The Events Of The 1960 s And Through The 1970 S

Rodena Woods –History 102- 12/12/15- Final Essay How did the events from the later 1960’s and through the 1970’s contribute to cynicism and mistrust toward the nation’s leaders, especially those in politics? The unexpected occurrences of the late 1960 s through the 1970’s led to a broad form of skepticism and distrust toward the countries leaders in a number of ways. The occurrences that impacted how Americans looked at the nation’s leader was complete disillusionment. They felt this way because of hidden secrets, corrupt scandals in the white house, continuous social and economic problems that seemed to never change and the ongoing Vietnam war which Americans were opposed too. Most Americans blamed the government for many of the issues the that were going on and that should have ended but instead funded, ignored, and made other things important on their agenda. Political leaders had proclaimed intentions on ending the cold war, racial discrimination, fixing social and economic problems and creating reforms that would begin to make a difference.Americans did not see a change of these significant issues through these years.They only saw the nation getting worse which made them unhappy, doubtful and even worried about a new civil war. Some of the events that contributed to Americans cynicism was the watergate scandal, the ongoing Vietnam war, social and economic catastrophes and inequality. The four most important developments and why One of the four most significantShow MoreRelatedBrothers and Keepers1071 Words   |  5 Pages a. Pennsylvania during the 1960’s and 1970’s with some quotes from the book. a. John’s Life b. Robby’s life IV. 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A decade characterized by the supposed defeat of poverty and racism as well as the conquest of space, was subsequently and surprisingly followed by a decade of chaos and disorder in the world. The country was running out of promise, the troops were running out of Vietnam, and the President was running out of office. Luckily however, the emergence of great music simply could not be affected by theRead MoreBrazilian History: Lygia Clark1042 Words   |  5 Pagesmovement that changed the art world in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Clark’s work has continued to define our post-modern obsession with situation. Lygia Clark’s work transcends her time and continues to become relevant in our post-modern world. Her work is recognized today as one of the founding bodies of Brazil and is important internationally. Her artistic path holds a position in the critical movement that changed the art world in the 1960’s and 1970’s. 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Issues in Revenue Recognition Accounting Principles

Question: Discuss about theIssues in Revenue Recognition for Accounting Principles. Answer: Introduction This paper aims at providing exhaustive analysis on the current issues affecting revenue recognition. It looks at the factors relevant for policy selection and the importance of following accounting principles in accounting policy selection. Factors influencing accounting policy selection in connection with Slater and Gordons decision to have early adoption of new revenue standards To select accounting policy, firms must consider accounting standards and principles defined by various bodies in line with Accounting. According to Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards (APES), an entity is required to follow the defined standards of accounting practices to identify a right accounting policy. Apart from the standards and principles, a firm should have guidance on how to implement a selected policy. The factors and principles for consideration are; The consistency of the policy. A firm should verify on the police selected whether it withstand the test of consistency in application over similar transactions. In case the policy fails to portray similarity of operation in a similar transaction, it is termed not appropriate for implementation (APES 110). A good accounting policy should not change its reaction on similar transactions in a firm. However, in the case of change, there should be an elaborative reason of the need for the change. Ability to recognize revenue collected. A policy should follow the revenue recognition procedure defined by International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) which requires a firm to record a revenue after it has been earned. A Firm should not involve in practices of recording revenues before being earned. Or recording can also happen when there is a high probability of earning revenue. Ability to recognize gain and loss. A policy should recognize gains and losses realized by a firm at the end of