Political Events and Shipping Demand Essay Example for Free

Political Events and Shipping Demand Essay Introduction Modern shipping is the life-blood of the world; without it, much of the demand for imports and exports would not be met. In 2006, world seaborne trade was estimated to have reached 30,686 billion ton-miles, having grown by 5. 5% over the previous year. Despite the prevalence of air transport, up to 90% of world trade is carried over the oceans in humble ships. The demand for seaborne trade is driven primarily by the world economy; various industries produce the goods that need to reach different parts of the world. In its most recent World Economic Outlook , the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasted global growth of 3. per cent for the rest of 2008, lower by 0. 2 per cent from the previous month’s estimate. In spite of the dip, the world economy is still growing annually, led by the emerging markets that are hungry for resources to fuel their growth. Beyond the economy, there are several other factors that determine demand for shipping. This paper seeks to evaluate the role of political events and its impact. In addition, it seeks to look into which commodity is most affected by such incidents. In his book, Maritime Economics, Martin Stopford writes that ‘no discussion of sea transport demand would be complete without reference to the impact of politics’. In the following paragraphs, this paper will address the main types of events that affect shipping demand both positively and adversely. 2. 0Political events that have affected shipping demand the most 2. 1Opening-up of the Chinese economy The accession of China into the ranks of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Beijing winning the bid to host the Olympics in 2001 were events that had large political motivations and caused a tremendous rise in demand for shipping. Since then, China’s economy has seen astronomical growth. In order to fuel this development, the country has increased both its imports and exports in almost every industry. This has taken the world by storm as countries the world over compete to feed and fuel the world’s most populous country. Hence, seaborne trade and demand for shipping worldwide has been skyrocketing as a result of China’s booming economy. 2. 2War and the economic embargoes Conversely, war and economic embargoes and sanctions are the leading cause of a drop in maritime activity. In broad terms, the hostilities in the Middle-East region have led to disruptions in movements of oil shipments to the developed world. In the 1950s, the Suez Crisis between Britain, France and Israel against Egypt, led to the diversion of ships around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the tensions. Two decades later on 17 October 1973, the ongoing Yam Kippur War caused the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries to stop shipping oil to nations that supported Israel’s war efforts. The impact of this embargo on shipping was the collapse of the oil tanker market and led to a series of recessions and periods of high inflation that persisted until the 1980s. Other examples would include the Korean War in 1950 and the Gulf War in the early 1990s. . 0Commodities affected Crude oil accounted for 26. 9 per cent of total goods loaded in 2006. Due to the sheer quantity of oil being shipped worldwide, any political event jeopardizing seaborne trade would usually entail oil shipments being affected. This is because the resource is abundant in only certain parts of the world; the Middle-East is one such region that is plagued with rogue political regimes and instability. In the above-mentioned events in the region, the hostilities resulted in disruptions to the oil trade and consequently, oil price. This would be discussed in the section on Iran. Another sector that would be affected would be the metal industry trades and in particular, that of iron ore. Western Australia and Brazil are major exporters of iron ore to growing markets like China which need it for its continued development. 4. 0Opening of China’s economy Since the 1970s, China has been gradually introducing economic reforms and providing enterprises with autonomy. However, it was only in the last 2 decades that the world’s 2nd largest economy has opened itself up to greater foreign investment and world trade. This was carried out through the relaxation of import and export controls and trade reforms in the form of reduced tariffs. All this led to a significant milestone for China and the world – its ascension into the ranks of the WTO on 11 December 2001. In addition, Beijing won the bid to host the 2008 Olympics that same year. These 2 events have set the stage for China’s rapid development. In the following paragraphs, this paper will explain its effects on the world and global trade and shipping. Based on a working paper by the IMF written in 2004, the international impact of China’s ascension into the WTO is far reaching. Firstly, sustaining the growth of China would provide benefits to its trading partners; beyond the processing of trade, there has been significant growth in imports for domestic use and outbound tourism. Secondly, China’s insatiable thirst for energy and metal imports have since fuelled the rapid rise in imports of such commodities. Lastly, multinational companies are tapping into the large domestic market especially with the freeing up of the country’s banking sector. This paper believes that China’s meteoric rise over the last two decades and more significantly, since the dawn of the new millennia, have created a surge in demand for world seaborne trade and shipping. 