City of Dreams Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

City of Dreams Summary - Essay Example Inside the new arrangement they see new open doors for individuals such as themselves to create individual aspirations and later, a whole China. They are glad to feel less control from Communists Party. In spite of the fact that they know about stressed social circumstance, they accept it’s essential for nation to experience the period and structure a white collar class with a perspective on future flourishing, and all the better they can do is to assist center with classing arrangement by close to home model. Simultaneously an enormous piece of residents gave off an impression of being not fitted for the new financial approach. Inside four years time frame a great deal of texture in Shanghai was shut, and around 24 million of texture laborers seemed, by all accounts, to be jobless (â€Å"China Rises †City of Dreams†). The greater part of them have poor instruction and can't figure out how to get another line of work. To get instruction isn't an alternative as well, since training framework is business. Consequently these days they are attempting their best to endure and furnish their families and kids even with essential expectations for everyday comforts, except holes among poor and white collar class and the most extravagant ones are tremendous. This causes a great deal of social issues. Something else that causes Shanghai social issues is its quick developed turn of events. So as to assemble another houses and workplaces an old dwelling houses are destroyed. However tenants of those houses (regularly they are a similar jobless specialists) are dealt with unjustifiably by new structure speculators, and government represent the structure financial specialists, in light of the fact that new undertakings increment Shanghai monetary turn of events. To oppose the concealment without employments and homes, and furthermore without proper administrative help for these individuals is practically inconceivable. Legal counselors state such cases are bound to come up short. There’s too colossal debasement in Shanghai legislative establishments. To my brain, country’s government can't arrange privileges of its residents under any conditions. To smother one class so as to frame another

Niche Marketing

1) What is specialty promoting? The word ‘niche’ is characterized as: An uncommon region of interest for an items or administration. The word ‘marketing’ is characterized as: The chance to purchase or sell. Specialty Marketing implies purchasing or selling an item or administration in a unique region of interest. All that truly implies item or administration is being offered to the individuals who are generally keen on that specific item or administration and not to the world as a rule. Regularly time huge organizations use specialty advertising. For instance, an organization that makes PCs and PCs frill may publicize across the board, for example, duplicate, printer and scanner to the home PC client while simultaneously promoting single capacity machines to huge organizations. Something that make specialty promoting so alluring to dealers is that their publicizing financial plans go further. It costs less to promote to a particular market that it does to publicize to a more extensive market. Specialty promoting must be intended to meet the interesting needs of the focused on crowd. Specialty advertisers must tailor their item to meet those one of a kind needs. Model, I have structure an item to make poodle preparing simple enough for the undeveloped expert to do it, the individuals who own poodles will be generally keen on the items. The individuals who own Blood Hounds or felines won't care to such an extent. 2) As a car retailer, what might you propose to expand deals volumes through specialty promoting? Toyota is a colossal worldwide organization. From the outset, apparently Toyota centers around the auto business all in all both from a promoting and creation viewpoint. Despite this reality, Toyota is astounding with regards to specialty advertising. Toyota will look for specialties for which it can gracefully an item out of luck. Toyota was one of the primary organizations to acknowledge there was a gathering of vehicle purchasers who might be keen on ecologically neighborly vehicles. To answer this need, it thought of the incredible Prius. The Prius is the primary large scale manufacturing cross breed vehicle. Where other vehicle producers saw Toyota facing a gigantic challenge, Toyota considered it to be a chance to recognize another specialty and set up its image in that specialty. In promoting, it is frequently the primary brand on the scene that takes the day. When Toyota dove in, it sought after a compelling specialty advertising plan. It didn’t advance the Prius in simply any media. It concentrated on news sources that were watched, perused or tuned in to by individuals worried about the earth. For instance, it intensely advanced the vehicle through ecological gatherings and their distributions. As the main game around then, Toyota not just ruled the specialty. 3) Explain the job of RMI. RMI make brand mindfulness and specialized devices which have been use from any company’s. They distribute their own magazine naming Automobil. RMI likewise liable for helping its individuals with all issues encompassing the engine business while guarantee that individuals do agree to significant level of business and offers an income creating gadget through its one of a kind specialty status.

Blog Archive Duke University Fuqua School of Business Essay Analysis, 20162017

Blog Archive Duke University Fuqua School of Business Essay Analysis, 2016â€"2017 *Please note: You are viewing an essay analysis from the 2016-2017 admissions cycle.  Click here to view our collection of essay analyses for the current admissions season.   Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business has made some adjustments to its essay questions this year but has chosen to keep its rather unique “25 Random Things” prompt, which we imagine will delight some applicants but dishearten others. If you fall into the latter category, we encourage you to view this submission as the generous opportunity it is to provide a comprehensive picture of yourself as a well-rounded candidate by sharing your most meaningful values, experiences, interests, and accomplishments. Whereas Fuqua’s required second essay involved a choice of topics last season, this time, all applicants must respond to the same queryâ€"which keeps the focus on candidates’ place within the school’s program and community but does so in a different context. Rather than explaining your need for Fuqua’s program specifically or how you would embody one of its main principles, you must address how you expect to engage with and be a benefit to others in the community. In addition to these essays, Fuqua poses a few short-answer goal questions with which applicants can cover the basic professional elements of their profile. Our analysis of all the school’s prompts follows… Required Short Answer Questions:  Answer all 3 of the following questions. For each question, respond in 500 characters only (the equivalent of about 100 words). What are your short-term goals, post-MBA? What are your long-term goals? Life is full of uncertainties, and plans and circumstances can change. As a result, navigating a career requires you to be adaptable. Should the short-term goals that you provided above not materialize, what alternative directions have you considered?   With this trio of questions, Fuqua is essentially asking for a standard, albeit very brief, personal statementâ€"though the third query does include a rather nonstandard component. Candidates often feel that they must be totally unequivocal in their goals, but here Fuqua is giving applicants room to address and speculate on other options. The admissions committee knows that sometimes the best-laid plans do not play out as expected or yield unintended results, and the school wants to know that you are prepared to switch gears and recommit to a different path, if necessary, and are fully capable of doing so. The key in answering this question is showing that your alternate goal is just as connected to your skills, interests, and ambitions as your original plan and does not come “out of left field,” so to speak. For example, you would probably have a difficult time convincing the admissions committee that your short-term goal is to work in technology consulting while  your alternate goal would be to work in human resources, because these industries, for the most part, require entirely different skills and personalities. Just be mindful that both goals you present  must be plausible and achievable. Because personal statements are similar from one application to the next, we have produced the  mbaMission Personal Statement Guide, which helps applicants write this style of essay for any school. We offer this guide to candidates  free of charge. Please feel free to  download your copy today. Required Essay 1: 25 Random Things About Yourself Present your response in list form, numbered 1 to 25. Some points may be only a few words, while others may be longer. Your complete list should not exceed 2 pages. The “Team Fuqua” spirit and community is one of the things that sets The Duke MBA experience apart, and it is a concept that extends beyond the student body to include faculty, staff, and administration. When a new person joins the Admissions team, we ask that person to share with everyone in the office a list of “25 Random Things About Yourself.” As an Admissions team, we already know the new hires professional and academic background, so learning these “25 Random Things” helps us get to know someone’s personality, background, special talents, and more.  In this spirit, the Admissions Committee also wants to get to know youâ€"beyond the professional and academic achievements listed in your resume and transcript. You can share with us important life experiences, your likes/dislikes, hobbies, achievements, fun facts, or anything that helps us understand what makes you who you are. Share with us your list of “25 Random Things” about YOU. Be prepared to have fun creating this list for your Fuqua application, but before you start scribbling down random things, take some time to thoroughly brainstorm. You cannot simply draft a list of “typical” accomplishmentsâ€"remember, the school is asking for a  random  list, and keep in mind that your reader should learn more about you as an individual with each item presented. Make sure that every “thing” you share gives the admissions committee a new window into your personality, into what really makes you tick and makes you  you. Most important is that you  own  all the points on your listâ€"that your final list could apply to no one but you. For example, a statement such as “I love the movie  Goodfellas  and have watched it multiple times” could easily be made by many applicantsâ€"therefore, it would not be truly  yours. However, if you were to instead write, “At least once a year, my friends and I get together to watch our favorite movie,  Goodfellas, all wearing dark suits, eating fresh pasta with homemade sauce, and reciting the dialogue line-for-line,” you would present an experience that is unquestionably  yours, because fewâ€"if anyâ€"other candidates would be likely to say this same thing. Although Fuqua does not want you to rehash your professional and academic accomplishments in this list, and you should certainly avoid repeating anything that already appears elsewhere in your application, you can of course still touch on significant moments that occurred in these spheres. Use detail and a narrative style (keeping things brief!) to give these elements life and ensure that they are personal. For example, rather than saying that you “won a creative thinking award for implementing an innovative training solution,” you might write that you “once won an award for instructing trainees to flip their desks upside down and face what was previously the back of the roomâ€"thereby creating an exercise to introduce new hires to the concept and value of new perspectives.” Required Essay 2: Fuqua prides itself on cultivating a culture of engagement. Our students enjoy a wide range of student-led organizations that provide opportunities for leadership development and personal fulfillment, as well as an outlet for contributing to society. Our student-led government, clubs, centers, and events are an integral part of the student culture and are vital to providing you with a range of experiential learning and individual development experiences. Based on your understanding of the Fuqua culture, how do you see yourself engaging in and contributing to our community, outside of the classroom? (Your response should be no more than 2 pages in length.) With this new essay prompt, Fuqua clearly wants to see evidence that you have done your research on the school’s culture and community and developed a true and thorough understanding of it. Ideally, your essay will convince the admissions committee that you are eager to take advantage of opportunities to lead and contribute, that you have thoughtfully considered your place within the school’s community at length, and that as a result, you know the value of what you can offer and have a clear vision of how this will manifest when you are a Fuqua student. For this to be possible, you really (really!) must know the school well, because if you hypothesize incorrectly about the contribution you will makeâ€"meaning that what you propose is just not possible at the school or does not align with Fuqua’s values and cultureâ€"you will definitely not get in. The question specifically mentions “student-led government, clubs, centers, and events,” so you could start your research there to find niches and opportunities that correspond with your strengths, knowledge, and experience. But if you feel you can contribute in a different area or way altogether (while still adhering to the “outside of the classroom” element of the prompt), you can certainly take that approach instead. Read student blogs, peruse discussion boards, catch up on the past year or more of press releases from the school, spend some time on Fuqua’s YouTube channelâ€"these are all good places to start (or better, continue!) educating yourself about what life at the sc hool is really like, beyond the course work. Optional Essay: If you feel there are circumstances of which the Admissions Committee should be aware, please explain them in an optional essay (such as  unexplained gaps in work, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance). Do NOT upload additional essays nor additional recommendations in this area of the application. The Optional Essay is intended to provide the Admissions Committee with insight into your circumstances only. Limit your response to one page. This admissions season, Fuqua has reduced the maximum length for its option essay from two pages to just one. We see this, along with the other clarifying bullet points, as confirmation that the admissions committee is not interested in additional information from applicants who fear that not submitting an optional essay would somehow count against them and would like to reserve this essay exclusively for those who truly need it. So be judicious in your use of this opportunity, and only submit an optional essay if you truly believe that explaining a key element of your story or profile is necessary for Fuqua to have a complete and accurate understanding of you as a candidate. In our  mbaMission Optional Essays Guide, available through our online store, we offer detailed advice on when and how to take advantage of the optional essay (along with multiple sample essays) to help you mitigate any problem areas in your profile. Share ThisTweet 2016-2017 Duke University (Fuqua) MBA Essay Analysis