the operation. Gains are recorded after they have been realized while losses are recorded once identified. A good policy should comply with the principle. This helps to avoid confusions arising on records that are not well organized on the gains and losses encountered in an entity. Cost principle. This is applicable where there is a transaction between or among parties. While selecting a policy, cost concept should be considered to comply with the set expectations of accounting bodies. The principle of matching. The principle defines the need to record expenditure once realized in operation. It entails recording on time the costs incurred to help in revenue calculation. Good policy does provide appropriateness of applying the matching principle to facilitate firms ability to accrue revenue. Disclosure principle. Accounting policy should entail a disclosure policy defining an effectiveness of disclosing entity status regarding liabilities, assets and other particulars important to users of financial statement (EY 2015). It too should provide a stable guidance on how changes to be done on a policy implemented by an entity. Strong and convincing disclosure needs are to be catered for in the policy. While selecting a policy, a disclosure policy should follow the trends dictated by IFRS and AASB. Disclosure policy has to accommodate clarity of materiality needs, appropriate guidance on the use of the accounting policies and flexible ways to present orders by an entity. Based on this principle, a firm should provide an elaborative explanation behind the change of a policy if the need arises to change policy. Having an insight concern on Slater and Gordons case on the revenue recognition, it looks appropriate for them to record revenue as cases progressed. They had challenges in recording revenues due to challenges in a time of payment, a situation that could not go tally with the disclosure policy. The disclosure principle and revenue recognition principle demanded the firm only to record revenue after it has been realized thus there existed need to change the policy (EY 2015). To be competitive and adaptive in the market regarding the accounting operation requirements, the firm sort for work in progress method to record its revenue. This allowed them to project their income collection before payment is realized (Savage et al. 2013). However, the method had different computation compared to a method of recording that considers only realized and revenues with high probability to accrue. In the process of trying to deal with revenue recognition criteria like other firms, they came in compliance with the new revenue standards of IFRS 15 though of a slightly different condition (EY 2015). The cause of sharp drop in the firms revenue in 2015 in connection with new revenue standards IFRS 15 Before 2015, the firm has been in growth over revenue collection per year. This is overestimated due to the following reasons; The inclusion of unpaid revenue. The firm considered all revenues to be paid in the books of account as revenues are collected. This inflated the revenue collection regardless of the payments that were not met after their periods of promise. Double counting problem. Among the cases solve by this law firm were to get paid in the span between 18 months to 2 years. However, the books of accounts are always prepared at the end of a year (Elliot and Elliot 2007). Therefore, due to unreliable dates of payment, though already recorded as revenue collected, they end up re-recording some revenue collections with no notice. This is a behavior that contributed to a large percentage of the drastic changes in the rate of revenue collection noted in 2015. Overestimation of figures. The firms interest in having control over market shares and control of small law firms motivated the need to overestimate the work in progress value. The firms included revenue not yet collected in their final books of accounts and went further to illustrate a higher sum of revenue collected with no clear accounting concepts (Wagenhofer 2014). Therefore, following appropriate accounting guidelines on the records done within the period operation, the research group realized a lot of gaps in the firms accounting techniques. Blocking the gaps necessitude this drastic drop. Implementation of a new revenue recognition policy (IFRS 15). A new revenue standards by IFRS contributed largely to the sharp drop in firms revenue collection levels. This is true as per the definition of a new revenue recognition policy which required a firm only to record revenues already collected or those with a higher possibility of being collected. Comparing the scenario with the latter, a sharp reduction was appropriately registered (Savage, Douglas and Barra 2013). Before IFRS 15, the