The Earliest Forms Of Writing - 1432 Words

The Earliest Forms of Writing, A Better Understanding of History Writing is a key root in the history that we learn today. It serves as a very useful translator for historians. This is made possible as historians can use the first forms of writing-which derive from 3,500 BCE, to serve as a direct source of hearing a point of view from a witness of that time period. Writing began with pictographs, and emerged onto cuneiform, hieroglyphics, ideograms, and phonograms that were carried out by scribes. Writing served its purpose of developing a way to document trades and business accounts, cultural practices- especially those of religion, and government issues and orders. Writing of the past cultures serves as an essential factor in understanding the previous cultures, as the earliest forms of writing can indicate events of their causes, but what is left unsaid, can be interpreted as something which has derived from an earlier period of time. The different forms of writing display what the people’s values, needs, and expectations once were. Understanding history is much more clear as artifacts portray actual documentations of earlier cultures. The first form of writing, cuneiform, was a system of symbols that was used by Sumerians in order to represent and somewhat describe the type and amounts of goods traded. Cuneiform was simply a form of symbols, therefore it was a very vague description, but it served the purpose of establishing a form of documentation which was needed byShow MoreRelatedSumerians, Egyptians, and Chinese Contributions868 Words   |  4 Pagesyou know that Sumerians developed the world’s first form of writing? That many of todays household objects were invented or used by the ancient Egyptians (lock and keys, combs, scissors, wigs, makeup, deodorants, toothbrush and toothpaste)? Or that for the last 4,000 years China has been the oldest continuous civilization on Earth? The Sumerians, Egyptians, and Chinese created flourishing civilizations filled with many achievements in writing, architectu re, and technology that made lasting contributionsRead More Mesopotamia Urbanization Essay1389 Words   |  6 Pagessystem) .The two rivers provided everything the earliest civilizations needed in order to survive. The Sumerians, who were considered the greatest of the earliest civilizations, depended on the two rivers for food supply, water and a vehicle for their trade. The two rivers had a major impact on the earliest civilizations advancement in technology and agriculture. Also, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers contributed to the development of the earliest civilizations beliefs systems and values. Read MoreCuneiform Vs. Cuneiform : Cuneiform1199 Words   |  5 Pagesdevelopment of early writing methods? The answers to this questions lies in the uncovering of the past remains of our oldest deciphered evidence of writing: Cuneiform. Cuneiform is a style of writing that is the earliest known. The oldest archaeological evidence of it was found in the ancient city Uruk in Mesopotamia where they have unearthed nearly 4000 clay tablets. Their estimated age is dated to roughly 3000 BC; any more specific of a time frame is debated. Cuneiform was a style of writing written onRead MoreThe Invention Of Writing Is A Fundamental Pillar Of Human Interaction879 Words   |  4 Pagesvisual examples, that the invention of writing was the decisive turning point in the evolution of human growth. From primal hunter-gathers to functioning members of an ancient civilization, writing has acted more than a mere stepping stone in the technological and cultural advancement of mankind, writing is a fundamental pillar of human interaction. The essay will also convey how computers, when acting as the main medium of writing, write upon layers of more writing opposed to a slate, piece of paperRead MoreEssay on Writing and Technology1120 Words   |  5 PagesWriting and Technology The fact that we do not commonly feel the influence of writing on our thoughts shows that we have interiorized the technology of writing so deeply that without tremendous effort we cannot separate it from ourselves or even recognize its presence and influence (Ong, 317). In this modern age of computers, disposable pens, and mechanical pencils, it is easy to forget that at one time writing was not so simple or convenient. Most of us have . . . become so used toRead MoreRiver Valley Civilizations Essay726 Words   |  3 Pagescivilizations are one of the earliest societies in the world. The rises of these ancient river valley civilizations started the first cradle of civilization. The Indus Valley Civilization, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Mesopotamia, and Ancient China are the earliest civilizations that were successful enough to make enough food for everybody. Every one of these civilizations had three things in common: they all had a special relationship with the river, they created their own writing system, and they all reliedRead MoreThe Mayan Civilization And The Maya Empire1677 Words   |  7 Pages The Mayan civilization or the Maya Empire, centered in the tropical lowlands of what is now Guatemala, reached the peak of its power and influence aroun d the sixth century A.D. The Maya excelled at agriculture, pottery, hieroglyph writing, calendar-making and mathematics, and left behind an astonishing amount of impressive architecture and symbolic artwork. Most of the great stone cities of the Maya were abandoned by A.D. 900. The Maya civilization was one of the most dominant indigenous societiesRead MoreEssay on Egyptian Mathematics664 Words   |  3 PagesEgyptians are one of the earliest known and most well documented people to inhabit the Earth. They were one of the first people to respond to practical needs within agriculture, business, and industry. Moreover, archaeological and historical artifacts suggest that the Egyptians were among the first to develop the study of mathematics. This paper will discuss the development of mathematics in ancient Egypt, focusing on the use of hieroglyphs, the decimal system, and hieratic writing and numerals to