The need for for formal government regulation to ensure societal Essay

The need for for formal government regulation to ensure societal checks and balances on perhaps wayward corporations - Essay Example The need for changes in management structure was particularly evident after HIH incident when the board composed of the chief executive’s friends and associates failed to assess effectively the management performance, deterring non-executive directors from controlling processes inside the company. (Siladi, 2006 ) As trust towards company insiders as well as to auditors, analysts or regulators was shattered, governments started to think over regulations which would prevent such unfair practices. Different countries responded differently to the problem of inadequate corporate governance system. While Australia and the UK have issued recommendations based on ‘comply and explain’ principle, the USA has introduced more severe measures where non-compliance results in criminal punishment. The US Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 set firm regulations for senior management, non-compliance with which results in 20 years of imprisonment and fines up to $5 million. (Loeb 2005) Many countries reviewed their regulations concerning the work of the directors. The recommendations or regulations issued in each of countries converge in several issues concerning directors: the presence of independent non-executive directors in the board, participation of non-executives in nomination and remuneration committees, control and decision-making function of the executives, their fair remuneration. Loeb, L. Executive Summary: Sarbanes-Oxley: Worse than No Solution at All? Available at Ziff Davis CIO Insight. 2005 http://www.cioinsight.com/c/a/Past-News/Executive-Summary-SarbanesOxley-Worse-than-No-Solution-at-All/ [accessed 17 Dec.

The Presidency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

The Presidency - Essay Example He was barely twenty years old when he started out with FBI in this modest fashion. He climbed up the career ladder steadily thereafter. His appointment as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) in Chicago is a notable milestone. But it is the World Trade Center (WTC) bombing at Oklahoma in 1993 that would prove to be a turning point in his career. A year later he was made supervisor of VAPCON in 1994. From this point onwards John was deeply involvement in counter-terror operations for the rest of his life. In hindsight a lot of warnings given by O’Neill have proven to be right. His fractious relationship with the FBI bosses and his own abrasive personality had created distrust or disregard for the information that he was passing on. Though a lone voice among his colleagues, he kept repeating the threat of terrorist attacks till the very end of his tenure with the FBI. In the last few years of his service, he served as the Chief of Counterterrorism Section within the FBI . Despite this critical position he held within the national intelligence apparatus his words were not given due respect. Every time an important lead would emerge, â€Å"John would fight with Washington to make sure that we constantly took the lead on these investigations. So we would build this intelligence base, and so we would have investigators that had the institutional knowledge and that was the way it was.† (Clint Guenther, Former FBI Agent NYC – Counterterrorism) Investigating the 911 terror attacks in retrospect, there is nothing inevitable about its occurrence. There were enough indications for the FBI to take preventative action. John O’Neill saw himself as the champion of this cause – one of saving America from a grave security threat. But, unfortunately, those around him, especially the top leaders in the FBI did not concur with O’Neill’s views. More than an odd lapse it is a systematic failure on part of the key national agenc y. Bureaucratic bungling and red tape have made O’Neill’s desperate attempts to communicate a challenge. Personal ego hassles between O’Neill and his peers and superiors was another mitigating factor. O’Neill’s abrasive personality rubbed off his colleagues the wrong way. As a result, the intelligence reports given out by O’Neill did not get the urgent attention that they merited. One needs to ask how personal favoritism and prejudice can undermine the high profile operations of the FBI. John O’Neill was quite vocal and persistent about the presence of Al Qaeda sleeper cells in the United States. John had communicated how the terror network had developed capabilities for attacking many strategic locations not just in the United States but anywhere in the world. It was O’Neill who identified Al Qaeda as the foremost threat to America -much ahead of his peers did. As his colleague Richard Clarke recounts, â€Å"I would go around the country to FBI offices and ask, "Is there an Al Qaeda presence in Chicago, in San Francisco, in Boston?" And typically the reaction I would get is, "What's Al Qaeda?"...But not with John. John knew what Al Qaeda was; he was among the first people to see the bin Laden threat. He believed there was a bin Laden network in the United States even if he couldn't prove it. So he was constantly trying to prove it†¦" (Richard Clarke, NSS Coordinator for Counterterrorism, 1992-2001) John O’

