The Brics In The Global System Economics Essay

The Brics In The Global System Economics Essay In 2006, as BRICs mania gathered momentum, the four governments, at the initiative of former Russian President Vladimir Putin, collectively lifted themselves from the pages of investment reports to hold their first foreign ministers meeting on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly session. After a second meeting of the four foreign ministers in New York in September 2007, the BRICs launched a consultative process at the level of deputy foreign ministers to foster regular contacts and multilateral diplomacy. By 2008 the four BRICs foreign ministers, and on a different track the finance ministers, established a process to hold regular meetings to discuss common approaches to international problems, including the global financial crisis. Again at Russias initiative, the four BRIC heads of state met in July on the sidelines of the G8 (the G7 plus Russia) summit in Japan and plans were laid for a formal summit to be held in the Ural mountains city of Ekaterinburg, Russia in June 2009. Despite the groups improbable beginnings, BRICs were on a roll. 2. Successive communiquà ©s from follow-on meetings enumerated demands for an adjustment of global governance structures to better reflect the BRICs rising share of global output, trade, and financial flows. Nearly 60 percent of the total 14 increase in world output in 2000-2008 took place in developing and transitional countries, half of which occurred in the BRICS; their share of global GDP during the same period rose from 16 to 22 percent. Current projections estimate that China will overtake Japan as the worlds second largest economy in about 2010, and within the next two decades the top three economies in the world are expected to be China, the U.S., and India, with Russia and Brazil moving higher within the top ten. 3. BRICS symbolises the collective economic power of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Together the BRICS account for more than 40 per cent of the global population, nearly 30 per cent of the land mass, and a share in world GDP (in PPP terms) that increased from 16 per cent in 2000 to nearly 25 per cent in 2010 and is expected to rise significantly in the near future. The Rise of BRICS 4. BRICS, the five of the most important rising economic powers in the early twenty-first century, have emerged individually as second-tier regional powers and collectively as a joint presence in world politics. Although BRICS diplomacy took wing under Western radar, it now features well-publicised regular summits, communiquà ©s summarising common positions and demands, and activities to promote peer learning and public diplomacy. Goldman Sachss analyses may have indirectly spawned an incentive to collaborate diplomatically, but the bank is not alone in identifying (and promoting) such trends. Even before the global economic downturn, attention had begun to focus on the post-American world, a non-polar world, and especially the rise of China. 15 5. The BRICS countries have a significant strategic position on their continents: the Americas, Asia, Europe and Africa. Taken together, these five countries account for approximately 30 per cent of the earths surface. The importance of this vast territory is related to the amount of their mineral, water and energy resources, the availability of fertile land for agriculture and their biodiversity. All five countries have intensively developed activities in these areas with varying degree of success. The relative importance of agriculture and extractive activities, the transformation of mineral and energy resources and the magnitude of the BRICS agro-diversity are shown by their share in global trade in commodities and in the evolution of industrial activities. Their rich biodiversity also provides the opportunity for the development of very dynamic industries such as pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. 6. The total population of the BRICS is even more significant than their territory. The BRICS percentage of global population remained constant at around 43 percent of the worlds total population over the period 1985-2005. Chinas share of the world population declined from 22.1 percent in 1982 to 19.6 percent in 2005. However the population of all the other BRICS except Russia increased. The most significant increase in population occurred in India, which had 17.4 percent of the world population in 2005. This large share of the population represents both a challenge ad a source of opportunities. Challenges that frequently occur in large populations are those to do with the provision of water, food, energy and sanitation, as well as with the health and education systems. Other undesirable challenges associated with the population problem take the form of unemployment and the high degree of inequality in the distribution of income. These problems are common to the five countries, where a significant portion of the population lacks access to essential goods and services, and demand urgent redress. Data available from the United Nations show that Brazil and South Africa are among the countries with the worst distribution of income and that India and Russia are among those with the 16 largest percentage of the population living below the poverty line, 28.6 percent and 30.9 percent respectively in the mid 2000s. Problems related to the perverse distribution of income and limited access to public services (education, health, housing and urban infrastructure, public safety etc.) are reflected in their low human development index. 