firm could record all expectations on revenue regardless of outcomes. The unpaid revenue was captured in books of accounts as collected. The firm depended on possibilities than on the real revenue collection scenarios (Peach 2016). This policy blocked possibilities of giving unreliable and hiked information to the users of the accounting statements. Therefore, implemented work in progress policy eliminated the likelihood concept of recording revenue estimates. Breaches of the Fundamental Principles of Accounting Ethics in the Firms Accounting Practices The practices demonstrated by the firm has breaches on fundamental principles of accounting ethics. Overestimating figures, recording unpaid revenue, and double counting are among the behaviors breaching accounting principles and ethics. These are the breached principles and ethics; Integrity. Integrity requires an entity to remain honest and trustworthy on to professional roles defined by accounting practices (APES 110). It confines both an entity and its employees to remain upright on facts in the business. Members are expected to provide a report, returns or other relevant information with no mislead or false statement (CPA Australia 2012). The information should not be contradictory to ethics and carelessly placed. Also, members are not to create omissions or unclear communication with intended mind (Deegan and Unerman 2007). However, the company and its employees have violated the integrity concept by providing misleading information in the market; an intention meant to lure investors and wore other small law firms (Fyfe 2016). Their information has misled and carelessly omit a lot of relevant true information decisive to investors and other users. Objectivity of the firm. The principle of objectivity defines that an entity should ensure professionalism on its operations without allowing biases or personal interest to jeopardize its operation (APES 110). This firms objective has not followed the objectivity concept thereby it end up operating for self-interest gains instead of professional operations (Fyfe 2016). Professional level of competency and care. Employees of an entity should portray a high level of competence and care to their clients through their services (APES 110). They are to show diligent behavior when providing services as well as attain and maintain professionalism incompetence. In Slater and Gordons firm, employees mind not of clients. Thus their behaviors contradict professional competence. Instead, they, offer clients with disastrous information on the growth rate of their revenue, an act that only subjected users to market uncertainty (Fyfe 2016). Regarding accounting principles and ethics, Slater and Gordon have breached the defined standards by both the IFRS and APES. The firm went contrary to demonstrate its self-vested needs on the preparation of its financial statements. It aimed not in providing truthful and straightforward information but to capture the perception of the best performing law firm in the market (Collins and McKeith 2010). Even though it enjoyed a lead for some years, the policy on revenue recognition and disclosure policy helped to sort the problem out by filling the gaps it used to manipulate while preparing financial statements. References APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants. Retrieved from: https://www.apesb.org.au/uploads/standards/apesb_standards/standard1.pdf Australia Accounting Standard Board. 2016. Application of Materiality to Financial Statement. Collins, B. and McKeith, J., 2010. Financial Accounting and Reporting. McGraw Hill. CPA Australia. 2012. Accounting Concepts and Principles. Publisher: BPP Learning Media Ltd. Deegan, C. and Unerman, J. 2007. Financial Accounting Theory. European edition, McGraw Hill Elliot, B. and Elliot, J, 2007. Financial Accounting and Reporting. FT Prentice Hall, 12th Ed. 2015. The new revenue standard affects more than just revenue. Retrieved from:Financial Accounting. Fyfe, M., 2016.The Undoing of Slater and Gordon, the Age, 24 June IAS 18 Revenue and IFRS 15. Retrieved from: www.ifrs.org (alternatively, AASB118 Revenue and AASB 15 Revenue from contracts with customers, available for download atwww.aasb.gov.au) IASB Framework. Retrieved from: www.ifrs.org Peach, K., 2016. Australia Accounting Standards Board. Savage, A., Douglas, C., and Barra, R., 2013. Accounting for the Public Interest: A Revenue Recognition Dilemma. Issues in Accounting Education, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 691-703. Slater and Gordon annual reports. Retrieved from: https://www.slatergordon.com.au/investors/reports-and-presentations Wagenhofer, A., 2014. The role of revenue recognition in performance reporting. Accounting and Business Research, 44(4), pp.349-379.

