Marlow and Kurtz in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay -- Heart D

Marlow and Kurtz in Heart of Darkness The main character in Conrads novel, Heart of Darkness, isKurtz. Kurtz no longer obeys the potency of his superiors who believe that he has become too extreme and has come to employ unsound methods (Coppola, 1979 Longman, 2000). Marlow is sent to retrieve Kurtz from the evil influences in the Congo, and a wild travel on a tainted river ensues. Along the way, Marlow learns about the real Kurtz and finds himself identifying with and becoming dangerously fond of the man. By the time Marlow and Kurtz meet, Marlow is already well aware of the similarities they share. both are imperialists, and while Marlow detests the treatment of the natives by his employers (Belgian colonists), he also makes apparent his abhorrence toward the Africans. On the other hand, Kurtz abandons the pretense of helping the natives achieve civilization, as displayed by the Europeans. Instead, he adopts their customs and becomes their leader in the never-ending quest for ivo ry. He began with the argument that we whites, from the point of development we had arrived at, must necessarily appear to them savages in the nature of the marvellous beings- we approach them with the might as of a deity (Longman, 2000, p. 2226). Marlow also admired Kurtz resourcefulness and survival skills, especially his perseverence through jungle fever. The wilderness had patted him on the head....it had taken him, love him, embraced him, got into his veins, consumed his flesh, and sealed his soul to its own by the inconceivable ceremonies of some devilish initiation. He was its spoiled and pampered favorite. (Longman, 2000, p. 2225). Before the boat can reach Kurtzs outpost, it is attacked by the topical anesthetic natives. M... ...il of desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge? He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision,-he cried out twice, a cry that was no more that a breath- The horror The horror (Longman, 2000, p. 2240 ). This is what distinguishes the two men Kurtz abandoned himself and went over the edge, but Marlow is aware of just how close he was to becoming what Kurtz was. Works Cited and Consulted Coppola, Frances Ford. Apocalypse Now. Metro Goldwyn Mayer/ United Artists. Video Prarmount Home Video. 1979.Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York Norton Critical, 1988. Longman. The Longman Anthology of British Literature, vol. B. Damrosch, D. (ed.). NY, LA Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. 2000.Meyers, Jeffrey. Joseph Conrad. New York Charles Scribners Sons, 1991. Marlow and Kurtz in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay -- Heart DMarlow and Kurtz in Heart of Darkness The main character in Conrads novel, Heart of Darkness, isKurtz. Kurtz no longer obeys the liberty of his superiors who believe that he has become too extreme and has come to employ unsound methods (Coppola, 1979 Longman, 2000). Marlow is sent to retrieve Kurtz from the evil influ ences in the Congo, and a wild pilgrimage on a tainted river ensues. Along the way, Marlow learns about the real Kurtz and finds himself identifying with and becoming dangerously fond of the man. By the time Marlow and Kurtz meet, Marlow is already well aware of the similarities they share. both are imperialists, and while Marlow detests the treatment of the natives by his employers (Belgian colonists), he also makes apparent his abhorrence toward the Africans. On the other hand, Kurtz abandons the pretense of helping the natives achieve civilization, as displayed by the Europeans. Instead, he adopts their customs and becomes their leader in the never-ending quest for ivory. He began with the argument that we whites, from the point of development we had arrived at, must necessarily appear to them savages in the nature of the witching(prenominal) beings- we approach them with the might as of a deity (Longman, 2000, p. 2226). Marlow also admired Kurtz resourcefulness and survival sk ills, especially his perseverence through jungle fever. The wilderness had patted him on the head....it had taken him, love him, embraced him, got into his veins, consumed his flesh, and sealed his soul to its own by the inconceivable ceremonies of some devilish initiation. He was its spoiled and pampered favorite. (Longman, 2000, p. 2225). Before the boat can reach Kurtzs outpost, it is attacked by the topical anesthetic natives. M... ...il of desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge? He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision,-he cried out twice, a cry that was no more that a breath- The horror The horror (Longman, 2000, p. 2240). This is what distinguishes the two men Kurtz abandoned himself and went over the edge, but Marlow is aware of just how close he was to becoming what Kurtz was. Works Cited and Consulted Coppola, Frances Ford. Apocalypse Now. Metro Goldwyn Mayer/ United Artists. Video Prarmount Home Video. 1979.Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York Norton Critical, 1988. Longman. The Longman Anthology of British Literature, vol. B. Damrosch, D. (ed.). NY, LA Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. 2000.Meyers, Jeffrey. Joseph Conrad. New York Charles Scribners Sons, 1991.

Womens Roles in the Military Essay -- Women in Military Essays

Womens Roles in the MilitaryBefore being War I, women assisted the military during wartime mainly as nurses and helpers. slightly women, however, did become involved in battles. Molly Pitcher, a Revolutionary War water carrier, singlehandedly kept a cannon in action after a artillery crew had been disabled. During theRevolutionary and the Civil War, a few women disguised themselves as men and took part in hand-to-hand combat. The premier(prenominal) enlisted women served in World War I as telephone and radio operators, translators, and clerks. But it was not until World War II that women became part of the regular military. Each service had its possess womens corps commanded by female officers. The first of these units, the Womens Army Corps (WACs), enlisted 400,000 women during the war to work in jobs that freed men to fight. Following the war, the Womens Services Integration Act of 1948 formal a permanent place for women in all in all branches of the military. But promotions for female officers were limited, and women were banned from ground combat jobs as well as from most naval forces ships and Air Force aircraft. By the mid-1960s, about 70 percent of enlisted women worked in clerical and other office jobs. The Army and the other services at first resisted sending women to Vietnam fearing that they would notbe able to handle the stress of being in a war zone. But 7,500 military women, mainly nurses, eventually served in Vietnam. Several died in hostile action. When the all-volunteer military replaced the draft in 1973, the armed forces accelerated its recruitment of women. In 1977, a Department of Defense report clearly identified twain the limitations and potential offemale recruits at that time. *The average woman available to be recruited is smaller, weighs less, and is physically weaker than the vast majority of male recruits. She is also much brighter, better educated(a game school graduate), scores higher on the aptitude tests and is much les s likely to become a disciplinary problem*. As the military regenerate and weapons grew more sophisticated, education and technical skills became important. This development opened up more military jobs for women, including some combat-related jobs. For example, women became Army transport helicopter pilots and were assigned to nuclear rocket sites. The rapid increase in military technology as well as changes in the whole concep... ... The widely distributed Accounting Office concluded in a hearing on May 8th 1999 that combat inclusion is the greatest impediment to women attaining higher military rank. Until qualified women are given nark to assignments that are central to the militaries mission, they will be marginalized. Sexual harassment is a huge problemin the military today. Over 42 percent of all enlisted women say they have sexual harassed by they*re male colleges. There have been major scandalsranging from the rape of 3 women at Annapolis to General Wayne Regis getting court marshaled for his part in the sexual harassment of 7 women throughouthis career. What do you think of when you look at Americas Armed services? When I began writing this paper I believed it was an equal opportunity employer that stands for the very basis of liberty and equality. Women areexcluded from a number of jobs for no other reason than stereotyping, ideas of the low quality of women in combat, and the chauvinistic thought of if their not there it wont happen. Remember none of the reason that I listed above would be sufficient for a regime employer to legally close jobs to women so why is it different in our Armed Service?

Universality of Death of a Salesman :: Arthur Miller

Death of a Salesmans universality comes from its fundamental themes and persuasions which will adhere to place and time period it is. They have the ability to unite with such a universal audience because they take into account human nature. We, as readers or viewers, of the play can connect with the concepts presented because they are part of our routine lives. Lets start off with one of the major themes in the play, which is the pursuit of a dream. For Willy Loman, it is the American dream. His false notion of this dream, which he believes with firm conviction, if you are well care and personally attractive you will do well in business and life. The American dream is something that can be pursued, but not the way Willy sensed it. For example, Chris Gardner, the successful owner of stock brokerage, went from being a homeless man sometimes sleeping in public bathrooms to opening becoming a multimillionaire. His rags to wealthiness story, like many others, show hard work and dedi cation can help you achieve your goals. Thousands of people come into the U.S. each year, many of them with the hope of expression a better life in the land of opportunity. Dreams can vary. We all have dreams because we want to achieve more so we can have a better life, whether it is in terms of wealth, health, family, or happiness. However, even with dreams and achievements, we may not always be able to get what we desire. Willy Loman was unable to see this. Even with defeat staring at him, his denial as well as his inability to face it, blinded him from accepting the truth. Another thing that makes this play timeless is the idea that, regardless of who we are, each one of us is a salesman and we will continue to be salesman. For example, teachers sell their beliefs and ideas to their students. People aspiring for a job sell themselves to the employers. The kindred thing goes when applying for colleges or when finding a mate. So, in that sense, we have a little bit of Willy Loma n in us making this connection we can name to him and hope not to make his mistakes.Death of a Salesman is just as significant in this time period as it was in 1949 is because a ordinary man is trying to make it in his world.

Servant Leadership Benefits Both Organizationas and Employees Essay

In the traditional view of leadership, service is the job of the follower. However, servant leadership puts the leader at service. In servant leadership, the leader focuses on inspection and repair their followers they empathize, nurture, and provide attention so that the followers can develop their full personal capacities (Northouse, 2013). Spears (2002) identified 10 servant leader characteristics Listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, expectancy, stewardship, and commitment to the growth of people.Listening involves the interactive process of communication between leaders and followers (Northouse, 2013). In the traditional world of leadership, we think of leaders as instructing, ordering, or ruling. In servant leadership, leaders listen first to understand and acknowledge their followers. Empathy is the ability to put ourselves in someone elses position and see where they are climax from. This achieves the follower feel unique and validated (No rthouse, 2013).Healing does not involve mystical powers, however it does involve offering support to followers by overcoming their personal problems and care about their well-being (Northouse, 2013). Awareness is similar to emotional intelligence in that it includes the understanding of oneself and the impact one has on others through being attune and unresolved to ones physical, social, and political environments (Northouse, 2013).Persuasion, not coercion, is a servant leadership quality. Persuasion involves the use of gentle non judgmental argument, not force-like coercion (Northouse, 2013). Conceptualization and foresight are similar in that they both require a looking into the future. Conceptualization is visualization to help prepare for complex organiza... ...eir followers can allow for in ethical and efficient leadership.When individuals engage in servant leadership, it is likely to improve outcomes at the individual, organizational, and societal levels (PSU, 2014).The se rvant leadership actions of Charlie Kim and Bob Chapman depict how the straightlaced use of servant leadership creates trust, and inspires productivity benefiting their organization, their employees, and those around them. ReferencesNorthouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership Theory and practice (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA Sage.PSU WC. (2014). PSYCH 485 Lesson 11, Servant leadership. Retrieved November 8th, https//courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/fa14/psych485/001/toc.htmlSinek, Simon. (2014, March). Why good leaders make you feel safe Video file. Retrieved from http//www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_why_good_leaders_make_you_feel_safet-627531

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Essay -- John Steinbeck Mice Men Ess

Of Mice and Men by John SteinbeckJohn Steinbeck was born on 27 Feb 1902 in Salinas, California, not farfrom the area where Of Mice and Men is set. He attended StanfordUniversity, but never settled to one area of study and left withoutobtaining a degree.In his twenties, he pursued a varied working life, including that ofan itinerant ranch worker, similar to the characters portrayed in thenovel. His early writings had around succeeder, and established him as anauthor interested in social problems.Of Mice and Men was first published in 1937, and was immediatelysuccessful, earning Steinbeck a wide reputation.Steinbeck enjoyed even greater success with the full-length novel TheGrapes of Wrath (1939), which won him the Pulitzer Prize in 1940. Hewrote a number of other novels such as Cannery Row and In tentativeBattle, as tumefy as Short Stories such as The Red Pony and The Pearl.The latter cardinal stories are frequently studied as prepare texts.However, most critics agree that Stein becks later works dont quitematch up to his earlier efforts. Nevertheless, he was awarded theNobel Prize for Literature in 1962 ...for his realistic as well asimaginative writings, distinguished by a sympathetic humour and a keensocial perception..Steinbeck died 20 Dec 1968.Overall Plot.George and Lennie are two migrant American labourers, who share adream that one day they may buy a farm, and Lennie will be able totake keeping of the rabbits.Although Lennie is physically very strong and has the body of a man,he has the mind of a child.The two men arrive on a ranch pricy the town of Soledad, where they areabout to start work as barley buckers. On arriving there, they meetCandy, an old o... ...il the sof things that Lennie pets in the novel, showing thatthe petting grows more overserious as the novel goes on.Describe in some detail the incident where Lennie crushes Curleyshand. What does this incident reveal about each of these twocharacters?While Curley is physically raptorial towards Lennie, his wife issexually provocative. Show how these two characters create trouble forLennie, and combine to cause his death.M any(prenominal) people in the novel suffer from disappointment. Choose any threeof the following characters and discuss what reasons they have to bedisappointed about their life Crooks - Curley - George - CandyWhich character do you feel most sorry for in this story? Explain yourchoice by referring closely to the events of the novel.Slim is the only character in the novel who is not handicapped in someway. Do you agree?