7. Huge regional disparities in human and economic development are evident in all five countries. In general, the wealthier are those that are more industrialised. Regional redistribution of income and access to essential goods and services represent a significant challenge that these five countries have in common. 8. Regarding the structure and performance of production, the combined GDP of the BRICS (in terms of purchasing power parity) represented in 2007 approximately 23 per cent of world GDP, more than the United States. In that year, China and India accounted for 10.8 percent and 4.8 percent of world GDP respectively. The economic performance of the BRICS has, however, varied widely in the last decades. China has maintained the fastest growing economy worldwide. India has grown significantly and more regularly. Russia after experiencing a severe crisis in the 1990s, and being faced with significant disorganization of the socialist economy, began a phase of significant growth in this decade propelled by the role of oil and gas in the economy. Brazil and South Africa have seen a small improvement in their economic performance, also well below their potential. 9. The spectacular economic growth in China is mostly due to the competitiveness of its manufacturing sector. It is important to point out that the industrial system in China has diversified to a significant degree during the last 25 years. The most noteworthy change, in recent years, has been the growth in the consumer durables and electronics sectors. In China, the share of technologically 17 intensive sectors in industrial output during the middle of the present decade approached 35 percent of the total value added by the manufacturing sector. This share is between 14 percent and 17 percent in the other four countries. 10. All the BRICS have raised their export and import levels in the last two decades, both in volume terms and as a share of GDP. In China, Russia and South Africa, foreign trade reached, in 2002, more than 50 percent of GDP while in Brazil and India it represented approximately 30 percent of GDP. Except South Africa, which has not increased its share of world exports in the last ten years, all the other four countries experienced high growth in exports? On the import side, all five countries increased their share of world imports, with the exception of Brazil. 11. The BRICS have been the recipient of significant amounts of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the last 50 years. Prior to 1984, Brazil received the greatest amount of FDI of all the BRICS. Although China reached the same level in 1985, Brazil continued to be a major destination for FDI during the 1990s, most notably during the process of privatization that took place during that decade. 12. China became the largest recipient of FDI in the world beginning in1993. The Chinese policy of attracting multinational companies was part of a strategy to expand their technological knowledge and later to strengthen domestic industries and companies. In China and India, where the capital account was not liberalized, FDI seems to have been concentrated in new investments in production and innovation. The other BRICS countries i.e. Brazil, Russia and South Africa, where the economies were liberalized with fewer restrictions, received more portfolio investment. This demonstrates the economic and political importance of the BRICS. The increase in the degree of influence of these countries took place during a period marked by intense transformation in the economy and global society. One of 18 this is the integration in the economy and society of significant proportion of previously marginalised segment of the BRICS population. 13. The crisis that started to affect the world economy in 2007-2008 has repositioned the role and importance of the BRICS. In a new scenario characterised by geopolitical realignment and where the role and function of the state in the economy are being redefined, their economic weight has in fact increased. Also, their capacity to remain immune is seen as a relevant source of ideas about how to survive during the crisis and to find ways of overcoming it. The differentiated role of the BRICS in the configuration of global power and the global economy will in some way constrain the evolution of their domestic system for innovation. Also, their national system of innovation are highly dependent on their historical development and on how the different domestic actors interpret global developments as well as how they position themselves in the national and international economies. On the other hand, more room for manoeuvre for setting up new industrial and technological policies may be e xpected. Significance of BRICS 14. The BRICS countries have consistently displayed high annual growth rate since 1980. China has grown at about 9.8%, followed by India at around 5.8% and Russia also at about the same level as India, while Brazil showed 2.4% growth. In comparison, the large industrialized nations group of seven (G-7) have shown 2.7% average annual growth. China and India have shown sustained growth by maintaining significantly high growth rates over a long period. 19 15. BRICS share of the global economy has increased by 1.5% over the last decade. During the period 2000-03, the BRIC countries contributed 1.4% of the annual global growth rate of 3.3% at purchasing power parity. Over the period 1980-2003, the per capita GDP at purchasing power parity has grown twelve fold in China, quadrupled in India, more than double in Brazil. In Russia, per capita GDP has increased by 50% over the 1998 levels. This indicates an overall increase in prosperity in BRICs. Accordingly the living standards have gone up in the BRIC economies, and the gap between the BRICs and advanced economies is narrowing down.