4. 1China’s role in transforming Western Australia and beyond As a result of China’s booming steel industry, Australian exports of iron ore to China reached more than A$4 billion last year. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, two of the world’s largest resource companies, share the metal-rich Pilbara of Western Australia to feed China’s demand. The latter is hoping to double its 2007 iron-ore production in four years. This mining boom in the traditionally ‘sleepy’ side of Australia spells good news for its economy and residents. In an interview with the Economist , Eric Ripper, finance minister of Western Australia, said that his state has been fighting to bring in a A$9 million surplus seven years ago. Last year, the country’s largest state (by land area) grew by 6. 3%, twice that of the entire country. In addition, it now boasts a healthy surplus of A$2 billion. Besides iron ore, China has a tremendous hunger for other natural resources. All across the world, Chinese firms are finding new sources for crude oil, natural gas, metal and coal. Ships have been queuing off Newcastle in Australia to load cargo bound for China; at one point in June 2007, the queue was 79 ships long . In short, the rise in import demand by the Mainland has helped countries in Latin America and Africa grow their own economy. Another country that has seen business grow is the shipping giant of Greece. 60 per cent of China’s imports of raw materials and energy are carried on the backs of Greek ships. Greek ship owners want to capitalize and many have made orders to build ships in China which has caused the order books of the large manufacturers to bulge and many smaller players to join in the fray. . 2China’s effect on shipping demand In terms of shipping, China is a force to be reckoned with. Just 2 years after joining the WTO, China handled 48 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in 2003, an increase of 11 million TEUs the year before. This made the country the largest container shipping market for the first time with both Sh anghai and Shenzhen joining the mega-port league of over 10 million TEUs throughputs . On two of the most important container trades from Asia to North America and Europe, mainland China and Hong Kong corner 60 per cent of the market share. More recently, with an increasing portion of China’s imports of oil products coming from Latin America and West Africa, ton-miles demanded associated with this trade has increased. Referring back to the example of Australian iron ore, China’s high volumes mean that Chinese companies are sourcing for metals from further abroad such as Brazil. In addition, China has always been a net exporter of coal. However, in the last few years, China has become a net importer; this forces its neighbors to source for coal from further afield. All these factors serve to increase ton-miles demanded. It is important to note that though ton-miles demanded may increase, actual volume may remain unchanged. 5. 0Iran and the Strait of Hormuz The on-going tension between Israel, the United States of America (USA) and Iran over its suspected nuclear-weapons programme has brought about fluctuations in oil prices in recent times. Several factors have made this all the more pressing in the last few months. These include a weakening Bush administration, Iran’s continued uranium-enrichment programme, a lackluster Western diplomatic approach to handling the situation and Israel’s jitters have raised the idea of a possible war in the Middle-East. In retaliation to suggestions of a military strike, Iran has threatened to cut oil exports and close the Strait of Hormuz . This strait’s importance lies in that it is the only viable path for much of the oil from the gulf to reach the rest of the world. By comparison, the Suez and Panama Canals are passages that have alternative albeit costlier, routes. A horseshoe-shaped body of water that stretches between Iran and the northern tip of Oman, the Strait is the only passage in and out of the Gulf. Every day, around 50 tankers carry between 4 million and 17 million barrels of oil and oil products through the 180km-long strait roughly 40 per cent of the worlds internationally traded supplies . If Iran were able to close this waterway by use of anti-ship missiles, only 3 million barrels would be able to be diverted via the Red Sea. Thus, oil and oil product shipment would be greatly hit worldwide. In addition to oil, Jebel Ali, a port-town in the United Arab Emirates, handles ab out half of all maritime trade between Europe and Asia. Currently, it is the largest port between Rotterdam and Singapore. Large portions of what enters some of these free zones in the gulf are transshipped to other parts of the world. Experts who have monitored the Suez Crisis in the 1950s and how it led to the Six-Day War understand that such an action from Iran would result in the Middle-East suffering economically. On a larger scale, the world would be faced with supply cuts in almost all goods. 6. 