demonstrateRead MoreAncient Greeks And The Sumerians1143 Words   |  5 Pa gesSumerians, from 4800 to 1750BC, with 19 dynasties and 103 kings that developed into one of the earliest civilizations on earth. Their existence as a civilization was not even discovered until the middle of 1800AD. As a result of the ancient Greeks and Egyptians who wrote about the Babylonians most people did not realize that the Sumerians preceded the Babylonians. Furthermore, it was the Sumerians that developed writing, a religion and numerous agricultural methods, which continued on with the following civilizationsRead More What is Art? Essay845 Words   |  4 Pagesmean many different things to many different people and was one of the earliest ways in which man has expressed him or herself to others, whether it was through cave drawings or hieroglyphics. It does not begin or end with just drawing or painting, items typically considered art, or the many other recognized facets of art including architecture, drama, literature, sculpting, and music. The writing of Beowulf, one of the earliest known written prose, or the Greek plays which have influenced drama since

Study of Education During the Republic of Kampuchea Free Essays

Having gained independency from France in 1953, Cambodia started construct its nation-state through paying attending to developing and implementing the educational field. New schools were built in both towns and rural countries. Higher establishments which the French had ignored to supply during its settlement were made into exist in the capital and a few chief provincial metropoliss. We will write a custom essay sample on Study of Education During the Republic of Kampuchea or any similar topic only for you Order Now However, the most singular educational advancement wholly disappeared during the 1970s, particularly at the 2nd half of 1970s ( International Educational Journal Vol.5, N0 1, 2004, p.90 ) . After the prostration of Khmer Rough control and under the strong support from Vietnam and other socialist states in 1979, the People ‘s Republic of Kampuchea ( PRK ) led by Heng Samrin started to reconstruct the state from immense desolation of twelvemonth nothing ( Scholarly Journal by Gene V Glass, volume 11, 2003 ) . The freshly liberated government ‘s top precedence between 1979 and 1981 was to reconstruct instruction establishments. Its policy on heightening instruction was in the interview with a senior instruction functionary who had been involved in basic instruction and instructor preparation since 1979: â€Å" 1979-1981 was a period of restructuring and rehabilitating both substructure and human resources. The restructuring and rehabilitation I refer was roll uping school- age kids and seting them in school despite the hapless status of the school and even carry oning categories in the unfastened air or under the trees. We appealed to all those instructors and literate people who survived to learn nonreaders. There were no licences or any high demands for keeping a teaching occupation. We merely tried to open school and literary categories ; we did n’t care about quality † ( Scholarly Journal by Gene V Glass, volume 11, 2003, pp 6-7 ) . The instruction system used by the government was 4 + 3 + 3, which means pupils had to pass four old ages at primary school, three old ages at lower secondary and another three old ages at upper secondary 1. The system was implemented in answer to emergent demands for human resources for state rehabilitation. The chief aim of the system of instruction was to organize new and good hard-working citizens with a luggage of civilization, of proficient consciousness, of a capacity for work, of good wellness and of a radical morality ready to function Kampuchea revolution with efforts to construct a socialist province through the development of instruction. † ( Ayres, 2003, pp.137-139 ) The first school twelvemonth began on September 24, 1979, which was announced by Heng Samrin, the PRK president seting every incrimination on the about four-year Khmer Rough government led by Pol Pot ( Ayres, p. 126 ) . What really obstructed the quality of instruction, particularly at primary and high school degrees during the PRK from 1979 to 1989? To understand that, the undermentioned factors should be raised and considered. Initially, there was a bad deficit of good and qualified instruction staff for the state ‘s schools. The PRK claimed in 1984 that 75 per cent of instructors were murdered by the Khmer Rough ( Ayres, p.126 ) . â€Å" The state had merely 13,619 instructors, at a ratio of 1 instructor for every 53 pupils. Merely 4,000 had formal makings. In add-on to their deficiency of experiences and makings, instructors had other concerns like traveling about the state looking for losing relations they had lost under the Khmer Rough, believing about their parents who had died, hapless physical wellness, psychological injury, hapless memory and concentration, so the instruction force was certainly really weak. ( Ayres, 2003, pp132-133 ) . To promote school engagement, the authorities used the mottos like those who know more Teachs those who know less and another 1 was traveling to learn and traveling to school is nation-loving. Peoples with any degree of instruction who survived from the killi ng government was asked and encouraged to go instructors, professors, and administrative officials in the educational field. Potential instructors were given short- term preparation for one month, three hebdomads, or even two hebdomads and so started learning. ( Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, 1998 ) . Second, there was a monolithic registration of pupils at primary and secondary schools. For illustration, by November 1979, 716,553 pupils had officially enrolled in primary schools throughout Cambodia, which was impossible for the government to deviate resources to preparation and retraining of school instructors, doing schoolroom instructions at low criterion ( Ayres, p.132 ; p.138 ) Third, there was a deficiency of qualified instruction leader and direction staff at the ministry. One former functionary said, â€Å" because we did non cognize where