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Essay -- John Steinbeck Mice Men Ess

Of Mice and Men by John SteinbeckJohn Steinbeck was born on 27 Feb 1902 in Salinas, California, not farthestfrom the area where Of Mice and Men is set. He attended StanfordUniversity, but never settled to one area of study and left withoutobtaining a degree.In his twenties, he pursue a varied working life, including that ofan itinerant ranch worker, similar to the characters portrayed in thenovel. His early writings had some success, and established him as anauthor elicit in social problems.Of Mice and Men was first published in 1937, and was immediatelysuccessful, earning Steinbeck a wide reputation.Steinbeck enjoyed even greater success with the full-length novel TheGrapes of Wrath (1939), which win him the Pulitzer Prize in 1940. Hewrote a number of other novels such as Cannery Row and In DubiousBattle, as well as small Stories such as The Red Pony and The Pearl.The latter dickens stories are frequently studied as school texts.However, most critics agree that Steinbecks late r full treatment dont quitematch up to his earlier efforts. Nevertheless, he was awarded theNobel Prize for Literature in 1962 ...for his realistic as well asimaginative writings, distinguished by a sympathetic humour and a keensocial perception..Steinbeck died 20 Dec 1968.Overall Plot.George and Lennie are two migrant American labourers, who share adream that one day they may buy a farm, and Lennie will be able totake care of the rabbits.Although Lennie is physically very strong and has the carcass of a man,he has the mind of a child.The two men arrive on a ranch near the town of Soledad, where they areabout to turn up work as barley buckers. On arriving there, they meetCandy, an old o... ...il the sof things that Lennie pets in the novel, showing thatthe petting grows more serious as the novel goes on.Describe in some detail the incident where Lennie crushes Curleyshand. What does this incident reveal about each of these twocharacters?While Curley is physically aggressive towa rds Lennie, his wife issexually provocative. Show how these two characters create trouble forLennie, and combine to cause his death.Many people in the novel suffer from disappointment. Choose any threeof the following characters and discuss what reasons they name to bedisappointed about their life Crooks - Curley - George - CandyWhich character do you feel most sorry for in this story? Explain yourchoice by referring closely to the events of the novel.Slim is the only character in the novel who is not handicapped in someway. Do you agree?

Ch 18

Chapter 18 Ethers & Epoxides Thiols and Sulfides Assigned Reading from McMurry Read Sections 18. 1 through 18. 9 not responsible for Focus on Epoxy Resins & Adhesives, pp. 697-698). Recommended Problems from McMurry 18. 1a-e18. 18. 218. 3a-d 18. 4 18. 5a-d 18. 6a-b 18. 7a-b 18. 8 18. 9 18. 10 18. 11 18. 12a,b 18. 13a,b 18. 14a-c 18. 16a-f 18. 17 18. 18 18. 19a-c 18. 20 18. 21 18. 22 18. 23a-e 18. 24a-I 18. 25a-f 18. 26a-d 18. 27 18. 28 18. 29ad 18. 30a-e 18. 31 18. 32 18. 33 18. 34 18. 35a-d 18. 36 18. 37 18. 38 18. 39 18. 40a,b 18. 41a-d 18. 2 18. 43 18. 44 18. 45 18. 45 18. 46 18. 47 18. 48 18. 49 18. 51 18. 52 18. 53 18. 54 18. 551-e 18. 56 18. 57 18. 58a-b 18. 59a-b 18. 60 18. 61. 18. 1 Names and Properties of Ethers Method A Simple ethers alphabetize if two organic substituents. CH3CH2OCH2CH3 Diethyl ether Methyl propyl ether O CH3CH2CH2OCH3 CH3 Methyl phenyl ether SP 18. 01 bequeath systematic names for the following ethers. CH3CH2OCH2CH2CH2CH3 O SP 18. 02 Provide social org anisations for the following systematic names. authoritative name Isopropyl phenyl ether Systematic name Cyclohexyl ethyl etherMethod B Other functional groups present, ether component is an alkoxy substituent. Alkoxy examples methoxy -OCH3, ethoxy -OCH2CH3, propoxy -OCH2CH2CH3, etc. O C H3 O CH3 O C H3 para-Dimethoxybenzene 3-Methoxy-1-cyclopentene SP 18. 03 Provide systematic names for the following complex ethers. OCH3 O CH2CH3 Cl SP 18. 04 Provide structures for the following systematic names. Systematic name meta-Bromopropoxybenzene Systematic name 1-Isopropoxycyclopentene 18. 2 Synthesis of Ethers The Williamson Ether Synthesis R + O an alkoxide C X R SN2 an alkyl halide methyl & 1o best(p) X = Cl, Br, I, OTos O C ether productExample O Na + Sodium phenoxide CH3 Br O CH3 Phenyl methyl ether (anisole) + Na Br + X SP 18. 05 fatten up the following chemical reactions. CH3 CH3 C O Na + CH3 I + Na I CH3 CH3 CH3 C CH3 I + Na O CH3 + Na I SP 18. 06 Provide the fit alkoxide and al kyl halide necessary to produce 2-ethoxy-2-methyl butane in good yield. CH3 CH3 CH2 C O CH3 CH2 CH3 + Na Br 8. 4 Oxymercuration Intermediates For laboratory-scale hydration of an alkene Use mercuric acetate in THF followed by sodium borohydride Markovnikov orientation via mercurinium ion Alkoxymercuration of alkenes General Reaction R C C 2) NaBH4 H C R EtherAlkene RO Step 1 RO C 1) Hg(OAc)2, ROH H g OA c C C Step 2 R + HOAc Markovnikov addition SP 18. 07 Complete the following reactions by displaying the final major organic product. H C 1) Hg(OAc)2, CH3OH H C 2) NaBH4 H CH3 CH3 C C H CH3 1) Hg(OAc)2, CH3OH 2) NaBH4 SP 18. 08 Specify the alkene and alcohol needed to produce the following ether. Alcohol OCH2CH3 1) Hg(OAc)2, CH3 2) NaBH4 Alkene 18. 3 Reactions of Ethers Acidic Ether Cleavage General Reaction HX C O C C OH + X C (strong acid) Ether Alcohol alkyl radical halide SP 18. 09 Predict the product for the following ether-cleavage reaction. CH3 CH3 C O CH3 HBr CH2CH3 8. 4 Reactions of Ethers Claisen Rearrangement O OH 1,3 O to C shift Thermodynamically more unchangeable o 250 allyl phenyl ether C9H10O ortho-Allyl phenol C9H10O Mechanism (involves six-membered transition state) 1 O TS 2 3 1 O 2 H keto-enol tautomerization 3 O H SP 18. 10 Predict the structure for the following Claisen rearrangement. O o 250 2-Butenyl phenyl ether C10H12O 18. 5 Cyclic Ethers Epoxides (2 methods) General Reaction 1 O C C + R Alkene C O O O O C H A peracid C An epoxide R C O A carboxylic acid unique(predicate) Example 1 O Cl C O O H m-CPBA o H O O + CH2Cl2, 25 C H 1,2-Epoxycycloheptane Cl H C O H 18. Cyclic Ethers Epoxides (2 methods) General Reaction 2 C OH X2, piss C C C X A halohydrin Alkene O NaOH water supply C + H2O + NaX C An epoxide Review Section 7. 3 Specific Example 2 H CH3 C C H CH3 cis-2-Butene Br2 H2O H CH3 Br C OH C H CH3 NaOH H2O O HC CH3 C H + H2O + NaBr CH3 meso-2,3-Dimethyl-oxirane (or cis-2,3-epoxybutane) SP 18. 11 Fill in the appropriate interme diates showing the correct stereochemistry. H CH3 C C CH3 Br2 NaOH H H2O H2O trans-2-Butene + H2O + NaBr 18. 6 Reactions of Epoxides Ring-Opening General epoxide structure O C Since each atom is sp3 there is considerable angle strain in the epoxide ring-system.C Acidic Conditions Epoxide opening low acerbic conditions (aqueous acid) yields 1,2-diols General Reaction H H O O C H C HO C H2O An epoxide C OH A 1,2-diol (glycol) H O C H C + O H H O C + C H O H H O H Specific Example (using symmetrical epoxide) H + H H3O OH H2O OH O H H trans-1,2-Cyclohexanediol SP 18. 12 Predict the correct structure of the product diol showing the correct stereochemistry. O H CH3 C C CH3 H trans-2,3-epoxybutane H3O+ H2O Note Epoxide opening under anhydrous acidic conditions yields halohydrins. Specific Example (2 and 1 snows) o 1 carbon o 2 carbon O CH3 H C C H H 1,2-EpoxypropaneOH HCl Et2O CH3 C Cl CH2 Cl + CH3 H 1-Chloro-2-propanol (90%) C CH2 OH H 2-Chloro-1-propanol (10%) SP 18. 13 Using the abov e model predict the major halohydrin. O H C H C HCl H Et2O O H C C H H HCl OH C Et2O H Cl CH2 Cl + C CH2 OH H Explanation In cases where a 2 carbon and a 1 carbon form the epoxide ring, the major halohydrin product will be the one where the early alcohol is 2 and the halide is 1. Upon protonation of the epoxide oxygen the halide ion simple attacks the less-hindered 1 carbon with a greater frequency to pass along the major regioisomer. Specific Example (3 and 1 carbons) SP 18. 4 Using the above model predict the major halohydrin. Circle one. O C C H H HCl OH C Et2O + C H Cl Cl H C OH C H H Explanation In cases where a 3 carbon and a 1 carbon form the epoxide ring, the major halohydrin product will be the one where the incipient alcohol is 1 and the halide is 3. Upon protonation of the epoxide oxygen the halogen attacks the more-stabilized (same as moresubstituted) carbon atom to give the major regioisomer described. Basic Conditions Note Nucleophile will always attack least-hindere d position. Specific Example o 3 carbon 1o carbon O CH3 CH3 C C H H OH NaOH H2O, ? CH3 C CH2 OH CH3 -Methyl-1,2-propanediol SP 18. 15 Predict the structure of the 1,2-diol from the following reaction. O C C H H NaOH H2O, ? Reaction with Grignard Reagents O CH3 CH3 C C H H OH 1) CH3CH2MgBr, Et2O 2) (aq) NH4Cl CH3 C CH2 CH3 CH2 CH3 SP 18. 16 Predict the structure of the organic product from the following Grignardepoxide reaction. O H C C H H 1) CH3MgBr, Et2O 2) (aq) NH4Cl Reaction with a 1 amine O H C OH CH2 H H2NCH2CH2CH3 C CH2 N CH2 CH2 H Reaction with a 2 amine O H C OH H H3C CH2 + N H3C H C CH2 N CH3 CH3 CH3 SP 18. 17 Predict the structure of the epoxide and amine needed to generate the amino alcohol shown to the right.OH + CH3 C CH3 Epoxide Amine CH2 N H 18. 7 Crown Ethers Large rings consisting of repeating (-OCH2CH2-) or similar units Named as x-crown-y x is the total number of atoms in the ring y is the number of oxygen atoms 18-crown-6 ether 18-membered ring containing 6 oxygen atoms Central cavity is electronegative and attracts cations 18. 8 Thiols and Sulfides Thiols (RSH), are atomic number 16 analogues of alcohols Named with the suffix -thiol SH group is called mercapto group (capturer of mercury) Thiols Formation and Reaction From alkyl halides by displacement with a sulfur nucleophile much(prenominal) as SH The alkylthiol product can undergo further reaction with the alkyl halide to give a symmetrical sulfide, giving a poorer yield of the thiol Sulfides Sulfides (RSR? ), are sulfur analogues of ethers Named by rules used for ethers, with sulfide in place of ether for simple compounds and alkylthio in place of alkoxy Using Thiourea to Form Alkylthiols Thiols can undergo further reaction with the alkyl halide to give dialkyl sulfides For a pure alkylthiol use thiourea (NH2(C=S)NH2) as the nucleophile This gives an intermediate alkylisothiourea salt, which is hydrolyzed cleanly to the alkyl thiourea Oxidation of Thiols to Disulfide s Reaction of an alkyl thiol (RSH) with bromine or atomic number 53 gives a disulfide (RSSR) The thiol is oxidized in the process and the halogen is reduced Sulfides Thiolates (RS? ) are formed by the reaction of a thiol with a base Thiolates react with primary or secondary alkyl halide to give sulfides (RSR) Thiolates are excellent nucleophiles and react with many electrophiles Sulfides as Nucleophiles Sulfur compounds are more nucleophilic than their oxygen-compound analogues 3p valence electrons (on S) are less tightly held than 2p electrons (on O) Sulfides react with primary alkyl halides (SN2) to give rialkylsulfonium salts (R3S+) Oxidation of Sulfides Sulfides are easily oxidized with H2O2 to the sulfoxide (R2SO) Oxidation of a sulfoxide with a peroxyacid yields a sulfone (R2SO2) Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is often used as a polar aprotic solvent 18. 9 Spectroscopy of Ethers Infrared CO single-bond stretching 1050 to 1150 cm? 1 overlaps many other absorptions. Prot on NMR H on a C next to ether O is shifted downfield to ? 3. 4 to ? 4. 5 The 1H NMR spectrum of dipropyl ether shows this signal at ? 3. 4 In epoxides, these Hs absorb at ? 2. 5 to ? 3. 5 in their 1H NMR spectra Carbon NMR Cs in ethers exhibit a downfield shift to ? 50 to ? 80 Lets Work a Problem When 2-methyl-2,5-pentanediol is treated with sulfuric acid, dehydration occurs and 2,2dimethyltetrahydrofuran is formed. Suggest a appliance for this reaction. Which of the two oxygen atoms is most likely to be eliminated and why? Answer First, there is protonation of the 3? OH group, then a 3? carbocation is formed via loss of H2O. whence there is a nucleophilic attack of the carbocation by the 2nd OH group. The 3? OH group is the one eliminated in all likelihood because its removal involves the formation of the more stable 3? carbocation.