A Modest Proposal for Homeless People free essay sample

They are a burden on our society and we need to do something about it before it gets out of control. There is no reason such filthy people should be a part of what seems to be a clean society. The homeless are consistently bringing down the look of the city. The look they are giving off tends to be one of a poor, uninviting, and dirty environment. There is a great bother from the homeless and an obvious reason to get rid of them. As a proposal, since the homeless are always begging for money, they should be forced to work extremely hard so higher parts of society no longer have to. It is the homeless; after all, taking up all the space; they might as well do all the terrible work that no one ever wants to do to get it over with. That would maybe make them seem like less of a burden. We will write a custom essay sample on A Modest Proposal for Homeless People or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page If that does not work; however, there is always the option to send them away and give them food of some kind, whatever can be found, to make them leave our streets. It would make sense to imprison these types of people. This will clean up the streets; make them look as they should. With the help from this there should be no reason for such terribly filthy people to continue to be a part of our society. Once they have departed the city will become much nicer and much more populated cause new people will actually want to stay in the city. We think the proposal points out some advantages: For, First, as we have already observed, thats the perfect solution to end homeless problem in Canada, housing them in the prisons. The homeless exchanges their freedom for a dry bed and two hot meals a day. They may prefer staying in prisons without poverty than dying a slow death on the street or in sub-standard housing. And they will have chances to access to TVs and games, exercise facilities or yards, educational opportunities and programs in a library, a medical clinic or hospital and various employment opportunities. It is the ultimate in supportive housing! Secondly, when homelessness is safe from dying on the streets, there will be no one wandering and begging for money. Therefore, we don’t have to worry, â€Å"He’s about to ask me for a dollar† then can freely cross the street. Thirdly, these lazy, unskilled workers would be able to do simple jobs. Once they are forced into an honest days work, we believe they will see the light, and ultimately become a better person. And another advantage is that when confronted with these rusted-out hulks of humanity, some of us even feel ashamed because we do not believe there are such real poor people left. At the time the homeless people are locked in their new accommodation, there will not be wailing, flailing and gnashing of teeth about them anymore. That means we do not have to bear smelly, scary-looking people at public places and as a result, we feel much better about the entire human experience. We can think of many Objections that will possibly be raised against this proposal. People will complain of increasing homeless people caused by the nearly homeless one who think they can get shelter, food, entertainment provided for free; of paying more tax to build such Silly places for the lazy, crazy, smelly; of spending more money and spaces to house the Drifters; of investing in constructions rather than use big sum of properties to invest in the Homeless. However it makes sense that the number of Homeless People will be thereby much lessen in Canada. Therefore, let no Man talk to us of these and the like Expedients till the hath at least some Glimpse of Hope, that there will ever be some hearty and sincere Attempt to put them in Practice. Getting rid of the lazy, filthy, annoying homeless people by the means of jail and newly acquired jobs will benefit society immensely. We are trying to create a clean society in which will attract new citizens, thus by placing all the homeless people in jail, where they will be accommodated with food and a place to sleep. The streets and avenues will be more clean and pleasant to walk down without the homeless people everywhere. Giving the homeless people small tasks or jobs will help them have a financial stability after some time, and allow them to become a part of the working class instead of dwelling in the streets. This proposal will greatly benefit everyone in the end because there will essentially be no homeless people littering the streets, and instead of making the streets dirtier, they will become productive citizens working to help make society a better place.

