Outline the objectives of economic management and analyse the role of fiscal policy Essay Example for Free

Outline the objectives of economic management and analyse the role of fiscal policy Essay The Australian Government targets economic objectives that may provide equality and higher living standards throughout the country. For these benefits to reach Australian households, the Australia government has to overcome objectives such as economic growth, distribution of income, and external stability. To do so, the government uses the fiscal policy in order to influence the amount of government expenditure and revenue which can alter economic activity. The government’s fiscal strategy aims to ensure fiscal sustainability over the medium term; therefore the government is responsible for meeting its current and future spending commitments with revenue raised. Australia has had a low historical use of fiscal policy during the 1990s, however since the Global Financial Crisis; fiscal policy has been a powerful tool in maintaining Australia’s economy. Fiscal policy has a large influence over economic activity, through using the expansionary fiscal stance which involves a net increase in government spending, or a fall in taxation revenue. However, this was not the case during the period 1996-2007 as fiscal policy had a smaller role to play in the economy. As the Howard Government came into office, the stance of fiscal policy was largely contractionary. A contractionary stance occurs when government spending is reduced. An example of this stance is when the Howard Government was committed to achieving a balanced budget over the course of the economic cycle, as fiscal policy was tightened in 1996-97, 1998-99, resulting in a surplus of $1171 million. This meant that fiscal policy was generally not a major role in influencing the business cycle, instead monetary policy had the central role in maintaining economic activity. Although fiscal policy was not greatly used from the mid-1990s to 2007, it has had a large impact on recessions. As the Global Financial Crisis hit Australia, the fiscal policy was introduced in order to increase the level of economic activity, instead of letting Australia plunge into a recession. The impact of the GFC dramatically changed the budget balance, through a decline in government taxation revenue and an increase in discretionary government spending. This led to the movement from a cash surplus of $19. 7 billion in 2007-08 to a cash deficit of -$27 billion in 2009-10. Economic growth decreased to 1. 4% of GDP, which gave the government the incentive to introduce the fiscal stimulus, while the Rudd Government used an expansionary fiscal stance to support aggregate demand. The stimulus package involved a $77 billion package, with a $42 billion Nation building plan and Jobs Plan in the 2009 budget to support infrastructure and investment and the Economic Security Strategy package of $10 billion in spending on cash transfers to low and middle income households. The result of expansionary fiscal policy helped Australia avoid a recession, as these stimulus measures were estimated to boost Australia’s economic growth by 2. 75% of GDP in 2009-10. In addition, fiscal policy can influence the objective of inequality in income distribution. The government is committed into try to use a progressive taxation system which will provide a fairer distribution of income. The progressive taxation system is when higher income earners pay a larger proportion of tax compared to low income earner, leading to a redistribution of income to low income earners. An example of the progressive tax system can be seen in the ‘personal income tax thresholds’, where the highest income bracket of $180,001 and over has an effective tax rate of 30. 3-44. 9%. However, the structure of the progressive system of personal income tax changed when the Gillard Government announced it would increase the tax-free threshold to $18,200 on 1st July 2012 as part of the Clean Energy Future Package from the carbon tax and will rise again to $19,400 the following year. This threshold bracket changed from the previous 2009 and 2010 Personal Income tax threshold as all taxpayers where given a tax free threshold of $6000. Between 1996 and 2008, the Federal Government used fiscal policy in order to maintain external stability. External stability is an aim of government policy that seeks to promote sustainability on external accounts so that Australia can service its foreign liabilities in the medium to long run. External stability can be managed by the government achieving fiscal consolidation, which is running a budget surplus over the course of the business cycle. One of the main ways to run a budget surplus is to eliminate public debt, which in turn can help reduce the part of net foreign debt owned by the Australian Government. For instance, when the Howard Government was in power, there was a series of consecutive surplus budgets to retire a significant amount of public debt. From 1996-2007 the stance of fiscal policy was largely contractionary, since the Howard Government was committed to achieving a balanced budget over the course of the business cycle. It was tightened throughout the years of 1996-1999, and thereby, eliminated Commonwealth general government debt from the peak of $96 million (17. 6% of GDP) in 1996-97 to -0. 5% of GDP by 2005-06. This in turn increased Australia’s national savings and resulted in low net foreign debts. Subsequently, the fiscal policy has an effective role in achieving the economic objectives of economic growth during downturn economic activity, equal distribution of income and maintaining external stability. Australia was successful in using fiscal policy to avoid recession in 2009, when it implemented one of the largest fiscal stimulus packages in its history, as well as changes to the personal income threshold that gave a more equal distribution of income to lower income earners. By aiming to achieve fiscal surplus the Australian economy can achieve its economy objectives rapidly.

