Wind turbines Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Wind turbines - Essay Example The earth’s surface does absorb heat at different rates since it is made up of quite distinct types of water and land (School of Earth and Environment, 2014). A good example of uneven heating is found in the daily cycle of the wind. Air over water does heat up less fast compared to air over land. After heated air over land rises up, after which the air that is cooler over the waters rush to replace it (Met Office, 2013). In this way, wind is made. Wind power is generated by use of wind energy that is created by the wind. Towers that have wind turbines, which are mounted on the top, capture it. The three or two blades, which catch the wind, rotate sometimes at a hundred feet or more above the surface of the ground. They are attached to an internal shaft. A generator is spin by the turbine blades through the shaft and as a result, electricity is produced (Energy Saving Trust, 2014). Electrical current produced is produced and a transformer is made use to step up voltage produced , something that makes it possible for electricity to be sent through transmission over distribution lines to businesses, homes, and other users (BBC Weather Centre, 2009). Concurrently, wind power in windmills form has been used for different tasks like pumping water as well as grain grinding for centuries. Currently wind energy use has been widened and generation of electricity generation (Renewable UK , 2014). Wind turbines that generate electricity are of two types basically, determined by the way in which they spin. Most common are wind turbines that spin around a horizontal axis, the way a windmill does. Their blades have a look that of a propeller that spin on a horizontal axis. They do have their main rotor shaft as well as a generator at the tower top, and they have to point into the wind. A wind vane is placed squire with blades (rotor) and is used to point small turbines, while large turbines make use of wind sensors, which is

Myth. Why did myth survive the scientific and philosophic challenges Essay

Myth. Why did myth survive the scientific and philosophic challenges of the classical Greek world - Essay Example Why did the myth survive the scientific and philosophical challenges of the classical Greek world? Introduction: Myth is some idea or a belief which is absurd and fictitious and has originated in the prehistoric times which came into being naturally and inevitably. The myths developed due to the fact that the inhospitable environment that the primitive man encountered. The origin of the myth during the prehistoric times or during the childhood of mankind might due to two reasons: one may be the fear that might have been created during an occurrence of the natural phenomenon such as thunder or storm for example, and another might be as a remembrance of the events of the past. So, as the history of the mankind developed, the language and the practices also developed along with the myth. The religion, rituals and the myths are all developed in parallel but are distinct from one another. The myths have a great part in the development of the religion. However, equating the myth with the r eligion is not possible. Myth is the response of the mankind to the natural environment (Graff, Fritz., et al., 1996). Over the centuries, Greek culture developed and underwent many changes in this context of the myths. Until a few centuries the Greeks were supporting myths and after the eighteenth century the Greeks used to refer the word myth by ‘muthos’ which means stories and words and started defending with the evidence of the scientific evidences and facts referred by ‘logos’. ... So the first thing is that the myth is developed out of lack of explanations. Explanations: Myth seemed to have strong thoughts on the areas where the scientific and reasoning does not produce the results. To explain briefly, myth plays a strong role where the reasoning doesn’t seem much to offer. For example, in the case to speculate what happens after the death. A common explanation is that death is a fact and can occur to anybody regardless of their age and status of their living. If we reason out this fact the next immediate question arises is that what would happen after death and it would be related to the good and the bad lives the individual had lived through out his / her lifetime. So in order to explain this question it is sorted out that the soul of those who lived good lives would go to the Elysium and the soul of those who lived bad lives would go to the Tartarus and punished to the degree of unpleasantness. Another part where the myth played its role is the place where there is unreliable and nonexistent of historical evidences. So these kinds of explanations depend on the social, cultural and the educational background of the believer and what is actually believed. Reinforcement: The reinforcement of the political, social and ethical position of the subject in the context might also be a reason for the explanations of the myths. For example the Roman emperor Nero used to identify him with Gods in order to manipulate his image. In order to impress this myth the emperor image was cast in the coins by the architects which would image him as a god. Issues: The issues which created as a result of the reinforcement of the authority are social and cultural tensions, and dilemmas. Therefore a myth could be changed and manipulated to