to we should get down. We were lost † ( Ayres, p.129 ) . Chan Ven, the new curate of instruction, who had been a high school natural philosophies instructor, said that he and his qualified Kampuchean co-workers did non hold any thoughts and had no sense of where to get down and make. The most attending they paid to was to set the pupils in schools every bit rapidly as possible so that they could construct Kampuchea into a state of new socialist workingmans, and when asked about the enlistings and preparation of instructors, the quality of instruction and what would be taught, he replied that it was beyond the capacity of Cambodia ministry of instruction. They surely needed the aid of Vietnamese experts ( Ayres, p. 128 ) . The 4th point was the hapless status of educational infrastructure. â€Å" With every bit much as 90 % of the school edifices destroyed in Cambodia † ( Ledgerwood, J. ( N.d ) . Education in Cambodia. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //www.seasite.niu.edu/khmer/Ledgerwood/education.htm ) . Some schools had no Windowss, deficient furniture, so the pupils had to sit and analyze on the floor. The figure of school edifices and schoolrooms did non fit the big figure of the pupils ‘ registration. There were excessively many pupils that some of them had to take categories in the unfastened air under the trees, in antecedently used infirmaries, or at countries surrounded by mines and cemeteries ( Ayres, p. 133 ) . The following factor was the learning capacity of the state ‘s pupils. Many pupils were enduring from malnutrition or diseases, particularly malaria, that they had got from old old ages, and like their instructors, they had other concerns about looking for their surviving relations, believing about their parents who had passed off, their basic shelters, necessary nutrient, apparels, etc. , which could impact their learning memory and concentration ( Ayres, p. 135 ) . â€Å" In primary school about 30 per cent of the kids had no male parent, 10 per cent had no female parent, and between 5 and 10 per cent were orphans † ( Postlethwaite, 1988 ) . In add-on to the five facets mentioned earlier, larning and learning stuffs were in a bad deficit. Although some stuffs used in old governments were non wholly destroyed by the DK, those stuffs could non be used as the government used new text editions so as to accomplish their purpose. Some instructors used clay as a pen to compose on the board. Seven or eight pupils shared one book and a stub of pencil. By 1980, the Centre for Program Writing and Textbooks had produced 39 texts for the usage in primary schools, several for secondary schools, and a individual text for usage in grownup literacy instruction classs ( Ayres, pp, 129 ; 133 ) . Next, although the PRK held the power of the state, the government was non internationally recognized. As a consequence, the Kampuchean place at the United Nation phase was non given to the PRK, but to the authorities of the DK because the international community was non certain whether Vietnam had liberated or invaded Cambodia, which caused a hold in supplying the human-centered aid to the PRK, and the assistance trade stoppage that was to follow it, both impact the PRK government ‘s capacity to rehabilitate Cambodia and devastated Kampuchean people ( Ayres, pp. 126 ; 136 ) What is more is that the government chiefly aimed to construct a socialist province with socialist workingmans through the development of instruction. So, it focused more on higher instruction and grownup literacy instruction than the lower degrees ( Ayres, pp. 137-138 ) Besides, contending between the PRK and DK and its confederation still continued at Cambodian-Thai boundary line, so immature work forces were needed for national defense mechanism ( Ayres, p. 125 ) . Last, the course of study was non from the ministry of instruction, but by lasting instructors severally. The first schools opened were non province schools but private 1s. The lessons largely focused on literacy, and instructors taught from their memory as what Suon Serey, a instructor who opened her ain school, said. To sum up, the summarized factors mentioned above indicate intelligibly why the quality of instruction during the PRK was so hapless. Decision All things seen and considered, the cause of hapless quality of instruction at primary and secondary degrees during the PRK was chiefly resulted severely from the Khmer Rough government, and partially from the presence of Vietnamese soldiers in Cambodia during that period. How to cite Study of Education During the Republic of Kampuchea, Essay examples

Economic Growth Essay Example For Students

Economic Growth Essay Common IdeaEconomic growth is the most important study in economics today. The first book on economics was by Adam Smith The Wealth of Nations the full title was the Inquire Into The Nature And Sources Of The Wealth Of Nations. Economic growth determines a countries future, and economic growth in the past determines a countries present as far as its material values are concerned. (Buechner Recording) So every material value of the modern world is a result economic growth in the past, or your standard of living is the result of economic growth in the past. Economic growth in the future will determine whether or not there is rising or falling economic wealth, and coordinated with that whether or not the standard of living in the future continues to rise or fall. For example: In 1870 England was the leading industrial power of the globe, and as a consequence it also was the leading political power of the globe. According to M. Northrup Buechner the real wage rate in England is estimated to have been about 50% higher than the real wage rate in other European countries at that time. (Recording) It was about 1870 because of the rise of statist policies and ideologies that rate of growth in England started to lag behind that of the other European Countries. It didnt lag a lot Buechner states the statistical estimate was less than one percent a year, however for a period of 10 or 20 years thatll make a difference hardly anybody would notice. Yes maybe so, but if you compound