Writing Assignment Essay Example for Free

Writing Assignment Essay Gender Effect on Courts Dealing with Criminals and Factors that Affect Homicide Rate There is always some speculation that courts have soft corners in dealing with female crminals. In adddition, it is thought that the percentage of poverty, unemployment, and college attainment in any city have an effect on homicide rate. In this report, First I test whether courts dealing with criminals differs by gender. Than, I test whether there is relationship between homicide rate and poverty (%), unemployment (%), and college (%) using the city level data set. Finally, I perform an regression analysis test to model homicide rate per 100,000 in a city. The National Opinion on Crime and Justice study from survey 1995 gives information about citizens opinions and attitudes concerning crime and criminal justice related-topics. The city level data summarizes the different types of information about the American cities such as population, crime index, median age, poverty (%), balck (%), unemployment (%),college (%), homicide rate per 100,000 population, etc. The city level data reported here are from the 2002 survey. The respondents were asked ‘How do courts deal with crminals? ’ in the National Opinion on Crime and Justice study survey with possible answers from ‘Too harshly’, ‘Not harshly enough’, and ‘About right’. About 62% male as compared to 38% female replied Too harshly, about 54% male as compared to 46% female replied Not harshly enough, and about 53% male as compared to 47% female replied About right (Table 1). There were no significant differences between males and females response on â€Å"How do courts deal with crminals? †, ? 2(2) = 0. 99, p = . 61 (Table 2). The average homicide rate per 100,000 population of city was 10. 45 (SD = 9. 81) with minimum of 0. 00 and maximum of 57. 65. The average unemployment of city was 4. 56% (SD = 1. 41%) with minimum of 2. 2% and maximum of 9. 1%.. The average poverty of city was 12. 8% (SD = 5. 5%) with minimum of 3. 4% and maximum of 32. 4%. The average college attainment of city was 26. 89% (SD = 11. 14%) with minimum of 6% and maximum of 69%. (Table 3). There was significant strong positive correlation between homicide rate per 100,000 population and poverty (%), r(156) = . 62, p . 001 (Figure 1). There was significant strong positive correlation between homicide rate per 100,000 population and unemployment (%), r(156) = . 59, p . 001 (Figure 2). There was significant weak negative correlation between homicide rate per 100,000 population and college (%), r(156) = -. 26, p = . 001 (Table 4). Poverty (%) significantly predicted homicide rate per 100,000 population, ? = . 62, t(156) = 9. 92, p . 001. Poverty (%) also explained a significant proportion of variance in homicide rate per 100,000 population, R2 = . 39, F(1, 156) = 98. 43, p . 001 (Table 5, 6 and 7). However, about 61% of the variation in homicide rate per 100,000 population was not explained by poverty (%). Therefore, there was moderate strong effect of poverty (%) on homicide rate per 100,000 population. Each additional percentage of poverty increases the homicide rate per 100,000 population by 1. 1. The regression equation was given by ‘(Homicide rate) = -3. 625 + 1. 1(Poverty)’. For a poverty of 20%, the homicide rate per 100,000 population was about 18. 38. In conclusion, courts do not deal differently with criminals by gender. There is weak negative linear relationship between homicide rate per 100,000 population and colleget (%). However, there was strong positive linear relationship between homicide rate per 100,000 population and unemployment (%), and homicide rate per 100,000 population and poverty (%). Poverty (%) was a useful predictor of homicide rate per 100,000 population in a city.