The Integrated STEM System Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Integrated STEM System - Research Paper Example This essay will not deeply address the issues as the main project will follow that will handle the topic adequately. The acronym STEM refers to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. It is a newly introduced curriculum which advocates for the teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics through integration. Meaning, it is a new approach which adopts an applied and interdisciplinary strategy while teaching these subjects without necessarily teaching them in isolation. By blending Chemistry, physics, In formation Technology, computer, engineering, mathematical science, geosciences, astronomy, life science and social sciences, the curriculum will be encouraging students to learn about practical problem solving skills which are of course essential in their day to day experiences. STEM was established in the United States with the aim of solving the problems created in education and offering of science subjects. The project is aimed at making the STEM related fields more relevant to the students. This is aimed in turn at ensuring that the students become more creative in the future and come up with new projects that can help the country scientifically. The problems in security are a major concern in many countries and it was also one of the highlighted problems that are to be addressed by the STEM project once it goes underway. This essay will look deeply into the idea and point out the strengths it has depicted and the limitations including the remedies that can be implemented to make it a more effective method of bridging the scientific and technological gap that is created in science subjects. However, in order to achieve its objectives, STEM program will have to be introduced to the learners as early as possible. As a matter of fact, it will be shift from the common tradition in which the STEM subjects are taught differently in schools. As a new system aiming at reaching the greatest possible

Myth. Why did myth survive the scientific and philosophic challenges Essay

Myth. Why did myth survive the scientific and philosophic challenges of the classical Greek world - Essay Example Why did the myth survive the scientific and philosophical challenges of the classical Greek world? Introduction: Myth is some idea or a belief which is absurd and fictitious and has originated in the prehistoric times which came into being naturally and inevitably. The myths developed due to the fact that the inhospitable environment that the primitive man encountered. The origin of the myth during the prehistoric times or during the childhood of mankind might due to two reasons: one may be the fear that might have been created during an occurrence of the natural phenomenon such as thunder or storm for example, and another might be as a remembrance of the events of the past. So, as the history of the mankind developed, the language and the practices also developed along with the myth. The religion, rituals and the myths are all developed in parallel but are distinct from one another. The myths have a great part in the development of the religion. However, equating the myth with the r eligion is not possible. Myth is the response of the mankind to the natural environment (Graff, Fritz., et al., 1996). Over the centuries, Greek culture developed and underwent many changes in this context of the myths. Until a few centuries the Greeks were supporting myths and after the eighteenth century the Greeks used to refer the word myth by ‘muthos’ which means stories and words and started defending with the evidence of the scientific evidences and facts referred by ‘logos’. ... So the first thing is that the myth is developed out of lack of explanations. Explanations: Myth seemed to have strong thoughts on the areas where the scientific and reasoning does not produce the results. To explain briefly, myth plays a strong role where the reasoning doesn’t seem much to offer. For example, in the case to speculate what happens after the death. A common explanation is that death is a fact and can occur to anybody regardless of their age and status of their living. If we reason out this fact the next immediate question arises is that what would happen after death and it would be related to the good and the bad lives the individual had lived through out his / her lifetime. So in order to explain this question it is sorted out that the soul of those who lived good lives would go to the Elysium and the soul of those who lived bad lives would go to the Tartarus and punished to the degree of unpleasantness. Another part where the myth played its role is the place where there is unreliable and nonexistent of historical evidences. So these kinds of explanations depend on the social, cultural and the educational background of the believer and what is actually believed. Reinforcement: The reinforcement of the political, social and ethical position of the subject in the context might also be a reason for the explanations of the myths. For example the Roman emperor Nero used to identify him with Gods in order to manipulate his image. In order to impress this myth the emperor image was cast in the coins by the architects which would image him as a god. Issues: The issues which created as a result of the reinforcement of the authority are social and cultural tensions, and dilemmas. Therefore a myth could be changed and manipulated to

What Are Some Risk Factors to Prevent Illness Essay Example for Free