Discuss the following Essay

A staff meeting has been called for all members of the administrative department at the hospital where you work. Due to a change in patients needs, the hours of operation need to be modified. Several scheduling options are presented and a decisiveness has to be made.Should this decision be made by a majority vote, or a consensus?Support your choice with reasoning from the decision making section on summon 98 of your GMC.I think that due to the time and hours of operation that it should be a majority vote for the reason or reasons outlined below1.Since thither is only the matter of counting votes, decisions can be reached much more quickly with majority rule.Majority rule does not require the same train of interpersonal communication. It is a democratic process which ultimately comes down to simple mathematics. This method of decision-making, outside of registration, is often anonymous. The nature of the process, in many cases, allows individuals to maintain their privacy, as others cannot know with certainty, for whom or what a person has voted.A disadvantage of majority rule is the majoritys ability to vote against the interests and preferences of those in the minority without those groups or individuals being heard or involved in the discussion. Those in the minority may be disenfranchised and remove themselves from the decision-making process because they are aware they do not have the numbers to win or significantly impact the vote.

Midterm 2 with Solutions Econ311

Intermediate Macroeconomics 311 (Professor Gordon) Final Examination Fall, 2009 YOUR NAME________________________________ INSTRUCTIONS 1. The exam lasts 2 hours. 2. The exam is worth 120 points in total 30 points for the manifold choice questions, 60 points for the analytical questions, and 30 points for the essays. 3. Write your answers to Part A (the multiple choice section) in the blanks on page 1.You wont get credit for circled answers in the multiple choice section. 4. Place all of your answers for disjoint B in the space provided. 5. You must show your work for part B questions. 6. Write your essays with a pen. Write understandablyly 7. Good Luck and Happy Holidays damp A (45 points) Choose the ONE alternative that BEST completes the statement or answers the question. Your answers must be in the space provided below. USE CAPITAL LETTERS. PART B (45 points) Please show your work and redeem down the formulas you use for par tial credit. Question 1 (5 points) (a) What monthly mark of inflation causes the wrong take to make up by a factor of 5 (500 percentage points) all over a year? (2 points) (HINT Use the LN and EXP formulas from Chapter 9, Problem 2, further examples of which were presented in lecture on November 11). victimisation the log formula p = light speed*log(5)/12 = 13. 4%. b) If the come out of monthly inflation is 25%, by what factor would prices capture risen over a year? (3 points) Lets call the initial price level P0 and the price level at the end of the year P12 25 = deoxycytidine monophosphate*log(P12/P0)/12 P12/P0 = exp(25*12/100) = 20. Question 2 (10 points) knock over an economy where inflation expectations are given by the equivalence pet = . 4 pt-1 + . 6 pet-1 . in like manner assume that when the log of the output ratio increases by 1 points, inflation increases by 4 points. a) Write down the SP equation, both its general form and its circumstantial form with thes e particular parameter assumptions inserted. (2 points) pt = pet + gYt-1 + zt = . 4pt-1 + . 6pet-1 + 4Yt-1 + zt ) Write down the DG equation (no need to derive anything, just write it down). (1 point) Y = Y-1 + pic p c) Combine the SP and DG equations to express p as a function of pt-1, pet-1, Yt-1,pict, and zt. (2 points) (HINT Your answer must necessitate p on the left side of the equation and terms not including current p on the right side, with all the relevant parameters inserted and solved out. ) p = 0. 4p-1 + 0. 6pe-1 + 4Y + z = 0. 4p-1 + 0. 6pe-1 + 4(Y-1 + pic p) + z 5p = 0. 4p-1 + 0. 6pe-1 + 4Y-1 + 4pic + z p = 0. 08p-1 + 0. 12pe-1 + 0. 8Y-1 + 0. 8pic + z For the re principal(prenominal)der of the problem, assume that in finis t=1 the economy has set given by p0 = 3pe0 = 3Y0 = 0 ) guess there is no depict shock in period 1 (z1 = 0) and that pic1 = 5. Solve for period 1 values p1 and Y1. (2 points) p1 = 0. 08(3) + 0. 12(3) + 0. 8(0) + 0. 8(5) + 0 = 4. 6 Y1 = 0 + 5 4. 6 = 0. 4 e) Suppose instead that there is a period 1 supply shock that increases the value of z from 0 in period 0 to 1 in period 1. Find the period 1 values p1,pic1 and Y1 as well as the expected period 2 inflation, pe2, if the government adopts an accommodating policy. (3 points) Accommodating policy means Y1 = 0, so from the DG equation p1 =pic1 and from the SP equation p1 = . 4(3) + . 6(3) + 4(0) + 1 = 4 = pic1 pe2 = . 4(4) + . 6(3) = 3. 4 Question 3 (15 points)Consider a country whose primal Bank issued 100$ of High-Powered cash (H). Citizens cash holdings (dollar bills) amount to 10% (. 1) of their deposits plot of ground each commercial bank has to have militia for 15% (. 15) of the volume of deposits. a) What is the level of deposits? (2 points) D = H/(c+e) = 100/(. 1+. 15) = 400 b) What is the level of the Money Supply defined as dollar bills and deposits? (3 points) M = (1+c)D = 1. 1*400 = 440 c) Suppose the Central Bank wants to increase Money Supply to 528. How ma ny extra wholes of High-Powered Money do they have to circulate? (4 points) M = (1+c) H / (c+e) 528 = 1. 1 H / . 25 H = 120 So they should print 20 extra units of H ) Assume now that the Central Bank still wants to set the Money Supply to 528 but the Government forbids them from printing High-Powered Money. What option is left to the Central Bank? (Hint restrict your attention to this simplified modelling where there is zip like direct lending or any opposite exotic policy) (2 points) Change the reserve requirement e) Given your suggested policy, which of the parameters of the model would they be changing? To which radical value? (Remember that here H=100 and cannot be changed by assumption and M=528) (4 points) M=(1+c) H / (c+e) 528=1. 1 * 100 / (. 1 + e) e=. 1083 = 10. 8% Question 4 (15 points) Consider two nations, Richland and Poorland.Both nations have the equivalent Cobb-Douglass production function, Y=AKbN(1-b). Let Poorland have an economy with technology level A=18, c hapiter elasticity of production b=(1/3), population development invest n=. 13, chief city depreciation graze d=. 07, and savings rate s=. 3 a) Rewrite the production function as a function relating Y/N and K/N. (2 points) Y/N = A(K/N)b = 2(K/N)(1/3) b) Solve for the steady state values of the capital-labor ratio (K/N) and per-capita gross domestic product (Y/N). (6 points) s(Y/N) = (n+d)(K/N) sA(K/N)b = (n+d)(K/N) (K/N) = sA/(n+d)1/(1-b) (K/N) = . 1*18 /(. 2)3/2=27 (Y/N) = (n+d)(K/N)/s (Y/N) = (. 2)(27)/. 1=54 c) Richland has a per-capita GDP that is triple that of Poorland. Given hat Richland has the same production function as Poorland, the capital-labor ratio in Richland is what multiple of the capital-labor ratio in Poorland? (In other words, if Poorland has a capital-labor ratio of K/N= x and Richland has a ratio of K/N= y, what is y/x? ). (3 points) pic d) Compute the marginal products of capital in the two nations. (3 points) MPK = b(Y/N)/(K/N) MPKA = (1/3)(54)/(27)=2/3=. 6667 MPKb = (1/3)(162)/(729)=2/81=. 0247 e) judge from your answer in part (d), does the Solow model predict that poor countries have a higher or start rate of return on capital? (1 point) The Solow model predicts a higher rate of return for poor countries.This is one of the critiques of the Solow growth model. PART C (30 points) WRITE YOUR NAME AND ID NUMBER ON YOUR good-for-nothing BOOK. As stated on the syllabus (p. 3) and in numerous in-class and e-mailed reminders, you must write your answers in pen not pencil. This is a single multi-part essay question. You should write in your blue book for 30 minutes. 1. Write a coherent essay on the causes of the 2008-09 recession and on the policy reactions to this event. Your essay should cover the future(a) specific points a. First, establish the facts. What were similarities in the duration and magnitude of the 2001 recession and subsequent recovery as compared to the 2008-09 recession and recovery so far?Include comments on GDP, t he GDP gap, labor market variables, and any other distinguishing features of these two episodes. b. What were the most important causes of the 2008-09 recession? Include comments on which causes were the same as in the 2001 recession, and which were different. c. In what sense, if any, did financial or fiscal policy partially contribute to the causes of the 2008-09 recession? d. Evaluate the response of mo terminateary policy since early 2008. What were the similarities and differences between this response and the mo winary policy response to postwar recessions in 2001 and earlier? What aspects would you praise or pick apart? e.Evaluate the response of fiscal policy since early 2008. What aspects would you praise or criticize? Multiple Choice Questions Make sure to write you answers on the blanks on page 1 1. The current account includes all of the following except A) net exports B) net income from abroad C) net unilateral transfers D) foreign direct investment 2. In what way was the international economy cited as a source of the U. S. housing bubble in 2003-06? A) cheaper prices of imported building materials B) support of dollar by foreign central banks C) immigration of skilled foreign construction workers D) high cave in of top executives of foreign investment banks 3.Which of the following were not cited in the course as a reason for France and other European nations to be reluctant to evidence an Obama-like fiscal stimulus for their own countries? A) high unemployment in Europe B) low fiscal multipliers C) social welfare system D) unemployment insurance system 4. Suppose we have an economy in which G = 1100, t = 0. 26, Y = 3800, and YN = 4000. At Y the difference between the actual deficit and structural deficit is A) 60. B) 112. C) -172. D) -112. E) 52. 5. The failure of U. S. net exports to improve dramatically in the mid 1980? s despite the weakening of the dollar suggests that A) U. S. industries supply of competitive goods was inelastic over the period.B) LDC debt repayment schedules and lack of financial support kept U. S. exports low. C) NCIs maintained fixed exchange rates vis a vis the dollar and U. S. exports low. D) All of the above. 6. In the reading period assignments from the Economist, the United States is faulted relative to Europe and lacquer for each of the following reasons except A) labor and capital markets B) primary and secondary education C) personal saving rate D) infrastructure 7. In the reading period article about France, the French are praised for each of the following reasons except A) infrastructure B) household debt C) output growth rate D) medical care system 8. The mechanism of ? international crowding-out? s that a government budget deficit ________ the domestic arouse rate, which makes the dollar ________ expensive for foreigners, which then ________ net exports. A) raises, less(prenominal)(prenominal), lowers B) raises, less, raises C) raises, more, lowers D) lowers, less, lowers E) l owers, more, raises 9. Which of the following personal effects takes place as a result of automatic stabilization? A) extra tax revenues are generated in a boom. B) tax revenues remain constant during a recession. C) leakages increase during a recession, helping to stimulate the economy. D) Both A and C are correct. 10. If the Federal Reserve intervenes in the foreign-exchange markets and buys foreign currencies A) the U. S. oney supply rises and foreign currencies depreciate. B) the U. S. bills supply falls and foreign currencies depreciate. C) the U. S. money supply rises and foreign currencies appreciate. D) the U. S. money supply falls and foreign currencies appreciate. 11. Activists-believe that AD is unstable because A) business and consumer attitudes and expectations shift. B) monetary policy is variable. C) fiscal policy effects are unpredictable. D) Both B and C are correct. 12. Assuming constant wages implies that A) an increase in the price of goods raises kale and SAS is vertical. B) a decrease in the price of goods lowers profits and SAS is horizontal.C) an increase in the price of goods lowers profits and SAS is vertical. D) an increase in the price of goods raises profits and SAS is positively sloped. pic 13. Consider the above figure with equilibrium initially at E0. If the money supply is change magnitude and prices are flexible, in the short run prices and output pass on ___. In the long run output and prices will ___. A) be as at E2 return to E0. B) be as at E1 be as at E2. C) be as at E2 be as at E3 D) be as at E2 be as at E1. E) be as at E1 be as at E3. 14. According to the readings, a common feature of the Great Depression and the recent economic crisis was A) mortgage credit B) deposit insurance C) unemployment rate D) monetary policy 15.The sources of the current problems of running monetary policy are often cited as A) Quantitative easing B) Zero lower bound C) redundance bank reserves D) A) and B) E) B) and C) 16. An acceleration of nominal GDP growth from, say 4% to 6% will A) permanently raise the rate of inflation. B) temporarily lower the rate of inflation. C) leave actual GDP unaffected in the long run. D) Both A and C. 17. The short-run Phillips Curve gives A) the actual short-run level of real GDP and inflation. B) all possible combinations of real GDP and inflation, for a given set of expectations. C) all possible combinations of real GDP and inflation, for fully adjusted expectations. D) the response of real GDP and inflation to supply shocks. 18.The Fed is criticized for the one-way option regarding asset bubbles. The criticism is that the Fed __________ when asset prices increase and __________ when asset prices decrease A) raises provoke rates lowers entertain rates B) leaves interest rates idempotent leaves interest rates unchanged C) raises interest rates leaves interest rates unchanged D) leaves interest rates unchanged lowers interest rates E) lowers interest rates raises interest rates 19. Which of the following was not a source of the Great Moderation, according to the schoolbook? A) growth rate rule for money supply B) financial deregulation in late 1970s, early mid-eightiesC) magnitude of supply shocks after early 1980s D) government military make iting 20. In the short-run, the impact of an adverse supply shock is to A) reduce real GDP and leave the inflation rate unchanged if the growth of nominal GDP remains the same. B) reduce real GDP and leave the inflation rate unchanged if the growth of nominal GDP is trim enough. C) maintain the same level of real GDP and reduce the inflation rate if the growth if nominal GDP is increased enough. D) All of the above. 21. According to the textbook, the main losers due to the redistributive effect of the postwar inflation in the United States were A) households. B) corporations. C) government. D) A) and B) 22. Disgruntled? workers who quit their jobs to find ? a more reasonable boss? are experiencing A) involuntary u nemployment. B) mismatch unemployment. C) cyclical unemployment. D) turnover unemployment. 23. Policy solutions to mismatch unemployment include A) fiscal policies to raise the AD curve B) monetary policies to raise the AD curve C) policies other than fiscal and monetary policies D) accommodative policies to deal with supply shocks 24. Over a year, the money supply in a nation grew by 6 percent, while velocity rose by 2 percent and real GDP rose by 3 percent. This results in an inflation over the year of ________ percent. A) 5 B) 11 C) 1D) 7 25. The the Feds quantitative easing after mid-2008 is not described by A) increased open-market purchases of Treasury securities B) increased open-market purchases of private securities C) increased open-market purchases of corporate stock D) A) and B) E) A) and C) 26. Which of the following increased by the largest percentage between mid-2007 and mid-2009? A) excess bank reserves B) M2 C) high-powered money D) total bank reserves E) M1 pic 27. Initially, the economy is at point G in the figure above. An increase in per capita savings from s0 to s1 will in the short run result in ________ and in the long run result in ________.A) excess per capita saving more rapid growth in per capita output B) excess per capita saving less rapid growth in per capita output C) more rapid growth in per capita output more rapid growth in per capita output D) more rapid growth in per capita output no change in the long run rate of growth in per capita output 28. Which of the following will not affect steady state per capita income in the Solow growth theory? A) The savings rate. B) The initial capital stock. C) The population growth rate. D) The production function. 29. The Solow growth model predicts that nations that are initially poor should have A) slower growth rates than nations that are rich. B) faster growth rates than nations that are rich. C) growth rates stir to those of nations that are rich. D) negative growth rates. 30.Two re adings in the course packet for Chapter 11 cite a particular technological innovation for improved economic growth in poor tropical countries. This is A) television B) internet C) mobile phones D) new drugs to fight malaria 31. Several structural changes that occurred over the past two decades were a origin of lectures. Which of the following was not one of these changes? A) greater importance of structural unemployment and less importance of frictional unemployment B) smaller response of core inflation to oil price shocks C) larger decline of employment to declines in output in recessions D) larger increase of productivity to increase in output in recoveries E) More trustfulness on wage flexibility rather than layoffs in 2008-09 recession 32.In the Cobb-Douglas production function Y=AKbL1-b, the variable A has several different names. Which of the following is not one of them? A) autonomous growth factor. B) infrastructure. C) multifactor productivity. D) residual. 33. The formu la for the growth rate of multifactor productivity is A) a = y + bk + (1 b)n. B) y = a + bk + bn. C) a = y bk (1 b)n. D) y = a b/k(1 b)n. 34. Which of the following does not affect multifactor productivity? A) a tax on low-efficiency firms B) a higher saving rate C) Environmental regulation. D) Technological progress. 35. Relative growth rates of the standard of living in the United States and Europe indicate that workers in ________ have chosen to ? spend? _______ of their higher productivity on leisure rather than on consumption of market goods and services. A) Europe, a significant part B) the United States, a significant part C) Europe, almost none D) the United States, almost all 36. Which of the following would cause labor? s share of national income to decrease? A) Labor productivity increases less rapidly than the real wage rate. B) Labor productivity increases more rapidly than the real wage rate. C) Labor productivity has increased at the same rate as the real wage r ate. D) Labor? s share of national income is not affected by the relative growth rates of labor productivity and the real wage rate. 37.Once monetary policy is dedicated to controlling the level of nominal GDP, then fiscal policy can be used to A) look at the overall level of interest rates, with a high budget surplus implying a high level of interest rates. B) choose the overall level of interest rates, with a high budget deficit implying a high level of interest rates. C) control the rate of inflation, with a high budget surplus implying a faster rate of inflation. D) control the rate of inflation, with a high budget deficit implying a faster rate of inflation. 38. A major side-effect of a excitant fiscal policy is that it will A) discriminate in favor of housing. B) crowd out private expenditures.C) increase the natural rate of unemployment. D) permanently raise the rate of inflation. 39. Which of the following was a policy of Roosevelts New Deal which is not a part of the Obam a stimulus package? A) tax reductions B) infrastructure improvements C) Direct hinderance to stop financial institutions from failing D) Federal government direct hiring of the unemployed 40. The Barro-Ricardo Equivalence Theorem assumes all of the following except A) Individuals value the welfare of their heirs as more than as their own welfare. B) Interest rates will remain constant. C) All individuals have children D) Markets for consumer housing and durable goods are perfect. 41.Which of the following will cause the employment that the Social Security trust fund runs out of money to be pushed further into the future? A) A decrease in the rate of real GDP growth. B) An increase in the population growth rate. C) A decrease in the growth of the real wage. D) All of the above. 42. A fixed money-supply rule will have the greatest stabilizing effect on output when A) money demand is unstable and commodity demand is stable. B) both money and commodity demand are unstable. C) both mo ney demand and commodity demand are stable. D) the velocity of money is unstable. 43. M1 is a definition of money largely confined to which function(s) of money? A) unit of account B) store of valueC) medium of exchange D) B and C. 44. In the empirical validation of the theory of the political business cycle discussed in lecture, which of the following variables calculated over the year before the election has been the best predictor of the outcomes of presidential elections? A) the unemployment rate B) the inflation rate C) the growth rate of per capita real GDP D) the level of the federal government fiscal deficit 45. In the empirical validation of the theory of the political business cycle discussed in lecture, which of the following elections is a clear outlier as violating that empirical evidence? A) 1932 B) 1936 C) 1972 D) 1992 E) 2000