(page 32 Sujatha) 16. This is also perhaps the most opportune time for forging closer links, given that the world economy is in a state of flux and a rebalancing is taking place towards the emerging economies. Their pivotal role in the global recovery has already catapulted the BRICs into the leadership role, which needs further cementing through greater interface among economies. Key Indicators and Statistics http://www.globalsherpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/BRICs-Development-Indicators-e1304046996149.gif 20 17. Economic Growth and Development of the BRICs (a) From 2000 to 2008, the BRIC countries combined share of total world economic output rose from 16 to 22 percent. Together, the BRIC countries accounted for 30 percent of the increase in global output during the period. (b) To date, the scale of Chinas economy and pace of its development has out-distancebd those of its BRIC peers. China alone contributed more than half of the BRIC countries share and greater than 15 percent of the growth in world economic output from 2000 to 2008. The chart above on key development indicators for the BRIC countries shows the sharp contrast in GDP, merchandise exports and the UNDPs Human Development Index (HDI) between China and the other BRIC countries. 18. Growing BRIC Middle Class (a) The rapid economic growth and demographics of China and India are expected to give rise to a large middle class whose consumption would help drive the BRICs economic development and expansion of the global economy.   The charts below depict how the increase in the middle class population of the BRIC countries is forecasted to more than double that of the developed G7 economies.   21 http://www.globalsherpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/brics-middle-class-income-bracket-2020-goldman-sachs-5.10-300268.png http://www.globalsherpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/expanding-world-middle-class-goldman-sachs-5.10-300246.png

Moral Degradation Essay

I think all would consider this fact to be tenable that nowadays more youth and youngsters are involved in crime and hence an extreme phase of social illness is undeniable and inescapable. You can’t just deny this fact. It’s all in the statistics. I mean it is facts and figures that we are talking about; black and white. Nothing remains to hide and no where to run. We are in a reality to face it. Some would debate before they say it moral degradation. However, if they do so you have enough reason to ask them about what morality constitutes and how he or she would label this new unexpected development. Moreover, the increase in juvenile cases recent months is shocking and the news of students killing one another can be seen a chronic disease. Young generation with whom we are used to dream for the future of the country is having a great contribution to this new specter. From ogling, winking, passing comments in the form of sexual innuendos, to touching, groping, ‘eveteasing’, stalking, sending lewd text messages, ‘prank’ calls, display of pornography, threatening and intimidation, acid attacks, and unwanted ‘love’ proposals. Compared to back then, things do not happen like this. Is there any doubt that more youngsters nowadays are involved in social crimes and problems? The disrespectful attitude carried out by youths and students is very much common nowadays if you were to compare again to the last couple of years. I mean what is wrong with youngsters and youths nowadays? Why are they acting in such a way? There is no fear and tear to say it is kind of social moral breakdown and it is taking its shape through such abnormal and undesired manner. Government and society has nothing to do with it or unwilling to do it? May be the last one is closer to the truth than the former one. However, it is the failure of the state to ensure the moral growth of the young girls

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

IntroductionThroughout history, our conceptualization of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) has been changing alongside changes in the way we have viewed the world. With the dawning of the Renaissance in Western Europe, religious explanations based on demonic possession were superseded by a more humanistic understanding. By the early seventeenth century, the obsessions that drove Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth to suicide were recognized to be a product of her guilty mind, for which there was no medical cure.Obsessions and compulsions were first described in the medical literature of the early nineteenth century. They were viewed as an unusual expression of melancholia. By the beginning of the twentieth century, with the development of psychoanalysis, the focus shifted onto psychological explanations based on unconscious conflicts, but this did not provide a useful strategy for treatment. The subsequent application of learning theory to OCD led to the development of effective behavioural treatments in the 1960s and 1970s.Compared with the pace of these historical developments, modern understanding of OCD has expanded with dramatic speed. The development of effective medical treatments of OCD has revolutionized the outlook for sufferers and propelled OCD to the forefront of scientific attention. With the growth of research into the epidemiology, psychopharmacology, neurobiology, neuropsychology and genetics of OCD, reviewed throughout this publication, the emphasis has once again swung back toward a medical model. As we enter the twenty-first century, we now recognize OCD as a common, treatable form of major mental disorder.After the pioneering epidemiological catchment area (ECA) studies carried out by the National Institute of Mental Health in the early 1980s reported that the prevalence of OCD was substantially higher than expected, (Robins, Holzer, & Weissman, 1984) repeated population studies using similar methods have demonstrated a lifetime prevalence of 2-3% worldwide (Weissman, Bland & Canino, 1994).   