Baby Boomer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Baby Boomer - Essay Example During the 1960s and 1970s, those in leadership were mainly the GI and silent generation. These generations derive their ideologies and values from the events of 1930s and 1940s, which are the Second World War and the great depression (Chapman 212). These were hard times and they are the events that shaped the ideologies of the GI and the silent generation. During these times, people normally obeyed commands and were not supposed to question. The young had no say in the society. They learned how to compromise, work hard, persevere, and sacrifice for the country. However, they were slow in bringing in changes in the society as they were conservative. The baby boomers are those born during the post war period this is a group that was influenced by the era of grand visions. This was a time when people were fighting for freedom, there was concerted effort to take man to the moon, and politicians were trying to put forward their ideologies. This generation was associated with sex, drugs, and rock and roll music. Since they were born in relatively calm period, they also attained good education. What then brought about great generational gap or ideological crisis in the 1960s and 1970s? As it can be seen, this is the period when the baby boomers were in higher education institutions while the GI and the Silent generation were in leadership. My interviewee Mr. Tayung Wong came from Taiwan to come and pursue his undergraduate degree in America. This is a clear indication of how education was being valued in America. When Mr. Wong arrived in America there were several civil rights activities taking place as he says that he watched several civil rights activities on the television. This civil rights were mainly being influenced and led by scholars in America who wanted social transformation. They were mainly the baby boomers. When Mr. Wong arrived from Asia to America he found that there were a lot of racial discrimination towards African Americans and other races by the whites. In fact he says that some form of discrimination was perpetuated against him. The GI and the silent generation had passed through the great depression and the Second World War. These were hard times. During this time there was great racial discrimination. One such example was the discrimination of the Jews by Germans leading to their extermination by Adolf Hitler. They had witnessed the worst form of discrimination in the world. The discrimination that was being witnessed in America, to them, was not something of great concern. They did not address this issue as a priority. On the other hand, the baby boomers that were born in an era of grand vision saw this as a matter of urgency that needed to be addressed by the leadership. They had the education and they could advocate their visions freely. Mr. Wong confesses that he found the American teenagers bolder in expressing their views. Mr. Wong says that he supported the movements of Dr. Martin Luther King junior that advocated for the rights of black Americans and citizens of color and he also says that he supported other African American activists. This shows that there were a lot movements advocating for equality of all residents of America. The rallies of these activists were mainly attended by the young as we see Mr. Wong, by then a university student. These are the baby boomers that were born in the era of freedom and they felt agitated when their rights were infringed. The GI and

Are the Risks of Derivatives Manageable Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Are the Risks of Derivatives Manageable - Essay Example The ideas of Thomas A. Bass, who considers that the risks of derivatives are manageable are compared and evaluated with the ideas presented by Justin Welby who argues that the risks of derivatives are not manageable. As per the idea presented by Justin Welby, it can be said that if proper policies and procedures are implemented and maintained derivatives can be used as an effective way to cater and manage a lot of financial risks. However, strong controls are required so as to protect speculation and heavy losses to corporations because of the wrong or unethical use of these heavy duty financial instruments. Are the Risks of Derivatives Manageable? Derivatives and Risks of Derivatives Derivatives are financial instruments or contracts that are settled on occurrence or non occurrence of an event. As explained by Hu in his paper derivatives are the contracts that ‘allow or obligate’ the user / drawer of the agreement to buy or sell the underlying asset at any time in future at the specified cost / price. Hu also explained in his paper that changes in the value of the assets also changes the value of the said contract. This underlying asset can be interest rates, exchange rates, stocks, commodity, goods, etc. (Hu, 1993). Derivatives are either traded in derivative markets or can be directly made or created through any Financial Institution (including banks). Derivatives are widely used these days by corporate entities and other users in order to manage and control the risks associated with financial transactions and hedge the risks of changes in rates of commodities, interest rates, market conditions or foreign currency rates. Hu in his paper also points out the reasons to opt for the derivatives which are: 1. The costs of entering into derivatives contracts (also known as the transactional costs) are much less than buying the underlying assets; (Hu, 1993) 2. Further the risks of change in the price differential between the derivative and underlying assets can be arbitraged; and (Hu, 1993) 3. Derivatives help the users to ‘transfer the market risks’. (Hu, 1993) Derivatives can be in many forms and types ‘including futures, options, swaps, forwards, structured debt obligations and deposits, etc’ (Comptroller of the currency administrator of national banks website, 1997). These financial instruments pose many risks on the users and both the parties involved (that is the drawer and the drawee of the derivative contracts) which include the following risks as presented in the Comptrollers Handbook: 1. Risk of change in the price of investment portfolios, commodities or underlying assets / commodities; (Comptrol ler of the currency administrator of national banks website, 1997) 2. Risk of change in interest rates that may lead to increase or decrease in the prices of investment and earnings; (Comptroller of the currency administrator of national banks website, 1997) 3. Risk of changes in foreign exchange rates specially in case of currency derivatives or where more than one currency is involved; (Comptroller of the currency administrator of national banks website, 1997) 4. Risk of changes in equity or commodity prices in case of equity derivatives lead to risks on the prices and returns on derivatives; (Comptroller of the currency administrator of national banks website, 1997) 5. Risk of Liquidity or credit risks, which means the inability to discharge derivative obligations; (Comptroller of the currency administrator of national banks website, 1997) 6. Transactional risks that means the inability of the parties involved to carry out the derivatives transactions in an effective and efficien t manner. (Comptroller of t