American Religion

Religion might be considered as a means or method of expressing ones belief in and devotion to a being or entity that transcends the human individual. The idea of an the Statesn devotion is sustainable to a certain degree, as historically the commonwealth has been subject to the developing influence of certain handed-down religious groups.However, because of the splintering of religion as well as the desire to keep the nation free from religious tyranny, it has also been apparent that the unite States exists without every governing or unifying religious requirement. Furthermore, if one considers religion to be expressed through belief in and devotion to a particular being, entity, or idea, then the United States might be seen to be populated by a group of persons who devote themselves to several different ideologies, so that no unity American religion exists.Yet despite these dissenting views, when one judges by the underlying sen erants of the majority of the nation toward non-P rotestant religions, as well as the existence of pick out or appointed officials of the Protestant arm of Christianity in governmental positions, it might be said that the overarching religion of the United States is in fact Protestant Christianity. The United States was first populated in the seventeenth century by Pilgrims and Puritans who sought liberation from tyrannical oppression specifically through the freedom to practice their non-conformist Protestant religion (Seelye, 58).These persons sought to build a community based on the religious practices they desired the freedom to perform. The fact that these advocates of the Christian religion were founders of the American nation gives credence to the idea that the American religion is steeped in Christianity. Certainly, the laws that govern the society are based on many laws advocated by the religion. The actions of the American settlers during and subsequent to the time of the Pilgrims also point toward Protestant and Non-Con formist Christianity being the religion of the United States.Expansion was often effected through the missionary efforts of Americans, who acted in the name of Christianity as well as of the United States. Other factors that lead to the idea of Protestantism as being the religion of America are the prevailing fear and distrust of Catholicism that has existed within the terra firma throughout its years (Carty, 11). This fear has been seen in several areas, but is markedly represented in the sentiments surrounding the election to the U. S. presidency of John F. Kennedy (11).This president was cognize to be a Catholic, and during his candidacy, his affiliation with that religion was widely considered a significant barrier to his election. Father Thurston Davis, editor-in-chief of the Jesuit magazine America, made a telling gossiper concerning JFK and the religious sentiments of the general American population. He said Kennedy had been found to conduct himself more or less as almost any Catholic electric chair might have been expected to conduct himself in a land largely dominated by a strong residual Protestant usage (Catholic view, 1962).Other politicians and leaders, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, have been known to oppose American governmental support of Catholic schools (Carty, 69), and this too gives the impression that Protestantism might be considered Americas religion. It is also possible to oppose the idea of Christianity or any other religion as being the religion of the American body politic. It has been argued that the United States opus forbids the imposition of religion of any sort upon an individual residing in the earth ( tender).Therefore, no form of religion should, according to the American constitution, be required in schools, courts, or any other governmentally run or chartered institution. This gives the impression that the United States has no particular religion, as this separation of church and state was mandated in an effort to prese rve the practice of all varieties of religion within the country. However, one may still counteract this idea of Americas not entertaining Christianity as its state religion when one considers the continued existence of chaplains in sex act and in the military.This points to the existence of a double standard, and hints that although America pretends to be welcoming of all religions and partial to none, a strong undercurrent of devotion to the peculiarly Protestant brand of Christianity still exists within the country. According to John spring chicken in his essay entitled Why Does Congress Still Have a Chaplain, James Madison had warned way back when that Catholics and other non-Protestants had virtually no chance of serving in such a capacity. Since then, only two Catholics have been House chaplain. No Jews. No Hindus. No Muslims. No Buddhists. No surprise. Young expresses the idea that since so many Americans are at least nominally or traditionally affiliated to Protestant orga nizations, the existence of any chaplain in the U. S. Congress would lead to the appointment of mainly the religious representatives of Protestant Christianity to fill that position. Since this has proven to be the case, one might argue that despite opinions to the contrary, the official American religion is in fact Protestant Christianity. The separation of church and state, which is considered to be advocated by the United States Constitution, points toward Americas having no official religion.The fact that prayer and sacred scripture reading is now restricted within schools and other governmental institutions would give the impression that Christianity is certainly not the religion of choice for most Americans. Yet, America was founded by a group of people whose main reason for crossing the Atlantic was to garner the freedom to practice their Protestant religion. Furthermore, the existence of strong anti-Catholic sentiments throughout the country and the continued existence chap lain positions in governmental bodies defies this idea. This points instead to the presence of a deeply Protestant tradition to which most Americans adhere.References Carty, T. A Catholic in the etiolate House? Religion, politics, and John. F. Kennedys presidential campaign. New York Palgrave-MacMillan, 2004. Catholic view of JFK. Time (in partnership with CNN). 19 January 1962. 29 April 2007. http//www. time. com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,895853,00. html Seelye, John. depots Nation The Place of Plymouth Rock. Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press, 1998. Young, John. Why Does Congress Still Have a Chaplain. Sun Networks. December 1999. 29 April 2007. http//www. sun winningsworks. net/ggarman/young. htm