Diversification of Agriculture Essay Example for Free

Diversification of Agriculture Essay Diversification in this case (agricultural diversification) involves the realocation of a, or some of a farms resources, to a new product or products. The prime resource of that time being sugar and the new products being the wide variety of crops that were produced and re-introduced by peasants. Peasants are a class of people of a lower status, who depends on agricultural labour for subsistence. The peasant life could be placed and termed in different categories. According to Mintz 1961, a peasant style of life was worked out by the people while they were still enslaved, these people were refered to as proto-peasants. he also makes mension of runaway pesantries or marrons, whome he described as, those who formed communities outside colonial authority, build on subsistance farming in mountainous or interior forest regions. This research will higlight how the peasants produced a wide variety of crops and the reintroduction of old ones. The purpose of this research is to show that the diversification of the caribbean economy was beecause of peasant initiative. had it not been for their efforts, the old sugar monopoly would have prevailed in the post emacipation period sustaining a system of bankruptcy and decay. Woodville K Marshall wrote, our pesantry starts in 1838 an comprises of ex-slaves who started small farms on the peripheries of plantation wherever they could find land on abandon plantations and in the mountainous unknowns of various teritories. the first aim of the ex-slaves was to move away from the forced and unpaid labour. Many others preffered to stay in their own homes amongs friends and relatives with expectations of earning enough cash to purchase certain commodoties that they were unable to gain as slaves. The feeling of complete freedom, of the plantation was only recodnise by free people if they could aquire there own lands. the simplest methods of getting propperty was to buy unoccupied land, either from land belonging to plantations which was not farmed by owner and crown lands. these crown lands was most popular in Trinidad, British Guyana and the interior of Jamaica. Land ownership also came about by squatting on unused land in the the remote interious of the large colonies. People who purchase property outright were more fortunate than squatters, they gainned written proof of ownership and the land they bought was already cleared and close to markets. however outright purchase was the exception, not the rule. The exslaves were aslo able to aquire land in other intances through missionary help. These include popular missionaries such as James Phillips and William Nibb. In 1835 Phillips, bought 10 hectares in the mountains behind Jamaica Spanishtown, subdivided the land into small lots for sale on easy term to his congregation. the new community named sligoville was the only settlement during apprenticeship. In july 1838 William Nibb shared the belief that planters would try to force extra work from their free labour by dramatically increasing rent on estate fig. 1 Newcastle, free village, in the Jamaica blue mountains. homes. William took up the mantel to help his congregation, he told them about a loan of ten thousand pounds that was granted to him by a friend from england. Knibb then said, that sum should be apropriated to the purchase of land on which you may live if your present employer force you to quit the properties on which you now live. Williams predictions came through, the planters acted as he had foreseen and by 1839 he was constructing several Free Villages for labourers who did not want to risk increases in rent on the plantations. The missionary society was quite abdoman in the development of the pesantry. Upon discusing the success of the pesantry one must give an account for the stages of development which includes the period of establishment (1839 1850-60). This was highlighted by the rapid land ownership, and the incresing number of peasants. observers of the caribbean stated, the great and universal object of the ex-slave was the aquisition of land, however limited in extent. Larger population, small size and a long established sugar industry left few oppertunities for land aqusition for peasants of island territories such as Barbados, St. Kitts and Antigua. Ex-slaves from these colonies had to think emigration. However, countries like Jamaica and the Windward Islands the sugar industry left underdeveloped montainous interiors . In Trinidad and Tobago and British Guyana a small population and young industry created many oppertunities for land aquisition. Efforts of the exslaves were so successful in the named countries that emmancipation officials were reporting an almost daily increases in number of free holders. Another stage of development is the period of consilidation in which the peasantry continues its growth in numbers and most important, a marked shift by the peasants to export crop production. For example in Jamaica (only teritory with complete figures for small holdings) the number of holding between 5 and 49 acres increased from 13 189 in 1880 to 24 226 in 1902 to 31 038 in 1930. However the most important phase of the development is what Eisner calls a new pesantry. Eisner national income estimate for Jamacia for 1850 and 1890 reveal a shift from maily provison production to mixed provisions that could be exported by peasants. a very good example of income was the value of the export crops (sugar, coffee, rum, pimento, ginger) in 1850 its estimated by Eisner at 1 089 300 pounds, of which small settlement contributed 133 500 pounds or just over 10%. The variety of products continued to grow, and shares rising until the third period (1900 and beyond). At this stage the pesantry did not expand and evidence shows that it might have been contracting. Table 2 below shows an example of evidence of a decrease in peasant holdings in Jamaica. Initially, before the growth of the peasantry, ex-slaves decided to set up themselves as peasants because although slavery had ended the principle of forced labour, had only changed to contolled labour upon those who remain on the plantations. Many who stayed in hopes of becoming wage owners, plans were shattered within a few years becasue of different reasons. Amongs these different reasons the system of tenancy which compelled the slaves to labour steadily and continuosly on the estates in return for secure residence in the house and ground which he had occupied as a slave, insecurely of tenure, as well as relatively low wages and increases in rent reinforced many ex-slaves determination to seek new and better oppertunities away from the estates accross the caribbean. a small population of the slaves were skilled which meant those who couldnt be masons, carpenters, barrel makers, wheel wrights and cart builders had to turn to the best known alternative, the soil. Only this time there hard labour would of been for their survival and not to fill their masters stock. The peasantry afforded them with the oppertunity to become wage earners. On the basis in which the pesantry was running, it was basically characterise, the pure plantation economy and society. Although the peasants were producing a great quantity and variety of subsistence food and livestock, they strove to expand their boundaries by introducing new crops and or re-introducing old ones. Bananas, coffee, citrus, coconuts, cocoa, spices (ginger and pimento), and log wood in Jamaica; Cocoa, arrowroot, spices, bananas and log wood in Windwards, were the most popular crops introduced and or re-introduced for exports. the Leewards grew arowroot as a staple export crop. It has been recorded that St. Vincent alone sold 613 380 kilograms. Small holders in Grenada exported coffee, cotton, cocoa, copra, honey and beeswax. In Trinidad squatters sold the timber they gainned from clearing crown lands for charcoal burning and export some for boat buiding and later exported coffee and cocoa. The guyanese was one of the few that was into the exportation of the rice crop. Most of the caribbean teritories were at some point in time producing certain crops for export and gathered profitable incomes. It is quit evident , that the pesantry has accumilated musch success. With the help of the missionaries and the income gainned, peasants were able to initiate the convension of plantation socities. they adapted to building local self-generating communities and used funds that they had alocated from exports along with babtist missionaries ( missionary help was popular mainly in Jamaica) who were quite abdoman in helping the peasants organise free villages and the construction of school such as Cadrinton primary school in barbados, which was run by missionaries and churches for learning and worship. They also clamoured for expansion of education facilities, communication and better maketing schemes and facilities. The peasants were able to start local co-operative movement (sou-sou, box hand and partner hand) which later develop banks some which may still be in exsistance today.