Taiwan and India were the only exceptions, with rates below 1%. If these estimates are accurate, then OCD affects more than 50 million people in the world today. The prevalence does not appear to be influenced by socioeconomic status, educational achievement, or ethnicity. The disorder is more common than schizophrenia, and about half as common as depression. Yet the illness remains largely under-recognized, and the psychosocial and economic costs to society from untreated OCD are high (Hollander, & Wong, 1998).   It is not surprising that the World Health Organization has now recognized OCD as a public health priority.While there is little doubt that the ‘hidden epidemic' of OCD exists, the actual prevalence of clinically relevant disorder has been called into question. In the ECA studies lay interviewers were trained to make DSM-III diagnoses using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS). However, clinical reappraisal of DIS -positive cases resulted in less than 25% continuing to meet the criteria for OCD (Nelson & Rice, 1997).One explanation is that the rates of illness reported in the original ECA studies may have been exaggerated. Alternatively, the findings may reflect variability in the severity of the disorder over time.Obsessive compulsive disorder is more common in women, although the differences are not as obvious as in depression or other anxiety disorders. An average female to male ratio of 1.5:1.0 is accepted for the community at large, although the ratio appears roughly equal in the adolescent population, reflecting perhaps the earlier onset in boys. In particularly in males, having obsessions and compulsions or magical thinking, poor social adjustment, and an early chronic course, predicted a worse outcome.A more recent 5-year prospective follow-up study of 100 OCD patients showed that in spite of the introduction of modern treatments, outcomes were similar to Skoog and Skoog's cohort, wit h only 20% reaching full remission of their OCD, 50% showing partial remission, and the remainder unchanged or worse over 5 years. Less severe illness and being married were associated with a better outcome (Steketee Eisen & Dyck, 1999).Most patients suffer a mixture of different obsessions or compulsions. Surveys have consistently identified contamination fears as the most common obsession, with concern about harm to others, pathological doubt, somatic obsessions and the need for symmetry also occurring frequently. Half of all OCD patients admitted for treatment suffer compulsions in the realm of repetitive checking or excessive cleaning and washing. 20 Key themes have been identified that underlie most symptoms. These include abnormal risk assessment, pathological doubt and incompleteness.Patients with OCD usually retain full insight into the absurdity of their symptoms, although this is not always the case (Insel & Akiskal, 1986). The DSM-IV singles out patients with poor insight as a meaningful subgroup. These individuals have more complex symptomatology, which makes diagnosis more difficult, and tend to be more severely ill. They have only a limited sense of the excessiveness and irrationality of their thoughts and behaviours and are therefore difficult to engage in treatment. They may appear to be deluded (and hence receive inappropriate treatment) but longitudinal studies show they do not go on to develop schizophrenia-like illnesses. In a cohort of 475 patients with OCD, (6%) displayed lack of insight.Mild forms of obsessional behaviour, such as repetitive checking or superstitious behaviour commonly occur in everyday life. They only meet the criteria for OCD if they are time-consuming, or associated with impairment or distress.Recurrent, intrusive thoughts, impulses and images also occur in other mental disorders thought to share a relationship with OCD: for example, the preoccupation with bodily appearance, in body dysmorphic disorder; with a feared object, in specific phobia; with illness, in hypochondriasis; or with hair-pulling, in trichotillomania. A diagnosis of OCD should only be contrast; men predominate in surveys of OCD referrals, possibly reflecting a greater severity in males.Women during pregnancy and the puerperium are particularly at risk of developing the disorder. In a study by Neziroglu et al of 59 mothers with OCD, experienced their symptoms for the first time during pregnancy. In many cases, pre-existing obsessional tendencies are unmasked and exaggerated by the events surrounding childbirth.Obsessive compulsive disorder is considered to be one of the most strongly inherited mental disorders (Pauls, Alsobrook, & Goodman, 1995). Approximately one-fifth of nuclear family members of OCD sufferers show signs of OCD, and the younger the sufferer the more likely they are to have a first-degree relative affected. The clustering of OCD and Tourette's syndrome (TS) within families suggests a common inherited factor.Th e course of the illness can vary from a relatively benign form in which the patient experiences infrequent, discrete episodes of illness interspersed with symptom-free periods, to malignant OCD, characterized by unremitting symptoms and substantial social impairment.In a 40-year prospective follow-up study, reported by Skoog and Skoog, the authors managed to locate and examine 144 out of 251 OCD patients who had previously been admitted as inpatients under their care between 1947 and 1953. 