What Are Some Risk Factors to Prevent Illness Essay * What are some risk factors that may be controlled to prevent serious illness? Do any of these controllable risk factors apply to you? What can you do to eliminate these risk factors in your life? We can prevent serious diseases if we have strong immune systems, so we have to strengthen them, we can take vitamin c daily. We can ingest fruits every day, citrus fruits are more important, they are rich in vitamin c. and we could take supplemental vitamins to help our body become stronger to prevent diseases. Yes some of these things can be taken control over. You can change the conditions through diet and exercise. Your best defense is information. Talk to your health care provider to find out if u are at risk for any serious diseases. Work with your health care provider to come up with a plan of action to help you control the risk factors in your life. High blood pressure is a very important risk factor for someone to have a stroke. Strokes affect 40 percent of ethnic populations over age 20. Just remember to check your family history to see if you are at risk for certain illnesses. * With widely publicized information on the health and environmental consequences of smoking, why do you think people still choose to smoke? Even with the widely dispersed information on smoking people still choose to smoke because the tobacco companies spend billions of dollars annually on campaigns to entice younger and younger generations to start smoking. Some of the other reasons is because nicotine is extremely addictive and it is hard to put cigarettes down and just quit them cold turkey and people mainly start smoking either from peer pressure or just smoke in social situations only and then they start to develop the addiction for the nicotine. Nicotine also makes people feel energized and alert right after they have smoked but the results are very short lived and then they need another one because they want that energy burst again. Smoking has been determined to be more addictive than cocaine, heroin, or alcohol. Smoking mainly get started in high school or college because of the major tobacco companies and social situations with other people because you want to look cool. * What is the difference between a problem drinker and an alcoholic? What factors can cause someone to become an alcoholic? What effect does alcoholism have on an alcoholic’s family? Alcoholism is a serious, debilitating disease which literally destroys lives. Problem drinkers are those whose alcohol abuse has adversely affected their lives, causing adverse issues in most or all areas of their lives. The nature of alcohol abuse often means there are underlying unresolved issues plaguing the problem drinker. The following factors can be a cause for a person to become alcoholic: 1. It can be genetic 2. Escape from reality and personal problems. Cover up or mask their depression and anxiety. 3. Lack of supervision from parents has a high tendency to develop a habit that deals with alcoholic drinks. 4. Alcohol is a method to escape from stress, fatigue and can be inherited, Boredom, among others. 5. Genetics also play a role and there are indications that alcoholism can be inherited. Alcoholism can impact a family in one of two ways either emotionally or financially it can also impact a family by creating health problems.

Economics Essays Financial System Banking

Economics Essays Financial System Banking Capital Adequacy Directive Abstract In the recent years, it seems that the supervisors have increased the attention on the capital adequacy of banking intuitions in order to enhance and maintain the stability of financial system. The purpose of the present paper is to investigate into the merits as well as disadvantages of the Capital Adequacy Directive implementation in the Switzerland economy for the behaviors of Swiss banks and shed some light on whether and how Swiss bank react to constraints placed by the regulator on their capital. The analysis and evidences given will clarify the finding is that while the Swiss banks enjoy the typical merits that have been brought by this innovation, some drawbacks they might endure could not be neglected, which implies the need for good policy guidelines of Government and Central Bank. Chapter 1 Introduction We do realize there are better moments to introduce substantial increases in capital requirements. Nout Wellink (April, 2008), head of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision During the last 30 years, a wide range of countries have introduced the formalized capital requirement. This innovation seemed to be spearheaded by the adoption of minimum capital requirement in some particular states (for instance, the US and the UK in 1981). However, with the first introduction of Basel Accord in 1998, the common minimum capital requirements were actually adopted by G-10. To date, the Accord has been implemented by over 100 countries world-wide (Allen, 2004). The implementation process of Capital Adequacy Directive (CAD) on the one hand produced many successes in practice as it helps to limit risk-taking relative to capital and to prevent systemic instabilities arising from large-scale banking failures, thereby enhancing the productivity, efficiency, safety and soundness of domestic banking system, in general, global financial system. On the other hand, it also has generated several important failures and unintended consequences as it might reduce