0Maritime terrorism Another threat to the maritime industry is terrorism at sea. Terrorism is broadly defined as attacks to create fear and often have an underlying belief that the terrorists want to spread. Since the world-changing September 11th attacks on the United States of America in 2001, many other acts of violence have been carried out with ships as targets. An example would be the infamous Al-Qaeda attack on the French oil tanker, the Limburg, in Yemen in 2002. Such attacks create not only a sense of uncertainty in the shipping industry, but have raised the costs of shipping as well. In the case of the Limburg, the insurance payout reached US$70 million . This example highlights the trend of insurance companies charging higher insurance premiums to shipping companies whose ships sail through more ‘dangerous’ waters. As a result, shipping cost has risen over the years and this has led to a dip in demand. Amongst the main trunk routes that ships often ply, the greatest number of such incidents happens in the South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca. These acts of terror also do not differentiate between the types of ships they target; almost everything from boats to tankers has been looted for their cargo and entire ships stolen. This paper would like to caution that the distinction between maritime terrorism and piracy is blurring. 7. 0Conclusion This paper has looked at examples of how political events have caused a stir in the maritime world. This is largely a result of the correlation between world trade, shipping and movement of commodities. Such incidents can spark both a decrease as well as an increase in demand for shipping. In the case of China’s reforms towards a more open economy, trade between this country and the rest of the world has increased dramatically. This has spurred the shipping industry not just in terms of seaborne trade but in other forms such as ports and shipbuilding. Beyond its shores, it has helped to lift the economies of countries that enjoy a high level of trade with China. On the other hand, the tensions in the Middle-East have brought about uncertainty throughout the world over oil prices and world trade. The strategic position of the most hostile nations in the region has given them leverage over the Western world in terms of threats to block the major waterway, the Strait of Hormuz. Lastly, the concerns over maritime safety and rising insurance costs to cover ships and their owners have caused a dip in demand for shipping. This is because of the higher costs now associated with shipping; it is intuitive yet unfortunate that the world’s major shipping routes are also the most dangerous.

Technology and Language in Education: The Effect of New Technology on T

Technology and Language in Education: The Effect of New Technology on Teaching Languages Annie Moore, a 15-year-old girl from Ireland arrived at Ellis Island in New York City on January 1, 1892. She was the first immigrant to come to that United States immigration station, but she was certainly not the last. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2000), 28.4 million of the 285.2 million US residents in 2000 were foreign-born. With such a large amount of our population being foreign-born, the need for effective language education is immense. The use of technology is very useful in alleviating the pressure of such a tremendous demand for ESL (English as a second language) and EFL (English as a foreign language) programs (Education World, Inc., 2004). Schools all over the country are adding the latest technology to their classrooms, and students are benefiting tremendously. Programs designed to incorporate reading and writing practices in a foreign language are modernized with technological advances which make it possible to interact with not only people within the classroom but students and teachers at other schools and all over the world. With the touch of a button, students at a school that might not be able to afford a foreign language program can be in contact with a school that has rich foreign language resources. Students can send written assignments over the Internet to be checked and graded; they can take online quizzes and assessments that will be graded within seconds and give instant feedback for the student. Real-time instant conversation makes it possible for a student anywhere to keep up with what their class is covering, regardless of whether the student is out sick, or unable to be in class, or even if th... ...rld.com/foreign_lang/ Macias, R., & Rose, D.J. (1994, August). Wired for Knowledge. Hispanic, 7(7), 17-22. Retrieved September 26, 2004, from Eric [EBSCO] database. University of California Davis Department of Information and Educational Technology. (2004). Online AP Course Preps High School Students for University-Level Learning. Tech News. Retrieved October 3, 2004, from http://technews.ucdavis.edu/news2.cfm?id=762 Upbin, B. (1999, March). Instant Feedback in the Classroom. Forbes, 163(6), 68-71. Retrieved September 26, 2004, from Academic Search Premier database. U.S. Census Bureau. (2000). U.S. Foreign-Born Population. Retrieved October 4, 2004, from http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/foreign/ cps2000.html Warschauer, M. (2002). A Developmental Perspective on Technology in Language Education. TESOL Quarterly, 36(3), 453-475.

