the form of welfare and jails where taxpayers bear the responsibility for those who refuse to help themselves. This societal failure can be avoided by trying to reach these children earlier in their academic careers so that they experience success later in life. Multicultural education remains the best way to retain those borderline students who otherwise get lost in the system. Mrs. Wilson employs many methods to try to reach Mark and Jake before they lose complete interest in school. First she tries to determine the root of the problem so that she knows the exact problem she is dealing with. Talking to the parents and other teachers gives a more comprehensive view to the situation. Once the boys’ frustration surfaces, Mrs. Wilson incorporates different teaching aspects into her lesson plan. Engaging the students makes them more interested in their education and lessens their tendency to act out. Relating the real world to their own lives makes them more involved members of society. Mark and Jake symbolize children whose problems generally run deeper than most teachers suspect. Multicultural education helps make these boys and all of the students in the classroom more productive members of society. If the boys stay off welfare then our tax dollars go towards improving other facets of life. The boys also become taxpayers who contribute to the solution rather than the problem. Without some intervention, children like Mark and Jake plague American society and benefit no one, including themselves. Hatred makes a disastrous problem that needs to be solved immediately, and multicultural education is one answer to that problem.

How to Calculate Activation Energy

Activation energy is the amount of energy that needs to be supplied in order for a chemical reaction to proceed. The example problem below demonstrates how to determine the activation energy of a reaction from reaction rate constants at different temperatures. Activation Energy Problem A second-order reaction was observed. The  reaction rate constant at three degrees Celsius was found to be 8.9 x 10-3 L/mol and 7.1 x 10-2 L/mol at 35 degrees Celsius. What is the activation energy of this reaction? Solution The  activation energy can be determined using the equation:ln(k2/k1) Ea/R x (1/T1 - 1/T2)whereEa the activation energy of the reaction in J/molR the ideal  gas constant 8.3145 J/K ·molT1 and T2 absolute temperatures (in Kelvin)k1 and k2 the reaction rate constants at T1 and T2 Step 1: Convert temperatures from degrees Celsius to KelvinT degrees Celsius 273.15T1 3 273.15T1 276.15 KT2 35 273.15T2 308.15 Kelvin Step 2 - Find Ealn(k2/k1) Ea/R x (1/T1 - 1/T2)ln(7.1 x 10-2/8.9 x 10-3) Ea/8.3145 J/K ·mol x (1/276.15 K - 1/308.15 K)ln(7.98) Ea/8.3145 J/K ·mol x 3.76 x 10-4 K-12.077 Ea(4.52 x 10-5 mol/J)Ea 4.59 x 104 J/molor in kJ/mol, (divide by 1000)Ea 45.9 kJ/mol Answer: The activation energy for this reaction is 4.59 x 104 J/mol or 45.9 kJ/mol. How to Use a Graph to Find Activation Energy Another way to calculate the activation energy of a reaction is to graph ln k (the rate constant) versus 1/T (the inverse of the temperature in Kelvin). The plot will form a straight line expressed by the equation: m - Ea/R where m is the slope of the line, Ea is the activation energy, and R is the ideal gas constant of 8.314 J/mol-K. If you took temperature measurements in Celsius or Fahrenheit, remember to convert them to Kelvin before calculating 1/T and plotting the graph. If you were to make a plot of the energy of the reaction versus the reaction coordinate, the difference between the energy of the reactants and the products would be ΔH, while the excess energy (the part of the curve above that of the products) would be the activation energy. Keep in mind, while most reaction rates increase with temperature, there are some cases where the rate of reaction decreases with temperature. These reactions have negative activation energy. So, while you should expect activation energy to be a positive number, be aware that its possible for it to be negative as well. Who Discovered Activation Energy? Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius proposed the term activation energy in 1880 to define the minimum energy needed for a set of chemical reactants to interact and form products. In a diagram, activation energy is graphed as the height of an energy barrier between two minimum points of potential energy. The minimum points are the energies of the stable reactants and products. Even exothermic reactions, such as burning a candle, require energy input. In the case of combustion, a lit match or extreme heat starts the reaction. From there, the heat evolved from the reaction supplies the energy to make it self-sustaining.