Alabama V. Jaffree ( 1985 ) - 1737 Words

Wallace, Governor of Alabama v. Jaffree (1985): Central Question: Does the Alabama statute 16-1-20.1, allowing a period of silence for meditation or voluntary prayer violate the First Amendment Establishment Clause that is applied to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment? Facts of the Case: The case of Wallace v. Jaffree calls into question the constitutionality of an Alabama statute that authorized teachers to lead a one-minute period of silence for â€Å"meditation or voluntary† prayer in all public schools. Ishmael Jaffree, the parent of three students in the Mobile County Public School system filed a complaint that two of his three children had been â€Å"subjected to various acts of religious indoctrination,† as a result of Alabama statute 16-1-20.1 and asked for an injunction prohibiting Mobile County schools from â€Å"maintaining or allowing the maintenance of regular religious prayer services.† The purpose of Jaffree’s complaint was to prohibit the devotional services occurring in his children’s school and the consequent mockery of his children that occurred when they refused to recite the prayers to â€Å"Almighty God† (Stevens, 40). This type of law in Alabama public schools was not the first of its kind. Prior to sta tute 6-11-20.1, Alabama passed law 16-1-20 authorizing one minute of silence in public schools for meditation. After the authorization of statute 16-1-20.1 came 16-1-20.2, which allowed teachers to lead â€Å"willing students† in a prayer (Stevens, 40). Opinion of theShow MoreRelatedFreedom Of Religion : Establishment Clause2428 Words   |  10 Pages1st Amendment Freedom of Religion: Establishment Clause Court Case Significance Everson v. Board of Education (1947) A law created in New Jersey compensated parents who sent their children to public or catholic school on the public bus transportation. It was challenged and thought it was going against the Establishment Clause which prohibits the government to make any law in favor of a religion, but Justice Black said that any sort of events like riding the bus to a catholic place or protecting itRead MoreThe Constitution Best Suitable For Palestine2283 Words   |  10 Pagesof power. The Judiciary in the USA can declare any law unconstitutional if it is deemed to go against the rights guaranteed in the constitution. Similarly, in Marbury v. Madison it was held by the US Supreme court that a ‘law repugnant to the Constitution is void’ . Furthermore, in Wallace v. Jaffree, the courts held that the Alabama state law was unconstitutional as it infringed the first amendment of the US constitution and set aside the law. However, under the current interim Palestine constitutionRead MoreEss ay on To Pray or Not to Pray2778 Words   |  12 Pagesrecited; and that it not be composed by a priest, even if the language itself were inexplicit, as such a prayer would be considered blasphemous for a Jew to recite. (Feinstein 196-8) In 1985, the Supreme Court declared the Alabama school practice of moments of silence unconstitutional in the case of Wallace v. Jaffree, recognizing them as organized prayer by stealth. In 1986, in Providence, Rhode Island, Merith Weisman, a Jewish junior high student, was made to participate in a prayer ceremonyRead More The Removal of Prayer from Public Schools Essay4217 Words   |  17 PagesSpiritual Training in the Schools. In 1962, the United States Supreme Court was called upon to interpret the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution citing the Regent’s Prayer in violation (Engel v. Vitale). In a 6 to 1 decision (with 2 remaining neutral) the Supreme Court decided that the Regent’s Prayer, which was to be said aloud by each student in the presence of a teacher at the beginning of each school day, was unconstitutional: â€Å"Almighty

