Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Taxation of life-cycle savings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Taxation of life-cycle savings - Essay Example Further, 25% lump sum can be withdrawn from pension funds tax free (Lymer & Oats, 2013). Due to these treatments, most of the savings in the UK are made in pensions, housings and ISAs. They discourage savings in all other forms and put limitations on economic activity. Further, the current tax laws are complex. According to the current system, neutrality can neither be achieved over time nor across assets. It discourages people from saving because the present value of their income increases. They become better off spending their income now than later. Also, this system does not take inflation into account. The returns on savings are taxed on nominal returns. Therefore, tax on returns on savings actually increases with a rise in inflation rate. Further, the phenomenon of compound interest reduces the effective rate of return and its reducing effect is directly proportional to the passage of time (Mirrlees et al., 2011). Adam Smith (1776) proposed four canons of taxation for an optimal tax system. These canons are: ‘Equity, Certainty, Convenience and efficiency’ (Lymer & Oats, 2013, p.43). Economic efficiency relates to fiscal neutrality which refers to an ideal tax condition which does not ‘distort the economic and commercial decisions made by individuals’ (Lymer & Oats, 2013, p61). The concept of neutrality demands that people’s choices should not be distorted. However, in standard income tax, neutrality is foregone both over time and across assets. The current system makes people prefer investing in pension funds and ISAs but discourages saving through other opportunities as it taxes them at a higher rate. Further, it actually subsidises investing in a pension fund as it allows a tax free withdrawal of a lump sum. This discourages people from taking risks and limits economic activity. It also defeats the prospects of achieving neutrality over time. This system treats capital gains differently

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Write drafts of two blog posts for your blog website. Although the Assignment

Write drafts of two blog posts for your blog website. Although the blog posts should share a common theme, they should be on different topics and have different titles - Assignment Example This is one of the simple methods that I would recommend as a priority in an effort to conserve the environmental resources. The reason behind the depletion of our resources is the failure to replenish the stocks of the resources that we use. Take for instance the cutting down of trees for timber or any other justifiable reason, much as this may not be wrong the problem arises when the trees are cut down but not replaced. Picture a scenarios where if one tree is cut down then replaced by three young seedling. The outcome is forests will never be empty fields and the issues of desertification will never arise. Conservation therefore can be achieved only through the sustainable utilization of resources and that is the only way to keep our resources available to us throughout (Li, 1996). The realization that we are the owners and benefactors of the resources available to us should give us a sense of responsibility with regards to utilizing and managing them. Dumping of waste material everywhere has a significant effect on the natural resources such as the soil, water and even the life of animals in the soil. This affects the quality of life of human beings either directly or indirectly and despite the negligence we are the ones who suffer in the long term. This is why I feel that owing ht environment and feeling responsible for the resources within the environment is key to helping us conserve the environment. Cutting down of trees for instance is a direct way to invite desertification and alteration of rainfall patterns. Appreciating this therefore help us take responsibility and work to conserve the environment. Natural resources are community resources and therefore owned communally. This means that the utilization and conservation of such resources is the responsibility of the community at large and not just a few individuals. As such the only way to achieve good results with regards to environmental conservation is

A Bottled Water Company Called Quench Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A Bottled Water Company Called Quench - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that Quench is a target of bad media attention with regards to its environmental issues linked to packaging, sustainable resources and ecological logistics. The global economic downturn has not helped improve its situation, resulting in declining sales. As business’ social responsibility become increasingly important in the eyes of stakeholders, Quench’s position as a social responsible organisation is tarnished. According to the paper the company’s steady growth over the past decade has been attributed to its competitive pricing strategies, strong advertising campaigns and a good reputation. Thus, having its reputation ruined by a series of bad publicity could further hurt its performance as a market leader in sports drink products. Moreover, Quench’s management appears to be taking its time to rectify the situation. With this, worldwide customers will become alarmed about its seemingly lack of concern for the environment. The fact that its brand is connected with trust and reliability, the issue on hand has made these hard to believe. The crisis management of Quench must come together to analyse the problem and discuss corrective actions to take. A press statement addressing the issue should be released quickly to show that the company is aware of the public’s concern and is taking steps to deal and rectify the situation. The company’s quick reaction to the matter will place it in a better light because it is giving out positive image of how it is handling the problem. On the other hand, delayed response to the public will further harm Quench’s reputation, as the media will continuously publish damaging reports on the issue.

Monday, September 9, 2019

Urban Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Urban Design - Essay Example These places also include bikeways, plazas, waterfronts, view corridors, transportation hubs, and natural features, building interfaces, landmarks, squares, nodes, pedestrian ways and bridges. To maintain high quality public realm, arc must be the overall driving force. In some cities, the public realm is not an original person’s idea; some ideas are gotten from cities that the public realm has worked. Public realm has four categories: public spaces, streetscapes, parks and coastal areas. Coastal areas – these areas include all areas of land that are along or adjacent to large water bodies. Parks – these are open spaces to the community that are used as recreational facilities; parks include wadi systems, mountain ridges comprised of natural areas. Public places – include open areas that surround the community that is used for public assembly or gathering and is visible to the entire public. Streetscapes – these are elements of the streets which comprise visual objects, and they include trees, roads, sidewalks, open spaces, street furniture, benches and trees – all these combined to form the street’s character. Reasons why urban designers should pay attention to the public realm are to satisfy their clients’ needs, who include the entire public. ... Caring for the public and paying attention to the public realm example in the open squares and park is important because this is a convergence place for the interaction of the public. The ways in which the public has access to the towns or areas of interest is dictated by the mode in which the â€Å"public realm† was set. Buildings and all that encompasses the public realm should be designed in a way that maximum safety is offered and the public is at its optimum security while accessing such public places. If these places are safe, then running of business will be smooth, and everything will be flowing according to what they are planning in the short and in the long run. Attention should also be given to the ways in which the roads are designed, i.e. there should be pedestrian crosses in the roads where there is much public usage. There should be road signs along the highways, and the roads should be properly calibrated if it is a two way road. Strategies and techniques used by designers to enhance the public realm are to ensure places retain their uniqueness by not changing the place’s physicality, making sure that development does not greatly interfere with the way the layout of the street is. Designers enhance this by holding open forums with the public where they discuss emerging issues in their cities, towns, villages or places of their dwellings. In their discussions, they come up with ways to solve the emerging issues or find solutions to their problems. Other strategies that designers use are acquiring ideas from places with well descent established public realm and incorporating the ideas into places where it has not been tried. Though this