Understanding Violent The Breakup Of Yugoslavia Politics Essay

Understanding Violent The Breakup Of Yugoslavia Politics Essay The numerous ethnic groups that comprised Yugoslavia held historical animosities towards each other stretching back in some cases hundreds of years. Yet these animosities were put aside after World War Two and under Titos grip the nation achieved internal peace. They were not however forgotten and when nationalist politicians needed to create a power base, they merely had to promote nationalist symbols and myths, and encourage the discussion and exaggeration of past atrocities. This created a deadly snowball affect that proved unstoppable. Yugoslavia has long been an ethnic melting point where great civilizations and religions have met. The Paris Peace Conference at the end of World War One created the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes out of territory from the Austrian and Turkish empires. The allies hoped the Kingdoms people would forge a new common identity based on their shared status as Southern Slavs. They were however divided in various other ways. Croats and Slovenes were Roman Catholic, used the Latin alphabet and orientated towards western and central Europe. In contrast Serbs, Macedonians and Montenegrins were under the repressive autocratic control of the Ottoman Turks, Eastern Orthodox in religion, used the Cyrillic alphabet and were less economically developed. Bosnians, though much like the Serbs had practiced Bogomilism and converted to Islam only in exchange for autonomy and protection by the Turks. The Serbs regularly rose against the Turks and were subsequently heavily repressed, thus considered the Bosnian Muslims Slavs that had sold out. During World War Two these antagonisms flared into outright slaughter as the Nazi controlled ethnically Croat Ustashe puppet regime murdered innocent Serbs, Jews and others. The regime never had majority Croatian support but this was irrelevant to Serbs in the conflicts of the 1990s even though they themselves did not have clean hands. Josip Tito and his communists suppressed discussion on the wartime genocide and earlier nationalist outrages in the process creating a powerful reservoir of suppressed memories and hatred. Tito re-established Yugoslavia through the skilful use of fear and the credibility of communist ideology. Yugoslavs feared many things including a return to the carnage of wartime massacres, the power of the Soviet Union and some a great Serbian restoration. The League of Communists of Yugoslavia (LCY) as the only substantial pan-Yugoslavian institution was thus the only force capable of allaying these fears. Fear and force did in time give way to compromise that was eventually enshrined in the 1974 Yugoslav constitution. This constitution established a collective presidency, rotating chair and dissolved a great deal of power to the republics thus weakening federal institutions. Tito himself often kept this system going by ordering republics to follow federal laws. Titos death in 1980 combined with the end of Cold War rivalry and the decline of communist ideology in the rest of Europe in the 1980s lead to the severe weakening of Yugoslavias crucial unifying factors. In addition, Yugoslavia in the 1980s increasingly suffered from an unprecedented economic crisis. This crisis was triggered by the oil shocks of the 1970s, the global recession of the 1980s and a $US20 billion foreign debt. This caused Slovenia and other relatively economically prosperous regions to push for economic and political change. Slovenia had significant economic weight as while it comprised only eight percent of the nations population it produced 20 percent of the national GNP. Without a powerful central figure, differences between reformers and conservatives produced a deadlock at the centre during the early and mid 1980s. The economy thus continued its decline allowing conservative groups time to mobilize support. Long significant to the Serb nation, Kosovo became the catalyst for the revival of Serbian nationalism. After a 1981 demonstration in favor of Kosovo gaining republic status the death toll of Albanian youths killed by Serb police varied widely from nine anywhere up to 1000. The Serbs balked at this demand believing they were the oppressed side in this situation. Thirty thousand Serbs and Montenegrins did flee Kosovo in the 1980s though many for economic reasons. The higher Albanian birth rate also contributed to the decline in the relative number of Serbs in Kosovo from 23 percent of the population in 1971 to 10 percent in 1989. Led by the Serbian Academy for Sciences and Arts from 1986 prominent Serbs claimed they had been the victim of consistent discrimination in Yugoslavia. Kosovo was thus