Integrity: Core Issues in Ethics and Person Essay

Integrity is not just one of the seven army values a soldier should live by, it is the basis and foundation of trust, responsibility, respect, and honesty. If a soldier or anyone for that matter does not have integrity they will not be able to succeed in their profession, relationships, and in life. The more honest choices a person makes the more he can be trusted, but not just his word will be trusted, that person will gain more responsibility, better leadership positions, and more importantly more respect that person will gain. The more you lead your life by integrity the better and easier it will be. When asked a question you should be honest and you should think about your answer so that you are relaying correct information. Integrity has many meanings, doing what’s right legally and morally, being honest, upright, and decent in our dealings with others. When we are guided by integrity, our thoughts, actions, and words are in line with each other, our actions align with ou r principles. Our conduct speaks for us, better than words ever could. It becomes the basis for both reputation and self-respect. Integrity demands courage. No matter who you are talking to you should be honest not untruthful, even if it makes someone upset. You should live with integrity everyday of your life no matter what. Developing integrity requires internal honesty, because we can’t be honest with others unless we are honest with ourselves. It requires self-awareness, since we cannot accurately communicate what we do not know. Integrity is not just a word, it’s a code to live by to lead a life of honesty and respect. If everyone in the world were to live with integrity the world would be a much better place to live in. people would be honest, respectful, and they would do the right thing no matter what. If a person with integrity were to find a wallet for instance, that person would try to find the rightful owner of the wallet. If the owner was not found they would turn the wallet into the police station or to a lost and found where they had found it. Having integrity means you don’t do anything or say anything that deceives anyone. You do not lie, you don’t cheat, and you do not even bend the truth. Having integrity can also mean you having personal courage. Having the personal courage to stand up for what is right no matter the circumstances is very important to one’s integrity, if you see someone doing something wrong it is important to correct them politely so now they know what’s wrong and they can fix it before the problem gets to bad or out of control. A person should be straight and honest about everything no matter the consequences. You should never try to even deceive someone because they will find the truth about it. People of integrity can be counted on to stand up for what it right, even if it is unpopular, and to do the right thing even when there is no one around to see. Integrity allows other people to trust you because they know that we value our commitments and seek to live by them. Every soldier in the military should live with integrity because we are all a brotherhood, everyone is a family in the military. We should all be true to ourselves, civilians, and especially our fellow service members. Integrity does not discriminate either. It does not matter who asks the question, who is looking, or who is not looking you should always be truthful, and do the right thing no matter what. If a person alone and they know or even think they’re doing something wrong they shouldn’t do it, that is showing integrity and showing others who you think may not be looking that you can do the right thing and be trusted when someone might need it most. Without integrity no one can trust you, e ven if you are telling the truth, no one will believe you because you have already broken their trust in you. They will not only check up on you constantly but they will also not believe you until they confirm it for themselves. When you show the lack of integrity to someone they have to take time out of their day and away from their families to either square you away or find out the truth, which makes it much worse on you if you did lie about something. It is always best to tell the truth the first time though you may be punished for messing up it will be a lot easier to tell the truth than to lie about it and have to make up more lies to cover up the lies you already made. You must have the courage and honor to tell the truth the first time. Not only is lying morally wrong but it will break the bond of a man’s word and it will take a very long time to make it up and rebuild that trust again. You cannot have responsibility without having integrity either. No one will trust you to do anything or to put you in charge of anything because not only can they not trust you because you lied to them but because you have failed them at what they expected out of you. At a first impression people will have trust in you unless you lie to them or show you a reason not to trust you. If you lie to someone you show them not only that you are a liar but you have no respect for that person. Everyone deserves respect but the level of respect they deserve determines on the level of respect they show for other people and the amount of responsibility they can show a person. You must also have self-respect to have integrity if you don’t respect yourself you cannot respect anyone else in this world. If someone put you in charge of other men you are