the lending ability of commercial banks which in turn directly influences to their competitiveness relative to other forms of intermediation. This study attempts to measure the cost and benefits of Capital Adequacy Directive and apply it to the population of commercial banks that operated in Switzerland. The result suggests that even though some negative impacts of CAD is obviously seen, the implementation of CAD in Swiss banking system is essentially and truly needed. As the matter of fact, the advantages that Swiss commercial banks have achieved due to the effectiveness of capital adequacy regulation outweigh the disadvantages they might suffer. The paper is divided into 4 sections. Chapter 2 introduces the historical review and general theory of Capital Adequacy Directive. Chapter 3 provides firstly the analysis on the both benefits and costs of CAD, followed by the statistic evidences from Swiss commercial banks’ behaviors. Finally, the summary of the main findings of this study and conclusion will be mentioned in the last section. Chapter 2 Capital Adequacy Directive: Historical Review and General Theory 2.1 Historical review The Capital Adequacy Directive was firstly and officially introduced as the core part of the 1998 Accord, referred to as Basel Accord (International Convergence of Capital Measurements and Capital Standards) issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (henceforward Basel Committee) in July 1998 (Hall, 2004). This accord is not formal treaty nor a binding legal rule, however due to the practical effects conveyed with it, the guidelines of this accord have been implemented not only by signatory countries at the beginning but also by over 100 countries world-wide (Lastra, 2004). Nevertheless, the 1988 Accord has been criticized for its crude assessment of risk and for creating opportunities for regulatory arbitrage (Blum and Hellwig, 1996). Therefore, at the end of June 2004, the â€Å"New Capital Accord† (henceforth call Basel II) was finally issued after the endorsement conducted by G10 banks supervisor in order to replace the original accord (now termed â€Å"Basel I† agreed in 1988) and solve the problems occurred as the result of Basel I implementation in banking system. 2.2 General Theory of Capital Adequacy Directive The genesis of Capital Adequacy Directive as well as the capital regulation could be traced back to the concern that bank might hold less capital than is socially optimal â€Å"relative to its riskiness as negative externalities resulting from bank default are not reflected in market capital requirements† (Rime, 2001). In the 1988 Accord, the Basel Committee provided a ratio of capital to risk-weighted assets. In this Basel formula, Capital is divided into Tier 1 (equity capital plus disclosed reserves minus goodwill) and Tier 2 (revaluation reserves, undisclosed reserve, general loan loss reserves, and subordinated term debt). Specifically, Tier 1 capital must to constitute at least 50% of the total capital base. In addition, the denominator of this Basel formula is the sum of risk-adjusted assets plus off-balance sheet items adjusted to risk. (Lastra, 2004) According to (BIS, 2008) the 1998 Accord in essence prescribed that banks hold capital of at least 8 % of their risk-weighted assets. Although there is no strong argument for the â€Å"target† ratio 8%, it still was considered to be â€Å"sufficient† due to the empirical application from previous policy applied in some states such as the US/UK bilateral agreement of 1986 regarding capital adequacy (Rime, 2005). Eight percent were the median in exiting good practice at that time: the US as well as the UK around 7.5 %, Switzerland 10%, France and Japan 3 % (Lastra, 2004). In fact, data from a wide range of banks from the Fitch IBCA database and national supervisors as well as the Basle Committee denote increasing trend with the average capital ratio rising from 9.3% in 1988 to 11.2% in 1996. â€Å"Most countries experienced increases in their capital ratios although those countries, which were close to, or below, the Basle minimum capital adequacy ratio of 8% in 1988 evidenced a much higher overall increase than those, which had historically high capital ratios†. (Jackson, 1999) Recently, in the new approach, often referred to as Basel II, specifically in the First Pillar ─ Minimum Capital Requirements, the overall level of regulatory capital currently held by banks is not set to rise or to be lower. The capital ratio is calculated using the definition of regulatory capital and risk-weighted assets and the total capital ratio must be no lower than 8%. In addition, the tier 2 capital is limited to 100% of Tier 1 capital (BIS, 2004). However, it is set to be more risk sensitive (Blum and Bichsel, 2004). Chapter 3 Costs and Benefits of Capital Adequacy Requirements: The Analysis for Switzerland 3.1 Understanding the Swiss banking system: To date, the Swiss banking system is typically depicted as one of the leading universal banking system around the world since this type â€Å"universal banking† was firstly allowed at the Banking Law of 1930 (Stiroh and Rime, 2003). In reality, like the most continental European countries, Swiss bank legislation does not distinguish between the commercial and investment banks. In principle, Swiss banks are able to offer a wide range of financial services such as: lending and deposit-taking, underwriting, brokerage, trading and portfolio management (Swiss Bankers Association, 2006). Furthermore, the Swiss