Shadow Banking System And Repo Market Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 30 Words: 8955 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? The shadow banking system played a crucial role in the 2007-2009 financial crisis that, in which one of the most important role is the creation of systemic risk. Since repurchase agreements are the major component of the shadow banking system, it is necessary to focus on the role of repo in the shadow banking system as well as in the 2007-2009 financial crisis, then discuss for effective regulation on repo market. In addition, for the repo markets systemic nature and structural weaknesses, regulatory exercise on repo market should focus more on systemic risk of financial institutions, rather than individual, as the current regulations. Key Words: shadow banking system, repurchase agreement, systemic risk, regulation. Acknowledgements Table of Content Chapter 1. Introduction The shadow banking system played a critical role in the 2007-2009 financial crisis. The FSB (2011b) report has defined shadow banking as credit intermediation which occurs outsid e or partially outside the banking system, but which involves leverage and maturity transformation, and the shadow banking system as the system of credit intermediation that involves entities and activities outside the regular banking system. It provides a cheaper and more efficient way for corporations to meet their needs on funding, and was emerge as a complement to regular banking. However, the financial crisis shown that the shadow banking system can also create a number of risks, in which the most important one is systemic risk. A repurchase agreement is a financial contract that market participants used it as a financing method to meet short and long term liquidity needs, in which one participant borrows cash from the other by pledging a financial security as collateral. In U.S. repo market, a series of regulatory changes in the 1980s made the repo market an attractive source of short-term financing for primary dealers to finance their positions in the debt of the U.S. gove rnment, federal agencies, corporations, and federal agency mortgage-backed securities. Moreover, another significant change in 2005 makes repo transactions eligible for bankruptcy safe harbor protection based on any stock, bond, or security. In addition, the rapid growth of money holding by institutional investors, pension funds, mutual funds, states and municipalities, and non-financial firms is another main driver for increasing use of repos. Unfortunately, there is no official data of the overall size of the repo market in U.S.. Since repos are the major component of the shadow banking system, and shadow banking is seen to rely on wholesale funding such as repo as the deposits issued by traditional banks, and even seen as more dependent on these sources of funding than traditional banks are on deposits, it is necessary to focus on the role of repo in the shadow banking system as well as in the 2007-2009 financial crisis, and discuss the effective regulation on repo market. 1.1 Aim and Research Objectives The primary aim of this research is: Shadow Banking System and Repo Market during 2007-2009 Financial Crisis: the Implications for Repo Regulation In particular, the research will address the following research aspects: Study the classical researches on shadow banking system, repo market and regulations. Discuss the critical role of repo in 2007-2009 financial crisis and the necessity of repo regulation. Summarize and discuss recent financial regulation, and give the implications for the future. 1.2 The Structures of Dissertation There are 6 chapters in this dissertation, the first chapter is the introduction which introduces the reasons for writing, research aim and objectives. The second chapter briefly introduce the background of the dissertation. First give a definition on shadow banking system, discuss its role in financial system, and point out its differences compared to traditional banking system. Then provide the definition of repurchase agreement, explaining how it works, outlining a profile of the U.S. repo market, and describing how it came to play such an important role in the shadow banking system. The third chapter overview classic literatures related to the shadow banking system, repo market and financial regulations. The fourth chapter using data to help understand the changes in financial crisis, and then discuss the critical role that repos play in the current financial crisis. The fifth chapter focus on repo regulation, which overview the regulatory framework of repo market, summarize current regulatory exercises in several countries, and then articulate the implications for future repo market regulation. The last chapter is the conclusion of the research, which summary the main ideas in the paper. Chapter 2. Background of Dissertation 2.1 Shadow Banking System FSB (2011a) mentions that the emergence of the term shadow banking system reflected a recognitio n of the increased importance of entities and activities structured outside the regular banking system that perform bank-like functions. The recent financial crisis demonstrated that shadow banking is highly interrelated with the regular banking system and can have an significant impact on financial stability. In the later report, FSB (2011b) defined shadow banking as credit intermediation which occurs outside or partially outside the banking system, but which involves leverage and maturity transformation, and the shadow banking system as the system of credit intermediation that involves entities and activities outside the regular banking system. The traditional banking system based on making and holding loans with insured savings as the main source of funds, it borrowing short-term from other banks and lending long-term to the retail consumer. The shadow banking system based on the business of packaging and reselling loans, it provides a cheaper and more efficient way for cor porations to meet their needs on short-term funding, in which repos and asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) are the main source of funds. These banks provide credit both directly and indirectly through three different processes of financial transformation: Credit transformation, which means they enhance the credit quality to offer a range of seniority and duration, and a corresponding range of risk and return, from short-term AAA down to equity; Maturity transformation, by which they finance long-term assets with short-term liabilities, it makes the term of their liabilities much shorter than their assets, and exposes short-term investors to market liquidity and duration risks; Liquidity transformation, by which they fund illiquid assets with liquid liabilities, it causes the same result as maturity transformation through different techniques. According to one measure of the size of the shadow banking system from FSB (2011), it grew rapidly before the financial crisis, from an estimated $27 trillion in 2002 to $60 trillion in 2007, and remained at around the same level in 2010. Gorton and Metrick (2010a) argue that the force from both supply and demand side cause the rapid development of shadow banking system before the current crisis: a series of changes in innovations and regulations eroded the banks competitive advantage; and demand for collateral for financial transactions of bank promote the development of securitization and increase the use of repos as a money-like instrument. On the one hand, it should be recognised that intermediating credit through shadow banking can offer advantages to the financial system. First, shadow banking system provide an alternative source of funding for market participants to bank deposits. Second, since some non-bank entities increased specialization, it provide more efficiently credit resource to meet the specific needs in the economy and reduce the cost the investors. Third, it constitute an alternative s ource to diversify risk other than traditional banking system. On the other hand, however, as the financial crisis has shown, the shadow banking system can also create a number of risks, in which the most important one is systemic risk. First, shadow banking business exposed to the similar risks as traditional banks, it financed by short-term deposit-like funding of non-bank entities, which my lead to runs in the market if confidence is lost. Second, the operation of non-deposit sources of collateral funding in shadow banking can be highly leveraged without being limited by regulator, especially when asset prices are rise and haircuts on secured financing are low. Highly leveraged transactions can increase the fragility of the financial system and become a source of systemic risk. Third, the risks in the shadow banking system can easily transmitted to the regular banking system since shadow banking businesses are often closely linked to the traditional banking sector. Which means that any failures in shadow banking can lead to important contagion due to the fact that banks often take part in the shadow banking credit intermediation chain or even provide support to the shadow banking entities. In addition, shadow banking system operations provide tools that banks can use it to avoid regulation or supervision applied to traditional bank system. Banks can break the traditional credit intermediation process under legally independent structures dealing with each other. As well known, the operations that banks circumventing capital and accounting rules, transferring risks out the control of banking regulation is the main cause of the recent crisis. 2.2 The Repurchase Agreement (Repo) Market 2.2.1 The Repurchase Agreement (Repo) The most important component in shadow banking is securitized debt, such as U.S. Treasuries, commercial paper, mortgage-backed securities (MBSs), equities, and so on. Acharya and ÃÆ'Æ’-ncà ¼ (2010) mention that, by the fourth quarter of 2009, the amount of outstanding securitized debt in the United States totaled $11.6 trillion, about one-third of the entire U.S. debt market, and much of this securitized debt is in the form of repurchase agreements. As mentioned before, shadow banking is seen to rely on wholesale funding such as repo as the deposits issued by traditional banks, and even seen as more dependent on these sources of funding than traditional banks are on deposits. A repurchase agreement is a financial contract that market participants used it as a financing method to meet short and long term liquidity needs, in which one participant borrows cash from the other by pledging a financial security as collateral. It also known as a sale and repurchase agreement for a two part transaction, originally the bank or borrower, and the depositor or lender. In case that repo is negotiated and executed privately between a borrower and a lender, it is referred to as a bilateral agreement. And when both p articipants to a repo share a common custodian to hold collateral and to transfer cash, the arrangement is referred to as a tri-party repo. The depositor deposits money and earns interest, whereas the bank provides bonds as collateral to back the deposit in exchange for the cash. Regulatory changes in the 1980s made the repo market an attractive source of short-term, often overnight, financing for primary dealers to finance their positions in the debt of the U.S. government, federal agencies, corporations, and federal agency mortgage-backed securities. Later, it also became a funding source for investors to lend and invest in relatively illiquid mortgage-backed securities. When a repo transaction is agreed, cash will exchange for collateral on both the settlement and the maturity. The sale price for the establishment of securities equals to the amount of cash lent to the borrower, and the repurchase price is equivalent to the sale price plus interest charged by lender. Typical ly, the loan amount is equivalent to the market value of the collateral minus a haircut, in which the haircut is a percentage that calculated to protect the lender in the case of default by the borrower. Figure 2.1 shows the cash exchanges in an overnight bilateral repo that settles on the day after the trade and matures on the day after settlement, and Figure 2.2 illustrates the role of a tri-party agent in holding the borrowers collateral and transferring the lenders cash. Repo is an over-the-counter (OTC) contract that shares many key features with derivatives, such as the reliance on its counterparts to meet obligations over time. Similar as all OTC products, the life cycle of repo contains several standard processes: documentation, execution, clearing, settlement, and custody. Figure 2.3 shows the life cycle of repo. The step of clearing is the match of trade notices generated by the two participants and the initiation of settlement instructions for the movement of cas h and securities. Clearing happens several times during the life cycle of a trade: dealers match trades between themselves and their clients, and depositories match the resulting settlement instructions. Settlement of repo is the exchange of cash and collateral. Custody is the maintenance of the cash and collateral in two separate accounts for both the lender and the borrower, which are held by broker-dealers themselves, by custody banks representing either party to the transaction, or by a single bank serving as custodian for both parties simultaneously. 