responsible for their well-being, they should be able to come to you with any problem that might arise in their lives Honesty is the biggest factor of integrity in my opinion, to have integrity you MUST have honesty. You must be able to show a person that you can be trusted, but first you must have honesty in yourself. Without having honesty in yourself it is impossible to be honest to other people. it is much easier to tell someone the truth first off than to lie to them because you will not only have lied once but you will have to make up more lies to cover up the first lie and more lies to cover up those and when someone finds out the truth it will be much worse on you than it would’ve been if you had just told the truth in the first place. If you lie to someone once you will continually lie to them unless you stop the lying and come forth with the truth and stand there take your punishment and learn from your mistakes right away and not have to keep making them. your reputation also depends on integrity because if you show a constant lack of integrity you show not only the person who is dealing with you but you show the others around you that you cannot be trusted and they will not want to do anything for you because you will have burned your bridges with them. Your integrity is now gone and your reputation is ruined. Your reputation is something that take a very long time to rebuild much like someone’s trust. It all depends on the persons trust that you lost on how long it takes you to rebuild that trust. Once you finally do regain someone’s trust it is important to keep that persons trust because if you break their trust again you become a habitual liar and you will lose their trust again and possibly forever. Integrity is also a major factor in deal making. If you make a deal or make a commitment you must stick to that deal. Having integrity is like having a contract, though it may not be in writing or an actual legal document it is however like a handshake. When you say you will do something you will do it if you have integrity because it is the morally right thing to do, it is a man’s word and he must have the intestinal fortitude to stick to his word as if it was a contract. A person’s word is all they have in this world because if someone word cannot be trusted they will not make it anywhere in life especially if you make the lack of integrity a habit. Having integrity shows a person you can be trusted with just about any task you are put in charge of. You will do that task and not only do it right you will exceed that person’s expectation. When you are assigned a task it is important to do it right the first time because not only will you have to go back a second time and do the task over again but in the military it could mean someone’s life at stake. A person must give every task they are assigned with over one hundred percent so that not only are the expectations met but they are exceeded by far. The army value integrity is put in place for a reason. That reason is to make an honest, trustworthy, responsible, and honorable soldier. All seven army values tie in together so that if you follow all seven you will be a trustworthy, honest, responsible, and respectable soldier. It is important to have integrity for many reasons because without it you cannot be trusted, responsible and squared away. Once you live your life with integrity you will be trusted more, be able to take on more responsibility, but you will build your reputation in other people. References http://www.army.mil/values/

The Effects Of Music On The Heart Rate Essay - 2330 Words

Introduction Research Topic: Music makes up a huge part of our life and its everywhere. From the music we listen to on the radio to our favorite artist. According to Doctor Bernardi, music does have any effect on how we feel (2007). Whether it makes us happy or sad, energetic or lazy, the effects of music are observable in our everyday life. Since there is an effect of music on our mood, my investigation will be see if there is a correlation between the genre of music and the heartrate, in humans. Aim: To investigate the effects of different genres of music, such as rock music and classical music, on the heart rate? Research Hypothesis: There is a relation between different music genres and heart rate; as heavier music genres such as rock will lead to a higher heart rate than the soft classical music. Scope of the research: Investigating the different effects of music genres on the pulse. By recording the responses of each participant, as the music moves from soft genres to hard genr es. Genres such as Classical and Rock but the songs of each will have different tempos to each other to get accurate results. To see if the different types of genres of music create psychological responses of the sympathetic nervous system on the heart. The research will be done most primarily and partially secondarily. THE METHOD: Take participants aged 18 and below. Make 20 participants sit down and rest in a quiet environment. After sometime take the pulse of the each participant. This pulseShow MoreRelatedMusic Tempos Effect on Heart Rate Essay958 Words   |  4 Pagesvarious projects is to simply listen to music. Music is very popular to our specific age group, but is consuming different styles of music necessarily a healthy alternate to the stress? How does music affect the heart rate and what different types of music have a greater affect on heart rate? 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