Free Essays on Email In The Workplace

E-Mail in the Work Place Steve McAlpin IFSM 304 November 13, 2004 Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Abstract 3 Introduction 4 The Employee’s View 4 The Employer’s View 6 Legal Issues 9 Technology 11 Conclusion 12 Bibliography 14 Abstract This paper will look into both the employee’s and the employer’s point of view on e-mail privacy. It will cover topics that include; ethical issues of employees using a company’s e-mail system for personal use, the legal rights employee’s have verses the employer rights to monitor employee’s e-mail, new laws covering e-mail privacy in the workplace, legal differences between telephone privacy and e-mail privacy, how employers are protecting themselves from lawsuits associated with e-mail, private verses Government aspects of e-mail privacy, new software to keep your e-mail private. It will be the readers’ responsibility at the conclusion of this paper to judge at what point we as a society draw the line in respect to e-mail privacy and is it ethical in the workplace. Introduction Email is fast becoming the preferred choice of communication with most people, because people can send and read messages whenever and wherever they choose, and of course it is faster than old snail mail, and definitely more convenient then playing phone tag. Because Email is a lot like regular mail, you would think that its privacy is legally protected, but guess again. The first issue we will look into is the employee’s view of how in general they feel about Email and its use in the workplace then we will look at the employers view and lastly we will look at the legal side of the issue. After covering these views, we will look at how the employer is protecting themselves and what the employee is doing to combat these issues. The Employee’s View The average individual, who uses Email, believes that their Email is private and secure. They believe that the use o... Free Essays on Email In The Workplace Free Essays on Email In The Workplace E-Mail in the Work Place Steve McAlpin IFSM 304 November 13, 2004 Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Abstract 3 Introduction 4 The Employee’s View 4 The Employer’s View 6 Legal Issues 9 Technology 11 Conclusion 12 Bibliography 14 Abstract This paper will look into both the employee’s and the employer’s point of view on e-mail privacy. It will cover topics that include; ethical issues of employees using a company’s e-mail system for personal use, the legal rights employee’s have verses the employer rights to monitor employee’s e-mail, new laws covering e-mail privacy in the workplace, legal differences between telephone privacy and e-mail privacy, how employers are protecting themselves from lawsuits associated with e-mail, private verses Government aspects of e-mail privacy, new software to keep your e-mail private. It will be the readers’ responsibility at the conclusion of this paper to judge at what point we as a society draw the line in respect to e-mail privacy and is it ethical in the workplace. Introduction Email is fast becoming the preferred choice of communication with most people, because people can send and read messages whenever and wherever they choose, and of course it is faster than old snail mail, and definitely more convenient then playing phone tag. Because Email is a lot like regular mail, you would think that its privacy is legally protected, but guess again. The first issue we will look into is the employee’s view of how in general they feel about Email and its use in the workplace then we will look at the employers view and lastly we will look at the legal side of the issue. After covering these views, we will look at how the employer is protecting themselves and what the employee is doing to combat these issues. The Employee’s View The average individual, who uses Email, believes that their Email is private and secure. They believe that the use o...

Berkshire Hathaway Case Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Berkshire Hathaway Case - Research Paper Example As a result of this strategy, Berkshire Hathaway currently owns a diverse range of business organizations including home furnishings, retail, jewelry sales, uniforms sales, confectionary, and manufacturing of vacuum cleaners. As stated in the annual report (Berkshire Hathaway 2011 annual report, 2011), recently, on 12th February 2010, Berkshire Hathaway completed the acquisition of BNSF by purchasing the remaining 77.5% of BNSF common stock, and currently, BNSF is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. This paper will analyze the reasons for the BNSF acquisition and the principles relating to the finance course. BNSF acquisition The BNSF is North America’s ‘second largest freight railroad network’ and one of the seven Class I railroads (BNSF Railway, n.d.). On 3rd November 2009, Berkshire Hathaway announced that the company would acquire BNSF’s remaining 77.4% stocks that Berkshire Hathaway had not owned at that time. This deal was estimated a t $44 billion, making it the largest acquisition in the history of the Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett â€Å"agreed to buy Burlington for $34 billion or 100 a share† and â€Å"is also taking on about $10 billion of Burlington debt† (Morcroft & Barr, 2009). ... Referring to corporate press releases, the company is currently one of the North America’s leading intermodal freight