How will Brexit Impact the Law Profession?

How will Brexit Impact the Law Profession? The UKs exit from the European Union has brought shockwaves around the world. This article aims to analyse how Brexit will impact the profession of lawyers and its industry. Right now, there is much uncertainty as to how Brexit will impact the UK and its legal industry. However, in the short term, once Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty is triggered, there could be a small boom in legal advisory needed by financial services companies on how to operate in this new environment. For example, Brexit will impact tax, employment, business law, intellectual property and financial regulation. The U.K. legal profession is massive. It contributed 25.7 billion pounds to U.Ks GDP in 2015. It also employs 314,000 people. Regarding global legal services fee revenue, it makes up 10% of it. London-based lawyers might benefit from the weak pound As the pound weakened drastically from the Brexit decision, it might lead to more business for UK based law firms. This is a significant turnaround from Londons reputation as being home to some of the worlds most expensive lawyers. With a weak pound, lawyers specializing in Mergers and Acquisitions might benefit from providing potentially cheap UK target companies for foreign buyers as a result of the weak pound. Lawyers might risk losing their privilege to practice law in EU One of the risks arising from the Brexit is that lawyers lose their rights to EU professional legal right. This means that if you are a lawyer, you might no longer be recognized by EU to practice in the region. A report by consulting giant Ernst and Young predicted that losing EU access could create a loss of 18,000 jobs in the legal and accounting sector. However, this risk remains to be seen as there are likely to be new agreements to be negotiated before the full Brexit occurs. With the significant role the legal profession plays in the U.K., the government has to find ways to alleviate the risks and damage that Brexit will create on the law profession. It cannot just let U.K. lose its prestige as a global hub for legislation and finance. In fact, the U.K. is the worlds pioneer center for dispute resolution. The use of the English law in commercial contract globally should also be protected by the British government. The loss of reputation and relevance of the law profession will create massive job losses and a trickle-down effect on other sectors. The likely relocation of financial institutions will reduce the bottom line of law firms Financial firms are one of the key clients of U.K. law companies, and because of Brexit, they might choose to relocate outside the UK. This could mean the decline of the law firms. In 2015, the five dominant law firms in London earned revenues amounting to 5.14 billion pounds. True enough, after the EU referendum, the private performances of Allen Overy, Clifford Chance, Slaughter May, Freshfields, and Linklaters all slowed down. According to a survey done by professional services group PwC, profit margins from UK operations at the top 50 law firms have dropped by an average of 1% to 1.4% percent in 2016. After the U.K. leaves the EU bloc, the EU will eliminate practice rights for cross-border business. Brexit is beneficial for Law Professors and students dealing with EU Law and Brexit One of the benefactors of the Brexit would be current law students specializing in EU law. Brexit triggers a lot of uncertainty and questions and the law students that can understand the legal complexity of the situation will be very employable upon graduation. The numbers show that some students that got accepted to law courses for the academic year 2015-2016 have more than tripled based on figures from Law Society of England and Wales. With more students joining law schools, it would also boost the demand for lawyer professors. Lawyers can, therefore, part time in law schools and increase their incomes. U.K. legal firms are doing countermeasures As a result of Brexit, many law firms, especially the elite ones are already thinking of counter moves once their key clients decide to move out of the U.K. For starters, many lawyers from England and Wales are applying to be members of the Irish Bar. By September of last year, 411 U.K. lawyers registered in Ireland. There might be more mergers in the near term and increased technology investment As a result of dwindling demand and intense competition, more mergers in the law industry might continue to unfold. For example, there was a recent three-way merger between Olswang, Nabarro and CMS UK. With the stiff competition, investing in new technology might be imperative to survive and to remain relevant. There will be fewer  EU trainees in London law firms