1Given that effective treatments for OCD were not developed until the end of the study, much of the data is naturalistic. The authors found that roughly 60% showed signs of general improvement within 10 years of onset of illness, rising to 80% by the end of the study.However, only 20% achieved full remission even after nearly 50 years of illness; 60% continued to experience significant symptoms; 10% showed no improvement whatsoever; and another 10% had worsened. In 60% of cases the content of the obsessions shifted markedly over the follow-up period (Pauls, Alsobrook, & Goodman, 1995).One-fifth of those who had shown an early, sustained improvement subsequently relapsed, even after 20 years without symptoms, suggesting early recovery does not rule out the possibility of very late relapse. Intermittent, episodic disease was common during the early stage of illness, and predicted a more favourable outcome, whereas chronic illness predominated in the later years.Early age of onset, made if there are also unrelated obsessive-compulsive symptoms, in which case more than one diagnosis may be warranted. Activities such as preoccupation with eating, sex, shopping and gambling are not considered genuine compulsions because they are not egodystonic, and the individual usually only tries to resist because of the adverse consequences.Reference:Hollander E, Wong C, 1998). Psychosocial functions and economic costs of obsessive compulsive disorder, CNS Spectrums (3 (5) suppl. 1:48-58.Insel T, Akiskal H, 1986. Obsessive compulsive disorder with psychotic features: a phenomenological analysis, Am J Psychiatry 143:1527-33.Nelson E, Rice J, 1997. Stability of diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder in the Epidemiological Catchment Area Study. Am J Psychiatry 154:826-31.Pauls DL, Alsobrook JP, Goodman W et al, 1995). A family study of obsessive compulsive disorder, Am J Psychiatry 152 : 76-84.Robins LN, Holzer JE, Weissman MM et al, 1984 Lifetime prevalence of specific psychiatric disorders in three sites, Arch Gen Psychiatry (1984) 41 :949-58.Steketee G, Eisen J, Dyck I et al, (1999) Predictors of course in obsessive compulsive disorder, Psychiatr Res   89 (3):229-38.  Weissman MM, Bland RC, Canino GL et al, 1994. The cross national epidemiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder, J Clin Psychiatry 55 :5-10.

Evolution A Scientific Theory - 1625 Words

According to National Center for Science Education, evolution is a scientific theory that explains the emergence of new varieties of living things in the past and in the present. Evolution accounts for the striking patterns of similarities and differences among living things over time and across habitats through the action of biological processes such as natural selection, mutation, symbiosis, gene transfer, and genetic drift. There has been an ongoing debate between religion and science as to whether evolution truly takes place. It may be possible for religion and scientific reasoning to support one another when it comes to evolutionary theory. Many who support the Christian faith are against evolution and believe God is the creator of†¦show more content†¦This supports the concept of microevolution. There are beliefs that the children born in Generation X and Z are more intelligent opposed to those who were born in the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boomers Generation. T he children of Generation X and Z were exposed to more technological advances than earlier Generations, which forces their minds to think quicker in order to keep up with the vastly changing technological world. â€Å"Karl Rahmer believes in the notion of â€Å"active self-transcendence.† God is interiorly present to evolving creatures, not simply enabling them to exist in a static way, but enabling them to transcend what they already are. The power of self-transcendence comes from within the creature, but it is a power that finally comes not from the creature, but from the ongoing creative activity of God. God upholds and empowers the process of evolution from within, as the power enabling creation itself to bring about something new (Edwards, p. 89).† God is very intelligent and he created humans in his image. God has given living things the ability to evolve and/or adapt to their environment. â€Å"How does the organism know what kind of genetic mutation is needed in order to become the kind of entity that will be able to survive a new environment? Cells must have been pre-programmed by an intelligent mind that designed them to experience limited adaptation to a changing environment (Geisler Bocchino, p.147).† In colder climates, humans and animals tend

Can You Truly Ever Escape - 2156 Words