2.2.2 Repo Market in the U.S. In 1917, the repurchase agreements were first introduced to the U.S. financial market by the Federal Reserve. As Acharya and ÃÆ'Æ’-ncà ¼ (2010) mention, the Fed used repos secured with bankers acceptances to extend credit to dealers to encourage the development of a liquid secondary market for acceptances. Early repos in the U.S. had two distinguishing features. First, accrued interest wa s excluded from the price of the repo securities. Second, even though the creditor could sell or deliver the repo securities to settle a prior sale at prices that included the accrued interest during the term of the repo, ownership of the repo securities rested with the debtor. Figure 2.4 lists the main changes in the U.S. repo market history, the last significant change before the current crisis is that Congress enacted the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA), which expanded the definition of repurchase agreements to include mortgage loans, mortgage-related securities, and interest from mortgage loans or mortgage-related securities, which make repo transactions eligible for bankruptcy safe harbor protection based on any stock, bond, or other security . In the U.S. repo market, loans are mostly extended overnight, which constitute about half of all repo transactions, and most of them are open, which means that they roll over automatically u ntil either party chooses to exit. Other repo transactions called term repos, have terms longer than one day but shorter than one year, while most maturity of them three months or less. Participants in the repo market include commercial banks, investment banks, hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, money market funds, municipalities, corporations, and other owners of large amounts of idle cash, as well as the Fed and primary securities dealers. The Fed participates in the repo market mostly to implement its monetary policy, while primary securities dealers participate mainly to finance their market-making and risk management activities. Owners of large amounts of cash in the repo market mainly engage for two reasons: First, get better interest rates in the repo market compared with deposits at commercial banks. Second, for insurance purposes. Large deposits at commercial banks are not insured, whereas deposits at repo banks are secured by debt used as collateral. The rapid growth of money holding by institutional investors, pension funds, mutual funds, states and municipalities, and non-financial firms is one of the main drivers of increasing use of repos. They are seeking for a safe investment which can earn interest and simultaneously have strong liquidity. Under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, especially since the change in 2005, repos have a special status: repo contract allows either participant to enforce the termination provisions of the agreement unilaterally if a bankruptcy filing by the other participant. Figure 2.5 shows the institutional investors financial assets in the United State from 1980 to 2008. Unfortunately, there is no official statistics of the overall size of the repo market in US, the Fed only counted the repo contracts that completed by the primary security dealers trade with the Fed. Figure 2.6 indicates annual average of Daily financing by U.S. government primary dealers from 1996 to 2011, and it can be seen that there is an exponential growth in repo market. Hà ¶rdahl and King (2008) report that repo markets doubled in size from 2002 to 2007, the paper indicate that with gross amounts outstanding at year-end 2007 of roughly $10 trillion in each of the US and euro repo markets, and another $1 trillion in the UK repo market. They also point out that the U.S. repo market exceeded $10 trillion in mid-2008, including double counting both repo and reverse repo in the same transaction. Gorton (2010) illustrate that the size of repo market in US is likely to be about $12 trillion as of 2009, compared with the total assets in the U.S. banking system of $10 trillion. In addition, the tri-party repo is predominantly part in the US repo market, anecdotal evidence suggests that tri-party repo activity may account for between 65% and 80% of the overall US repo market. Figure 2.7 shows the growth of tri-party repo transactions from May 2002 to May 2010. The value of securities financed by tri-party repos grow smoothly since 2002, reached the peak to about $2.8 trillion in early 2008, then the size of the market has declined notably to $1.7 trillion during first-quarter in 2010. Chapter 3. Literature Review The term shadow banking system was first coined by former Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO) executive Paul McCulley at Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas Citys Economic Symposium in Jackson Hole Wyoming in 2007. McCulley (2010) said that the shadow banking system appeared with the development of money market funds in the 1970s, the money market accounts function similar as bank deposits, but money market funds not regulated as banks. Gertler and Boyd (1993) and Corrigan (2000) are early discussions of the role of commercial banks and the market based financial system in financial intermediation. Paul Krugman (2008) of the New York Times trace the cause of the economic meltdown to a run on shadow banks when credit dried up. He argued that the shadow banking system rely on complex financial design, avoid the conventional financial regulation and take part in more commercial banking business. Because of not regulated, shadow banks are easier to expand business areas than traditional banks, the financial crisis leads people to transfer their money from the shadow banking system to government bonds, suddenly the shadow Banks liquidity exhaustion. 3.1 Literature on Shadow Banking System After the panic of 2007, there are a number of academic studies focus on the shadow banking system, and point out that the shadow banking system is at the heart of the credit crisis. Pozsar (2008) cataloguizes different types of shadow banks and describes the asset and funding flows within the shadow banking system. The paper clearly presents how the collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) changed from tools to manage credit risk to a source of credit risk. Adrian and Shin (2009) focus on the role of security brokers and dealers in the shadow banking system, and discuss the implications for financial regulation. The paper illustrates that securitization was initially intended to be a way to transfer credit risk to something better able to absorb losses, but instead it increased the fragility of the financial system. It allows banks and other intermediaries to leverage up by buying each others securities. They point out that it is important to prevent excessive leverage and maturity mismatch, which can undermine the stability of entire financial system. Pozsar, Adrian, Ashcraft, and Boesky (2010) provide a overview of shadow banking institutions and activities, focus on funding flows in a somewhat mechanical manner. The paper outline the economic role of shadow banking and show that there is a deep connection between shadow banking system and traditional banking system. The authors expect the shadow banking to be a significant part in the financial system in the future, but in a different form. Gorton and Metrick (2010a) present a goo d description of the shadow banking system and discuss its risks to financial stability. The analysis focus on three major institutions: money-market mutual funds (MMMFs), securitization and repurchase agreements (repos). They argue that the change that makes repo a bankruptcy safe harbor was crucial to the growth and efficiency of shadow banking, regulators can make use of the admittance to this bankruptcy safe harbor as the breach to enforce new regulations. Gennaioli, Shleifer and Vishny (2011) develop a model of shadow banking where intermediaries originate, securitize and trade loans, financed externally with riskless debt. As a result, maturity transformation and leverage are excessive, and lead to credit booms and busts when investors and intermediaries neglect tail risks. Therefore, the paper argued that regulators should continuously monitor intermediaries exposures and financial innovations and intervene when necessary. 3.2 Literature on Repurchase Agreements (Repo) There are increasing number of literatures on markets for repurchase agreements (repo) since the panic of 2007 broke out. Before that, studies on repo mainly focus on the asset pricing field, e.g. Duffie (1996) and Buraschi and Menini (2002). After the 2007 financial crisis, the researchers started to discuss the role of repo in shadow banking system, and its contribution to recent financial crisis. Most of the researches are based on the evidence of the U.S. repo market. Many theoretical studies have shown that pro-cyclical margins and haircuts have strong negative impact on the stability of financial markets. Brunnermeier and Pederson (2009) develop a model where margins can increase in illiquidity given uncertainty over the nature of price shocks. Once the speculators are subject to capital constraints, they will reduce their positions and market liquidity fall, which will then lead to higher margins and a so-called liquidity spiral. They argued that regulators should impro ve market liquidity by boosting speculator funding conditions during a liquidity crisis. Jurek and Stafford (2010) provide financing terms in collateralized lending markets with a theoretical model. The paper shows that securities which have quickly declining recovery values are financed at higher haircuts, will respond much more strongly to market fluctuations. They argue that the risk profile of the underlying collateral alone can explain why the repo haircuts shift massively during the recent financial crisis. Acharya, Gale and Yorulmazer (2011) present a model of market freezes and haircuts in secured borrowing, which explain a main feature of the crisis of 2007-2009: a sudden freeze in the market for short-term and asset-backed financing. The model contains three essential features: the term of debts is much shorter than the assets and needs to rolled over frequently; if the borrower default the contract, the collateral will be sold by the creditors and there is a small liquida tion cost; and a significant part of potential buyers of the collateral also relies on short-term debt finance. Under these conditions, the debt capacity of the assets can be much less than the fundamental value, and in fact, equal the minimum possible value of the asset. The paper argued that it is true even if the fundamental value of the assets is currently high. In particular, a small change in the fundamental value of the assets can be associated with a sudden collapse in the debt capacity. Other papers on this topic include Valderrama (2010), Rytchkov (2009), Geanakoplos (2010). Predictably, a great number of empirical literatures based on evidence from the US repo market have turned up to confirm the pro-cyclicality of margins and haircuts. The conclusion from these empirical studies strongly show that changes in margins and haircuts has a signally negative effect on financial system. Adrian and Shin (2010) showed that marked-to-market leverage is strongly procyclical, repo transactions have accounted for most of the pro-cyclical adjustment of the leverage of investment banks. In this paper, they argued that aggregate liquidity can be understood as the rate of growth of the aggregate financial sector balance sheet. Financial intermediaries balance sheets generally become stronger when asset prices increase, their leverage tends to be too low, and then they hold surplus capital. In this case, the intermediaries will attempt to find ways to employ their surplus capital. And for such surplus capacity to be utilized, they must expand their balance sheets, which means that they should take on more short-term debt on the liability side and search for potential borrowers on the asset side. From the evidence of repo market in the U.S., it can be seen that when balance sheets are expanding fast enough, borrowers are granted credit even they do not have the means to repay, since the urge to employ surplus capital is so intense. They point out that this is t he fundamental cause for the subsequent decline in the credit cycle. Gorton and Metrick (2010b) present direct evidence on the haircuts in the repo market and illustrate that withdrawals from securitized banks is the main cause of increase in repo haircuts, which means that it is a bank run. The paper said that when all investors involve in the run and the haircuts rise high enough, the securitized banking system cannot finance itself and is forced to sell assets. These changes in the constraints on funding liquidity can have a fast effect on asset prices and market dynamics. As a result, the assets become information sensitive and the liquidity dries up, and finally the system is insolvent. Gorton and Metrick (2011) argued that one of the major cause of the 2007-2009 financial crisis was changes in repo haircuts.The paper study a segment of the bilateral repo market and use a novel data set that includes credit spreads for hundreds of securitized bonds to trace the path of cr isis from sub-prime-housing related assets into markets that had no connection to housing. They find that changes in the LIB-OIS spread, a proxy for counter-party risk, was strongly correlated with changes in credit spreads and repo rates for securitized bonds, which implied higher uncertainty about bank solvency and lower values for repo collateral. Moreover, they draw a figure showing the haircuts index, which can be seen as an average haircut for collateral used in repo transactions but not including U.S. Treasury securities, In the US repo market, average haircut rising from zero before July 2007 to nearly 50 percent at the peak of the financial crisis in late 2008. With decreasing asset values and increasing haircuts, the U.S. banking system was finally insolvent for the first time since the Great Depression. However, Richard Comotto (2012) argued that there is a serious flaw in this haircut index, as well as the thesis that much of the crisis was driven by run on repo. The paper point out that Gorton and Metrick (2011)s data based their conclusions was only for collateral in the form of structured securities (ABS, RMBS, CMBS, CLO and CDO). Moreover, the paper claim that Gorton and Metrick (2011) offer no data on US Treasuries, which constitutes the largest pool of repo collateral in the US, and ignore the tri-party segment of the repo market, which may have accounted for 50-60% of outstanding U.S. repo and is largely collateralized by U.S. Treasuries, Agencies and MBS, for which haircuts are much lower and asset values were not impacted by the crisis to anything like the degree as structured securities. The paper also indicate that the Fed sponsored Task Force on Tri-party Repo Infrastructure (2009) reported that the available data suggested that haircuts in the tri-party repo market did not change much during the 2007-2009. In conclusion, Richard Comotto (2012) thought that Gorton and Metrick (2011) are unwise to assume that repo funding is by virtue of the dynamics of haircuts is an inherently unstable source of funding without sufficient empirical data. Copeland, Martin and Walker (2011) find that there are significant differences between haircut changes in bilateral and tri-party segment of the repo market. During the 2007-2009 financial crisis, haircuts and funding in the bilateral repo market changed dramatically which is similar with the result of Gorton and Metrick (2011)s work. However, haircuts in the tri-party repo market did not change much, and that funding was very stable for dealers, and