Diversity in London law firms will take a hit as there will be less EU trainees going to London for training. These EU trainees bring talents, language skills and relevant country knowledge that could give the firm an edge. Final thoughts on the Brexit At the end of the day, the impact of Brexit on the law profession is rather uncertain. The biggest factor that will determine it will be Brexits economic impact on the U.K. The legal industry depends on many industries for business, e.g. the financial sector. If the financial sector gets dragged down because of economic uncertainty and losses from the Brexit, then law firms will suffer as well. If the economy surges, then we can see the law industry to thrive and even grow. If the U.K. economy slows down, then the law industry will have to adapt and find ways to survive. Another factor to keep in mind is how much of the revenues these London-based law firms make are outside the U.K. If most of their income is made outside the U.K., Brexit would have a limited impact on them. However, if they get mostly their revenues inside the U.K., then they will have to make some adjustments to address this risk.

Hamlet - Intelligent , NOT Insane Essay -- William Shakespeare Hamlet

Throughout the Shakespearian play, Hamlet, the main character is given the overwhelming responsibility of avenging his father’s "foul and most unnatural murder" (I.iv.36). Such a burden can slowly drive a man off the deep end psychologically. Because of this, Hamlet’s disposition is extremely inconsistent and erratic throughout the play. At times he shows signs of uncontrollable insanity. Whenever he interacts with the characters he is wild, crazy, and plays a fool. At other times, he exemplifies intelligence and method in his madness. In instances when he is alone or with Horatio, he is civilized and sane. Hamlet goes through different stages of insanity throughout the story, but his neurotic and skeptical personality amplifies his persona of seeming insane to the other characters. Hamlet comes up with the idea to fake madness in the beginning of the play in order to confuse his enemies. However, for Hamlet to fulfill his duty of getting revenge, he must be totally sane. Hamlet’s intellectual brilliance make it seem too impossible for him to actually be mad, for to be insane means that one is irrational and without any sense. When one is irrational, one is not governed by or according to reason. So, Hamlet is only acting mad in order to plan his revenge on Claudius. In order for Hamlet to carry out his goal of revenge, he had to be totally sane. In Act I, he is warned by the ghost not to go mad and not to harm his mother. If Hamlet were truly mad, he would have done many unorthodox acts, which would only wreck his plan of getting revenge. There can be no such thing as restrained insanity. Hamlet’s sanity is displayed when he does not harm his mother. Gertrude has hurt Hamlet. She betrayed his father by having an affair with Claudius and eventually marrying him. Since Hamlet does not kill her, it shows he is in full control of his mental state and that he is not controlled by his feelings like most mad people. Another reason why Hamlet is not mad is in the way he escaped his awaited execution in England. Hamlet knew that he was to be sent to England to be killed on the orders of Claudius. But once he saw a chance of escape on the pirate ship, he took this opportunity to board the ship, which made him escape death, thus prolonging his life a little longer. If Hamlet were actually mad, it would be doubtful that he would know of Claudius’ plans,... ...nd not making any sense whatsoever. In comparison, Hamlet speaks in regular sentences, and is able to converse normally with those around him. With much thought, and careful planning, Hamlet searches for evidence to determine the truth about his father's murder. And with this in hand, he departs on a path to avenge his father that is both reasonable and rational. While Hamlet might not carry the best of luck with him throughout the play, he certainly holds onto his mental integrity and ability to reason through challenges. Hamlet feigns madness so that he will be able to successfully get revenge on Claudius. In order for his plan not to be discovered, he has to fake madness in order to throw off his enemies. For his revenge plan to be a success, Hamlet will have to be perfectly sane so that he won’t sabotage his plan in anyway, and to keep himself alive long enough to carry it out. Hamlet’s plan on proving Claudius’ guilt and whether or not the ghost is his dead father shows that Hamlet is too intelligent to be mad. If Hamlet were indeed mad, he would be too dim-witted to come up with such a clever plan. Bibliography: Shakespear, William. Hamlet. Don Mills HBJ, 1987