Can you truly ever escape? In ancient times, the need to know what is to come can be best exhibited by exploring methods in which the Greeks answers their questions for the future. â€Å"This desire was interwoven within the everyday life of the ancient Greeks, derived from the numerous oracles which were prevalent in ancient Greece as well as from stories which showed the confidence that people of that era had in prophecies.† (Kane) Prophets and prophetesses played a significant role in Greek literature from the time of Homer. For instance, the mythological blind prophet Tiresias was an infallible source of information for the Greeks and appears frequently in Greek tragedy. The most memorable of his warnings was in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, king of Thebes that he was the land’s pollution. The prophet Tiresias spoke the truth about Oedipus—â€Å"God within reckon that out, and if you find me mistaken, say I have no skill in prophecy†Ã¢â‚¬â€denouncing the tragedy, as the a ngry Oedipus begins his painful search for the truth about himself. However, the prophecy is Oedipus’s ultimate demise. Oedipus fought the limits of free will by ignoring social ques, and even disbelieving respected characters, but was never able to escape his fate. â€Å"The Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines fate as ‘the development of events outside a person’s control, regarded as predetermined by a supernatural power.’ This, therefore, would pose opposition to free will, defined as ‘the power of acting withoutShow MoreRelated Ednas Escape The Awakening Essay931 Words   |  4 PagesEdnas Escape The Awakening Edna’s Escape The ending of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is both controversial and thought provoking. 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Contemporary Issues in Food and Nutrition for Adolescents

Contemporary Issues in Food and Nutrition for Adolescents The importance of establishing health promoting practices during childhood and adolescence has long been recognized by nutritionists and other health professionals. The purpose of this paper is to investigate further the issues relating to adolescents diets and contributing factors. Contributing factors include the increase of fast food consumption, unconventional meal patterns and lack of exercise. During adolescence, the influences on eating habits are numerous. The growing independence of adolescents, increased participation in social life and a generally busy schedule of activities have a great impact on food intake.ï ¿ ½In the September 2007 issue of Health Promotion†¦show more content†¦The survey found that only 20% of students were meeting the daily requirement of four serves of vegetables while 39% were eating the recommended three daily serves of fruit. Our survey found consumption of unhealthy/non-core foods was high, with 46% of students having fast food meals a t least twice a week, 51% eating snack foods four or more times per week, and 44% having high-energy drinks four or more times per week, states Dr Victoria White, from the Centre of Behavioural Research inShow MoreRelatedTo Eat or Not to Eat?758 Words   |  4 Pagesup on your own birthday. This is what happened to eight year old Emily Moore. It is estimated that a whopping eight million Americans have an eating disorder- seven million women and one million men (Stern). An eating disorder is an obsession with food and weight that harms the person’s well being (Ciotola). Eating disorders aren’t just going on a diet and losing a few pounds, it’s an illness. Some of the most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. A solution to eatingRead MoreMedia s Influence On Media1703 Words   |  7 Pagesways that they may engage in their community. 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Parmalat free essay sample

How was it possible for Parmalat managers to â€Å"cook the books† and hide it for so long? Solution Parmalat was able to cook the books mainly due to the fact that Italy has a low level of accounting transparency. The story began in 1997, when Parmalat decided to become a global player and started a campaign of international acquisitions, especially in North and South America, financed through debt. Soon, Parmalat became the third largest cookie-maker in the United States. But such acquisitions, instead of bringing in profits, started, no later than 2001, to bring in red figures. Losing money on its productive activities, the company shifted more and more to the high-flying world of derivatives and other speculative enterprises. Parmalats founder and now former CEO Calisto Tanzi engaged the firm in several exotic enterprises, such as a tourism agency called Parmatour, and the purchase of the local soccer club Parma. Huge sums were poured into these two enterprises, which have been a loss from the very beginning. We will write a custom essay sample on Parmalat or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It has been reported that Parmatour, now closed, has a loss of at least EU  2 billion, an incredibly high figure for a tourist agency. The losses of the Parma soccer club are not yet fully known. Here, Parma insiders are pointing at what they call the Medellin Cartel connection—i. e. , the purchase of overpriced Colombian soccer players, and other extravagances. While accumulating losses, and with debts to the banks, Parmalat started to build a network of offshore mail-box companies, which were used to conceal losses, through a mirror-game which made them appear as assets or liquidity, while the company started to issue bonds in order to collect money. The security for such bonds was provided by the alleged liquidity represented by the offshore schemes. The New York-based Zini lawfirm named by Robbins has played a role. Through Zini, firms owned by Parmalat have been sold to certain American citizens with Italian surnames, only to be purchased again by Parmalat later. The whole operation was fake. The money for the sale in the first place came from other entities owned by Parmalat, and it served only to create liquidity in the books. 