Utilitarianism And Libertarianism Views On Public Policy Issues Philosophy Essay

Utilitarianism And Libertarianism Views On Public Policy Issues Philosophy Essay Ideologies are a set of ideas, ways, thoughts, goals, expectations and actions that are shared within a community. It is made by a society that believes in the same goals, expectations, etc. Its purpose is to offer change in a society where the group belongs. It is a set of views that guides its members on how to see things. Literally, it means the science of ideas. Moreover, it is a set of ideas that characterize a certain group. In this paper, two famous ideologies will be compared. The following topics will be covered in this discussion: What is Utilitarianism? What is Libertarianism? How does Utilitarianism and Libertarianism view the public policy issues on economic inequality, homosexual conduct, and abortion? Which of the two is a more convincing ideology? What is Utilitarianism? Utilitarianism is a theory in ethics that believes in the maximization of things for the benefit of the whole society. It is a form of consequentialism. The goal is commonly referred to as happiness or pleasure. It can be summed up to a general statement which states: The promotion of the greater good for the greatest number. But, there is an ambiguity in the words greater good. It means happiness or pleasure, not necessarily that it means the right thing or wrong thing. According to Bentham, it only means the tendency to augment or diminish happiness or pleasure. When talking about the number, one is equal to one vote; no one identity has a value of two. There are two types of Utilitarianism: Act Utilitarianism and Rule Utilitarianism. Act Utilitarianism believes that the best action is the one that can give the most happiness. It has no moral rules. It believes that for each individual situation, there is an individual action that is to be justified as best if it is for the greatest happiness. On the other hand, Rule Utilitarianism believes that there is a general act of greatest happiness for each situation. In general, it believes in a set of rules or laws that is perceived to be for the greatest happiness. Furthermore, a Rule Utilitarian will consult the rules instead of acting first. What is Libertarianism? Libertarianism is the belief in liberty. It is set of beliefs and ideas which advocates the maximization of an individuals thinking and living by abolishing or minimizing the power of the state. It believes in a world that is free, peaceful and abundant. Also, they want to take control of their own lives without taking into consideration other ideas. Each individual has his own opinions; each individual may choose what to do with his life. Libertarians believe that each individual has his own life and that he has a freedom to choose and live his life. Their goal is to bring liberty into the world. They believe in the non-initiation of force. How does Utilitarianism and Libertarianism view the public policy issues on economic inequality, homosexual conduct, and abortion? First, the issue of economic inequality, the Utilitarians believe that if something is benefiting the whole of the population, it is considered good. For example, if the economic inequality is of benefit to the greater masses and that it brings the greatest happiness for the community, it is considered to be good. But the Act and Rule Utilitarians differ in how they view economic inequality human rights. For an Act Utilitarian, if torture is benefiting the population, even though it is a violation of the human rights in general, it is still good for the Utilitarians. Their goal is just to achieve happiness for the greatest number. If the majority of the people achieve happiness in torturing, it is not wrong for them. Furthermore, for a Rule Utilitarian, human right is considered a moral rule. They follow their rules, whatever it takes. They will protect it whenever possible. Therefore, they believe that economic inequality is not right. On the contrary, for the Libertarians, economi c inequality is a no-no. Libertarians believe in equality, that each individual is entitled to have a fair judgement in the law. Libertarians grant each individual freedom on what they want to do in their lives. They oppose every kind of unequal treatment such as racism, discrimination, etc. Second, the issue of homosexual conduct, for the Utilitarians, same as the one discussed before. They believe in the greater happiness of the greatest number. It does not matter if it is a wrong ethically speaking thing to do. Also, if homosexuality is benefitting the greatest number of the population, then it is still acceptable. If homosexuality brings happiness to the majority of the population, then it is considered a good thing. That is the general case. But like the previous discussion, the Act Utilitarians differ greatly from the Rule Utilitarians. For an Act Utilitarian, if it is not bringing the greatest number of population happiness, then it is considered bad. Even if the thing is right ethically speaking it is not favoured if it does not please the majority. But, for a Rule Utilitarian, human rights are considered a moral rule. That is why they respect these kinds