the only exception is Lehman Brothers, whose tri-party repo book decreased sharply in the days leading up to its bankruptcy. The author provide three possible explanations as to why haircuts in the tri-party repo market almost keep unchanged. First one is that some cash investors prefer to withdraw funding rather than take possession of the collateral when they think a dealer is not creditworthy. Secondly, since money funds are very intolerant of liquidity and credit risk, major categories of tri-party repo investors have to worry about withdrawal pressures from their own investors. Thirdly, due to tri-party repos were mainly overnight and the clearing bank would unwind repos every morning, cash investors may feel that they can always pull away from troubled dealer, which makes the management of haircuts less important. Since tri-party repo market and the bilateral repo market were both at the heart of the current financial crisis, to recognise the different use of haircuts across these two repo markets is important to regulators in considering policies designed to prevent runs on securities dealers. A further study from Martin, Skeie and von Thadden (2011), develop a dynamic equilibrium model to study how the fragility of short-term funding markets depends upon the particular microstructures, liquidity, and collateral arrangements that may lead to runs at various types of financial institutions. The p aper shows that market microstructure can explain the different changes of haircuts between bilateral and tri-party repo markets. The haircut for each collateral class is included in the custodial undertaking agreement between the three parties and takes much more time to change than bilateral contracts, which make the tri-party repo market more susceptible to runs. The model can actually explain why haircuts may not adjust sufficiently to protect the investors in case of Lehman Brothers. Although several studies believe that the run on the repo market play a crucial role during the financial crisis, some empirical papers argue that the impact of repo contraction on the shadow banking system is relatively limited. For example, Krishnamurthy, Nagel and Orlov (2012) measure the repo funding extended by money market funds (MMF) and securities lenders to the shadow banking system, including quantities, haircuts, and repo rates by type of underlying collateral. They suggest that repo only played a very small role in funding private sector assets prior to the crisis, only 3% of outstanding non-Agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and asset-backed(ABS) securities was financed by repos from MMFs or securities lenders, and 22% was financed by asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP). However, they also find that the contraction in repo particularly have systematical impact on key dealer banks with large exposures to private sector securities, which then had knock-on effects on security markets. 3.3 Literature on Repo Market Regulation Gai, Haldane and Kapadia (2011) develop a network model of interbank lending in which unsecured claims, repo activity and shocks to the haircuts applied to collateral assume center stage. The model shows that how the complexity and concentration in financial system may amplify its fragility. The analysis not only points out that minimum margin requirements can be used as a macro-prudential tool in regulation, it also suggests that how a range of policy measures including liquidity regulation and capital surcharges for systemically important financial institutions could make the financial system more resilient. Goodhart, Charles, Kashyap, Tsmocos and Varoulavis (2011) introduce a model that includes both a banking system and a shadow banking system that each help households finance their expenditures, and explore how different types of financial regulation could combat many of the phenomena that were observed in the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009. The paper analyses the effects of increasing margin requirements on repo transactions, and show that margin restrictions may partially constrain risk taking and raise the cost of mortgage borrowing. Gorton and Metrick (2010b) suggest that repos should be regulated because they are, in effect, new forms of banking, it is similar to bank deposits but have the same vulnerabilities as bank-created money. The authors proposals are aimed to create a sufficient amo unt of high quality collateral which can safely be used in repo transactions. Acharya and ÃÆ'Æ’-ncà ¼ (2012) point out one of the regulatory failures behind the recent financial crisis started in 2007 has been that the regulatory exercise focus on individual, rather than systemic, risk of financial institutions. Therefore, they provide a set of resolution mechanisms which is not only capable of addressing the issues of inducing market discipline and mitigating moral hazard, but also capable of addressing the systemic risk associated with the systemically important assets and liabilities (SIALs). Specifically, in order to control the risk of the run on repo market, the authors propose to create a Repo Resolution Authority (RRA) in jurisdictions with significant repo activities, which can address the externality of systemic risk of repo contracts on risky and potentially illiquid collaterals. Chapter 4. Repo in 2007-2009 Financial Crisis 4.1 The Crisis of 2007-2009 Du e to the fact that the majority of leveraged positions in shadow banking was based on repo financing, it effectively observed that a run on repos play a significant role in the financial crisis. Gorton and Metrick (2010) use two main variables to help review the timeline of the crisis: the ABX index, and LIB-OIS. The ABX index provides publicly observable market that prices sub-prime risk, can be seen as a proxy for fundamentals in the sub-prime mortgage market. The LIB-OIS, which is the spread between the three-month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and the three-month overnight index swap (OIS) rate, can be seen as a proxy for counter-party risk in repo transactions. Figure 4.1 shows the ABX and LIB-OIS spreads, in which the ABX spread is the CDS spread on the BBB-rated ABX tranche of the first vintage of the ABX in 2006. According to the ABX index in figure, the sub-prime market start to deteriorate since the beginning of 2007, which had a direct impact on banks whoes balance sheets had lots of securitized assets and pre-securitized mortgages. Creditors started to ask the two Bear Stearns funds to provide more collateral to back the repos, and when the funds unable to meet the calls, creditors led by Merrill Lynch threatened to declare the funds in default of repos and to seize the investments. In fact, according to Acharya et al. (2009), Merrill seized $850 million of the CDOs and tried to auction them on June 19, 2007. However, when Merrill was only able to sell approximately $100 million worth of CDOs, sub-prime assets illiquid nature and the declining value emerged. The rapid increase of the ABX spread during July 2007 appears to be a response of the sub-prime market to this run on the shadow banks in the repo market. The importance of the exemption of repos from the application of automatic stay becomes to emerge. The Bear Stearns funds can have filed for bankruptcy and avoid the forced fire sale of their assets since their repo securitie s was subject to automatic stay, and the sub-prime mortgage decline became systemic eventually. After keeping unchanged in the first 6 months in 2007, LIB-OIS first signals danger with the first major jump in August, for the real deterioration in bank balance sheets in the interbank market. In period during July to September LIB-OIS reached and past its historical record 3 times, which is also the period that the initial shock for a wide range of the securitization markets, particularly in high-grade parts that commonly used as collateral in the repo market.In early August 2007, a run ensued on the assets of three structured investment vehicles (SIVs) of BNP Paribas. On August 9, BNP Paribas suspended redemptions from these SIVs. BNP Paribass SIVs were bankruptcy-remote entities financing their sub-prime holdings through the issuance of ABCPs that had essentially lost their liquidity and become non-tradable. The announcement of the suspension of redemptions by BNP Paribas gave ri se to counter-party risk concerns and caused the ABCP market to freeze, and This freeze coincided in the LIB-OIS spread. Fears of counter-party risk spread through markets, all short-term debt markets-including the repo market-froze, only to open after central banks injected massive amounts of liquidity into the system. The LIB-OIS spread remained in a historically high until September 2008, when the events at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman, and AIG cause a rapid regression in interbank markets and sustained increase in the LIB-OIS until the end of 2008. 4.2 Repo Haircuts A haircut of repo is a percentage discount deducted from the market value of a security which is being offered as a collateral in a repo in order to calculate the purchase price. The formula for a haircut is as follow: It counts to addresses the risk that if the depositor of the bond in repo must sell a bond in the market to get the withdrawal, the trader to whom the bond is sold may be better informed and resulting in a loss, which means that the price may not adjust to address this risk. In this case, a haircut tranching the collateral to recreate an information insensitive security and thereby improve its liquidity. Gorton and Metrick (2010) suggest that the increasing haircuts in the interdealer repo market may be seen as a run on shadow banks, it tantamount to a withdrawal from the issuing bank. Figure 4.2 shows the haircuts for the non-sub-prime-related group, sub-prime-related groups, and the average of all the categories from 2007 to 2009. The data Gorton and Metrick (2010) examine are the interdealer repo haircuts for the following asset classes ¼Ãƒâ€¦Ã‚ ¡(1) A-AAA ABS (auto/credit cards/student loans); (2) AA-AAA RMBS/CMBS; (3) below-A RMBS/CMBS; (4) AA-AAA CLO; (5) unpriced ABS/MBS/all sub-prime; (6) AA-AAA CDOs; (7) unpriced CLOs/ CDOs. Of these classes, (1) through (4) are not sub-prime related since they do not contain sub-prime mortgages. The RMBS in cate gories (2) and (3) are prime mortgages, not sub-prime. Categories (5) through (7) are either directly sub-prime or contain sub-prime mortgages. in particular, CDOs contain some sub-prime mortgages. Gorton and Metrick (2010) use all seven categories to construct an equally weighted average repo haircut index for structured bonds. Figure 4.2 illustrates that in the period of 2007 to 2009, the repo haircuts increased from zero in early 2007 to nearly 50 percent in late 2008 on average. Haircuts were higher on sub-prime-related asset classes, it eventually went to 100 percent haircuts, which means these assets were not acceptable in repo as collateral, whereas the non-sub-prime-related asset classes reached a peak at 20 percent. In order to help understand the impact of run on repo, for instance, take total size of the repo market to be $10 trillion. Then, if the average haircut goes from zero to 20 percent during the crisis, which means that the securitized banking system must rise $2 trillion from other sources to fund its assets. In this case, the only available way for banks to make up the difference was sale the asset, which caused a further decline in the prices of these asset classes, making them less usable as collateral, then further sales, and so on. Moreover, Figure 4.2 also shows a loss of confidence through the haircut growth in the non-sub-prime-related group even though it had nothing to do with sub-prime mortgages. It is worth noticing that Gorton and Metrick (2010)s data ignore the tri-party segment of the repo market, and according to the Task Force on Tri-party Repo Infrastructure White Paper (2010), the available data suggested that haircuts in the tri-party repo market almost remain unchanged during 2007 and 2009. However, it does not mean tri-party repo had nothing to do with the crisis. FRBNY White Paper (2010) claims that (a)t several points during the financial crisis of 2007-2009, the tri-party repo market took on particular import ance in relation to the failures and near-failures of Countrywide Securities, Bear Stearns, and Lehman Brothers. The potential for the tri-party repo market to cease functioning, with impacts to securities firms, money market mutual funds, major banks involved in payment and settlements globally, and even to the liquidity of the U.S. Treasury and Agency securities, has been cited by policy makers as a key concern behind aggressive interventions to contain the financial crisis. 4.3 The Transparency of Repo Security financing market is complicated, evolved rapidly and sometime can be opaquely for some market participants and regulators. The transparency may, as well, be lacking due to the bilateral nature of securities financing transactions. During the financial crisis, the lack of transparency is embodied in several levels: Market data on macro level: previous to the current crisis, some authorities faced difficulties in valuating and supervising the risks on certain angles of the markets. There are only some available data from data vendors that collect information from intermediaries for commercial purposes, or based on surveys presented by the authorities or trade associations. Especially in bilateral and synthetic transactions, the lack of transparency is much more severe since there is no market data available and authorities have to rely on market intelligence. Market data on micro level: due to the fact that securities lending and repo are constructed in various ways, without exact data on transaction level, it might be difficult to seize the real risks that individual market participants pose to the system, especially for the bilateral transactions. Corporate disclosure by market participants: in most authorities, cash-versus-securities transactions are usually reported on-balance sheet. However, according to the accounting standards used in some cases, repos can be reported off-balance sheet, or even disclosure is provided in financial accounts of securities-versus-securities transactions, that are typically looked through for the purpose of financial report. The engagement of financial institutions in off-balance sheet transactions without sufficient disclosure may contribute to their risk-taking incentives and eventually increase the fragility of the entire financial system. Risk reporting by intermediaries to their clients: previous to the current crisis, a number of prime brokers had not provide adequate disclosure on re-hypothecation activities to their hedge fund clients. After the collapse of Lehman Brothers International, for instance, many hedge funds turned into unsecured general creditors unexpectedly since they did not realized that the extent to which it had been re-hypothecating client securities. Moreover, some securities lenders, particularly some less sophisticated lenders who have claimed that they were not adequately informed by the agent lenders about the counter-party risk and cash collater al reinvestment risk of their securities lending activities. 