raised to the position of most important problem in Serbia and frustration in the League of Communists of Serbia over the issue reached unprecedented levels. Slobodan Milosevic promise of quick and decisive action against Albanian separatists in Kosovo won him widespread support in Serbia. Milosevic moved quickly to promote Serbs to important economic and political roles in Kosovo and by 1989-1990 Serbian control over Kosovo was complete. In his first six months of power, he also purged Serbia of rivals and moderates. Journalists, writers and editors were fired and Milosevic supporters soon controlled almost all public life in Serbia. In order to bully and overthrow the Kosovo and Vojvodina political leaderships Milosevic whipped up pro-Serb demonstrations in the previously autonomous regions. The Montenegrin leadership was also overthrown with all three being replaced by Milosevic loyalists. This gave the Serb nationalists control of four of the eight votes in the Yugoslavian federation. Serbian hardliners used the cloak of nationalism to revoke the autonomy of Kosovo and Vojvodina thus altering the Serbian constitution and the delicate balance of power in Yugoslavia. Slovenia and Croatia reacted angrily to this series of events. Public disagreement was not permitted between communist party members therefore it was intellectuals and the media that articulated this anger. Slovenian intellectuals protested publicly at the treatment given to the Kosovo Albanians. They did so because they feared the consequences of the Serb action had upset Slovenias political and economic role in Yugoslavia, and would prevent movement towards its goals of democratising Yugoslavia and integrating it economically with the west. The last LCY congress in January 1990 confirmed that neither democratic nor hard-line reform could occur at the national level. The Croatian and Slovenian communist parties quickly responded by giving up their power and holding multi-party elections. The multi-party political system that resulted from the 1990 elections was seriously flawed. Political parties of which there were a large number lacked time and resources to develop a wide range of policies. Voters were thus denied the information they needed to make informed decisions. Additionally there was no chance to vote to maintain Yugoslavia even though 62 percent of Yugoslavs claimed Yugoslavian affiliation was very, or quite, important to them in a 1990 survey of 4,232 people. Nationalists claims that other groups would block vote successfully turned it into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Every town experienced the founding of political parties and the divisive nationalist discourse that went with them. Peer pressure to support ones ethnic group in these towns was intense. The nationalist parties did not win majorities in these elections. Because the way the elections were designed they received majorities in their republics. Franjo Tudjmans Croatian Democratic Union and Milo sevics Socialist Party of Serbia won only 41.5% and 47% of the votes respectively but gained 56% and 78% of the seats. These parties purged, often violently, their political opponents from power and made it dangerous to be seen as or in the company of known moderates. The politicians elected in 1990 were far more nationalist than their citizens. Understanding Violent The Breakup Of Yugoslavia The continuing stalemate and increasing tension over Yugoslavias economic and political direction convinced Slovenia and Croatia their futures lay elsewhere, and both declared independence in June 1991. The victory by Slovenian in the resulting war against the Yugoslav Peoples Army (JPA) forced the Serbs to give up their hopes for a centralized Yugoslav state under Serb control. Serb nationalists instead set themselves the goal of creating a greater Serbian state. The result was war in Croatia. The other significant result of the Slovenian and Croatian declarations of independence was that they forced the Bosnian Muslims to do likewise. Bosnian President Alija Izetberovic and many of his people realized all too clearly they would have little protection in a rump Yugoslavia dominated by Milosevic and Serb nationalists. Leaders on all sides constantly exploited the fear of becoming vulnerable to other ethnic groups through inaction during the break up of Yugoslavia. Both Tudjman and Milosevic consciously revived nationalist ideologies tainted by the Second World War. Once a leader of a republic broke the pattern of compromise and instead choose to increase interregional tensions the writing, Yugoslavia was on the wall. The slanting of news coverage by Milosevic appointees forced media in other republics to follow suit least their ethnic group become