of actions. On the other hand, Libertarians view homosexual conduct as a right to express ones feelings. They are not against these kinds of act. As discussed earlier, the Libertarians view equality as an equal to freedom. They believe that each individual has the right to express his own individuality. Third, the issue of abortion, for the Utilitarians, it is the same old story. The Act and Rule Utilitarians differ greatly on their way of accepting things. For an Act Utilitarian, it will do whatever that they believe is to be benefitting the greatest number of the population. If, for example, abortion is benefitting the society, it is believed to be a right thing to do. If abortion gives happiness to the majority of the community, it is considered to be a good thing. On the other hand, for a Rule Utilitarian, it believes that human right is a moral rule. Thus, abortion is opposed. Furthermore, for the Libertarians, it is very clear that equality and freedom is their goal. Thus, abortion is strongly approved in their ideologies. Their rights as individuals prevail. Although there are some Libertarians that oppose abortion, they have their own views. A view of an individual is respected in their community. Freedom in their thinking is what they advocate. Which of the two is a more convincing ideology? I believe that the points of the Libertarian are more convincing. People are born as free individuals, with human rights. As time goes by, certain rules were implemented as to make the community organized or follow a certain code. But I believe that these implemented rules and codes should not eradicate an individuals human rights. As an individual, I also believe in equality. I believe that each person has a right to live his own life. On the other hand, on the case of abortion, I oppose it because I believe that it is murder. The tiny speckle in the womb of the mother is alive. I believe that it has also its own rights. But comparing Utilitarianism with Libertarianism, the latter is the more convincing ideology. I dont believe that the Utilitarians view of imposing what is right and what is wrong in a society. I dont believe in their labels of good things and bad things. Again, it is a violation of human rights. In the sense that if you are not a part of the majority, you cannot do what you want. You cannot do things that the majority thinks that is bad. This is stripping you of your freedom. That is why I believe in Libertarians better than the Utilitarians.

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CASE: American Barrick Resources Corporation : Managing Gold Price Risk 1. In the absence of a hedging program using financial instruments, how sensitive would Barrick stock be to gold price changes? For every 1% change in gold prices, how might its stock be affected? How could the firm manage its gold price exposure without the use of financial contracts? Particulars for yr 1992($ million)| | Pretax earnings (Exhibit 2)| 223| Reductions in earning of gold sold at spot (1280mn oz x (422-345) (Exhibit 12)| (99)| Proforma Pretax Earnings| 124| Taxes @ 21% (Exhibit 2) | (26)| After Tax Earnings| 98| Thus in absence of risk management program the American Barrick stock would be more sensitive to gold price changes. This could also be observed from Exhibit 4 where the return on Barrick’s stock is continuously increasing as compared to other unstable major stocks in gold mining sector. Elasticity of Earnings & Profit for 1% change in Gold Price 1% change in gold price ($345)| $3. 45| Number of ounces| $1,280m| Additional pre-tax profits| $4. 4m| Additional after-tax profits| $4. 4 x (1-. 1) = $3. 5mn| Additional profits as % of earnings| 3. 5/98 = 3. 5% (approx)| Cash Flow = Earnings + Noncash charges| 98mn + 69mn = $167mn| Additional profits as % of cash flow| 3. 5/167 = 2. 1%| Thus with 1% change in gold price the earnings of Barrick would change by 3. 5%. The firm can manage its gold price exposure in following three ways: 1. Diversifying its business 2. Hedging against the gold price risk 3. Insuring against the gol d price risk Hedging involves entering into financial contracts and so does insuring against the gold price risk. Thus without being involved in any financial contracts Barrick can reduce its gold price exposure only by diversifying its business. 2. What is the stated intent of ABX’s hedging program? What should be the goal of a gold mine’s price risk management program? Stated intent American Barrick Resources Corporation is one the most financially successful gold-mining concerns in the world. The main stated intent of ABX’s hedging program was to profit handsomely even during a downtime, when gold prices are falling. The hedging position had allowed ABX to sell its commodity output at prices well above market rates. The main motive of the hedging program was to profit and gain an advantage over its competitors by hedging, at a time when the prices of gold were low and also interest rates were falling. Thus, the main intent of the hedging program was to position the organization as a low- cost commodity producer, willing to sacrifice potential profits from gold price peaks in order to level out potential losses in the future. Goal of a