banks might vary in the way they use their options to engage in all types of financial activities as the â€Å"truly universal banks co-exist with the institution specializing either in traditional banking or financial market activities†. According to Swiss Bankers Association (2006) the Swiss National Bank (SNB) classifies the banks in Switzerland into ten major categories: big banks, cantonal banks, regional and savings banks, Raiffeisenkassen banks, commercial banks, consumer loan banks, stock exchange banks, other banks, foreign, and private bank. These bank categories differ with regard to their size, business focus, geographic scope of activities and legal form. Within the banking sector, the big banks maintain a dominant position in every respect. As the matter of fact, the Swiss economy is characterised by a comparatively large banking sector by international standards, and by the dominance of two banks, Credit Suisse and UBS. At the end of 2006, the banking sector’s total assets exceeded CHF 4,500 billion or nearly ten times the size of Swiss GDP. This is by far the biggest ratio among the G10 countries, followed by Belgium and the Netherlands where total bank assets are five times the size of GDP. Measured in absolute terms, the US has the largest banking sector. However, total assets of all banks are less than US GDP (Swiss National Bank, 2007) 3.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Capital Adequacy Directive towards Swiss banks’ behaviour In this paper’s context, instead of taking assessing advantages as well as disadvantages of CAD for all the participants of financial market, I would like to take the point of view to this issue from the one particular party of market – the banks. Merits Almost all financial experts hold the opinion that though capital generally accounts for a small percentage of the financial resources of banking institution; it plays a crucial and important role in their long-term financing and solvency position, which directly influence to their public credibility and reputation. The inverse relationship between the capital adequacy requirement and bank risk taking has been found in the research of Avery and Berger in 1991. In order to meet the 8% target ratio of Basel formula, banks have not been encouraged and limited to take the high risky activities, which always promises the high payoffs, thereby reducing the likelihood of failures. In addition, it is undeniable that the implementation of Capital Adequacy Directive leads to the more powerful ability of banks at the event of financial crisis as the more reasonable the capital ratio is set up, the higher the probability that a bank will not fail to pay back its debts. This fact tends to justify the existence of capital adequacy regulation in order to avoid bankruptcies and negative externalities on the financial system. In other words, it could be said that Capital Adequacy Directive is needed to maintain and enhance the financial stability of banks, generally, for economics. In the case of Swiss banking system, Switzerland welcomes that the Capital Adequacy Directive has been adopted as an important means to preserve the financial soundness of the Bank and its triple A rating. According to Swiss Banker Association (2008) the Swiss banks are well capitalized by international standards and as an additional safety measure, Swiss law demands capital adequacy standards even higher than those required by the Basel Accord. Swiss banks can therefore certainly be counted amongst the safest in the world. The following table will display the marked-rise in risk-weighted in all bank categories in Switzerland at the year-end of 2006 As been shown from the graph, in 2006, the risk-weighted capital ratios rose in all bank types as it increased from the 13.1 % to 13.9 % in terms of the entire banking sector (exceeded the G-10 countries’ average by more than 2.5% point at the same time). This increase was particularly pronounced at the big banks (from 11.5% in 2005 to 12.4% in 2006). Specifically, let take UBS – one of two largest banks in Switzerland as a typical example for the benefits of Capital Adequacy Directive in order to maintain the financial stability. The capital that UBS is required to hold based on Swiss Federal Banking Commission (SFBC) regulations, which differ in some certain respects from the calculation under the Basel Capital Accord (BIS guidelines). As a result of the differences in regulatory rules, UBS’s risk-weighted assets are higher, and its ratios of total capital and Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets, are lower, when calculated under the SFBC regulations than under BIS guidelines. However, UBS has always had total capital and Tier 1 capital well in excess of the minimum requirements of both the BIS and the SFBC. Capital adequacy The success of USB in doing business as well as maintaining financial stability has been measured and confirmed by the largest and most famous credit rating agency such as Fitch Ratings, Standard Poor’s and Moody’s. In February 2006, the rating agency Standard Poor’s affirmed UBS’s AA+ long-term and A-1 + short-term ratings and commented: â€Å"The key strengths of USB business profile are the strong cash flow, high returns, and the sound capital base.