disadvantaged. Exaggeration became common as Serb and Croat intellectuals successfully transferred their nationalist ideologies to the common people. The Ustasu concentration camp at Jasenovac where 60,000 to 80,000 inmates were slaughtered, not all of them Serbs was inflated into the murder of 700,000 Serbs alone by Serb nationalists and Serbian media. The numbers game was however played by all sides. Repetition is considered the single most important e lement in the changing of opinions. Tudjman and Croat nationalistsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ excessive use of Second World War symbols especially the Ustasu flag frightened many Serbs into believing history would repeat itself. Collectively this created a security dilemma where no side could trust the other. Like their Croat neighbors the Bosnian leaders were also guilty of not paying enough attention to the complexity and fears of Serbian societies within their boundaries. By failing to recognize the difference between passive and adaptable urban Serbs and more extremist rural Serbs Tudjman missed an opportunity to build a multi-ethnic coalition. The behavior of political elites was a major source of ethnic hatred in Yugoslavia. Additional causes contributed to the sheer scale of the violence that followed the collapse of Yugoslavia. The JPA took a political role as its officers believed only a federal and socialist Yugoslavia could support their existing corporate and individual privileges. Up to 70 percent of the officer core were Serbian and Montenegrin and it was also a bedrock of Marxism-Leninism. The credibility of the army came from the days of communist resistance in the Second World War and as the communist party fell from favor so to0 did the army. With this loss of credibility, the JPA became in effect the army of the Serbian state. This is important because the scale of violence and acts of destruction such as the shelling of Sarajevo would have been impossible without a powerful military force. The inheritance by Serb forces of the majority of Yugoslavias weapons and especially its heavy weapons gave the Serbs the military power required to carry out their plans. Backed by the JPA Serbian civilian, militias were able to terrorize minorities in Serb controlled areas. The militias were organized from soccer clubs notably the infamous Arkan Tigers, prisons and from volunteers. Merged with the peer pressure, lack of accountability and promised economic gain these militia committed acts of ethnic violence out of all proportion to what could have been deemed acceptable under normal conditions. Croats and to a lesser extent Muslims also formed militias and violently attacked ethnic opponents. These were never on the same scale nor had the same level of organization as the Serbian militias and were largely formed as response to the formation of the Serbian militias. The west intervened in the break up of Yugoslavia relatively early and regularly but never with enough collective will or military force to prevent large-scale warfare. The period of the early Yugoslav wars was a dramatic time internationally with the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait distracting Western powers. A global recession further reduced the wests desire to intervene in a country some saw as a quagmire without strategic significance whilst others considered the area vital due to Yugoslavias geopolitical significance. By January 1992 fifteen ceasefires had been arranged and broken by all sides. Numerous internationally brokered peace plans followed. Serbian and Croatian leaders who consistently acted in ways to that continued the violence certainly did not help western efforts. However, the more pressing problem was Americas and Europes weak and timid initial responses which did nothing to persuade Milosevic and Tudj man to suspend their use of violence. Whether an overwhelming display of western resolve through the commitment of significant combat troops would have altered the course of events is unknown. It is however hard to see how such a display of force could have made things worse. The political will to impose a solution on Yugoslavia was simply not present at the time. Yugoslavia was a nation with suppressed and potentially explosive historical memories. By the 1980s the majority of Yugoslavs lived in peace often side by side with other ethnic groups. It took a culmination of economic decline, a changing international system and most importantly leaders willing and able to exploit these memories and their resulting fears to rip Yugoslavia apart. Political elites insistence on nationalist ideologies, Serbian military superiority and a lack of Western will ensured this break up was both brutal and extremely violent