gold mine’s price risk management program The primary goal of a gold mine’s risk management program is to hedge the risk of falling gold prices and low interest rates, to ensure the minimum sale price of gold even when prices are declining. One of the main goal is to achieve financial stability. The risk management programs motive is to hedge risk in order to plan the future cash flows with certainty. Also, at a time, when an organization has immense production initially itself, the risk management program enables the firm to earn a predictable, rising earnings profile in the future inspite of rising production. Thus , the intent of the risk management program is to hedge the risk in such a manner, that its production decisions are not affected by the market price of gold. 3. What would convince you that a price risk management program created value for its shareholders ex ante? The American Barrick Resources Corporation, had since its inception a strategy of efficient risk management system to protect or hedge itself from the fluctuations in the Gold prices. The various risk management system coupled with favourable circumstances and opportunities of price locking, rendered an overall strong balance sheet for American Barrick. They were able to attract investors who shied away from gold mine investments due to price risk, due to the efficiency in hedging mechanism. In 1992, American Barrick produced and sold over 1. 28 Million Ounces of gold at a price of $422 instead of $345 market rate, as a result of the risk management program. Such benefits would lead to higher revenues, and thus higher profits and in turn render higher value for the shareholders. The organisation guidelines clearly specifed that the risk managemnt system should be such that they are fully protected against price declines for 3yrs and 20-25% for a decade. Thus such a mechanism helped create value for the shareholders as the profits of a Gold mine are dependent on fluctuation in gold prices and the difference between revenue and costs. Thus locking future prices, provided financial stability, enabling the organisation to avoids dips, and plan cash flows in a confident way, and in combination with the rising production, offered investors and shareholders a predictable , rising earnings profile in the future 1. How would you characterize the evolution of Barrick’s price risk management activities? Are they consistent with the stated policy goals? As a producer of commodity products, gold mining firms had virtually no marketing or distribution costs. There was always a ready market for their products, at market prices, once extracted from the earth & refined. Therefore a gold mine’s profits were a function of the quantity of its production & the difference between the prices at which it sold its output & its costs. To minimize the price risk, hedging is necessary. Being conservative in nature, company has maintained lower leverage. As per stated policy goals of company, Gold Hedging program gives American Barrick extraordinary financial stability. It protects shareholder’s wealth from the dip in gold prices. American Barrick’s hedging program evolved over history and used a wide range of tools to manage gold price risk. With gold financing, forward sales, options strategies & spot deferred contracts, company shed some of its price risk while maintaining flexibility to profit from rising gold prices. a. Gold Financing: In early days, Company’s gold price management activities were incorporated in financing for its mines. Company made its growth organically as well as inorganically. Almost every year, company madeacquisition of 1 gold mine company. For financing such acquisition, company used following tools Gold Trust: Paying specific percentage of gold production as return to investors Bullion Loan: Bank gives loan in gold form, company need to pay interest in gold terms only. Collateral is reserves company owns Limitations: Limited scope. b. Forward Sales: Production at Gold mine is highly inelastic in nature. ie Its not easy for the company to change the production in tune with the highly fluctuating demand, market prices. To avoid price risk, American Barricks used Forward Sales as tool by which company can lock in prices for future dates. Forward Sales are usually for relatively short delivery periods of under a few years. Normally forward sellers receive a premium (approx. 5%)above the current gold prices ensuring a guaranteed return of 5% for forward sellers. Limitations: Forward sale mitigates downside risk but also its ability to benefit if price rose. c. Options & Warrants: Hedging using Forward sales eliminated downside risk for the American Barricks but also its ability to benefit if price rose. To resolve this issue, from 1987 company started using Options and warrants. This allows company to hedge from downside risk and retain some benefits of rising prices. Board of American Barricks were ready to use options but in costless manner. Collars strategy: Simultaneously buying Put Option & writing Call Options on gold. Premiums and maturity of both call and put option is maintained same. This strategy ensured a price range for the gold in future giving opportunity to the company