† In which, the last one has been brought by the presence of successful implementation of Capital Adequacy Directive. Not surprisingly, to date, the capital base of the Swiss banking sector appears to be sound as all banks reported excess capital at the end of 2006 ( Swiss National Bank, 2007) To sum up, the Capital Adequacy Directive framework is truly needed for Swiss banks in order to avoid bankruptcies and negative externalities on the financial system, enhancing and maintaining the financial stability. Disadvantages Despite what has been shown, nothing could be further from the truth that capital adequacy might affect the banking system’s ability to extend credit. Under the circumstance that the regulatory are set too high, that might leads to the risk-adjusted market return on bank loans will be insufficient so as to cover this artificially high cost of capital, therefore decreasing bank-lending activities. This so-called credit-crunch, which will directly impact not only to the financial stability of banking system but also the aggregate level of economics activities (Allen, 2004). Furthermore, there are various concern have been raised over whether the presence of capital requirement directive undermine the long-run competitiveness of banks. Jackson at the year-end 1999, and Blanco and Barrios in their research at 2003 have shown that these concerns could be separated into two types: (i) Whether banks have been disadvantaged compared with securities markets or securities firms (ii) Whether the overall profitability of banks has been affected and their competitiveness has been harmed According to Jackson (1999), there is a controversial issue that whether banks, due to the capital adequacy regulation have found it difficult to compete against the securities markets as provider of funds. Many countries have witnessed â€Å"a shift from provision of funding to prime corporates by banks to provision of funding by commercial paper markets or securities markets more generally† but it is difficult to assess how much of this shift was driven by the capital requirements of the banks and how much by innovation and greater sophistication of the borrowers. Furthermore, there is no strong theory as well as empirical evidence to conclude from the profound changes in banks’ long-term share of various markets that they have been driven by the influences of capital requirements on banks’ competitiveness. In the case of Swiss banking system, by using the empirical methods and model to evaluate the relationship between the capital adequacy regulation and the share prices of banks as well as using the data come from 4 big banks, 25 cantonal banks and 125 regional banks in existence from 1989 to 1995 which represents 82% of Swiss banking system, Rime (2001) has shown that there is no evidence about capital adequacy requirement implementation reduce the Swiss banks’ share price. Moreover, Wagster revealed the same result at 1996 when he did the research in the situation of Switzerland, Germany, and Netherlands. It is possible that the introduction of minimum regulatory capital requirements may have harmed the competitiveness of the banking industry. If capital standards require a bank to maintain an equity position in excess of what it would hold voluntarily, or in response to market pressure, then these standards constitute an external constraint on a bank’s operations. In theory, any kind of external interference with the activities of a business firm could harm its short-run profitability or growth and possibly undercut its long-run viability (Jackson, 1999). However, it does seem that the exactly answer for this question whether implementation of capital adequacy regulation harms the competitiveness of banks has not been found yet because the long-term competitiveness of banking is driven by a wide range of factors. As been shown in the above part, the implementation of CAD has been conducted successfully in terms of Swiss banking system. That helps banks to enhance the financial stability not only in their own system but also for entire economy. Hence, the Swiss banking system are now depicted as the universal banking system, being classified amongst the safest and highest profit all over the world. Conclusion In this study, we have just investigated into the costs and benefits of Capital Adequacy Directive towards Swiss banks’ behaviors. Our main message is that Capital Adequacy Directive is truly desirable as it provides an extremely efficient financial mechanism for maintaining the financial stability as well as prestige for Swiss banking system. However, despite the typical merits that have been conveyed by Capital Adequacy Directive, some drawbacks it might create such as unexpected credit crunch phenomenon, is obviously seen. This does require the act of Government and Swiss National bank with more caution as the more efficiency CAD present the more benefits that Government and Swiss banks can achieve. Bibliography Allen (2004), The Basel Capital Accords and International Mortgage Markets: A Survey of the Literature. Avery and Berger (1991), Risk-Based Capital and Deposit Insurance Reform, Journal of Banking and Finance BIS (2008) [www.bis.org] [Internet] [Assessed 15 April 15, 2008] Blum (2003), The Impact of Capital Requirements on Banks’ Incentives to Monitor and to Hold Excess Capital, Journal of banking and finance Blum and Hellwig (1996), The macroeconomic implications of capital adequacy requirements for banks, Journal of banking and finance Blum and Bichsel (2004), The relationship between risk and capital in Swiss commercial banks:a panel study, Journal of banking and finance Blanco and Barrios (2003), The effectiveness of bank capital adequacy