Development, Influence and Impact

As parents we continue wondering if the step upside influences will be a positive influence on our clawren as they form relationships. This paper compares the dusts of the Bacteriological Model of Human Development by providing examples of the influences on a childs growth of standard and irregular development in children as well as puberty, the interaction between cognitive, physical, and psycho tender development and its ability to influence all over totally child development. Development The model of human development has been summarized through Erie Frontbencher whizz of the worlds foremost professionals in the field of developmental psychology.Within the writings of Frontbencher it is understood that his belief in the development of children is not Just one thing or system Frontbencher reports there are numerous outside influences that help mold the childs personality/character (1990). The Microsystems stands for the connotations concerning other Microsystems. For example, how the family relates to the civilise, church as well as to how the family interact with their peers. The Ecosystem associates the kindly setting that a person does not prolong an active role. For example, a spouses or youths knowledge at home possibly will be swayed by a moms Involvements at work.For instance lets say the mom received an advancement that necessitates additional travel, this could cause an argument between she and the husband that in turns changes the communicating all use with to each one other. When addressing the Microsystems we address the culture In which persons live. Everyones Microsystems grows and changes over time, each continual peer convocation could change the Microsystems that Is unique to each person (Call, R. V. , & Caving, J. C. 2010). The Imitating of bionomical actions In Dalton to the changes that occur such as divorce Is an example of the final system called the Chronometers.Influence It is clear along with the usual role of educating sc hools have a bun in the oven a larger part to fiddle in the progress of our children. However, they throw outnot and should not be the only responsible fragment of our childrens education/development. Along with the incorporated into the Micro-system which makes a childs Microsystems complete (Beer 2000). When communication is poor between different micro-systems, more gig risk people develop and are more unlikely to adjust in the general public. To pass by the best outcomes for a child, stimulating yet active styles must be combined in the teaching method.The family is the most powerful unit of the Microsystems and such as controls how the youth performs in school. For that reason it demands that the school and the family interact to yield the best results. The family generates an inspiring atmosphere by get entangled with their childrens accomplishments (Addison 1992). The parental/school coaction exists because it is the general public that allocates all the means to the school. Furthermore, the public also defines what material and which programs will be used in the school curriculum.Unfortunately in many of our school districts children do not have an equal playing field nor do they have the opportunity to succeed as well as learn equally as individuals. One of the key reasons for this is directly traced to the childs socioeconomic standing a familys socioeconomic status is based on family income, parental education level, parental occupation, in addition to their social status within the community. According to Frontbencher (1990), outcomes uncovered that children from top(prenominal) class cultures have a better chance of success than children of low income families.In addition, upper class individuals have the chance to go to better schools with better/healthier services. However, not all children who come from poor gagegrounds are assured to fail further then the following circumstances need to be accessible there needs to be an atmosphere at home that stimulates the child to study, the family sets reasonably extravagantly expectations for their children as well as the family is involved with the child in avian fun, recognizing the accomplishments of the child and then praising the child for their effort.One of the main barriers for lower class families is the miss of ability to enroll their children in extracurricular activities, for example, after school programs, summer camps etc. I agree with Beer (2000) when stating the experience or impact the child brings with them into the classroom burn be in itself an incentive or motivating factor for success. Children from poor backgrounds will try to be successful so that they can pull the difficulties that they have experienced.On the other hand, since children with upper class parents have many more opportunities than those from a lower income status, they may see no need to work hard. In this case, chance has no part to play in how well a child does in school. Nee d is what drives children to grab the chances that come their way. Just as it is utter that not all poor children will fail in becoming successful not all upper class children have had the proverbial spoon feeding. Brotherlinesss biological methods are focused on the quality as well as circumstance of the childs surroundings.He states that as a child ages, the message inside these surroundings come to be more complicated. This complexity can increase as the childs physical and cognitive structures grow and develop. For example, our economy has moved from a manufacturing model to a technical model however the designs of the gloweringice have been determined by the faith of the manufacturing work code. Adults/parents are likely to work a schedule that revolves enables workers to be free of manual labor should free them from the time, place boundary restriction which would allow more participation from parents. ImpactOur views of learning and development have changed dramatically o ver the past several decades. Our perspective has changed from seeing learning as an individual and passive experience to recognizing learning as an active, dynamic and developmental process. We now generalise learning and growth as happening surrounded by a broader context of persons, places, and natural settings. Family life in this country has taken a back seat to the needs of the workplace. Also the debt model used to decide the level of support allowed by the public to low income familys needs to be review, and revised.Adults must presage themselves to need in order to meet the requirements for help that may possibly have come about because of our national price of freedom. The more amount of hardship reported means a larger amount of possible support the family could receive. If it is not enough we ask the family to demoralize themselves by taking what pride they have we expect them to have the mental strength to climb up the thread that had been thrown for assistance. The volatility and impulsiveness of family life that we have let our budget generate is the great damaging force to a childs growth (Addison, 992).Children do not have the endless interaction with real adults that is necessary for their development. According to Frontbencher we must nurture social outlooks that value work completed on behalf of children at all levels patisseries, educators, extended family, counselors, work administrators, lawmakers. The bio ecological systems theory combines sociology and thinking, through persons, and their surroundings influencing one another. Families continue to struggle balancing work and family micro-system and ex. system.Laws pressure and even est. the very existence of some people, for example, migrant inhabitants who cannot live together with their relatives micro-system and macro-system treacherous regions or possibly schools that create grand and disloyal troposphere for families and children micro-system and macro-system. Brotherlinesss model shows how the individual matures inside, how the person is swayed and also by identifying the affects the systems Coloratura context. Relationships and Interactions To have the greatest effect, supports need to be flexible, balancing one another, moving in and out of their comfort zone.Collaborating with an available set of community wide assets that support learning as well as adult influences on the childs community growth this can be divided into direct and indirect patterns of influence. Direct influence is linked with a parent or caregivers personal intervention or guidance of a young childs social attitudes, reactions and behaviors. Indirect influence is related with a parents or caregivers example and the atmosphere he or she creates for children to comprehend in addition to inadvertence social contacts.Parents and other adults influence children in both direct and indirect ways. For example, a parent could help a child Join a group of children playing a game together this is an example of a direct influence. An indirect example could look like a teacher who spent a little time counseling a specific student while other students observed they come to the conclusion through this observation that the teacher who was expense the time with their friend is now seen as approachable. With social examples. Parents and other adults often are unconscious teachers of young children.Young children may sift through and cast off the information parents or other adults consciously try to teach them. But the pattern a parent or caregiver demonstrates in how to treat others tends to lead a more powerful and lasting impression. Practice Positive Discipline, the discipline style of parents or caregivers can have a large influence on childrens social skills. Children seem to learn how to interact with others from the model their parents use with them. A very important action a caregiver can give to each child is finding playmates for their children, setting play da tes for their children.Enrolling children in organized social activities, such as swimming, soccer, preschool, 4-H clubs, helping children achieve access to a social role by making introductions, participating in a game with other children, etc. Encouraging children to practice appropriate social interaction, such as communion toys, asking for favors, saying please and thank you, in addition to arranging and organizing a play group that meets regularly, providing your home or yard for a play environment, giving some supervision to the play Parents and caregivers can model positive conflict resolution for children.If possible, parents and other adults should use disputes as an opportunity to teach ND demonstrate peaceful ways of negotiating and compromising to children. Parents and caregivers can step in to help children negotiate differences with others and mediate for them as needed when they are not getting along with others. Model effective conflict resolution and encourage app ropriate behavior. Be a positive example of working through conflict or differences with others.Practice parental coaching, which involves varying levels of supervision based on a childs age and needs, and superseding as needed when social situations become too challenging for young child to manage. Supervision of social interactions should become less intense and less obvious as children grow older, taking place more from a distance. With older children, children can be coached on their interpersonal relationships in private and with follow-up.Coaching and supervision may inhibit social development if done harshly for example, if the parent is overly involved poor boundaries or uses physical force or aggressive verbal communication to intervene. Conclusion While there is no crystal ball and only hinder(prenominal) sight is 20/20, the birth of a child signifies the beginning of a new life. New lives that are unprotected and will be subjected to several significant experiences that will play have a major influence on the growth of the child.Even though every child born is different from any other we have discussed the one constant that all children need weather they come from a family of means or a family that has little to offer financially. Children are spirit for the affirmations that should be present within their home and with the child/parent/ caregiver relationship. However when the person is missing that bond he or she will odd man out for attention in unsuitable places and unfortunately especially in adolescence they will learn anti-social behavior, display a lack of self-discipline, as well as have the inability to provide self-direction (Addison, 1992).

Bystander Behavior and Concepts Essay

Research reveals that the feeling of guilt can spur on the behaviour of back uping. For instance, a survivor of a terrorist attack may be guilty of going to assist others.Lack of Personal RelationshipIdeally, bystanders are more likely to assist when the know the person. In the case of emergency, people in the problem people may make personalized response even if strangers are keeping a distance.The bystanders presence in the scene of emergency limits the likelihood of any person will display any response to assist in violence. Schöllnberger, Mitchel, Redpath, Crawford-Brown & Hofmann, (2007) notes that contrary to common sense, there is no safety in bystander in the presence of the bystander because they see and assume someone else will take responsibility. Both social norm and diffusion explanations predict a reduction in helping behaviour when a bystander is present.Pro-Social BehaviourThe psychological foundations of the pro-social behaviour are beneficial for doing my furth er research in my field of study. Besides, it can similarly assist me achieve my educational, criminal justice and social work in line of profession. More importantly, the theoretical collar with practical implications can assist me in improving my health and philanthropy. The concept teaches the principles of help, sharing and giving that are all important for social relationships and assisting and being of benefit for one another in the ordination and finally feel good.Social NormsThe principle of the social norm argues that people use other peoples actions to decide on when to help. Learning and understanding the social norms in the society will help me develop moral behaviour and learn how to make curate decisions. Making wiser choices is important for life developments and benefits of decisions. secular humanismHumanistic psychology refers to a psychological perspective that major on the study of a person referred to as holism. The approach argues that the behavior of an ind ividual is connected to his inner self-image and feelings. According to the humanistic perspective, every individual is unique and individual and is at liberty to change his or her lives at any moment. Because of the center assimilate of the person or her or his personal, subjective perception and experiences of the world, the humanists argue that the scientific methods are inappropriate to study the behaviour. The most influential theory of holism is the cognitive theory (Schöllnberger, Mitchel, Redpath, Crawford-Brown & Hofmann, 2007). The theory is relevant to my current and future life. Besides, the theory revolves around the studying of the mental process of acquiring knowledge. Since it deals with the perception attention and memory, it will help me achieve and maintain general healthy lifestyle. The theory can be used to analyze mental illness hence providing healthy lifestyle.Behaviorist linear perspectiveBehaviorists view people as controlled by the environment. Besi des, it mentions that we are the result of what we have learnt in our environment. The perspective is important for learning how stimuli affect observable behaviour. The perspective highlights operative conditioning in which people learn from consequences and classical conditioning in which people learn by association. The perspective is beneficial for getting better academic and life grades. Understanding the concepts of learning will assist me achieve better learning procedures for justifying better grades.ReferenceSchöllnberger, H., Mitchel, R. E. J., Redpath, J. L., Crawford-Brown, D. J., & Hofmann, W. (November 01, 2007). Detrimental and Protective Bystander Effects A stick Approach. Radiation Research, 168, 5, 614-626.Source document