The Decline Of Fatherhood :: essays research papers

The Decline of Fatherhood   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  David Popenoe's 'The Decline of Fatherhood'; discusses the rapid decay of our children due to the loss of male parenting. Popenoe's use of logos and ethos are efficient in the context of the paper to relate the behavior of present day children due to the growing absence of fatherly figures. The author, however, uses very little if any emotional appeal; but because of the nature and direction of the writing, the lack of pathos has no profound effect on the overall intent of David Popenoe's purpose. 'The Decline of Fatherhood'; by David Popenoe is a well written essay that convincingly persuades his view point through intelligent observation of facts. Logos is David Popenoe's most useful tool for argument in this essay. He uses several statistics to show the growing number of fatherless children from the turn of the century until the present, he and then successfully compares it to the alarming amount of growth in the delinquency and scarcity of education in children of the latest generation. The factual information provided with the explanatory details from the author makes his points obvious and clear to the reader. Because of the efficient use of the data and facts, the paper backs itself with rationale and logic which leads the audience to a greater understanding of the science behind the reasoning. For example, Popenoe wrote that only fifty percent of children born from 1970 until 1984 are now living with both parents. The results of this dramatic increase has tripled teen suicide, dropped SAT scores seventy Braithwaite 2 points, increased the drug alcohol rate at an incredibly quicker pace, and has placed thirty-eight percent of the nation's children in poverty. The cause and effect relationships demonstrated by the author are logically appealing and unmistakably apparent in his perspective and studies. The infallible devising of the facts linked with common sense easily portray the convincing ideas of Popenoe on to others as they indulge into his essay.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Yet another great example of appeal is established in the work of the author. The essay is not only well supplied with evidence and explanation, but it takes advantage of the superior credibility and reputation proceeding the writer. Before any words were even read on paper, Popenoe immediately sets an intellectual and believable tone being a professor in sociology. The fact that the writing was conceived by a well educated, knowledgeable man heightens the confidence of the reader to believe the information contributed.

Job Order Costing :: essays research papers

Process costing is used for homogenous products (continuous flow processes such as producing cans of soda). Job-order costing is used in situations where the organization offers many different products or services, such as in furniture manufacturing, hospitals, and legal firms. Process costing is used where units of product are homogeneous, such as in flour milling or cement production. The purpose of a job order cost accounting system is to assign and accumulate costs for each job, i.e., an order, a contract, a unit of production, or a batch. Job order costing should be used if the production or service is being performed to meet customer specifications or requirements, if different components are made for inventory, or projects are undertaken to construct real property. Job order costing allows more control, less estimation, and more direct and reliable allocation of costs. . Differences between job-order and process costing. The differences between job-order and process costing occur because the flow of units in a process costing system is more or less continuous and the units are essentially indistinguishable from one another. Under process costing: a. A single homogenous product is produced on a continuous basis over a long period of time. This differs from job-order costing in which many different products may be produced in a single period. b. Total costs are accumulated by department, rather than by individual job. c. The department production report is the key document showing the accumulation and disposition of cost, rather than the job-cost sheet. B. Overview of Process Costing. Manufacturing costs are accumulated in processing departments in a process costing system. A processing department is any location in the organization where work is performed on a product and where materials, labor, and overhead costs are added to the product. Processing departments should also have two other features. First, the activity performed in the processing department should be essentially the same for all units that pass through the department.