regulation: A theoretical and empirical approach, Journal of banking and finance G34 International Banking and Finance materials by Prof D.H.Gowland G33 International Banking: Regulation and Supervision materials by Prof D.H.Gowland Hall (2004), Basel II: A panacea or a missed opportunity? , Journal of banking and finance Jackson (1999), Capital requirements and bank behaviors: The impact of Basel Accord, Journal of banking and finance Lastra (2004), Risk-based capital requirements and their impact upon the banking industry: Basel II and CAD III, Journal of banking and finance Quotation database, [Internet] [Assessed 15 April 2008] Rime (2001), Capital requirements and bank behaviors: Empirical evidence for Switzerland, Journal of banking and finance. Rime (2005), Will Basel II Lead to a Specialization of Unsophisticated Banks on High-Risk Borrowers? , Journal of banking and finance Sheldon (2001), Costs and Benefits of Capital Adequacy Requirements: an Empirical Analysis for Switzerland, Journal of banking and finance Stiroh and Rime (2003), The performance of universal banks: Evidence from Switzerland, Journal of banking and finance Swiss National Bank, (2008), [Internet] [Assessed 15 April 2008] Swiss Federal Banking Commission (2005), Basel II Implementation in Switzerland Summary of the explanatory report of the Swiss Federal Banking Commission Swiss Bankers Association (2008), Swiss Bankers Association press release, [Internet] [Assessed 15 April 2008] Wagster (1996), Impact of the 1988 Basle Accord on International Banks, Journal of Finance,

Pros and Cons of MTBE in Gasoline :: Pro Con Essays

Pros and Cons of MTBE in Gasoline MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, is an oxygenate commonly used in gasoline in America, Europe, and other countries throughout the world. It is a compound created by the chemical reaction of methanol and isobutylene that is added to gasoline because of its high octane level, allowing gasoline to reach the required octane levels and still include a gasoline component. In addition, because it is an oxygenate, MTBE helps gasoline more fully combust, which increases performance and reduces the amount of harmful pollutants such as CO, VOCs, NOx, and particulates released into the atmosphere from automobile exhaust [EFOA]. However, opposition has recently arisen against the use of MTBE in gasoline. Every underground gas tank eventually leaks, and the gasoline is soaked up by the surrounding ground. MTBE is not soluble in water; therefore, when the gasoline leaks out of the tank, the MTBE pollutes the ground water (well water), and eventually the surface water also. In addition, though MTBE reduces the amount of most pollutants released from automobiles, it also produces a harmful pollutant, formaldehyde, when combusted [CECA]. Even worse, a study performed by a medical researcher from the University of Pennsylvania, shows that MTBE may be the cause of a seventeen percent increase in asthma among kindergarten students since it has been utilized in gasoline. The study also shows that MTBE has failed to improve smog levels in the years it has been in use [Jones]. Therefore, is MTBE good or bad? It is still early to give a definite answer, however the banning of MTBE in many states in the US in exchange for its most common alternative, ethanol, shows signs that MTBE is doing more harm than help. To be fair, if more strict legislation were to be passed to force gas stations to maintain leak free tanks, much of MTBE’s pollutant problems would be solved. Pros and Cons of MTBE in Gasoline :: Pro Con Essays Pros and Cons of MTBE in Gasoline MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, is an oxygenate commonly used in gasoline in America, Europe, and other countries throughout the world. It is a compound created by the chemical reaction of methanol and isobutylene that is added to gasoline because of its high octane level, allowing gasoline to reach the required octane levels and still include a gasoline component. In addition, because it is an oxygenate, MTBE helps gasoline more fully combust, which increases performance and reduces the amount of harmful pollutants such as CO, VOCs, NOx, and particulates released into the atmosphere from automobile exhaust [EFOA]. However, opposition has recently arisen against the use of MTBE in gasoline. Every underground gas tank eventually leaks, and the gasoline is soaked up by the surrounding ground. MTBE is not soluble in water; therefore, when the gasoline leaks out of the tank, the MTBE pollutes the ground water (well water), and eventually the surface water also. In addition, though MTBE reduces the amount of most pollutants released from automobiles, it also produces a harmful pollutant, formaldehyde, when combusted [CECA]. Even worse, a study performed by a medical researcher from the University of Pennsylvania, shows that MTBE may be the cause of a seventeen percent increase in asthma among kindergarten students since it has been utilized in gasoline. The study also shows that MTBE has failed to improve smog levels in the years it has been in use [Jones]. Therefore, is MTBE good or bad? It is still early to give a definite answer, however the banning of MTBE in many states in the US in exchange for its most common alternative, ethanol, shows signs that MTBE is doing more harm than help. To be fair, if more strict legislation were to be passed to force gas stations to maintain leak free tanks, much of MTBE’s pollutant problems would be solved.