that interest rate over 100 years what you get is what you see today. England is essentially a third rate economic power, and the real wage rate in England today is estimated to be about 33% less than the real wage rate in other European countries. (Buechner Recording) In 1870 the United States in 1870 was an economically backward, internationally insignificant, and unimportant country in the world with respect to matters regarding foreign affairs. According to Buechner it was about 1870 when the United States embarked on a growth rate of over 5% percent a year, which was sustained for a period of over 40 years. (Recording) No country in the history of the world matched that record. At the end of that period about the time of World War I the United States took Britains place as the leading industrial power of the globe. IntroductionHere is the subject, and the direction on which I would like to approach my thesis. In the 19th century the United States rate of growth was over 5% a year. According to Wayne D. Angel et al., chief economist for Bear, Stearns CO. its estimated the best we can do is estimated at somewhere between 2 or 3 % a year. (Online) The long term expected growth rate in the United States has been cut in half. What has happened? As a student of economics I have an economic answer. Im going to be looking at this from the perspective of the material, physical, and economic means of economic growth. That is the economic causes of economic growth or decline. Im not talking about philosophy here Im just looking at basic mechanics. What has to be done in reality? Well it is no surprise that the fundamental answer that question is thought; then, there is action that has to been taken based on the thought. What specific actions are required? I dont want to be accused of ignoring philosophy so let me just state briefly the philosophical preconditions of economic growth because these are really fundamental. Any Rand, the infamous author of Atlas Shrugged states the belief in the reality of this earth, and the world we see around us is real, not just an imperfect reflection of a higher reality. Also the belief in the power of reason to grasp the world, to know the world, to grasp reality in order to deal with the facts, and that the mind is competent to guide life. Some sanction on the pursuit of personal happiness is also a precondition. Some belief apart from the idea of that to be selfish is irredeemably evil; you cant believe that and have economic progress. (1075-84) There has to be some degree of economic freedom, men must be able to act to some extent within some significant range. The underlying assumption for everything that I am going to write that follows is a free or at least semi-free country. If you want to push me when all is said, and done I would say if you get the philosophical preconditions you will get economic growth; not without effort but probably without any additional abstract knowledge. Increasing Economic GrowthWhen you get it how do you get? So lets begin with a definition economic growth Im defining economic growth as an increase in the total productive capacity of an economy. (Buechner Recording) Now what is productive capacity? Well its the capacity to produce output, goods, and services. (Buechner Recording) What does productive capacity consist of? According to Buechner these are the primary components of an economies productive capacity?Here are the components:1. Knowledge and skills2. Machinery and tools3. Plants and structures4. Raw materials5. Parts, materials, ingredients, intermediate goods (Recording)Productive capacity consists of the knowledge and skills of the population; this of course is the fundamental productive capacity, or in more objective terms mans mind is the fundamental productive capacity. (Rand 1075-84) Everything else in this paper depends on knowledge, and knowledge depends on thought. Those are the fundamentals of all productive capa city. Numbers 2-5 fall under the general heading of capital goods or producer goods. Machinery and tools economists usually put this under a triumberant of machinery tools and equipment. Plants and structures of the economy are a big category, and includes factories, office buildings, damns, highways, bridges, power lines, telephone lines, pipe lines, railroad tracks, airports etcetera. Sources of raw materials include mines, cleared land, oil wells, lumber, fisheries, and things of that nature are what economists call intermediary goods. Intermediary goods are the parts, the materials the ingredients that are passed from stage to stage through the productive process, and are used to produce the things that come out at the other end of the factory. Economic growth means that the total quantity of these things increases, and when the total quantity of these things increases more can be produced. Now there are two essentially different ways, which they can potentially increase. We can produce more of the same thing or we can have more of the same machines, tools, and factories of the same kind producing the same output, more raw materials of the same kind etcetera. More of the same would mean economic growth signifying that the total productive capacity of the economy had increased. But historically, and this is a crucial point historically there has been no economic growth with out better machines and tools, better factories, better products, better goods, better sources of raw materials. (Buechner Recording) I am going to take that as a basic fact. Economic growth fundamentally, and essentially takes the form of better goods and services of all kinds. Im now going to assume that the marginal product of capital does not decrease(Hazlitt 40) the assumption that it does I think is clearly contrary to fact. That makes a huge difference in the theory of economic growth. Where do we start with better? We start with better know how in the means of new ideas, technological discoveries, and inventions. These ideas have to be put into a concrete material form of better machinery, plants, structures, and tools that can be classified under the general heading technological progress. According