Industrial Robots and Manufacturing Automation Essay -- Robots Automat

Industrial Robots and Manufacturing Automation Abstract Automation started out as an assembly line of workers doing the same repetitive task all day long. Some of the jobs were very boring, dirty, unpleasant, and possibly dangerous. After the introduction of the first robot in 1961, automation began to advance in ways people could only imagine. Each of the six basic styles of robot used in industry today were designed with different applications in mind. Some of the robots were designed for assembly, others are more suited for simple pick and place applications, while a select few are capable of carrying heavy loads over a large area. The operations of the robots have also advanced from simple hard-stop, one-function, hydraulic actuated robots to the more sophisticated, high-precision, servo controlled robots that can be reprogrammed to do many different jobs. Robots have greatly increased production, the quality of the parts, and the safety of workers. The main reason for the use of robots is to make a company profitable while producing a high quality part at competitive prices. The number of robots used in industry increases every year as more companies realize their many benefits. Robots are the future of the manufacturing industry. As the performance and flexibility of robots increases and their prices continue to drop, many companies will uses these added incentives to invest in the future. Soon every company that has an application for a robot will be forced to invest in one, to stay competitive in the world market. Introduction The Robotics Industry Association defines a robot as ?a reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools, or specialized devices through variable programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks? (Zalda 8). In short, a robot is a machine that is programmed to perform a variety of tasks in place of humans. The first industrial robot, built in 1961, was a mechanical arm used to load presses. After the development of the computer and the CNC (Computer Numerical Control) in the 1970?s, the world saw great advances in the development of robotic control and the quality of robot manufacturing. As a result, there has been acceptance of the industrial robot world wide, improving the productivity and quality standards of industry (Hodges 3-5). Robots acco... ... ?Automation Reduces Weld Spatter? Welding Design & Fabrication (Jun. 2001): 37 EBSCOhost. Online. Nov. 2002 . Cheney, Susan. ?Packaging & Manufacturing.? Candy Industry (Jun. 2000): 20. InfoTrac. Online. Nov. 2002 . Hodges, Bernard. Industrial Robotics, 2nd ed. Boston: B.H. Newnes, 1992. ?Robotics? McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, 1995 ed. ?Robotics will boost quality and transfer efficiency levels.? Coatings (Jul.-Aug. 1991): 66 InfoTrac. Online. Nov. 2002. . ?Small Shop Gains Edge with Robotic Welding.? Welding Design & Fabrication (Aug. 2001): 42 EBSCOhost. Online. Nov. 2002 . Time Life. Computer Age. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Inc., 1992. Weimer, George. ?Robots ?see? factory?s future.? Material Handling Management (Mar. 2002): 25. InfoTrac. Online. Nov. 2002 . Williams, Gray ?Robots and Automation.? The new book of popular science. Grolier Inc., 1996, 186-94. Woodman, Chester L., Kurt Kuster. ?Small shop, big decision.? American Machinest (Apr. 2001): 78 EBSCOhost. Online. Nov. 2002 . Zalda, Roberta. ?Using flexibility to justify robotics automation costs.? Industrial Management (Nov.-Dec. 1994): 8. InfoTrac. Online. Nov. 2002 .

Hospice Care

Hospice-care or frequently known as ‘palliative care’ is the provision of symptomatic treatment to those who have reached a terminal stage of a disease. It can be provided in a hospital, clinic or even at home. During the second half of the twentieth century, several new technologies had been developed in the field of hospice care to help people with terminal illnesses to die without much suffering. Professor Patrick Wall was one of the main doctors who helped to improve the art and science of hospice care.The term ‘total pain’ was coined in the year 1964, and was mainly utilized to suggest not only physical suffering, but also mental distress, social problems and spiritual concerns. As a response to total pain, hospice care was developed to help the patient’s relief their physical, mental, spiritual and social sufferings. Medical professionals, nurses, social and religious workers, etc, were involved in the process. Initially, the medical and nursing fraternity did not know how to handle people suffering from terminal illness.To identify their needs many hospitals and organizations conducted surveys. A report published by a UK nursing research organization in 1952, demonstrated the needs of cancer patients who died in their homes. In 1960, the Gulbenkian Foundation conducted extensive research in about 300 homes meant for the dying and interviewed more than 600 doctors. It was found that such homes did not have enough money and staff to handle the number of patients suffering from terminal illnesses.In 1963, Hilton found that most of the sufferings of the elderly patients suffering from cancers and other terminal illness was not relieved (Saunders, 2001). Over the decades after the World War 2, a lot of research and development have occurred in the field of hospice and palliative care. Nowadays, hospice has included other aspects including spiritual and social welfare, along with holistic care. During the period between 1965 an d 2005, there have been significant developments in the field of palliative medicine such that it has emerged as a separate branch of medicine.Some of the aspects of hospice care that have been developed include: – ? Providing holistic treatment that includes spiritual and social care ? Customized patient care including appropriate management of symptoms ? Several healthcare professionals working from several specializations towards helping the patient out improve the quality of life ? Use of effective medications in order to control pain ? Improving the quality of life (Meghani, 2004)