“Interests” and Accounting Standard Setting in Malaysia

AAAJ 12,3 Interests and history system measuring rod stage oscilloscope in Malaysia Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Keywords history professing, Malaysia, Standards everywherecharge This paper offers insights into the conflicts and ten-spotsions within the Malaysian business relationship profession and the government agency struggle on that takein to dominate the bill banner desktop process, within the context of a rapidly developing area.It shows how rice beer groups and parochial interests, along with issues of self-protection, affected the process of trite setting, which was controlled by different interests over the period on a lower floor study. At ace quantify the profession dominated. precisely far from creation a monolithic be, it was in turn split according to various interests the plumping sixer lowlife the Malaysian Association of Certified Public controllers (MACPA) and the smaller firms behi nd the Malaysian get of Accountants (MIA).At other times big business prevailed. These conflicts and power struggles ar revealed through and through an analysis of the illustration of the seemliness score Standard. Selvaraj D. Susela 358 Introduction This paper offers an cause of the struggle within the bill profession for control of the sample setting process, in the context of a developing nation. The focus on example setting is specially geared to reveal the impact of that process on the profession, foodstuff, earth and community, and frailty versa.Susela (1996) illustrates that because models clearly impact on practitioners (the profession), it is hardly surprising that they develop interests around type setting, whether expressed through accounting system connecters or firms. The standard setting force field is here(predicate) ascertained as a site of struggle between interest groups, both within the profession and bulgeside it. To date, no such study has be en make of the Malaysian accountancy and standard setting do mains. In particular, there has been very little scholarly analysis of events discussed here. The paper follows the actors and institutions involved in setting an accounting tandard based on grace of God, through a grounded study of the policy makers and their social context. The focus of the analysis is non the technical aspects of grace of God accounting merely preferably the process by which the standard was adopted. The analysis below highlights conflict within the profession, in particular the power struggle between vested interest groups the cosmic half(prenominal) a dozen and the smaller firms, or rather the chartered (including CPAs) and the non-chartered accountants. The author would like to thank the anonymous re medical prognosisers and the guest editor of this special edition for comments and suggestions that improved this article substantially.I withal accredit the helpful comments of participants a t the Fifth Interdisciplinary Perspectives in business relationship Conference, University of Manchester, UK, 7-9 July, 1997. The visions expressed in this paper are completely the responsibility of the author. Accounting Auditing & obligation Journal, Vol. 12 No. 3, 1999, pp. 358-387. MCB University Press, 0951-3574 The grace Standard is an eminently suitable vehicle for confirmable Accounting analysis. First, it is an issue which has been of concern to standard setters and standard setting regulators in Malaysia since 1971.Second, it is too intimately linked with the in Malaysia dynamical gain of the Malaysian scrimping and the shift in the put ups objectives over the last 20 to 30 years. As these read recently involved encouragement of the corporate sector, a powerful group affected by, and 359 impinging upon, standard setting, tracking the state of grace issue is a way of analysing the corporate sectors entry into the standard setting process. Third, the historical analysis captures the changing attitudes to topical anaesthetic initiatives versus overseas influences over time.Fourth, this is the just now standard which was considered controversial at the time of the study. The existence of dickens accountancy bodies, the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) set up in 1967 by the verbalise as a statutory body to regulate the accounting profession, and the Malaysian Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA) set up as a private association in 1958, complicates the nonion of interests. The conflicts border the twain major lord bodies became the focal point as each strove to dominate the standard setting process. For a time, the MIA and MACPA collaborated on the GoodwillStandard. The outcome was the Malaysian Accounting Standard (MAS) 6, which required the amortisation of goodwill over 25 years. However, MIA adopted the standard in 1993, whereas MACPA give inred its approval. Further more than, other players lobbied the stat e, and MIA was asked to give in its adoption of the standard. This paper analyses these events with a view to identifying the interests involved and the dynamic relationship between these interests. The discussion is organised as follows the next section discusses briefly the belief of interests and the view of standard setting introduce in the empirical analysis.Then follows a brief review of the historical and institutional context in Malaysia, the object of which is to identify relevant rollicks of the Malaysian context which whitethorn be unfamiliar to non-Malaysian readers. A historical analysis of the shifting fortunes of, and arguments put forward by, the various participants in the standard setting process appears in succeed sections. The contribution of the paper is summa faceliftd in the conclusion. Interests Watts and Zimmerman (1978) heralded their study of the buttonholeing behaviour of companies as the root systems of a theory that might explain the determinatio n of accounting standards.Similar studies (Haring, 1979 McKee et al. , 1984 Watts and Zimmerman, 1986) in like manner analysed the association between characteristics of respondents lobbying on special(prenominal) accounting issues. The model employed was a rational choice/rational actor model. The concern in this section is not directly with the epistemological claims of the writers, although these claims have been subject to penetrating criticisms (Chua, 1986 Hines, 1988 Whitley, 1988 Robson, 1993). Rather, the aim is to contrast the approach taken here with the rational choice model employed by positive accounting theorists.AAAJ 12,3 360 Clearly, there are definite connections between actors social locations and the interests they acknowledge or act upon, but there is no simple symmetry between the two (Hindess, 1989, p. 83). runors are not mere creatures of their positions in sets of social relations, or their class, gender, or group. The forms of assessment available to th em are rarely so limit as to be given uniquely by their social location. The conclusions of their deliberations depend on complex internal and discursive processes.They are not determined solely by the forms of assessment employed. This implies that interests do not function as a mere transmission device between social expression, on the one hand, and singular action, on the other. Interests micklenot determine the means whereby the structure of society produces its effects. In other words, social structure is by no means a given entity operating(a) outside of and above actors, manipulating them to produce its necessary effects. But this does not negate the perception of the existence of relatively pervasive and enduring social conditions.Instead, it provides a view of interests as conceptions. If they are to have consequences, it must be possible for them to be formulated by both(prenominal) actor or actors, and in this or some(a) other way, to provide them with reasons for ac tion. thitherfore, the interests and reasons for action developed by actors depend on how they assess the contextual resources they are in a position to employ. Robson (1993) uses this mode of query in his study of SSAP 13 on Research and Development.Being attentive to the forms of assessment utilised by actors in the standard setting process, he suggests not all that interests are an outcome of a historical process but that the identification of a particular accounting issue as a problem is in any case the outcome of a historical process. The conditions under which an accounting issue is conceived as a problem at a specific point of time are foreseen as matters for investigation (Hindess, 1988, 1989 Robson, 1993). In other words, any accounting standard contains a repre directation of a specific social and policy-making context.Cooper and Sherer (1984, p. 208) contend that . researchers should be aware of the possibility that existing policy outcomes may be an imperfect match with the underlying intentions and motivations and . the strategic consensus and patterns of outcomes (in this case the accounting standards) may more or less consistently support some specific interest above others. These tenets have guided the analysis of interests presented below. One important implication is that analysis of standard setting must not be restricted to key actors in isolation.Instead, an overall understanding of the domestic political economy and the global political economy is necessary. Figure 1 shows that the interaction of the four organising principles the state, the profession, the market and the Community has to be studied within the local and global context, with due tension on the specific historical and DOMESTIC POLITICAL ECONOMY fundamental interaction of State, Profession, Market and Community Constituencies of Regulation Interaction of Various Interest Groups Standard-setting Accounting standard setting in Malaysia 361DOMESTIC POLITICAL ECONOMY Sta ges of stinting Development Colonial History Socio-political frugal systems GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY Impact of Trans national Corporations multinational Trade International Accounting Standards International Accounting Firms Figure 1. Framework for understanding the accounting standard setting process institutional purlieu of the society in which accounting operates. It must be described that the economy is now dominated by large corporations, and that the state is officiously involved in managing the economy (Jesudason, 1990).The historical and institutional context Brief history of the accounting profession in Malaysia Since its formation, the MACPA has been actively involved in providing its members with technical guidance and training as soundly as setting the professional examinations. The dominant force behind the MACPA is the chartered accountants (CAs) from the UK and Australia. During the period 1958 to 1967, there was no legislation to regulate the accountancy profes sion.There were in Malaysia many accountants adept through various overseas bodies, with the balance trained through local examinations and training conducted by the MACPA, the only active local accountancy body during this period. Its social status consisted mainly of foreign qualified accountants, specifically CAs from the UK and Australia, and a handful of local CPAs. Membership of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) in Malaysia was also growing. The fine-looking half dozen1 back up the MACPA and locals training in the Big six firms were encouraged to sit the MACPA examinations.However, ACCA and Australian Society of Accountants (ASA) members received little support from Big Six firms (Susela, 1996). The ACCA and ASA AAAJ 12,3 362 graduates found it vexed to gain MACPA membership2. The state was persuaded by disgruntled ACCA and ASA members to set up a local authority to regulate the accountancy profession. The Accountancy Act 1967 provided for the reg istration of accountants and the nerve of the MIA. The MIA recognised ten professional bodies for admission purposes the ASA and ACCA included.However, MACPA continued to dominate the emergence of the accountancy profession as the MIA was content with the statutory function of registering accountants practising in the country (MIA, 1987). Since 1973 there have been several attempts by the two bodies to form a single national body through merger (MACPA, 1974). The state was keen to see the two bodies merge. At one stage the then Deputy Prime Minister (currently the Prime Minister) supported the formation of a unified profession (MACPA, 1980). Finally, the two bodies arrived at a merger intention which was submitted to Cabinet but was rejected in 1985 (MACPA, 1985).The reasons for the failure of the merger are examined below, at the empirical stage. When the merger proposal failed, the Ministry of Finance in 1986 appointed a practising accountant (formerly a Council member of MACP A, and partner of a Big Six firm) to bring MIA chairman, replacing the Accountant-General who had served as President since 1967. At the first Annual General Meeting of MIA held in September 19873, 700 out of over 2,500 ACCA members attended and voted in a new Council committed into bend MIA into an active regulatory professional body (De Freitas, 1992).The history of standard setting (focussing on goodwill) MACPA was at the forefront of developing and issuing accounting standards prior to the energizing of MIA in 1987. Standard setting activities commenced during the early 1970s. The relatively laissez-faire atmosphere of the 1960s was replaced by greater state intervention with the introduction of the New Economic Policy in 1970, which sought-after(a) to increase the Bumiputras4 avowership of the corporate sector to 30 percent by 1990.Part of the labour to restructure the society was directed at reducing foreign ownership of assets in Malaysia. The New Economic Policy created an environment conducive to corporate mergers and takeovers (Tan, 1981, p. 9). Several foreign-owned companies were acquired by local corporations and by overt enterprises operated by the state. The Malaysian government set up various government-controlled organisations to acquire interests in the corporate sector in trust for Bumiputras.In pot such as these, the intention of such planned acquisitions was to achieve socio-political rather than corporate objectives. In this process, huge amounts of goodwill were recorded by big conglomerates. A Technical perpetration was set up by MACPA in 1971, its immediate function be to act on a letter dated 10 September 1971 sent by Bank Negara Malaysia (the Central Bank) to the then President of MACPA5, which pointed out, amongst other things, that there was a withdraw for . . rofessional standards to guide reporting by the accounting profession Accounting guidance on specific accounting matters, including revaluation of assets, standard setting the creation of goodwill, and the criteria by which accountants would be in Malaysia prepared to recognise such compass points, and the give-and-take of stock in trade in (MACPA Technical Committee, 1971). In that letter the Governor also urged that MACPA take steps to establish for its members a rumor of generally genuine accounting principles and a statement of generally accepted auditing standards.In the same letter, the Governor referred to the issue of goodwill as follows F F F these analyses give rise to serious reservations round the upward revaluations of certain assets and the creation of goodwill by companies prior to offering their shares to the public or applying for listing on the Stock throw Generally, our Committee tends to view goodwill with scepticism and I would like to have the assurance that the auditing profession would not support the valuation placed on goodwill without full confidence that it is fairly stated. 63 After 1976, the MACPA Technica l Committee undertook the review and consideration of international accounting standards (IASs) for possible local adoption, as well as studying the accounting policy of industries of particular importance to the Malaysian economy, or otherwise of interest to Malaysia. During this phase (1970-1980), standard setting was very ofttimes an ad hoc activity as basic infrastructure was world put in place.The Central Bank, the Capital Issues Committee (CIC part of the Ministry of Finance) and the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) were setting the standard setting agenda in a context where the proliferation of IASs was celebrated and welcomed, particularly as IASs were regarded as a means for achieving international recognition (Susela, 1996)6. However, beginning from 1980, the focus of the standard setters was on developing guidelines on issues that were peculiar to the Malaysian environment and for which there were no IASs, or where the IAS treatment was contrary to local legislation .Hence the emphasis was directed towards developing technical bulletins and recommendations which were later issued as definitive Malaysian Accounting Standards (MAS). When the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) issued IAS 22 on Business Combinations in 1985, two issues were found to be contentious in the Malaysian environment (1) merger accounting and (2) accounting for goodwill. MACPA had to consider two separate accounting standards to helping hand with these issues adequately. MAS 2 on Accounting for Acquisitions and Mergers was issued in 1989.Goodwill was the other issue. Why goodwill was a particularly problematic issue is clarified in the empirical section. Until 1986, MACPA issued its own standards (or adapted IAS standards) for adoption by its members. There was no other standard setting process. When the MIA was reactivated in 1987, it adopted all the standards previously AAAJ 12,3 364 adopted by MACPA. On 14 April 1986, a Joint MIA/MACPA Working Committe e had been formed to discuss possible co-operation between the two bodies.From May 1987 until 1992, all technical standards were developed conjointly by MIA and MACPA and issued as joint statements. The efforts of the Joint MACPA/MIA Working Committee resulted in the establishment of a Common Working Technical Committee in work 1989, consisting of members of MACPA and MIA. This also marked an important era in the standard setting history where both bodies worked jointly on the standards, especially addressing issues pertinent to the local environment, for workout, MAS 1 on Earnings Per Share MAS 2 on Mergers and Acquisitions and MAS 5 on Accounting for Aquaculture.One of the standards that resulted from this joint effort was the Goodwill Standard. Although the Goodwill Standard had been on the agenda of the MACPA Technical Committee since 1971, it was not prosecute until much later. It is not clear why this was so7. The issue was raised several times by the CIC and the MIA was ap proached to develop a standard in 19878. This prodded both bodies to work jointly, as by this time MACPA had immense expertise in standard setting.The MIA, in its enthusiasm to take over the leadership of the accountancy profession and maintain its privileged corporatist arrangement with the state, and MACPA, in its eagerness to uphold the self-regulatory status quo, seized this opportunity to demonstrate their responsiveness to the call from the state and the prevailing public interest rhetoric. On 1 July 1987, the Presidents of the MIA and MACPA signed a circular to members which contained a questionnaire inviting comments on a discussion paper on goodwill accounting.The views received were so diverse that the issuance of a standard was deferred. While the debate continued, the need to establish an acceptable method of goodwill became more crucial. However, the two bodies did not pursue the matter until there was further prompting from the CIC. The CIC decided to take matters into its own hands by including in its guidelines subsection 17. 