transporters. In the context of the current economic environment, Buffet believes that this acquisition would contribute to the future growth of the company. He says that â€Å"our country’s future prosperity depends on its having an efficient and well-maintained rail system;† he adds that â€Å"conversely, America must grow and prosper for railroads to do well† (BNSF, Berkshire Hathaway Inc, n.d.). Buffett’s observation is based on the common fact that infrastructure development is a key element of an economy’s overall development. As Morcroft and Barr (2009) point out, through this acquisition, Buffett has invested in a business which is highly sensitive to a possible economic recovery in the United States. It is clear that the US has not yet completely recovered from the shock of the recent global recession. In this economi c environment, railway transportation can be an area that would promote its operations despite the impacts of the recession. Economists predict that BNSF would perform better and contribute to the expansion of Berkshire Hathaway once the economy is recovered. Some recent reports justify the decision of Warren Buffett. In November 2012, the Berkshire Hathaway announced its third quarter operating results. As per the company reports (as cited in Miller, 2012), a combined total of revenues of three segments (railroad, utilities, and energy) increased by 7.5% and reached $8.4 billion as compared to the same period a year ago; the report also indicates that BNSF contributed nearly 63% to this combined

Risk and Return Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Risk and Return - Term Paper Example It not only takes into account the risk free rate of return but also includes market risk premium while at the same time taking beta of the stock into account too. (Valuebasedmanagement.net, 2011) This paper will discuss as to how to compute the cost of equity for Wal-Marts while at the same comparing it with other firms. Other models for caluclating cost of equity such as dividend discount model as well as arbitrage pricing theory. 1) Calculations Name of the Company Wal-Mart Nestle McDonald Beta Value 0.371 0.582 0.363 US Treasury (RF) 3% 3% 3% RM-RF 7% 7% 7% Cost of Equity 5.59% 7.06% 5.52% Cost of equity for Wal-Mart is computed in following manner: Rate = RF + Beta x (RM-RF) = 3% + 0.37 (7%) Cost of equity = 5.59% Is this cost of equity higher or lower than you expected? The above calculations suggest that the cost of equity for Wal-Mart is 5.59% which is below the average rate on S&P 500 for an average firm. This cost of equity however, may be considered as adequate or right co nsidering the overall fundamentals of Wal-Mart, its brand image, its global presence as well as the overall industry dynamics. Such low rate of cost of equity therefore indicates that investors are satisfied with the overall strong historical performance of Wal-Mart. Beta values of other companies For the purpose of comparison with Wal-Mart, Nestle as well as McDonalds have been considered as a case study. The tabular calculations are provided in following table: Name of the Company Wal-Mart Nestle McDonald Beta Value 0.374 0.585 0.366 US Treasury (RF) 3% 3% 3% RM-RF 7% 7% 7% Cost of Equity 5.59% 7.06% 5.52% Cost of equity for Nestle Rate = RF + Beta x (RM-RF) = 3% + 0.58(7%) = 7.06% Cost of equity for McDonalds Rate = RF + Beta x (RM-RF) = 3% + 0.36 (7%) = 5.52% The comparison made above shows that the cost of equity of three firms is approximately within a certain range. All three firms have cost of equities which are less than 10% suggesting that the low beta values may have an i mpact on their overall valuation. Beta values always suggest the correlation between the market returns as well as the individual security returns therefore low beta value suggest that the market and the security go hands in hand. The above comparison also shows that these firms are mature firms and are industry leaders with low risk profile therefore investors are relatively satisfied on their ability to operate as a going concern. Further, these firms are mature with stable patterns of earning therefore the overall cost of equity is low due to their low risk. 4) Capital asset pricing model is not the only model to compute the cost of equity as models such as dividend discount model as well as arbitrage pricing theory are other alternatives. Dividend Discount Model is based on the computation of the fair value of any security based on the dividends. (Investopedia.com ). According to this model, the future cash flows to be generated from any given security come in the form of future dividends therefore discounting such cash flows with an appropriate rate can provide a fair indication about the price of a security. The formula is : P0 = D1 / (R-G) D1 is the dividends in the future period 1 whereas R is the required rate of return whereas G suggests the historical growth rate of the dividends. Through manipulation of the above formula, the rate of return through dividend discount model can be computed in following manner: R = D1/P0 + G The required rate o

Development As Freedom A Review Sociology Essay