to get benefits from rising gold prices as well as downside protection if price dips. Limitation: Market for such options were liquid only for contracts with maturities under 2 years. This horizon was far shorter than 20 years of expected production currently in reserve. d. Spot Deferred Contracts: This tool gives additional feature to standard forward sale. In forward sale, the delivery date is fixed. In SDC there are multiple delivery dates. Seller chooses at which date he will pay gold. Forward price is decided at each roll over date depending upon current market price plus prevailing contango premium. ( SDC will be explained in detail in Q6. ) So during 10 years, American Barricks moved solely from getting gold financing, lock in future prices to getting strategic benefit due to inherent strengths of American Barricks over competitors using tools like Spot Deferred Contracts. 5. How should a gold mine which wants to moderate its gold price risk compare hedging strategies (using futures, forwards, gold loans, or spot deferred contracts) with insurance strategies (using options)? On what basis should these decisions be made? Once a firm has decided on either a hedging or an insurance strategy, how should it choose from among specific alternatives? One can characterize risk management strategies as either linear, hedging strategies (which eliminate all exposure to price fluctuations) or nonlinear, insurance strategies (which protect firms against falling gold prices only. ) Choices among instruments are determined by their relative costs (including transaction costs), interim liquidity requirements, accounting and tax implications, and the ability to customize the contract terms. For example, gold mining firms tend to use forward sales instead of futures contracts, at least in part to avoid the cash margin calls which futures transactions might entail. As another example, mining firms' preferences for spot deferred contracts over them functionally equivalent strategy of rolling forward contracts seems to be related to their relatively attractive accounting treatment. Distinguishing linear and nonlinear strategies becomes more difficult with dynamic trading. Suppose we observe a firm only selling gold forward. By a static measure, we would conclude that it was hedging. However, as is well known, through dynamic replication, a trader can create a put option by adjusting the amount of gold sold forward. Specifically, as the gold price falls, a dynamic replication strategy would have the firm short-sell more gold. Thus, distinguishing hedging from insurance strategies requires an analysis of the changes in a firm's equivalent short position (or delta-percentage) relative to changes in the price of gold. The sensitivity of cash flows and investment costs relative to changes in the underlying macro-variable are equal. If the sensitivities are equal, linear or hedging strategies will be optimal, otherwise firms would prefer to use non linear or option strategies. It is not apparent how to measure the degree to which mines face quantity risk. Firms facing borrowing constraints and that facing higher price risk might be more active users of options. Borrowing constraints might be more severe among firms with high operating costs, small market values, or small reserves; bankers might be reluctant to lend to high-cost producers that may be forced to shut-in production and to smaller firms with less collateral. It is reasonable to suspect that price risk might be more pronounced among mines with higher production costs. Firms with higher cash costs and those with smaller market values and reserves might be more likely to use options or price-contingent nonlinear strategies. 6. What is a â€Å"spot deferred contract? † Why has ABX chosen to rely on spot deferred contracts relative to other gold derivatives? Spot deferred Contract (SDC) is used by gold producers to hedge gold price exposure. It is a type of forward contract which has multiple delivery dates with the final one being 5 or 10 years after the initiation of the contract. The seller of SDC has the right to choose on which of the rollover date he will deliver the gold and can defer the delivery date till the end of the contract. Therefore spot deferred contract gives the right to the seller to choose the delivery date but has to deliver the quantity of gold specified in the contract. American Barrick entered into SDC with 1-year delivery or rollover dates where prices were set only for the first rollover date. On the rollover date, American Barrick could deliver the contract if forward prices were higher than spot prices or could roll the contract for the next period and sell the gold in the spot market. American Barrick chose to rely more on spot deferred contracts relative to other gold derivatives because of the following reasons: 1) Initially American Barrick entered into contracts for delivery within 3 to 4 years. Later on its bargaining power increased because of its large reserve base and strong financial position which made them negotiate agreements giving them 10 years within which to make delivery. 2) SDC was a way to profit from increase in price of gold yet set a minimum price on its sales of gold.