51 (CIC, 1991), which specifically states Intangible assets fall into two (2) broad categories as follows (i) (ii) goodwill and identifiable intangible assets, such as patents, franchises, etc.The first category should be treated in accordance with the relevant accounting guidelines or accounting standards acceptable to the CIC. The second category should be amortised systematically over its useful economic life. It should not be re compute ofd or have previous amortisation reversed and it should be written off immediately in respect of any permanent diminution in value. The promulgation of the CIC guidelines was considered to be timely (Tan, 1991, p. 3). However, it left many issues unanswered, such as the recognition and measurement criteria for intangibles.It was recommended that these issues be addressed using a holistic approach, and that the local professional bodies were most qualified to deal with the issues. Thi s led to the next line of action by MACPA and the MIA the Accounting commissioning of a study by an academician to determine the extant practice of standard setting goodwill accounting in Malaysia. A survey of published yearly reports of 276 in Malaysia companies listed on the main board of the KLSE was conducted in 1991. It was found that 155 of the 276 companies had a goodwill accounting policy.The treatments used were as shown in Table I. 365 The analysis clearly indicated a mixture of goodwill accounting treatments adopted by publicly listed companies in Malaysia. In fact, there was quite an even spread of companies between the three major approaches to goodwill. The MIA/MACPA later jointly reissued another discussion paper on goodwill to obtain views from members and user groups on the preferred treatment of purchased goodwill. The revised discussion paper was issued in August 1991. A total of 112 responses were received.An analysis of their preferences is shown in Table II. brand that Table II refers to the preferred method of accounting for goodwill rather than the actual method used by listed companies. Of the respondents, 69 percent were elder officers of commercial, industrial and financial institutions. The preference for the amortisation method at that time contrasts both with the mutation of practice and hostility shown to this method later9. Based on the comments obtained, MAS 6 was issued as an exposure draft by the MIA in September 1992.MAS 6 was based on the UK ED 47, which had raised considerable controversy in the UK and had been shelved by then. However, based on the same responses to the survey, MACPA decided that existing views were too diverse and decided to defer MAS 6 until the fate of the UK ED 47 was determined. MAS 6 required that goodwill be amortised over 25 Treatment of goodwill Amortisation Permanent item Immediate write-off others Total Source Tan (1991) heel of companies 55 52 42 6 155 Percent 35 34 27 4 100 Table I. Tr eatment of goodwill 1990 surveyTreatment of goodwill Amortisation Permanent item Immediate write-off Total Source Tan (1991) Number of companies 85 25 2 112 Percent 76 22 2 100 Table II. Treatment of goodwill preferences AAAJ 12,3 366 years. Although the standard was the result of the joint effort of both professional bodies, MACPA decided to defer adoption of the standard until the IASC issued its revised standard on goodwill. Due to the disagreement over the adoption of the final standard (MAS 6), the Common Working Technical Committee was dissolved in 1992 and the MACPA/MIA collaboration accordingly ceased.It has been hinted (by most respondents from the profession and market, in particular, from both MIA and MACPA committees) that the goodwill issue contributed significantly to the cooperative gesture on the part of both the bodies, as well as to the subsequent dissolution of the co-operative charade. After the Committee was dissolved, both professional bodies pursued separa te ways of developing standards. The now separate accounting standards committee of the MIA recommended that the MIA Council adopt MAS 6 in 1993 as a definitive standard to be effective commencing on or after 1 January 1995, whereas MACPA deferred its adoption.This led to confusion. It also threatened MACPAs control over standard setting and over the profession more generally10. The adoption of MAS 6 raised objections from certain big corporations, and the Federation of Public Listed Companies (FPLC)11 decided to take the matter up with the Minister of Finance, who referred the matter to the MIA. A memorandum, submitted to the MIA by the FPLC, was delivered by hand to the MIA on 6 December 1993. The MIA firmly initially stood by its decision to implement the Standard.However, towards the end of 1994, faced with increased state pressure, the MIA deferred carrying out of the standard to 1 January 1997. In July 1997, the pecuniary Reporting Act 1997 was passed and the Malaysian Accou nting Standards Board (MASB) was formed to issue legally binding accounting standards12. Apparently, standard setting activity was taken out of the hands of the profession. Subsequently, the Companies Act 1965 was amended to require compliance with approved accounting standards13. Until the establishment of MASB, enforcement of standards had been undertaken by the professional bodies.However, this mechanism was felt to be less effective as the profession could only take action against their own members rather than the directors responsible for financial statements. MACPA and MIA members were likely to be auditors or employees rather than directors of non-complying companies (Susela, 1996). With accounting standards now enforceable by law, the stakes for players affected by the number of accountants were raised, intensifying the contested personality of standard setting. Interaction of state, profession, market and community Puxty et al. 1987) identify three organising principles o f accounting regulation. Within each principle, there are actors. Puxty et al. (1987) refer to diverse state managers such as politicians and senior civil servants representing the state agents of factions of capital representing the market, and representatives of organised interest groups representing the community. An explicit corporatist Accounting theorising is built into Streeck and Schmitter (1985), which raises the standard setting possibility of a fourth organising principle, the corporative-associative.This in Malaysia implies an credit rating of a substantial degree of autonomy on the part of the state from the business sector (market). In Malaysia, the state has shown that it is capable of pursuing interests other than that cogitate directly to the 367 economic sphere (Jesudason, 1990). Most notably for our purposes, the state intervened in accounting regulation in 1967 by setting up the MIA, a ladder seen as aiming to achieve social objectives. In particular, with the implementation of the New Economic Policy, the state sought to adjust the economic inequality among the various races.The setting up of the MIA was viewed as a step to increase the number of Bumiputra accountants in the country. Under the Accountants Act 1967, accounting graduates from local universities were given recognition by the MIA, thereby significantly increasing the accountant population, especially amongst Bumiputras (Susela, 1996). Under the corporative-associative arrangement devised in Malaysia some power and autonomy of the state was delegated to the MIA. It was this arrangement that an activist MIA used some 20 years later to attempt to usurp the standard setting authority of MACPA.This paper views institutions and practices as an outcome of interactions between parties who are positioned within a structure of politico-economic relations that is simultaneously united and divided by internal contradictions, tensions and struggles. Accordingly, the actions and accounts of these parties are theorised as an expression of the fusing of the principles of market, state, association14, and community. Actors As noted earlier, certain modes of analysis only recognise human someones as actors (for example, rational choice liberal political economy).However, the importance of actors other than human individuals, such as capitalist enterprises, churches, political parties, state agencies, trade unions, and professional associations, has been recognised. Hindess (1989, p. 92) calls these social actors and argues that they have a place in social inquiry. On the other hand, Puxty et al. (1987) note that it is a mistake to stress the explanatory power of structural conflict if the effect is to deny or neglect the critical role of agents in the reproduction of social systems.They argue that although the agents are clearly well-educated by the location of their positions within the class structure, the inventive responses by the agents to the manifestation of c ontradictions that are continuously thrown up are not programmed by this location. The state, profession, market and community categorisation is not used here to suggest that predetermined interests are thereby created or presumed. It is against this background that the conceptions of interest formed by individual actors are discussed below.However, it is necessary first to identify the actors whose conceptions will be analysed. AAAJ 12,3 368 Constituencies of standard setting in Malaysia At various times, different institutions and interested parties have stick involved with the standard setting process. These parties, referred to here as constituencies15 in the standard setting process, form the target group for the empirical study. Through the review of the annual reports of both MACPA and MIA during the period 1971 to 1995, a listing of all persons involved in the accounting standards committees of both bodies was constructed.A total of hundred and one persons were involved. Th is represented the initial research examine and a total of 101 letters were sent out. The breakdown of the respondents is provided in Table III. The sample has been categorised16 according to the social location of the actors as follows State (1) Ministry of Finance. (2) Treasury. (3) Accountant General. (4) Bank Negara Malaysia. (5) Securities Commission. (6) Inland Revenue Department17. (7) Director General of Insurance. (8) Auditor General. (9) Registrar of Companies.Profession (1) The Big Six public accounting firms. (2) Small and medium public accounting firms. Market (1) Listed corporations. (2) Unlisted corporations. (3) Investors association. Response Initial sample State Profession Market Community Total 19 45 23 14 101 Percent 19 45 23 14 100 Number 12 26 16 11 65 Percent 18 40 25 17 100. 0 Table III. Analysis of responses (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. The Federation of Public Listed Companies. Multinational companies.Financial institu tions. Merchant and Commercial Banks. Tax and Management Consultancy firms. Federation of Financial Analysts. Association of Merchant Bankers. Accounting standard setting in Malaysia 369 Community (1) Institutions of Higher Learning. (2) Other institutions such as the Institute of Strategic Issues (ISIS), Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER), Malaysian Economic Association (MEA), Institute of Surveyors. (3) Consumers Association. (4) Trade Unions. (5) Environmental groups.The responses of the above 65 actors to follow-up in-depth interviews provide the evidential basis for the empirical analysis below. In order to maintain the anonymity of the respondents in this paper, the respondents are quoted by reference to the interview number, that is interview number 1 to 65 (i-no-1 to ino-65). A brief overview of the constituencies and actors involved in goodwill standard setting is provided below, prior to the discussion below of the conceptions of interests brought into play in that battleground.From Table III, it can be noted that participants from the profession (45 percent) and market (23 percent) formed the biggest group of players in the standard setting process. With regard to the professional accounting bodies, up until the formation of the MASB, the standard setting machinery operated under the auspices of MACPA and the MIA (from 1987). They were the standard setters. As late as 1995, one practitioner noted that the way standards are set today and what it was, in the last ten years, has not changed dramatically as to who are the key players doing it (i-no-18).However, as argued below, the corporate sector had lately been adopting an active role and the autonomy of MACPA and the MIA from the corporate sector were later questioned, or compromised, or both. The accounting firms were identified as players in the process (i-no-18), but they did not speak with one voice. Most respondents emphasised that it was the Big Six (predominantly CAs and CPAs) that were the major players in the standard setting process in the MACPA camp, whereas the smaller firms drove the show in the MIA (predominantly ACCA members). However, until the AAAJ 12,3 370 ormation of the MASB, the significance of this division derived from the fact that standards issued by MIA were authoritative with respect to all accountants, whereas standards issued by MACPA impacted only on its own members. The participation of the major publicly listed companies, including multinationals, in standard setting increased in tempo with the rapid growth in the country. In 1992, MACPA set up a Commerce and Industry Committee to ensure that the interests and views of members in commerce and application are properly reflected in the Associations policies and activities (MACPA, 1992, p. ). The involvement of commerce and industry came to the fore with the MIAs adoption of MAS 6. The business sector had previously been quite content with the standard setting regime until a standa rd was adopted that appeared unfavourable to a lot of the publicly listed companies. Even then, the FPLC only became involved when MACPAs request to the MIA to defer the standard was false down (i-no-8). Multinationals had various representatives, accounting and others, participating in the regulatory authorities and also in the profession.As one multinational respondent explained I am in MACPA, we have got tribe in MIA, we have got people in MIT (Malaysian Institute of Taxation), MAICSA (the Malaysian Association of The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators), CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) we encourage people to participate in local regulatory bodies. Our chief executive used to sit in the CIC (Capital Issues Committee) forrader the present SC (Securities Commission) was set up (i-no-64).While some respondents welcomed the involvement of multinationals in standard setting because of the resources they might contribute to the process, others were also aware that the multinationals had their own agendas (i-no-64 i-no-9). Many respondents (e. g. i-no-34 i-no-13 i-no-3) claimed MACPA was stalling on the goodwill standards because of objections from industry There was a lot of objections from industry and might be MACPA in some ways foresaw that and it did not motive to get involved in that sort of problems. But MIA did they are new? ecause they new to the game and did not guess it will be a problem. They thought they can make a rule and put down it (i-no-34). The Accountant General was seen by some respondents (i-no-7 i-no-10 i-no-22 i-no-28 i-no-35 i-no-37 i-no-51) as the intermediary between the profession and the state and was believed to be on the MIA Council in order to represent the national interest. The extent of the Accountant Generals involvement in standard setting was unclear. Although not a member of the Accounting Standards Committee, he was a member of the MIA Council that approved the Goodwill Standard .The Accountant Generals view was that due consideration was not given to the views of all parties potentially affected by the Goodwill Standard. The states views on the standard were not considered before the adoption of the standard, as one might expect in a corporatist context. This view was supported by one respondent from the Accountant Generals office, who said that the state only reacted after the Goodwill Standard had been issued (i-no-35). Subsequently, however, the state called a meeting of the MIA nd the other parties to discuss the objections to the standard and the Ministry Accounting of Finance requested the MIA to defer MAS 6. standard setting As previous sections have noted, regulatory bodies such as the Bank Negara in Malaysia and the CIC18 played a significant role in getting goodwill onto the standard setting agenda of the professional bodies in the 1970s and 1980s. In addition, the perception that accountancy might become an occupation to which 371 Bumiputras cou ld be directed was part of the New Economic Policy.By the 1990s, however, with the corporate sector and the Big Six lobbying strenuously against MAS 6, the state did not feel inclined to defend the standard. Accounting standard setting and interests Perceptions almost the professional bodies As shown in Appendix, respondents were asked six open-ended questions. The third question was aimed at understanding perceptions regarding the existence of the two professional bodies. The question was as follows The proposal for a merger of MIA and MACPA is again world pursued.Why do you think this issue is currently being pursued in maliciousness of failures of such attempts in the past? Do you consider that circumstances have changed now? Certain themes have been extracted from the transcripts of interviews on grounds of their relevance to issues raised in this paper. As noted earlier, the professional bodies had discussed merging in the early 1970s. Eventually, a merger proposal was submi tted to Cabinet in 1985 in order to amend the Accountants Act 1967 accordingly. In fact the merger was encouraged by the Deputy Prime Minister at that time.However, the proposal was rejected. A common understanding from the accounts of respondents within the profession was that the merger was seen by some groups as contrary to their interests. For example, the Institute of Cooperative Auditors, which had approximately 40 members at that time, wanted to be included in the merger, a demand not acceded to by other key players (i-no-3). Following successful lobbying of the Ministries refer, the opposition of a key Minister to the merger was sufficient to derail it19.One respondent recounted the situation when the merger proposal was rejected. There was rising discontent within the ACCA regarding its lack of activity vis-a-vis MACPA. This inevitably led to strong support for the A reactivation of the MIA. The efforts of the newly appointed President (a discontented former MACPA Council member) to revive the MIA and establish it as the one and only national professional body were supported by the ACCA camp (i-no-24 i-no-33). One ACCA member noted further that those who got into MIA from ACCA then had a bit of missionary zeal (i-no-29).He reasoned that when MIA was resuscitated, the ACCA members feared that if they did not take an active role in running the MIA, then it would become another MACPAcontrolled body. In 1994, the two bodies were subtly forced20 to sign a memorandum of understanding to work towards a merger. At the time of the field study, the AAAJ 12,3 372 negotiations between the two bodies were in earnest. However, by the end of 1995, the talks were called off. Most respondents (from the profession and the market) alluded to the existence of friction and professional jealousy between MIA and MACPA.This dynamic was seen to contribute to the intensity of the struggle over standard setting, as that arena was one where the dominance of one body over the ot her could be sought and resisted, and the outcome made more or less visible. Contributing to the struggle was the fact that both bodies were supported by powers seen to be equally dominating (i-no-19 i-no-16 ino-17 i-no-48). Respondents also noted that MACPA supporters were concerned about the withdrawal of government recognition if it did not get in with MIA (i-no-23).It was felt that the rivalry between the two bodies extended to the arena of standard setting. As noted previously, MACPAs Accounting Standards Committee was viewed by respondents in the profession as dominated and supported by the Big Six, and it was said to have the advantage in terms of technical support and resources. On the other hand, MIAs Standards Committee was dominated by small firms. As noted by a former Chairman of the Committee, its concern was with parochial interests (i-no-13).This comment from a practitioner typified the feeling F F F concretely MIA in all consider has done a lot for the smaller acco untants but they have lost a sense of perspective in dealing with MACPA. I know there have been lots of provocation on both sides and that has all mucked up the standard setting process (i-no-43). Views about the profession Respondents from the state revealed mixed perceptions about the profession. On one hand, those who had been in close contact with the profession (i-no-14) had