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Accounting analysis assess. Write about the degree to which the firm's Assignment

Accounting analysis assess. Write about the degree to which the firm's accounting reflects the underlying business reality - Assignment Example The revenues of the Myer Holdings have been increasing steadily since 2010 unto 2012 when the income earnings after tax stabilize. Income after tax rises by a small percentage but later starts to decline steadily in the year 2014. The net profit after tax was increasing positively over the few years but still lower compared to David Jones, the company’s chief competitor. This is noted in the year 2014 when the company sales have reduced. For instance, the entity has an experienced underinvestment recently thus lowering the EBIT in the year 2014. The recent developments are expected to raise the company revenues from $ 2891.7 million in 2014 to3.324.4 million by 2020 (Appendix 4). The selling expenses in the year 2014 will increase from the 783800 to 811718. In the same year, the expenses increased while the sales decreased thereby lowering the EBIT (Appendix 6). The sales income is currently above $ 2 billion and capitalization of the market of above $ 2 billion (Appendix 4). The reporting standard by the company fails to reflect the true business value. Also, the used report describes the firm’s performance and creation of value on the basis of the 2013 report. (Appendix 4) Over the last two years market price of Myer has reduced from 21.8 to 16.8 thereby diluting the share earnings (Appendix 4). This portrays a negative performance of the company in the last year. The company has also diversified its investments. It has sourced goods and speeded the importation directly. The firm analyzed favors different individuals increasing the share of the market to the different customer. The savings and investments of the company increased steadily over the three years from 2010 but declined in the year 2014. (Appendix 6) To start with, the firm is dealing with products that comprise of clothing, hardware, cosmetics, general merchandise among others. Currently, the firm is operating 67 stores that produce 11 ranges of

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Human Resource Management - Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Human Resource Management - Case Study - Essay Example Complicating the problem is the problems faced in the continuing task of recruiting and hiring qualified and experienced workers out of a pool of individuals that are almost nomadic in their habit of moving around. The first step to effective recruiting is to fully understand the type of employees the store needs and what skills and knowledge the employees need to succeed. Skills are those abilities needed to perform the job while knowledge is what the employee needs to know to perform the job. The second step is to identify potential employees who have the necessary skills and knowledge. Here the store needs to draw people in from outside its traditional pools like former employees, volunteers, homemakers, students, family members of present employees, older workers, people with mental or physical disabilities, ethnic minorities, people new to the community, people looking for part-time work ,people currently on welfare or assistance. The next step is to how to reach the people in these groups and let them know about opportunities at the store. Traditional methods such as job postings or classified advertising should not be ignored but the store should be prepared to expand beyond this especially when the store is trying to reach groups of people who have not been reached through traditional recruiting techniques. Here are some creative ways to notify people about employment opportunities: Meet representatives from minority agencies within the community, post notices at youth centers, advertise on bulletin boards, at the supermarket, library, health club, child care center, family restaurants, etc. ,place fliers on car windshields in parking lots, distribute leaflets at immigrant settlement centers, have an older worker to speak at a senior

Friday, September 6, 2019

Why a Graduate Degree Essay Example for Free

Why a Graduate Degree Essay When I started writing this paper I had hundreds of reasons why I am pursuing a graduate degree. My objective was to recognize which ones were more important and to find out what were the real reasons. As I sat in front of my piece of paper I came to realize the most important reasons as to why I want to purse my MBA. I graduated in 2001 from a school in Bolivia, South America. I moved to Virginia in January 2002 to start a new life. I began looking for a job related to my degree, Industrial Engineering, but the offers I received came nothing close to a job I desired. After months of searching I realized that it maybe because most companies don’t want to hire someone who graduated from a university they never heard of, especially one abroad. It is then when I realized that I needed something to be more competitive in the labor market, so the solution was to enroll myself in a graduate program. Another reason is because of a disadvantage in my major. My major does not provide specific knowledge in specific areas, but basic knowledge in different areas. I want a major that specializes in one specific area, such as Management Technology. I am young and have a lot of spare time. I am 26 years old and I think it is time for me to establish my career. I am not content with my current job and I want to develop a career that is going to take me farther. I am 100% certain that a MBA is going to take me where I want to go. Financial security is something that for me right now is not a major issue because I am single and have no children; but one day I do want to build a family and when that day comes I want to be financially stable. Pursuing a graduate degree will help and be an important factor to my financial security in life. I also want to pursue a MBA for personal satisfaction. I have always believed that knowledge is something that makes you a better person for the society. I also want my mom to be proud, she worked hard to put me through college and now it is my turn to show her and my family I can do this on my own and I can do it right.