Development As Freedom A Review Sociology Essay The author conceptualizes development as the gap between an exclusive concentration on economic wealth and a broader focus on the lives we can lead (p.14) emphasizing that the theory of development goes well beyond wealth accumulation and gross national product growth. The chapter examines the relationship between development and freedom, the way in which freedom is a component of development and an extensive view of freedom encompassing both opportunities that people have and processes that allow for freedom of decisions. The main arguments of the author is that development should be assessed by freedom of accessibility to factors such as social opportunities, health care, clean water, economic security, civil rights and political freedom. Lack of accessibility means unfreedom. Development therefore should mean that people can live the lives they want to live and precisely, how can a nation say in all entirety that it has freedom when its citizens cannot afford the very basic necessities of life or fulfill the rights they are entitled to? Sen goes on further to compare different views of poverty in both developing and developed nation by analyzing freedoms through values, poverty and inequality, income and mortality, markets and freedom, tradition and culture. The author sees the process of development beyond economic growth or physical and human capital and concludes by linking the understanding of a broad view of the development process to the substantive freedoms of people. Sens write up contains intriguing views but he hasnt mentioned what justifies his classification into these freedoms i.e. experience of developing countries, factual historical evidence or how far freedom has progressed within each context he identified. His definition is quite different from Rapleys in which Rapley describes development as more concerned with flexibility and adaptability (Rapley 2007 pp 5) and so raises a question. Can development be measured only by individual happiness without economic growth and stability? Happiness, in my opinion is geared more towards Rapleys definition and should be adapted into the process of economic growth. Willis, K. (2005) Theories and Practices of Development. London. Routledge. p. 32-42. Willis chapter 2 of theories and practices of development analyses development theories and practices and how these theories were attached to the economic, social and political theories that developed in Europe from the 18th century. Williss interpretation raises some interesting facts about historical development of theories and she divides her study into various theories. The classical economists such as David Ricardo, an advocate of free trade and Adam Smith, in his famous book, Wealth of Nations responded to the trade focus of economic policy at that time (p.32) when trade was a major factor of economic growth. Here, protectionist measures such as high tariffs were highly used by merchants. Willis goes on to say Adam Smith was not in favour of this form of regulation and that it was harmful to the countrys economic growth. Instead, greater focus on production and division of labour which will be regulated by the invisible hand of the market (p.33). The Great depression of the 1930s and other economic happenings gave rise to Keynes argument of the free market not necessarily a positive force but government intervention in the promotion of economic growth while postwar reconstruction period was a time to reflect on the economic crises that occurred at that time and provide solutions to their re-occurrence. This led to the creation of the Bretton woods institutions to assist in the promotion of stable economic growth within a capitalist system (p. 36) Willis describes the linear stages theory and makes emphasis on Rostow, the American economist and political theorists stages of Economic growth to development. Here, development was seen as a state where a large number of the population could afford to spend largely on consumer products and development was viewed as modern, moving from agricultural societies to an industrial economy. While she tries to decipher early theoretical ideas, Willis has not made clear linkages between some of these theories and how they have come to evolve in economic debates and discussions over time. Chang, H., and Ilene G. (2004) Reclaiming Development from the Washington Consensus, Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, 27(2), 274-291. The fundamental of this article is to correct the notion that there is no alternative to the Washington Consensus. The authors argue that neoliberal policies have failed to achieve their goals in developing world (p. 274) and so discuss the major development myths for justifying neoliberal policies that have been harmful to developing world and perhaps as a complacency to the reader, possible alternatives to these policies. These myths, evaluated individually, describe how these policies have lacked credibility. Myth 1; In contrast to the neoliberal policy success, the reality is that the policy has not promoted its main aim of economic growth. Myth 2; Developed countries gained success through free market policies whereas records claim they relied upon interventionist policies for development. Myth 3; Only neoliberal policies can succeed in todays global environment whereas in fact there is evidence of continuing institutional and policy divergence across national boundaries (p. 277) Myth 4; Discipline imposed by international institutions to keep them honest whereby placing policy making authority in the hands of these organizations. Myth 5; The East Asian model cannot be replicated when in fact most developed countries