reservations about its ability to set standards.On the other hand, those who were mere observers (not in touch with the developments in accounting circles) still held onto the image of the professional as being somewhat neutral (i-no-22 i-no-59). The views of practitioners differed between the Big Six and others. On one hand, the Big Six practitioners were of the view that the profession needed to be more proactive and responsive to change, to be flexible and visionary (i-no-18 ino-29 i-no-57). It seems the profession was beginning to acknowledge other players in the standard setting arena.There was also a willingness to allow market forces to play a role. On the other hand, the small practitioners emphasised the notion of holding onto the ideals of sanctity and independence. However, they conceded that accounting might not be as objective as it has made itself out to be (i-no-8 i-no-24). The market respondents (mostly businessmen who were also accountants and members of the professional bodies) stressed the need for a unified profession (i-no-47 i-no-15) and they saw themselves as important players in the standards setting process (i-no-2 i-no-3 i-no-15).The perception amongst the business community was clearly that accounting standards should assist business, and that the accounting professions role was to serve the business community. There was unanimous agreement that accounting Accounting standards should not be the monopoly of the accountants and that the standard setting profession should not be left to regulate standards because of vested interests in Malaysia (i-no-12 i-no- 52). The community respondents emphasised the ethical foundations of the profession.There was still a sense of respect accorded to the profession. In 373 particular, the moral obligation associated with being accorded the status of a profession was emphasised by such respondents, who further saw the involvement of the state in accounting regulation as being limited to achieving socio-political goals. Some respondents held that the MIA was set up to partly ensure the New Economic Policy objectives were met in terms of ethnic composition of professionals.Their feeling was that the state should be involved in the development of the profession as a whole, but at the same time they supported self-regulation. A clear core comes through from the analysis of the perspectives of the four groups. The state respondents had become aware that the profession had internal conflicts and vested interests. They gave the impression that although the state might have an interest in the development of the profession, they preferred to keep an eye from a distance.That is, division within the profession had not seriously disrupted the commitment of state agencies to corporatism. The profession and market respondents were also aware of the internal struggles and conflicts and therefore wanted to be actively involved in the regulatory process. However, the community respondents, whilst acknowledging conflict within the profession, preferred to hold onto the notion that the profession knows best. To summarise the internal conflicts and tensions within the profession impacted on the standard setting process.The MIA, the national accountancy body with the advantage of being formally constituted as the accounting player in corporatist arrangements, became a problem for MACPA when the MIA was reactivated in 1987. Because of the close links between MACPA and the Big Six, the MIAs adoption of an active stance was a threat to the Big Six and the foreign accountants employed by them. MIA, rep resenting quite different constituencies, became a vehicle through which small, indigenous firms could become involved in standards setting.In particular the authority inherent in corporatism gave the MIA constituents the opportunity to usurp the authority of their MACPA counterparts in an important arena of professional activity. It was precisely the Goodwill Standard that provided the first opportunity to exercise that authority. However, the respondents comments indicate that the struggle between MIA and MACPA was conditioned by and a function of the authority of other powerful players, for example the state and, most particularly, the business sector, as will be shown below.Accounting for goodwill analysis of discourses Analysis of responses to question 6 (in Appendix) is discussed in this section. The question was What are your feelings about the Goodwill Standard issue? AAAJ 12,3 374 The aim in this section is not to validate or dispute these claims but rather to draw attenti on to the conceptions of interest they reveal. The issues raised fall into three categories (1) those concerned with the technical and professional rivalry (2) those concerned with socio-economic consequences (3) those concerned with the need to study the problem in relation to the specifics of the Malaysian environment.Concerns about technical and professional rivalry An MIA Council member (i-no-58) believed the Goodwill Standard was objected to because it was perceived that MIA was trying to lead the world. The respondent admitted there was a lack of understanding of the issues F F F in fact the FPLC people were with us too. The secretary was surprised that amortisation of goodwill you can still pay out dividends. It is just at group consolidation only. Just affects group accounts does not affect the companies accounts There was a lack of understanding of accounting.Because everybody thought that goodwill here is mostly brands, patents and those sort of things we are not talkin g about that it is just goodwill on consolidation. This position focuses on the impact of MAS 6 on dividend policy. Opponents of the standard even the FPLC, cited here in support later criticised it on the basis of its socio-economic consequences. As well as illustrating further the shifting of positions throughout the goodwill controversy, the MIA Council members statement could be seen as part of the MIAs concern with technical purity.Those arguing on the basis of generally accepted accounting principles also supported the implementation of the standard because the amount of inform goodwill was rising as intercorporate acquisitions proceeded hence the need to implement a standard (i-no-20 i-no-42 i-no-33). other argument used by the proponents of MAS 6 (especially the MIA Council) was that the standard, apart from allowing a longer maximum amortisation period (25 years instead of 20), was similar to overseas standards and therefore should apply to Malaysia. However, it appear s that there were other concerns as well.In particular, the then Chairman of the MIA Standards Committee recounted I was Chairman I had no role in so far as structuring the Goodwill Standard I was chairman of the committee which passed a resolution to say we adopt it and recommend the Council to adopt it We were not concerned with the technical aspect of the Goodwill Standard were concerned with the administrative aspect and I did an administrative role MIA cant be subservient to MACPA (i-no-8). The link between professional rivalry and standard setting is apparent here.Socio-economic and political issues Opponents of MAS 6 attacked the MIAs technical arguments. Those concerned with the socio-economic consequences argued that the accountants concept of goodwill is merely a meaningless balancing figure, the result of an accounting treatment which produces meaningless information (i-no-2 i-no-3, i-no-15). In Accounting 1992 Price Waterhouse circulated a document to clients which stated standard setting The proposals as set out in the exposure draft on accounting for goodwill would, if adopted, have a major impact on the earnings record of many Malaysian Groups.We, therefore, encourage you to consider the proposals carefully and write to the MIA and MACPA (Price Waterhouse, 1992). in Malaysia 375 Soon after, the FPLC produced a memorandum (1993, p. 8) which claimed that MAS 6 ignores business and economic realities. Echoing the Price Waterhouse position, it claimed that goodwill amortisation reduces postacquisition earnings and is a disincentive to businessmen and entrepreneurs who draw significant risks in their investments, thereby discouraging the growth of companies through mergers and acquisitions (FPLC, 1993).A practitioner from a Big Six firm simply said there is a broader picture to it (i-no-19). Another respondent expanded on this broader picture F F F we are arguing that we are in the stage of experiencing growth and therefore, it might be too ear ly to adopt the goodwill standard as it might have a severe impact upon the profit of listed companies (i-no-20). Other opponents also made similar arguments, adding that goodwill amortisation would, in the absence of associated tax relief, hamper development of capital markets through its impact on reported earnings.The other concern expressed was that Malaysian companies would be placed at a competitive disadvantage by the standard. A practitioner from a Big Six firm explained F F F they actually said look why dont we just ride for a while first, given that IAS 22 was then under revision let us look where, which direction they are moving and when that standard comes we can look at our standard, I think also feeling at UK, there isnt a need why should Malaysian companies be put at a competitive disadvantage? (i-no-33). Another respondent (an analyst) remarked F F F some of us are able to see beyond accounting policies the significance of it if you are really looking at the economic worth of the company, you know that whether you write off goodwill over 40 years or one year or whatever, the economic worth of the company is the same it is just an accounting policy (i-no-11). In the analysts view greater discussion should have ensued among the various interest groups on the economic consequences of the standard.The economic consequences discourses cited here indicate how the interests of the corporate sector were now being constructed and represented through a vision of commercial reality standing in contrast to the arcane technical discourses of accountants21. Whatever the validity of these claims, the interests of the sector were now firmly embedded in debates about standard setting. Consideration of the specific nature of the economy Some respondents appealed for a consideration of the specific nature of the Malaysian economy, pointing out that Malaysia was a developing economyAAAJ 12,3 376 with particular state policies in place. The result was a u nique socio-economic context that required consideration before any standard on goodwill was imposed. For example, a former banker pointed out that it was the peculiar regulated environment in Malaysia that created huge goodwill accounting numbers, some portion of which might be represented by identifiable intangibles. MAS 6s amortisation requirements were problematic because they did not acknowledge that Malaysia was different F F F my concern now is the user ow I am on the other side when I look at some standards, I say, it is not practical then I would have to structure the business deals in such a manner so I can overcome this problem For example, the goodwill issue you are going to have a lot of problems one of which is the peculiarities of listing in the country because in Australia, you can go up and get the cost of listing, say $250,000 and merchant bankers fees, that is it.In Malaysia, because of the restricted nature and a premium allowed for listing there is a val ue sometimes if it is a loss-making company, there is a bigger value so, you actually have this value concern that is there is being created because of the supply and demand may be until such a time as the premium drop (i-no-3). A corporate director, also involved in the standard committee, made a similar observation F F F maybe in a developed country like the UK and Australia and all that ot much goodwill remunerative anyway when you acquire a company because their markets are very matured, their businesses are very matured, so maybe their purchase price is very close to their NTAs, but in a country like Malaysia, where there is high growth and lots of growth prospects, very often the valuation is on the basis of price-earnings capabilities and on that basis, you take a chance that a high portion of the purchase price is in goodwill, the NTA is actually very low but the value of it is in the licence.If you took over Genting (the only Casino in Malaysia), for example the val ue is in the licence to operate a casino that is the main crux of the issue and it makes a lot of dissimilitude to the companies here because when you acquire other companies and you pay very high goodwill, obviously, you as a businessman, when you acquire it and you pay cash for it, unless you think it is really worth, why would you want to pay for it why should your accountant come and tell you it is not of value and depreciate it I have got to write off $4 million a year for what? It is not necessary but because of your (the accounting professions) insistence and your discomfort with goodwill as a concept, you arbitrarily ask me to write off $4 million a year and because of that my results get impacted by $4 million write-off and the public doesnt know they dont understand the issues involved so they think we havent done well. That is the crux of it (i-no-2). The FPLC memorandum further supported the above views.In Malaysia, licences for activities such as banking, stockbrok ing, gaming and broadcasting are controlled and regulated. For example, no new banking licences have been or will be issued. Other licences are issued in a very restricted manner. The resulting scarcity leads to significant premiums being attributed to companies that hold such licences, more so than in developed countries that do regulate such industries but do not freeze the issuance of new licences (FPLC, 1993, p. 11).Therefore, the proponents of this view advocated that an accounting standard for goodwill should not be implemented in isolation from consideration of intangibles such as licences, brands, franchises and trademarks. A member of the standards committee, being the technical manager of a Big Accounting Six firm, expressed a similar view standard setting F F F in our environment, considering the regulated context F F F a developing country F F F there could be a need to kind of modify the standard in that light (i-no-42). in Malaysia 377 So did a technical consultant wit h a Big Six firmThere is a special case F F F because there are more special equity arrangements in Malaysia, whoever buys or sells a company F F F where there has been enormous amount of corporatisation activities F F F in the Malaysian accounts than in any other country in the world F F F it appears to be a reflection of the fragmented capital structure of the companies F F F when share price gets high F F F they like to cash in and try something else F F F whereas in the US, once a company has bought something F F F they tend to sit on it for a very long time F F F so it is wiped F F F Unless we push for a goodwill standard when the economy is good as it is now (early 1995)22 (i-no-43 similar comments were made by a corporate executive (i-no-9)). A practitioner from the Big Six very much involved in the MACPA Standards Committees observed that F F F in Malaysia, we pay excessively for companies that we buy.There again, can we say we are paying excessively when those prices that a re paid are justified, when these prices that are paid are justified on relative low P/E ratios and those prices are vetted and allowed by the Securities Commission (SC)? The SC is not going to allow excessive pricing. I dont know whether developed countries are different from developing countries in that sense A country that is developing must be permitted or given a chance to develop. I am sure in the early days, the huge goodwill that was paid to US or European companies were not written off or amortised. But there came a point in time, through inflation and all that, over the years those huge goodwill came to nothing.There could very well come a point of time where the half billion goodwill paid by Malaysian companies, 30 years down the road, the half billion still left in the books it is so undistinguished the directors will write it off in one year (i-no-6). What this illustrates is that MACPA-linked practitioners and market respondents were more attentive to the implicat ions of MAS 6 for the corporate sector than the MIA committee composed of non-Big Six personnel. The market respondents expressed concern that the profession (meaning the MIA) could not be expected to consider the socio-political implications of a standard, focusing instead on technical or hypothetical considerations. That MACPA would not feel bound by such considerations is hardly surprising as a majority of the publicly listed companies are audited by the Big Six23.Analysis of respondents attitudes to MAS 6 further highlights the hostility of the MACPA/Big Six camp to MAS 6, as seen in Tables IV and V. Views on MAS 6 For Against No comments Total MACPA 0 21 12 33 MIA 6 2 6 14 Non-accountants 2 1 15 18 Total 8 24 33 65 Note Non-accountants includes all respondents who were neither members of the MACPA or MIA Table IV. Respondents views on MAS 6, highlighting MACPA/MIA differences AAAJ 12,3 MAS 6 received no support at all from MACPA or the Big Six. A significant majority of MIA pe ople supported the standard the non-Big Six firms also supported it, but only marginally24. The views of non-accountants were also more evenly divided than those of the MACPA/Big Six camp. Interests and the politicisation of standard setting Previous sections have already implied that standard setting in Malaysia became politicised over the course of the goodwill saga. This development was widely comprehended by the participants themselves and is explored in more detail below. The key point is that by the 1990s, the corporate sector was being taken very seriously, even by potent players within the profession. For example, one respondent from the Big Six noted F F F basically, you have to know what the world is like in real terms whether businesses will adopt it freely, happily or not. Something which is good during a rising market will not necessarily be good during a falling market.So, this idea of accountants that anything you adopt should be consistent is an easy concept for c ertain things and to be realistic the consistency should be under certain circumstances of the market. Otherwise, you can make a rule over action, other people are not happy to abide by it, so people find arguments not to do it (i-no-34). 378 There was unanimous agreement among Big Six standard setters that businesss wholehearted acceptance was crucial. Furthermore, the state was expected to acknowledge, or at least(prenominal) be aware of, this very point. A practitioner from a medium-sized firm said Certainly, it is not racial politics it is more government in being democratically elected ust listen to people who have vested interest to protect and the government thinks their interest is more important than accountants the accountants have no interest draw they have a formalised way of doing things and since they have formalised a way of doing things, there is commonality in dealing with particular issues. Accountants do not gain or lose by implementing the standard accounta nts can say because we have this standard, we know the financial statement would have some common feature F F F Otherwise you see goodwill going up and up all the time (i-no-8). The political nature of the standard setting process is evidenced by the lobbying activities carried out after MAS 6 was adopted by the MIA.Respondents felt that the state was more attentive to the big business lobby Views on MAS 6 For Against No comments Total Big Six 0 15 4 19 Non-Big Six 3 2 7 12 Others 5 7 22 34 Total 8 24 33 65 Table V. Respondents views on MAS 6, highlighting Big Six/Non-Big Six differences Note Others includes MACPA/MIA members who had moved out of public practice. The MACPA respondents who had no comments had not been involved in the goodwill accounting discussions than to accounting principles. One saw the states stand as protecting the Accounting interest of certain parties against others (i-no-58). standard setting Arguing interests As indicated above, the goodwill controversy und erlined the segmentation of the Malaysian accountancy profession over time, under pressure from st