to Hazlitt if you get that, and you get total productive capacity increasing faster than the population grows you get a rising standard of living. (90) How do we get these things? How do we get more and better? Of all of these components I have a very simple minded answer; they have to be produced. I am going to use a circle to represent the economies total productive capacity. Table 1In order to have an increase in productive capacity you have to use productive capacity to produce more capacity. Now this starts with one-man alone thinking a new idea, a new product, he or she; then, communicates this to others. They have to figure out how the idea or product can be produced, and at the same time raise capital in order to hire the labor, buy the tools, and erect the plant. Once the structure has been created all those involved need go to work, and produce it; thus using the existing productive capacity to produce more capacity. This process becomes a reality by using your existing labor force to train, and communicate skill to other portions of the labor force; therefore utilizing men, old machines, and old factories to produce new factories, new tools, and new sources of raw materials. This is very simple, and at every stage in this processes your using your existing productive capacity to produce more capacity. Well what else can you do with productive cap acity? The alternative is to use productive capacity to produce consumer goods and services. According to Buechner for the purposes of economic growth these are the only two alternatives uses of an economies productive capacity-you can use your existing capacity to produce more capacity, or you can use your existing productive capacity to produce consumer goods and services. (Recording) So economic growth involves a trade off here is the trade off. Table 23Each circle represents the total productive capacity in these two economies, and those circles are the same size so each of these economies have the same total productive capacity, and lets also assume they both have the same population. Now Case I is using about 1/3 rd of its capacity to add productive capacity, and about roughly twice as much capacity to produce consumer goods. The Case II economy is using about 2/3 rd of its capacity to add productive capacity, and roughly as much to produce consumer goods. So the Case I economy is going to have a higher standard of living. Actually twice the standard of living because it is using twice a much of its capacity to produce consumers goods as the Case II economy is. So the people in the Case I economy are better off today, and the people in the Case II economy are poorer because they have a lower standard of living; theyre not as well off. Other things being equaled rich are better than poor, but other things are not equal. Ac cording to Buechner the Case I economy is also using less of its capacity to add capacity meaning that the economy is going to grow more slowly assuming that its even using enough capacity to actually grow. (Recording) So here is the Case I economy 10 years later 2009. Table 4The inner circle represents 1990s total productive capacity the red lines branching out from the inner circle to outer circle of the pie represent the total productive capacity in the year 2009. The red lines represent the increase of productive capacity in the economy. The proportions are identical to what they were in 1990 there has been no change if we assume that the population hasnt changed in those 10 years the standard of living has risen. How does that compare to Case II, which was using a much larger portion of its capacity to add capacity? Here is Case IITable 5As you can see the Case II economy for 2009 when compared with Case I economy for 2009 has grown much more in course of 10 years signified by the shear size of the diagram. According to Buechner this is because in the previous diagram for the Case II economy for the year 1999 that economy was using twice as much of its capacity as the Case I economy in 1999 to add capacity, and again as a result it has grown a lot more in those 10 years. (Recording) The standard of living has raised now so much so that the standard of living in the Case II economy is now higher than the standard of living in the Case I economy. You could say big deal of course you drew it that way. Thats right I did draw that way to illustrate this elemental truth about economic growth. A country that uses more capacity to add capacity has a higher standard of living over the long run. (Hazlitt 43) Attention should be paid to that difference because the more capacity that is used the shorter that long run would be. Japan is a stunning, unavoidable, and modern example of that truth. The cause and effect relationship for economic growth is you consume less than possible today by accepting a standard of living below collectively now, the population, the people, the economy what it could be will result in economic growth. As a result of that economic growth your able to consume more than would have been possible if you had not consumed less. That is the essence of economic growth. In summation the fundamental determinant of economic growth is the portion of an economies productive capacity that is used to add more capacity. Amidst an increasing mound of research the next question that came my mind is, what determines that portion. In a free economy thats determined by the decisions of the individuals to consume and save thus it is a joint product of the decision of the millions and millions of people who live in the economy, and there decisions of how much to consume and how much to save. (Rand 782) According to Hazilitt savings for the individual is a decision of economic growth.