The Representation of Evil in Stevensons Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Essay

The Representation of Evil in Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde This essay will show how evil is represented in Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'. 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' is about evil and the duality of people's personalities. To show this I will focus on Stevenson's use of characterization, setting, historical, social and cultural context, settings, symbols and language. Robert Stevenson lived in the Victorian era, this was a very repressive and strict society where it was expected that middle class men would visit prostitutes. This was because people were not supposed to be like animals and have animal instincts such as lust. This meant that middle class men would only sleep with their wives so they could have children and carry on the bloodline. This society would have influenced Stevenson as he was a middle class man himself and he would have experienced his own stifled emotions and hidden instincts, such as lust and rage. Stevenson may also have taken inspiration for the character Mr. Hyde from the crimes of Jack the Ripper who was committing his violent crimes on women at that time. Stevenson may have also been influenced by Mary Shelly's 'Frankenstein', which also deals with the themes of dual personalities and evil. In the text Stevenson uses a lot of powerful imagery when describing Mr. Hyde. He uses words such as detestable and deformed. These words create a picture in the readers mind and give them a general feeling of horror, evil and mistrust. Through out the play Stevenson refers to Mr. Hyde as an animal "God bless me the man seems hardly human". This makes the reader picture Mr. Hyde as s... ...one is particularley important and relevant due to the advances of science, which have seen scientists able to clone human embryos. As we can see in 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' and also in Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein" people who play with nature and do not take responsibility for their work and creations ultimately end up creating evil things which they do not understand or know how to control. It could be said that Stevenson wrote the story as a warning to Victorian society about repression and science or maybe it was just an interesting mystery story, which happens to have like many fictions and stories to have become almost true. To conclude I think that evil is effectively portrayed in 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'. Stevenson does this by focusing mainly on the themes of duality and suppression of and in human nature.