4.4 Role of Repo during the Crisis Repo played a crucial role in each stage of the financial crisis, from investor distress in early 2007 to the collapse of major financial institutions at the peak of the crisis in October of 2008. ICMAs Europe European Repo Council (2012) outline and discuss several possible roles that repo played during the current crisis: 4.4.1 Excessive Leverage In theory, repo can allow infinite leverage. For example, a firm finance the purchase of an asset with its own funds initially, then it could repo out the assets to borrow cash and use the cash to buy more assets, and it repos out for more cash and so on. However, the risk of collateralized financing encouraging excessive leverage is somewhat mitigated by the real world constraints on over-borrowing, which apply to both unsecured and secured instruments. This is why Lehman Brothers perpetrated Repo 105 and why MF Global employed rep o-to-maturity. And although borrowing levels are only disclosed periodically with a lag and imperfectly, participants in both the unsecured and secured money markets conduct real-time scrutiny of each others borrowing in order to detect patterns of behavior that suggest an unusual hunger for liquidity. It is a gross misunderstanding of the nature of repo that collateral makes lenders indifferent to counter-party credit risk. Some banks have over-leveraged, using both unsecured and secured financing. So, some sort of constraint can be justified. But a mandatory haircut to act as a type of fractional reserve is undesirable, as it would distort the relative pricing of secured versus unsecured instruments. It would also be a very blunt tool, which would reduce liquidity across the entire market, to deal with what should be seen as a problem of risk management specific to individual institutions. General instrument-based approaches are more likely to have unexpected consequences. And, as a matter of principle, concerns about institutions taking excessive leverage should be addressed directly using institution-specific tools such as leverage limits and capital ratios. 4.4.2 Encumber Assets Traditionally, encumbrance is a problem arising from the pledging of collateral, which may be caused when assets are provided as collateral by a borrower. Although those assets still appearing on the borrowers balance sheet, they are no longer available to help meet the claims of unsecured creditors in the event of the insolvency of the borrower. Now repos such as collateral swaps have started to be seen as a source of encumbrance. Encumbrance might arise where repo collateral is subject to an haircut. In this case, it can be argued that the assets represented by the haircut are encumbered, as their sale is not compensated by cash. Hence, it would appear that haircuts structurally subordinate the claims of unsecured creditors over assets given as collateral. However, i t should to be remembered that haircuts are not universally applied nor are they are significant in size. The problem can arise where haircuts are deep, for example, in long-term repo and collateral swaps, over-collateralization could be seen as giving rise to encumbrance. However, the giving of the haircut in such transactions is typically compensated by the buyer pledging the haircut back to the seller, which eliminates any encumbrance. Therefore, the issue of the encumbrance of assets by repos is largely illusory. 4.4.3 Amplify Pro-cyclicality Regulatory concerns that market practices in setting haircuts help to amplify financial market pro-cyclicality envisage a haircut-asset valuation spiral as the amplification mechanism. In an up-cycle, ample liquidity, low volatility, rising asset values, high credit ratings and strong competition for business erode haircuts, contributing to the growth in leverage. When an aggregate shock triggers the start of a down-cycle, haircuts are increased in response to the initial loss of confidence. In the manner of a credit multiplier in reverse, this reduces the liquidity of market users who sell assets in response. Asset sales reduce the value of collateral, causing haircuts to be increased again. And so on. Each market user is behaving rationally from its point of view but, in aggregate, their individual actions create a negative systemic externality. This type of scenario has given rise to the broader claim that the market crisis of 2007-09 was essentially, if not entirely, a run on repo and that repo is an inherent, unstable source of funding. However, the regulatory debate has been taking place largely in the absence of sufficient empirical data on haircuts use or potential impact. Estimates of the likely impact of changes in haircuts on the liquidity of the European repo market between 2007 and 2009, using available data on market size and composition, suggest that their systemic impact may be relatively i nsignificant in terms of the de-leveraging that took place over this period, which seriously undermines the argument that repo is, by virtue of haircuts, an inherently unstable source of funding. Chapter 5. Regulations in Repo Market 5.1 Current Regulatory Framework of Repo Market FSB (2012) provides a high-level summary of the results of a survey in autumn 2011, conducted by the FSB Workstream on Securities Lending and Repos and the International Organization of Commissions (IOSCO) Standing Committee on Risk and Research, which maps the current regulatory frameworks based on the responses from 12 member authorities (Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, U.K. and U.S.), the European Commission, and the European Central Bank (ECB). Figure 5.1 outline the main regulatory changes in 12 jurisdictions on different aspects: 5.1.1 Requirements on Financial Intermediations Typically, risk exposures arising from securi ties lending and repo transactions are taken into account in the regulatory capital regimes for banks and broker-dealers. Under the Basel capital regime, for instance, banks are requested to hold capital against any counter-party exposures net of the collateral from repo or securities loan associated with an add-on for potential future exposure. Net of the collateral, however, is allowed only when the legal agreement is enforceable under appropriate laws. As well, capital requirements must be held against lent or repoed securities continuously. Furthermore, some other requirements that subject to banks and securities broker dealers are designed in order to improve risk management and strengthen protection on investors. Unlike consistent regulatory capital requirements that has been applied across authorities, there are a variety of tools and details each authority has adopted according to the risks that they need to deal with. 5.1.2 Requirements on Investors Due to the fact that risk exposures arising when investment funds and insurance companies involved in the securities lending and repo markets as investors, it is necessary to design relevant regulatory requirements and activity restrictions to regulate such financial institutions, as well as protect individual investors. Counter-party credit risk, which arising from securities lending and repo transactions, can be alleviated by restrictions on eligible counter-parties and counter-party concentration limits. Concretely, it can be regulated from two aspects: first, restricting eligible counter-parties for securities lending and repo transactions; second, using counter-party concentration limits to alleviate the effect of a large counter-partys default. Liquidity risk, arising from securities lending and repo transactions for insurance companies and MMFs. Some authorities restrict the maturity of securities loans and repos in order to alleviate the liquidity risk. Such maturity limits range fro m 30 days to around one year. Collateral guidelines, some jurisdictions have introduced collateral guidelines that apply either generally or specifically to securities lending and repos, which include various regulatory tools such as minimum margins and haircuts, eligibility criteria for collateral, restrictions on re-use of collateral and re-hypothecation, and restrictions on cash collateral reinvestment. Transparency, which are similar to the general requirements for public disclosures and regulatory reporting. One exception is that U.S. request insurers who involved in securities lending program to file additional disclosure in reinvested collateral by specific asset categories and stress testing. These disclosures will emphasis the duration mismatch and force the company to explain how they would manage the unexpected liquidity demands. 5.2 Implications for Further Regulation on Repo Market Currently, financial regulation mainly focus on two distinct activities: moni tor individual institutions impact on system stability, and the protection of investors. For repo markets systemic nature and structural weaknesses, however, regulatory exercise on repo market should focus more on systemic risk of financial institutions, rather than individuals. Acharya and ÃÆ'Æ’-ncà ¼ (2012) mention that unless the systemic liquidity risk of repo market is resolved, the risk of a run on the repo market will still remain. They point out that unlike the unsecured liquidity risk that financing may become unavailable to a firm, the secured liquidity risk that repo financing may become unavailable to a firm is inherently a systemic risk. In other words, markets for the repo securities may be illiquid when most part of financial sector is undergoing undercapitalization or funding stress. In good times, financial firms may not fully internalize the costs imposed on the system by being excessively financed through short-term repo markets, whereas in bad times, they charge excessively high haircuts on repo financing and do not internalize the pecuniary externalities imposed on other firms through the resulting fire sales of assets. In this case, it should be concern that whether to support financial firms facing a repo freeze or to support the assets directly. On one hand, it can subject repo-financed risky securities to a effectively regulatory haircut, which takes into account the securitys systemic risk and maturity mismatch relative to the repo tenor. On the other hand, it can choose a better design of the bankruptcy of a repo-financed debtor than simply granting its repo financier the full right to seize the collateral and liquidate it at will in an illiquid market. Haircuts are widely seen among regulators and academics as contributing to the instability of the repo financing. There is a debate as to whether larger and more stable haircuts should be imposed on the repo market in order to dampen valuation-induced pro-cyclicality in str essed market conditions, particularly for collateral assets that are prone to valuation uncertainties. This could be done directly or by the imposition of a countercyclical add-on to capital charges on secured lending to boost haircuts during up-cycles. As the paper of ICMA (2012) mentions, even if haircuts are mandated to remain stable over the business cycle, there are other lending terms that could be used to increase the availability of credit during periods of optimism and constrain credit during periods of de-leveraging, with potentially some of the same pro-cyclical effects on financial markets as that of variable haircuts Moreover, regulators also need to consider that whether mandated minimum haircuts can be sufficiently flexible to efficiently encompass the wide range of combinations of collateral, contract and counter-party that are possible in repo. A policy of one-size-fits-all mandatory haircuts risks distorting the market and creating rigidities that will foster ar tificial arbitrages. As a matter of principle, concerns about excessive leverage would best be addressed at firm rather than transaction level, by the direct regulation of leverage without concern its source. In addition, the proposal that encourage of more frequent and efficient margin maintenance to smooth out collateral calls seems more helpful than mandated minimum haircuts. Chapter 6. Conclusion This paper mainly focus on two aspects: discuss the role of repo in the current financial crisis, and outline the implications on repo market regulation. As the former comprehensive literature survey on this topic shows that there is no exact answer on what is the main cause for the current crisis and the regulators are still . In this paper, the study just devote to provide a visual understanding on repo market in the 2007-2009 financial crisis. As mentioned above, repo is the crucial part of the shadow banking system, as well played an important role in the current crisis. Ho wever, since the lack of official statistics, there still remains debate on whether run on repo is the main cause of the crisis. Moreover, repo has been viewed as a source of asset encumbrance, has the propensity of collateralized financing to encourage excessive leverage, and the possibility in amplify pro-cyclicality. On the aspect of regulation, after a brief overview of the regulatory framework in repo market, it can be seen that current financial regulation mainly focus on individual, rather than systemic risk. A effectively regulatory haircut, which takes into account the securitys systemic risk and maturity mismatch relative to the repo tenor, might be a good choice to manage the risk in repo-financed securities. However, regulators need to consider that whether mandated minimum haircuts can be sufficiently flexible to efficiently encompass the wide range of combinations of collateral, contract and counter-party that are possible in repo. As a matter of principle, concerns about excessive leverage would best be addressed at firm rather than transaction level, by the direct regulation of leverage without concern its source. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Shadow Banking System And Repo Market Finance Essay" essay for you Create order