Biology in Everyday Life

Biology Ariticle Summary #2 How Darwin won the evolution race Stem cells are defined by their ability to self-renew or to differentiate into a range of somatic cell types. Adult stem cells, such as hematopoietic stem cells are found in specialized niches within the body and have been studied for decades. Much of our knowledge about these cells is based on in vitro experiments but the effects of moving them from their in vivo niche to culture conditions are unclear. This Perspective from Penney Gilbert and colleagues from the USA and Sweden focuses on adult stem cells found in skeletal muscle, also known as satellite cells.They address the problem that, once extracted from muscle and placed into culture, satellite cells quickly lose their ability to self-renew, complicating studies into their biology. The development of new bioengineering approaches, such as hydrogel microwell arrays, could solve this problem. These approaches can accurately monitor the behavior of satellite cells and provide robust data sets, thanks to the number of different tests that can be carried out in parallel. To illustrate the usefulness of such tools, the authors show how stem cell division and self-renewal can be tracked in clonal assays using time-lapse microscopy.By increasing the stiffness of the hydrogel microwells in the assays, satellite cells can be maintained in culture for up to one week and successfully engraft back into mouse muscle. Stem cells hold the potential to become part of powerful medical treatments and therapies, but only if we understand how we are changing them by removing them from their niche. This Perspective pushes this issue to the fore and offers some suggestions as to how we can further improve stem cell culture http://the-scientist. com/2012/04/01/are-cancer-stem-cells-ready-for-prime-time/

The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1489 Words

Aiswariya Ramaswamy Mrs. Orrick ELA 11, Hour 4 12 December 2014 Happiness is the Key to Success The concept of success is commonly misinterpreted by society solely as the achievement of certain materialistic goals. In literature, this idea is disproved through the in-depth analysis of a character’s emotional turmoil and internal conflicts in contrast to their success in social and economical aspects. F. Scott Fitzgerald, in his novel The Great Gatsby, reveals that true success involves two levels: worldly possessions and emotional nirvana. Jay Gatsby serves to epitomize Fitzgerald’s view on how monetary success does not always lead to the attainment of one’s ultimate goal of satisfaction and euphoria. Gatsby has all the wealth and influence a man could wish for, yet he is chronically isolated and delusional when it comes to the aspect of love and claims that â€Å"[He] will fix everything it just the way it was before†¦ She’ll [Daisy] see† (Fitzgerald, 110). This statement proves that Gatsby’s ultima te goal was not to increase his net worth, but to use the money in order to lure Daisy back into his life and attain emotional exuberance. As time progresses in the novel, it is apparent that Gatsby’s unhealthy desire for Daisy increases even as his wealth proliferates, and his fiscal success only seems to create further agitation. In the novel, Gatsby’s lavish parties make him the talk of the town, and he is envied by society since their view of success is solely financial. ThisShow MoreRelatedThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald1393 Words   |  6 PagesF. Scott Fitzgerald was the model of the American image in the nineteen twenties. He had wealth, fame, a beautiful wife, and an adorable daughter; all seemed perfect. Beneath the gilded faà §ade, however, was an author who struggled with domestic and physical difficulties that plagued his personal life and career throughout its short span. 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