(180) Assuming here an income of 100,000 if the individual making this income spends all of it on consumption that will be the maximum standard of living he or she can achieve on that income leaving out the possibility of borrowing. If this individual decides to save there current standard of living will be below what it could be; therefore, when you save you deliberately reduce your standard of living below what you could enjoy if you spend everything on consumption. Why do people do that? This is what happens if you deliberat ely reduce you standard of living. In diagram Savings and Economic Growth 1Table 6$90,000 is spent on consumer goods and services and $10,000 is saved, however the individual could be consuming $100,000. What happens? By next year and as the result of saving now I should let you know the assumption is $10,000 is saved at annual interest rate of 10% so over a year a period of a year the 10% interest rate will yield an additional $1,000 dollars. Table 7Now that means the income has increased from the $100,000 of 1999 to $101,000 of 2000. The red lines that extend to the outer band of the pie signify this. That additional band represents the additional $1,000 dollars that is derived from the interest on savings of $10,000. Now additional income is available for consumption if the individual wants to spend it on consumption. Im also assuming that the additional $1,000 that the individual gets from the 10% interest rate return on the $10,000 will continue to be saved at the rate of 10% of his income. In 2000 the individual is going save $10,000 + 10% of the $1000, which is $100. The individual now has an extra $900 to spend on consumption total spending is $90,900. Now thats not too impressive but its important to remember savings is a stock. (Hazlitt 177) If you save $10,000 in 1999 and you add $10,000 in 2000 you get $20,000 you save another $10,000 in 2001 you have $30,000 together with interest the individuals total savings by the end of 2001 is $30,301. Looking out at 2009 assuming the individuals income continues to be $100,000 each year and the individual saves 10% of it at 10% the total savings in 2009 will be $126,825. Now this individuals wealth 10 years latter is $126,825 this is the equivalent of economic growth for the economy. The individuals income is $100,000 plus 10% of that $126,825 so the income including the interest on saving is $111,567. Case in point the individual is now consuming 90% of income instead of 100%; the consumption in 10 years will be higher than it could have been, and would have been if he hadnt saved at all. Why because the individuals income is now over $100,000 by $410 dollars, and of course as time goes by this effect just continues to multiply. So you have this same effect of saving for the individual that you have for economic growth for a country. You have increasing wealth, and you have the ability to increase consumption over time. So what! Thats just an exac t parallel that doesnt prove a connection. Whats the actual connection? How does saving cause economic growth for an economy? There are two parts to this answer. According to Hazlitt every dollar saved is a dollar less demand for consumer goods every dollar that is saved is a dollar that wasnt spend on consumer goods. (179) That means that the productive capacity that would have been necessary to produce those consumer goods is instead available for producing additional capacity. Savings reduces the demand for consumer goods and releases capacity to add to capacity. The way that is brought about in reality is through financial intermediaries. This is because the money saved is not tucked in a mattress not if youre sane. Money saved is put into a bank, a savings and loan, into an insurance policy, mutual funds and, or pension funds these institutions loan it out to business to invest in their business to add productive capacity. This I believe is the essential theory of the origins o f economic growth. How Photography Began EssayIt also very helpful if you can reduce the amount they want to save that is if you want to reduce economic growth. How can you reduce the amount they want to save? Well why do people save? Or why did they save? In the 19th century the primary motive for saving by people up until the 1930s the reason people saved fundamentally was for there retirement for there old age, so they would not be destitute in there old age, so they wouldnt be a burden on there children they saved. They dont do that today, or they certainly dont do it the way they did 100 years ago. Why not? Well today the government is saving for you. That system is called social security according to Franklin D. Roosevelt the government will provide for your old age you dont need to worry about it anymore. (Online) Now if in fact the government were saving it wouldnt be so bad, but the governing is not saving; the social security system is a simple transfer system from the young to the old ther e is no saving going on. (Hazlitt 53) This totally undermines the fundamental personal motive that people have to save in the absence of a welfare state. What is the second motive for saving? The secondary most important personal motive people would have to save used to be called saving for a rainy day. Saving for hard times, saving in case of loss of employment, saving for in case somebody gets sick, saving for a rainy day; I dont know whether young people are even familiar with that expression anymore. Well what happens on a rainy day? Well there is a safety net a whole welfare system of constructing a safety net. On a rainy day you just fall into the net you dont need to provide for yourself anymore the government will pick it up. Again the personal motive is destroyed or at least is seriously undermined by the whole welfare system, and in the case of the safety net there is not even the pretence of safety. Reduce the amount people want to save inflation is great for this. Infla tion reduces the real return on savings. The reward you get for savings is the interest that you are paid if you invest a $1000 dollars at 5% interest at the end of the year you will have $1050; that $50 dollars is your reward for saving, for making those funds available for productive purposes. What if the inflation rate is also 5%? If the inflation rate is 5%; then, at the end of that year you will need $1050 to buy what you could have of bought at the beginning of the year with a $1000. So the 5% interest return in real terms is 0% you need a $1050 to purchase the same amount you could buy with a $1000 at the