The Sacred Balance Rediscovering Our Place - 1102 Words

According to an annual Gallup survey, â€Å"Americans are way more worried about water pollution than global warming, air pollution, or other major environmental concerns.† (Loughlin). Drinking polluted water will harm individuals and their families but global warming has not appeared to danger us and so we do not worry about it (Walker). In the article, The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature, by David Suzuki, it is indicated that humans have lost interconnectedness with nature. In other words, people have put importance to the more unnecessary things, which are the main causes for us consuming chemicals in food and creating dangerous pollution and diseases. The ignorance of our modernist society faces has led us all to severe problems. One should be more aware of what s happening around us instead of just letting things happen. We must be more cautious so that we can live in a safe environment. Suzuki’s article focuses on how we have forgotten about connecting with the world around us. In the beginning Suzuki starts talking about the future, in which he said, â€Å"all that exists is the present and our memories of what is past, but by crating he notion of a future...† (Suzuki, 62). Our actions of today will shape how our future will be. Which he later talks about how we are one. Suzuki stated, â€Å"In such a world of interconnectedness, every action has consequences, and since we were part of that world, we had a responsibility†¦keep the world in order† (Suzuki, 62). HeShow MoreRelatedNavajo Indians1955 Words   |  8 Pagesways of Happiness and Wisdom. The other is called Enemy way, which is to eliminate ghosts and discourage evil spirits. â€Å"Their way of life is based on a belief that the physical and spiritual world blend together and everything on earth is alive and sacred (thinkquest.org, 2012).† Turquois would be considered a str ong value to the Navajo mainly because it has strong religious significance. They also believe that the first man and women from the holy people used baskets and weaving for ceremonial purposesRead MoreTheology of the Body32011 Words   |  129 Pageswithout reference to his beginning. The proto-Gospel of Gen 3:15 also puts man in the theological perspective of the history of salvation, to the â€Å"redemption of our body† (Rom 8:23), which guarantees the continuity between the hereditary state of man’s sinfulness and his original innocence. This redemption of the body, which agrees with our experience, opens the way for the proper theology of the body. B. Man’s original solitude 1) God said: It is not good that man should be alone; I will makeRead MoreManagement Course: Mba−10 General Management215330 Words   |  862 PagesThese beneficial impacts had an enormous effect in galvanizing fundamental business innovation in companies at a far faster rate than would have been the case if there had been no boom; that is, without those effects, innovation might not have taken place at all. All this business growth has caused increasing complexity in business action and decision making. It has presented chief executive officers (CEOs) and management leaders in all markets and industries with new intricacies in deciding how toRead MoreRastafarian79520 Words   |  319 Pagesincarnate seems patently absurd. 4. It is not clear whether Selassie believed himself to be a God. 5. For Rastas, marijuana, which is illegal in Jamaica, is a sacrament for worship. 6. Rastas regard western society as part of Babylon—a system and a place that is the enemy of the blacks of the world. FOREWORD ix 7. There is still no organized set of doctrines and teachings that constitute Rastafarianism, and no organized Rastafarian church, temple, or worship space exists. 8. There are

A Brief History of Operating Systems free essay sample

A History of Operating Systems To understand and to be prepared for the future of computer support it helps to know the history of operating systems. The operating system is the software that links the user to the computer’s hardware. Early mainframes (the predecessor of the personal computer) did not use an operating system. Programs were loaded onto the mainframe by paper punch cards, magnetic or paper tape. The user would start the program and wait for the program to complete, or crash. Debugging of the program was often done by adjusting banks of switches. With every new mainframe shipped, the operation and usability would change. There were no standards. As early operating systems were developed they were generally only designed to operate on that customer’s specific unit. With the development of mass produced microprocessors, computers become more common and more affordable. With the number of computers sold each year increasing there became a need for a standardized operating system. We will write a custom essay sample on A Brief History of Operating Systems or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In the beginning there were many companies fighting to produce a viable operating system for the masses. The two most prominent were Microsoft and Apple. Microsoft’s first entry in the operating system foray was MS-Dos or Windows 1. 0 in 1985, a command line operating system that was not the simplest to use but for its time was pretty user friendly. Of course as computing power advanced so did Microsoft’s operating systems. In 1987 Windows 2. 0, then in 1990 there was Windows 3. 0, the first OS that had a desktop and icons to start programs. At this point Microsoft began to separate their operating systems into home user oriented and business oriented. In 1993 Microsoft released Windows NT 3. 1, the first fully 32 bit operating system, it featured better networking support and the NTFS file system. NT progressed through 4. 1 then to Windows 2000. These operating systems were geared toward corporate users and were slightly more robust. On the home front in 1995 Windows 95 was introduced and it was the first version to have the taskbar and the start button. The next version of the home OS was Windows 98, then 98SE followed by Windows ME. The next iteration of Windows was XP; this version of Windows was unique in a couple of ways. XP was the first OS to include activation, which linked the hardware in the pc where it was installed to a unique ID number. The other thing that made XP unique from previous versions of windows was that it came in several versions from home use to corporate use. Windows Vista followed Windows XP but was met with much scrutiny because of its lack of support for legacy devices and software and it’s lackluster performance. Windows 7 followed quickly behind and addressed most of these shortcomings. There are several other choices for operating systems, although none have been able to maintain a sizeable amount of the market share due to the compatibility and popularity of the operating systems offered by Microsoft. Some of the other offerings are Mac OS from Apple, UNIX, Linux (an open source OS based on Linux), Android and IOS just to name a few. While most of these do not offer the support and compatibility that you would find in operating systems from Microsoft, they are quickly gaining ground and acceptance in use from desktop pc’s to handheld devices.