2. Investigate and discuss the role that international banks and auditors might have played in Parmalat’s collapse. Solution Clearly, international banks and auditors failed to do the due diligence, hereby indirectly contributing to the failure of Parmalat. The largest bond placers have been Bank of America, Citicorp, and J. P. Morgan. These banks, like their European and Italian partners, rated Parmalat bonds as sound financial paper, when they knew, or should have known, that they were worth nothing. While Bank of America has participated as a partner in some of Parmalats acquisitions, Citicorp is alleged to have built up the fraudulent accounting system. What strikes one is not only the dimension of the scheme, but the arrogance of its authors. For instance, one of the offshore mail-box firms used to channel the liquidity coming from the bond sales was called Buconero, which means black hole! Appropriately, the first class-action suit in the United States on the Parmalat case, filed by the South Alaskan Miners Pension Fund, is against Parmalat, its auditors, Bank of America, and Citicorp—and focusses on Buconero. The Parmalat fraud has been mainly implemented in New York, with the active role of the Zini legal firm and of Citibank, said San Diego lawyer Darren Robbins, a partner in the firm Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes Lerach, which is leading the class-action suit. We believe that Citigroup, by creating instruments like the sadly famous Buconero, has played a fundamental role in helping Parmalat to fake their balance sheets and hide their real financial situation. Former CEO Tanzi declared to prosecutors in Parma that the fraudulent bonds system was fully the banks idea. Parmalats former financial manager, Fausto Tonna, counterfeited Parmalats balance sheets in order to provide security for the bonds, but it was the banks which proposed it to Tonna, Tanzi declared. Tanzis version has been so far confirmed by Luciano Spilingardi, head of Cassa di Risparmio di Parma and member of the Parmalat board. Bond issues were ordered by the banks, Spilingardi said to prosecutors, according to leaks published in the daily La Repubblica. I remember, Spilingardi says, that one of the last issues, of 150 million euros, was presented to the board meeting as an explicit request by a foreign bank, which was ready to subscribe the entire bond. If I remember correctly, it was Deutsche Bank. Spilingardi says that he expressed perplexity about the proposal, because a previous bond issue of EU  600 million had failed, in the Spring of 2003, causing a 10% fall of Parmalat stocks in one day. But the request was accepted, and the last Parmalat bond, issued in summer 2003, made its way to the Cayman Islands black hole. At the moment of Parmalats default, in December 2003, the financial manager of Parmalat was no longer Tonna, who had left after the failed bond issue in the spring. He has been replaced by Alberto Ferraris, who comes from Citibank. In June 2003, before the last bond issue ordered by Deutsche Bank, Parmalats board gained a new member: Luca Sala, a top manager coming from Bank of America. On Dec. 9, as rumors spread that Parmalats claimed liquidity was not there, Standard Poors finally downgraded Parmalat bonds to junk status, and in the next few days, Parmalat stocks fell 40%. On Dec. 12, the Parmalat management somehow found the money to pay the bond, but on Dec. 19 came the end: Bank of America announced that an account with allegedly $3. 9 billion in liquidity, claimed by Parmalat at BoA, did not exist. In one shot, the bankruptcy was revealed, and Parmalat stocks fell an additional 66%. Later, Tonna would confess that he had faked BoA documents, using a scanner, scissors, and glue, to invent such a $3. 9 billion account, a version which is still the official one. 3. Study and Discuss Italy’s corporate governance regime and its role in the failure of Parmalat. Solution Italy has a weak corporate governance regime that does not provide a strong protection of outside shareholders. The majority of public firms are dominated by large controlling shareholders who are often the founding families. The lack of independent board of directors also contributed to the implosion of Parmalat. Q. What would you do if you were a manager? According to me, when businesses behave unethically, they act in ways that have a harmful effect on others and in ways that are morally unacceptable to the larger community. This is very serious because corporate power and impact are increasing as corporations become larger. In Parmalat case senior managers have engaged in improper bookkeeping, making company look more financially profitable than they actually are. As a consequence the stockholder value of the company increases, and anyone with stock profits irectly. Among those profiting will be those making the decisions to manipulate the accounts—and so there is a conflict of interest. However, the fallout from the downfall of Parmalat affected stockholders, employees, and society at large negatively, with innocent people losing their retirement reserves and/or savings, and employees losing t heir jobs. Behaving ethically is clearly key to the long-term sustainability of any business. Focusing on the social and environmental as well as the economic impact of a company provides the basis for sound stakeholder relationships that can sustain a business into the future.