beginning of the year. If the interest rate and the savings rate are the same percentage you are making no interest. Without real interest your money is just retaining its value. What happens if the inflation rate goes above the interest rate? Youll end up having negative interest, therefore the value of your savings are shrinking over time-you can buy less. Suppose inflatio n rate is 7% is, and the interest return on your savings is 5%. That means at the end of the year you need $1070 to buy the same things you could have bought with a $1000 at the beginning of the year, but the with the interest return you have $1050 your $20 dollars short you can buy less with the additional money. This is depressing. From roughly 1978 to 1981 when the inflation rate was the highest in this country there was three years of almost continuous negative interest where everybodys saving became less and less valuable over time. According to Buechner this lead to a near permanent decline in the savings rate in the United States before that period the saving rate in the United States was around 7 or 8% which, is half of what it was in Japan, but at the end of the period around 1982 the saving rate was around 3%. (Recording) It takes people a while to learn but eventually they get the idea you know this is not a good deal. Now its crept up since then very slowly according to Angel were up around 5%, which is still a pathetic savings rate. (Online)Even better you combine inflation with a tax on your interest income. You know a tax which, doesnt recognize that most of that interest income is necessary to just to stay even, and to make up for the inflation rate. Thats what the government does for the people. I used to live in New York City, and I can personally testify the total tax rate if you add up the federal rate of almost 40%, and the income tax rate of the city, and the state tax its over 50%. In New York City the income tax rate over 50%! Suppose that your making an interest return of 5% on your savings. The government takes more than half of that. Lets say they take only half that reduces your interest return to 2.5% the according to Angel consumer prices for the last half year have been running around 3% (Online) so you got a 2.5% percent rate of return after you pay taxes. The prices youre paying are increasing at a 3% rate. What is your real in terest return? Minus .5% its a negative real return. Now I think this is worth doing everybody should do this. When you take account of the inflation rate, and taxes you pay the odds are pretty good that you will find yourself very close if not in the negative range. You may be asking yourself why should I save. The point of this is not that you shouldnt save; there are reasons to save even if the value of your saving is slowly shrinking over time. You can still increase you wealth by savings, but talk about discouraging you get nothing out of the interest. The third way of reducing the rate of economic growth is divert savings from financing production to financing consumption. (Buechner Recording) Anything that can be done which, can divert savings away from financing, investment, production, additions to productive capacity-anything at all along those lines of taking savings, and instead giving them to people to finance consumption purchases will reduce the rate of economic growth. In an effort to further clarify a subheading anything that you can to do that will increase borrowing for consumption, and anything that you could do to encourage people to borrow for consumption purposes. Now suppose you really wanted to do that one really good way might be to give people a tax break on the funds that they borrow for consumption we could let them say deduct the interest they pay on there consumer debt. Now up until fairly recently in fact you could do that with credit card interest run up a huge credit card bill the interest was horrifyin g on credit cards but all the interest payments you paid on your credit card installment debt were deductible from your taxable income. So you got a little plus going along with that debt. Now that has been eliminated and that is one small step in the right direction but there is still a huge factor that is still working in a huge way. That is called mortgage interest. You can deduct all the interest you pay on your mortgage from your taxable income. A house is a consumer good its not a part of the economies productive capacity, and by this tax deduction for the interest you pay on your mortgage debt the government encourages people to incur that debt, and increases the demand for the particular type of consumption item. All of the labor, and the materials that go to build houses lumber, bricks, motor, concrete, pipes, all of it, that labor could all be used to add productive capacity in the economy instead it is being used to build houses. Now is that necessarily terrible? No its n ot necessarily terrible. But it does reduce the rate of economic growth. Another move in this direction the opposite not a plus is you reduce the penalties for bankruptcy. In the last five years the laws past significantly reduce the penalties for bankruptcy. So you declare yourself bankrupt you can keep your house, car, furniture, pool, and, the other house in Florida. What do you lose? I have family member that has just went through bankruptcy as far as I can tell nothing has changed in her life. But in terms of diverting saving this is the champion government deficit financing. The deficit is: the deficit is the difference between what the government spends, and what the government collects in tax revenues. (Buechner Recording) If the government spends $900 billion, and it collects $800 billion in taxes the deficit is $100 billion the government is spending $900 billion, and only has tax revenues of $800 billion. Its important to grasp this the government is actually spending $900 billion. The government only got $800 in tax revenues where is it getting that extra $100 billion since is really spending $900 billion. There really only two alternative places the government can get that extra $100 billion. One-way is to print the