Adventures Of Huck Finn Essays (2318 words) - English-language Films

Adventures Of Huck Finn Ever since it was written, Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn has been a novel that many people have found disturbing. Although some argue that the novel is extremely racist, careful reading will prove just the opposite. In recent years especially, there has been an increasing debate over what some will call the racist ideas in the novel. In some cases the novel has even been banned by public school systems and censored by public libraries. The basis for the debate is how Jim, a black slave and one of the main characters, is depicted. However, if one was to look at the underlying themes in the novel, they would realize that it is not racist and could even be considered an anti ? slavery novel. The most popular problem people have with this book is the use of the word"nigger". It must be remebered that during this time period it was not considered much of an insullt. You can also notice in the book it was not meant offensively by Huck, or taken offensively by Jim. This is what Stephan Shepard had to say about the banning of the book and the use of the word "nigger": In addition to removing Mark Twain's novel from the required reading list, the district decided to use a censored version of the novel on its optional list. Admittedly, the censorship is minor the infamous "n-word" is deleted throughout the novel ? however, it is not only a dishonest alteration of Twain's craft, it is also an unfair attempt to enforce the tastes of a few upon all students in the district. (Shepard 1) Also a column in The New York Times pointed out, "Huckleberry Finn is in constant trouble with teachers, librarians and parents because of its iterations of "nigger", a word that has a preemptive force today that it did not have in Huck Finn's Mississippi Valley of the 1840s" (Ritter 2). Another aspect of the novel that some consider racist is the description of Jim. The first time the reader meets Jim, a very negative description is given. It is said that Jim is illiterate, childlike, not very bright and extremely superstitious. However, it is important not to lose sight of who is giving this description. Although Huck is not exactly a racist child, he has been raised by extremely racist individuals and has had certain ideas about blacks put in his head. Also, sad as it is, this description was probably pretty accurate for the time period. Millions of slaves in the South were not permitted any formal education, were not allowed any independent thought and were constantly abused. Twain is portraying a very realistic slave raised in the South during this time period, and to say that he is racist because of his historical accuracy is ridiculous. Casting judgment upon him and calling him racist is not only unfair, but also pointless. The values of Twain's time were different than the values of today. The very existence of slavery proves this. Twain has no obligation to live up to today's morals or ethical values, and cannot be expected to because they did not exist when he was alive. Therefore, the present-day objections to Huckleberry Finn are ridiculous. It is stupidity to go back and apply standards that are predominate today, to novels written more than a hundred years ago (Baldanza 2). Also, it is important to remember in Chapter 15, the reader is told of an incident which contradicts the original childlike description of Jim. In fact, the reader is presented with a very caring and father ? like individual who becomes very worried when he loses Huck in the fog (Twain 134). This is in order to point out the connection made between Huck and Jim. A connection that is made between two people, not a person and a piece of property. There are many points in the novel were Huck voices extreme opposition to the slave trade and racism. In chapter six, Huck's father intensely objects to the government granting suffrage to an educated black professor. Twain wants the reader to see the foolishness of this statement. Huck's father believes that he is superior to this black professor simply because of the color of his skin (Twain 69). Huck oppeses this statement made by his father and does not understand. Twain wants the reader to see the foolishness of this notion. Another example of Huck's opposition to slavery is when Huck first meets Jim he makes a conscious decision not to

calcium essays

calcium essays The importance of calcium minerals in our daily lives Calcium is a fairly hard material found naturally through the earth. It is one of the most abundant elements on earth, forming over 3% of the earths crust. Calcium has 6 stable and several radioactive isotopes. Refer to figure 1 for the properties of calcium and figure 2 for a picture of what calcium looks like. If calcium was no longer available anywhere and it was not possible to produce it artificially, it would have a deep impact on the lives of humans everywhere on the earth. We have many major uses for calcium that are Cement and the calcium is also used by our bodies to produce bones and teeth. Without the uses of calcium there would be a large social problem that would have an effect on most living things. Melting Point 839.0o C (1112.15o K, 1542.2o F) Boiling Point 1484o C (1757.15o K, 27032.2o F) When calcium is no longer available, living organisms such as humans and animals that have bones or shells and also plants such as coral, will be effected because they all are dependant on calcium. Bones are not dead material but living organisms that produce blood and can grow. Bone contains a mixture of living cells and hard mineral that is deposited by the cells. The mineral is a compound of calcium known as calcium phosphate. (See figure 3 for calcium phosphate properties) Figure 3) PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: Color is typically green but also yellow, blue, reddish brown and purple. Luster is vitreous to greasy and gumdrop. Transparency: Crystals are transparent to translucent. Crystal System is hexagonal; 6/m Crystal Habits include the typical hexagonal prism with the hexagonal pyramid or a pinacoid or both as a termination. Also accicular, granular, reniform and massive. A cryptocrystalline variety is called collophane and can make up a rock type called phosphorite and also can replace fossil frag...

Scope and effect of sale of goods act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Scope and effect of sale of goods act - Essay Example The passing of property from the seller to buyer gained significance in the context of the buyer placing an order with the seller and then becoming insolvent. Had the product ordered for by the buyer already been shipped there arose a discrepancy in regard to the rights of the seller since he would unwillingly provide credit. The act clearly states that until all of the terms of the contract of the sale of goods, mainly the payment for the product, are met by the buyer, the seller has the right of disposal over the product. The clause â€Å"notwithstanding the delivery of the goods to the buyer† (Sales of Goods Act 1979, s19 (1)) gives a right to the seller to claim possession of the goods in question if the buyer has not fulfilled the terms of the contract. This clause is unlike those of international contracts which make property pass effective at a particular physical point or time such as during payment or at the loading port of ships (Ziegler, 139). (b) The rights of an u npaid seller against the buyer The rights of an unpaid seller are treated in section 19 of the act by allowing the seller, the title of retention of the goods to be sold to the buyer unless all the terms of the contract for the sale of the goods is fulfilled by the buyer. The rights of an insolvent or bankrupt buyer are superseded by the title of retention clause of the act whereby the seller has the right to repossess the goods even in case it has already been shipped to the buyer. ... In such cases, it is argued that it would upset the administration of the buyer’s business and hence the seller must not be given the right to disposal (Tomasic, 199). 2. Romalpa Clause Aluminium Industrie Vaassen BV v Romalpa Aluminium Ltd Section 19 of the Act clearly states the rights of the unpaid seller; however a unique situation arose in 1974 when a Dutch manufacturer, Aluminium Industrie Vaassen BV brought out an action against an English company, Romalpa Aluminium Ltd. The plaintiffs claimed that they were entitled to the aluminium foil that was at the premises of the defendant since they had not paid for the goods and to the proceeds of the foil that had been sold to third parties by the defendant. The contract made between the plaintiff and the defendant reiterated the right of the seller over the goods until payment was made by the buyer, it also did not provide any stated power to the defendant to sell the foil; however it was agreed by both the parties subsequent ly that the defendant had an implied power to sell the foil. This agreement did not help either of the parties by any margin. While the defendant argued that it had sold the foil on its own account and was not an agent of the plaintiff’s, the plaintiff on the other hand chose to exercise the right of the seller as put forward by the Sales of Goods Act. . The case had become complex on two accounts: a part of the foil delivered to the defendant had been sub sold and this foil that was sub sold was in the same form as that delivered to the defendant. The court had to decide whether the defendant was acting merely as an agent of the plaintiff while sub selling the foil or if the

List of Individual Rights Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

List of Individual Rights - Research Paper Example The English Bill declares that choosing the members of parliament should be unrestricted. As such, limits on speeches in parliamentary debates like other bills. The English Bill of Rights is a manuscript that has a great significance in the English history. It is also a very vital chapter of the rights to those subjects under the English Law. The bill had some dissimilarity with US Bill of rights. The dissimilarities arose due to the difference in the process of enacting and undoing the bill (Vile, 2003). Unlike the US Bill of Rights, the English Bill of Rights could be enacted and undone by the statues. The US Bill of Rights could be enacted and undone by the constitutional amendment. Additionally, unlike the other Bills, which refer to the amendments in constitutions, the English one describes the rights for the individuals to petition the King (Vile, 2003). â€Å"The US Bills of Rights 1789† In 1989, the Congress in the US received 17 amendments of which ten were accepted a nd integrated into the constitutions. The ten integrated were named the Bill of Rights. The US Bills of Rights is similar to other bills like the English Bills of Rights. Some of the amendments in the US especially from amendment one to six have similar elements as those in the English Bill of Rights. Unlike the US Bills of Rights, the other bills of rights are more expansive. ... is a global customary law that describes the understanding of the inviolable rights of individuals like the US and the English Bill of rights (Horvits & Catherwood, 2006). The document by the General Assembly has some similarities with the other bill of rights especially the US Bills of Rights. This is because it was adopted based on the US Bills of rights. Additionally, like other Bills of Rights it consists of a list of the rights of persons from their private lives to their participation in the society (Horvits &Catherwood, 2006). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 is different from the US Bill of Rights and the English Bill of Rights since it is applicable globally. The others are only application to the states in which they were amended but not other countries. Additionally, it describes the responsibilities of the international community members (Horvits &Catherwood, 2006). Philosophical underpinnings The creators of the lawful system in the countries gave individua ls in the states the ideas used in developing the state particularly those who are within the Declaration of Independence and the constitution (Whitehead, 2008). In the Declaration of Independence, the words like life, autonomy, and contentment are very common. In the Bills of Rights, happiness is connected to material success and individuals are happy after owning property. In the present America, individuals love material things and the philosophical underpinnings related to the right to possess property are found in the books written by philosophers like John Locke (Whitehead, 2008). In his book, John Locke showed that individuals correspond with the Natures’ harmony. According to the philosopher, God made man and man’s mind; hence, it is possible for man to make his mind to be in