utilized this model. Myth 6; Developing countries should imitate the Anglo American model of capitalism which fared poorly in the economic boom of the 1990s. The authors went ahead to put forward alternative policies for faster economic development which includes the financial system providing adequate finance quantities for investment projects at appropriate prices, enforcing strict laws on new foreign loans incurred by domestic borrowers, defocusing on budget balance and maximizing FDI potentials to promote economic and industrial development in developing countries While arguing for these policies, it will be sensible to note that economies are different and there can be no best practice policy that everyone should use (Chang 2003). Policies for development should not be fixed but depend on stages of development of a developing nation and other factors such as resource capacity, economic, political and social conditions. Pender, J. (2001) From Structural Adjustment to Comprehensive Development Framework: Conditionality Transformed? Third World Quarterly, 22 (3), 397-411. Pender reviews how the World Banks approach to development has changed over decades and brought about important shifts to its conditionality approach. In the light of new changes between the 90s and today, the World Bank formulated a Comprehensive Development Framework, based on a relationship of partnership to replace its erstwhile structural adjustment lending (p. 397). The author examines why the World Banks perspectives of development changed through different periods; In the 1980s to early 90s, GDP was used as a measure of development as the Bank was mostly concerned with rapid economic growth and sustenance for least developed countries (LDC) and the adoption of policies such as restriction of state spending, controlling inflation, commodity exports and privatization as factors to achieve development. The 1990s drew lack of confidence in these policies and there were strong doubts about its competence judging from the success of the Asian Economies that developed rapidly without the World Banks policy prescriptions. This informed the Bank to change its 1980 view about minimal state role in development and that growth by itself is not enough (p 401). Thus in 1990, a formulation of an approach based on both labour intensive growth and widespread provision of basic social services (p.401). In spite of these alterations, there were criticisms that the Bank reforms were not aiding Africas growth but rather, increasing stagnant economies through the implementation of the Banks policies. According to Pender, the Bank lost confidence in its policy framework in early 1995, with the Asian miracle and LDCs failure and was forced to critique its own policies and re-orientate. This modification was experimented between 1995-1997 with improvements in the understanding of economic development and poverty reduction as the central focus. The author gives clear informed views of the process of policy change within the World Bank at different times but fails to analyze the impact of this new focus of poverty reduction and its success to the development of todays third world countries. Chang, H. (2003) Kicking away the ladder. Development Strategy in Historical Perspectives. London, Anthem Press. Chapter 1. Changs analysis centers around one question, How did the rich countries really become rich? He uncovers some myths about developed countries developmental experience and argues that developed countries did not develop through the same policies that they recommend to the developing world. This pressure from developed countries to the developing world to adopt a set of good policies that they adopted when they themselves were developing is faced with criticisms because historical evidence suggests otherwise and goes on to say that they are trying to hide the secret of their success (p. 2). Some of these policies include liberalization of trade, privatization, restrictive macroeconomic policies and deregulation but facts show that most of the developing countries used export subsidies and industry protection, industrial policies that the WTO disapproves in the present world. The USA and UK were examples of ardent users of these same policies frowned at in contrast to the free trade policies and free market they preach. Chang quotes List, the German economist that Britain was the first country to perfect the art of infant industry promotion which is the principle behind most countries journey to success (p. 3). He argues that developed countries, while alleging to recommend good policies to developing countries are actually trying to kick away the ladder of their own economic development. A conclusion is drawn on some methodological issues of David Ricardos neoliberal policies to Friedrich Lists infant industry argument that while developed countries preach Ricardo to developing nations, they actually pursued Lists policies in the past. Although Chang did not confront and compare works of economic historians e.g. L.E Birdzells How the West grew rich in relation to his How did the rich countries really become rich to identify similar or different conclusions, his examination of historical materials to reach important and interesting conclusions is a contribution that is immensely valuable to the current debates on development that will evidently challenge contemporary policies and enrich development theory.