money. Print the money and spend it. Now if the government does that- that takes goes back to the first thing I discussed under the heading of how to reduce economic growth, and you have the government spending new money on consumer goods. I showed how that reduced economic growth. The other alternative is for the government to sell debt in the financial markets. For government to print up government securities, promises to pay-promising a certain interest return the principal due at a certain date, and sell these to people. These are very eagerly sought in the financial markets. This is a little different from the other three diagrams I have shown. Table 11As you can see I have added in producer goods and services. I have included again these two mutually exclusive alternatives A is the financial intermediaries loan out $100 billion in savings accumulated from all the savers. There are two possible ways these loans can go. They can be loaned for productive purposes to business, or they can be loaned to consumers I have divided this up goings to production increases in capacity going to consumers to finance consumption purposes. I have no idea what proper division is according to Buechner I am pretty sure that as a rule more of it goes for production. (Recording) The alternative however is that all it-the whole $100 billion goes to the government, and all of it is spend on consumer goods and services. This is a giant net sucking of wealth out of financial markets funds, which could and would be used to finance additions to productive capacity in the economy, but instead it goes to finance government purchases of consumer items. Now the statistics are very confused on this general subject of whats been happening but the in general there seems to be a consensus that the real wage rate in the United States hasnt risen since about 1974 the real wage rate. That doesnt mean that households standard of living hasnt risen because since that time we have had a massive movement into the labor force by the female population. The prosperity of the 1980s which is attributed to Reagan statistically does not seem to be meaningful, and I think that has to be understood at least in part because according to Buechner Reagan multiplied the federal deficit by a factor of three or four, and we went from a $1 trillion dollar national debt- the national debt is a summation of all the deficits in the past added onto each other to where we are now approaching $6 trillion dollars. (Recording) This is pretty horrifying, but nonetheless the other side of this is anything you can do to discourage borrowing for production. The governme nts regulations and controls in the economy are extremely discouraging for people to borrow for productive purposes or for people to produce anything. (Hazlitt 687) The whole environmental movement has not just increased regulations it has erected absolute prohibitions all over the place in the economy. Among other things for example its illegal to drill for oil wells in what the oil companies have identified, as the best locations where they might find oil you just cant do it. In addition the government has done many things to increase the risk of loss which also discourages borrowing for production inflation makes the whole economy more uncertain, thus; increasing risk, together with the possibility of new regulations, and controls descending on you at anytime to destroy the product of your effort is also very discouraging. (Buechner Recording)ConclusionNone of these methods none of the things I have discussed not one existed in the 19th century. There was no government spending o ut of new money in 19th century. Money was gold, and it was limited by the gold supply. There were no phantom goods in the 19th century. There was no phantom labor in the 19th century. There was no income tax in the 19th century. There was no corporate profits tax, or at least at the federal level. There was no social security. There was no inflation in fact Buechner points to a period which I would like to emphasize when the United States had 30 years out of this 40 plus year period when we were growing over 5% a year when the economy was actually deflating thats when the average price level was falling 1 or 2% a year. (Recording) There were no taxes on interest income, there were no tax breaks on consumption debt because there was no income tax, there was no safety net you had to build your own net. Bankruptcy was a disaster to go bankrupt was a true horror at that time. There was no federal deficit, there were no federal government regulations and controls, and very little on the state level. So if you want to increase economic growth I believe we need to move in that direction. I believe as a matter of political realism there is very little that is possible politically today. There is some significant concern about the deficit, and if the deficit could really be eliminated I think that would positive move. For today I believe it is much more important to fight for the philosophic preconditions which I have mentioned in the beginning on the paper which we are also losing, and if we lose those philosophical preconditions nothing originating in economics will make any difference at all. As Henry Hazlitt so aptly puts it only minds corrupted by generations of misleading propaganda can regard this conclusion paradoxical. (80)BibliographyAngel, Wayne D., John Ryding, Melanie Hardy and Conrad DeQuadros. Global Economic Watch. Index. Online. Bear, Stearns Co. Available: http://www.bearstearns.com/atbear/ewatch/econindex.htmBuechner Northrup, M. Economic Growth. S econd Renaissance Books, DB45C Recording, 1996Hazlitt, Henry. Economics In One Lesson. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1979. Rand, Ayn. Afterword. Atlas Shrugged, 1957-1992, By Rand. Ed. Signet. New York: Penguin Group, 1957. 1075-84. The White House, Thirty-Second President 1933-1945. Marist College. Available:http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/glimpse/presidents/html/fr32.htmlUnited States Department of Treasury, Publication 550. 15093R. Internal Revenue Service. Available: http://www.irs.ustreas.gov