Voter

Voter ignorance and special interests often result to bad policy-choices and erroneous policy making processes. In a democracy, where people’s votes are important, policy-choices are largely affected by whatever wrong or right information people may have as regards issues. Unfortunately, biases and misinformation are rampant among people, especially among voters. The problem is that, instead of correcting these biases, politicians tend to play them up to acquire votes. Many of these biases come from the field of economics, a field which is very important to voters because of its effect in the quality of people’s lives. Four of these biases are discussed by Bryan Caplan in his article, The Myth of the Rational Voter. They are the anti-market bias, anti-foreign bias, make-work and the pessimistic bias. The Anti-Market Bias may be characterized as a bias against capitalism and free-market itself, or at least most of their features. The explained cause of this bias is usually the fact that actors in a free-market model of economy are all profit-seekers. This attribution of self-interest gives birth to a prejudice that no socially-beneficial outcome may possibly result from a free market (See Caplan, 2007, p.7). The result is â€Å"a tendency to underestimate the economic benefits of market mechanism (Caplan, 2007, p.7), such as the effect of competition in lowering prices, savings and maximization of resources or efficiency. There are many variations of the anti-market bias. One of them is â€Å"to equate market payments with transfers, [while] ignoring their incentive properties (Caplan, 2007, p.8). Under this, a profit is seen to be earned by the rich, at the expense of the poor, as if there is no exchange of value that happened. It ignores the fact that profits are not acquired without doing something, and that an increase in profits is often a result of increasing efficiency in the use of resources. The second is the monopoly theories of price. Under this variation, price is seen as a function of the decision, mood and agreement among CEO’s and other similar persons, without giving due regard to the interaction between supply and demand. (Caplan, 2007, p. 9) The Anti-Foreign Bias is an argument towards protectionism. Under this, foreigners are often seen as a source of economic downfall. â€Å"Whatever the reason, [foreigners] supposedly have a special power to exploit [locals] (Caplan, 2007, p. 11). They are often used as scapegoats for all economic problems that may exist such as lack of jobs, high price of goods and others. This bias may have brought about by a similar theory between a profit-seeker individual and a poor buyer from the point of view of the anti-market bias. â€Å"A rich country, in the same manner as a rich man, is supposed to be a country abounding in money; and to heap up gold and silver in any country is supposed to be the best way to enrich it† (Caplan, 2007, p. 12). The assumption is that no country may be better off without making another country less off. The problem with this belief is that it ignores the benefit of an open market from the point of view of comparative advantage. Under the theory comparative advantage, all countries will be better off if they all specialize. Even a country that is less productive compared to other countries in all products may benefit from specializing. It is more expensive to try producing all products for consumption rather than in specializing in some and trading for the others (Caplan, 2007, p. 11-12). The Make-Work Bias refers to the conflict between the businesses’ and economists’ desire to minimize waste of resources caused by paying for unneeded or inefficient labor and the belief that, to achieve economic growth, people need to be employed. The general tendency is to underestimate the benefits of conserving labor (Caplan, 2007, p. 13). Often, the rate of unemployment is seen as an indicator of economic growth. The policy is often to give jobs to more people. This is despite the fact that the same amount of jobs are required to be done. Employment is increased at the expense of efficiency (Caplan, 2007, p. 13). Instead of trying to increase employment by increasing the GNP through efficient use of resources, the work of one is divided between two or three people, making each of them less productive (Caplan, 2007, p. 13). The result is a prospect for prosperity for the individuals who are able to obtain the jobs and a decrease in efficiency and growth for the whole economy. Pessimistic Bias refers to the people’s negative, or even cynical beliefs, about economic conditions or growth. The general rule, as observed by Caplan (2007), is that â€Å"the public believes economic conditions are not as good as they really are† (p. 16). There may be advances in the economy, but they are taken for granted by people. In times of minimal economic growth, the perception is not of growth, but of stagnation. The problem with this is that, in terms of over-all economic growth, â€Å"progress is so gradual that a few pockets of decay hide it from the public view† (Caplan, 2007, p. 17). To measure whether an economy has actually achieved growth, it is best to compare the present condition to that of a distant past (Caplan, 2007, p. 16). Moreover, over-all success is not often observable across the whole country. There are some areas where economic conditions may not be good. However, these isolated instances of economic regression give rise to â€Å"a suspicion that the riches and industry of the whole are decaying† (Caplan, 2007, p. 17), when the reality is that the country is experiencing economic growth as a whole. It is also common for the pessimistic rhetoric â€Å"to idealize conditions in the more distant past in order to put recent conditions in a negative light† (Caplan, 2007, p. 16). This is a good way to emphasize economic decline. This is a nostalgic way of viewing things wherein the lament is always that things are better in the past, prices are cheaper, living is simpler, but better and others. Increase in prices and living standards are emphasized, while the values exchanged for such increases are ignored such as improvements in goods and services (See Caplan, 2007, p. 17). As Caplan has stated in this article, these biases show that â€Å"[p]eople do not grasp the invisible hand of the market, with its ability to harmonize private greed and the public interest† (See Caplan, 2007, p. 1). For the uninformed public, free market is the enemy. This belief translates into the policies that are adopted in a democracy. Since the power is now given to the people, policy choices by candidates are geared towards pleasing them. The best way to acquire votes is not to go against the wrong beliefs of people and to correct them, but to play up the same beliefs and use them to one’s own advantage. Reference Caplan, Bryan. â€Å"The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies.†