Engineering codes of ethics, case scenarios, and societies that enforce them Essay Example for Free

Engineering codes of ethics, case scenarios, and societies that enforce them Essay Ethics can be defined as a branch within the wider field of philosophy whose main concern is addressing the issue of morality. Morality as a concept seeks to justify actions as good or bad, right or wrong and whether such actions are justified and virtuous. Ethics in itself is divided into many categories which normally vary to suit the issue at hand. From a general perspective, ethics can be widely grouped into theoretical and practical ethics. The theoretical aspect is concerned with theoretical meanings of moral propositions and the manner in which their truth values can be ascertained. The practical aspect of ethics seeks to address the possibility of achieving moral outcomes in a given situation (Luegenbiehl, 2003). Engineering ethics in this context is part of applied ethics that is skewed towards the examination and the setting of standards concerning the duty of an engineer to the general public, how they should attend to their clients, their duty to their employer, and their obligation towards enhancing and maintaining the moral integrity of the engineering profession. Engineering as a profession is very diverse in terms of the possible branches one can venture into. This diversity make some of the engineering fields share only very limited principles. While most of these disciplines tend to complement each other, these engineers are bound to work in different environments. As such there cannot be a unifying code of ethics for the whole engineering fraternity. Ethical codes in this profession are largely dependent on the exact field of specialization and the jurisdiction of practice. Another factor that comes into play is whether an engineer is providing consultancy service to his clients or the engineer is an employee of a given manufacturing enterprise (Colby Sullivan, 2008). In most countries, the engineers who attend to their clients are normally referred to as professional engineers and are usually licensed. They abide by codes that ensure professional ethics and to a larger extent governed by a number of statutes. Their counterparts who practice in the manufacturing industry have to abide by certain laws, key among them being whistle blowing and also the law of product liability. Their practice leans more towards business ethics as compared to engineering ethics. Professional engineers are usually in private practice and are always responsible for drafting some of the codes of ethics that govern their profession. Engineers who practice in the industrial sector do not enjoy accreditation by the relevant government agencies. It is an arguable fact that despite the field and sector of practice, these engineers face similar ethical issues. Similar in the sense that they share the same root causes but only change slightly in form depending on the discipline and the sector of practice (Luegenbiehl, 2003). Engineering societies have for a long time drafted their own codes of ethics. These codes of ethics have undergone a series of refinement over time in a bid to make them more viable to overcoming ethical issues. Such codes of ethics usually act as general guidelines since ethical issues are very diverse and as such some of these codes have to be adjusted to suit the situation at hand. In the United Kingdom, a notable example is the ‘Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)’, which chose to incorporate its ethical codes into the standards of conduct. The code of ethics in engineering basically seeks to ensure the wellbeing of the public, the clients in the case of a professional engineer, the employer for the engineers who practice in the industry, and for the enhancement of the moral integrity of the engineering profession (Colby Sullivan, 2008). Any engineering profession is susceptible to a number of risks some of which may be detrimental to a wider section of the population. With this risk in mind, the first aim of an engineer is to ensure the safety and health, not only of the general public but also for themselves and their workmates. Engineers are required to subscribe to principles that ensure sustainable development in the course of their undertakings. Since the engineering profession is very diverse, an engineer who may be very competent in his field of specialization may not be able to achieve much in another line of engineering. For most of the engineering societies around the world, there are basic ethical codes that they seem to share in common. A code of ethics in the field of engineering always restricts engineers to stick to their areas of specialization. This is to avoid exposing himself and the general public to the imminent danger. An engineer is required to speak the truth on the technical aspects of a job and maintain a professional relationship with the employer or his client. Conflict of interest is a sure way to compromise and as such should always be avoided by an engineer. An engineer is supposed to safeguard the integrity and the interest of the engineering profession. In as much as an engineer is supposed to advance career wise, they have an obligation of ensuring professional growth for their juniors. According to the law of whistle blowing, an engineer is more obliged to safety than he is to the client or to his employer. This law requires the engineer to report cases where their employers or clients fail to follow their directions and in the process are exposing the public to potential danger. In some instances, some the relevant authorities fail to take action and this may end up in the engineer going public (Luegenbiehl, 2003). The most notable cases of disaster in the field of engineering have been caused by both technical and ethical issues. While some of these accidents have been due to technical aspects and design inadequacies, others have been due to inefficient management culture. Some of the cases that have been established to have an ethical dimension on their occurrence include the Chernobyl disaster, Bhopal disaster, Boston molasses accident, Johnstown Flood, just to mention but a few (Pfatteicher, 2001). Chernobyl disaster was an incident that took place in Ukraine, and it involved the meltdown in a nuclear reactor plant. This accident was to a larger extent blamed on human error. The personnel were blamed for using a limited ‘operational reactivity margin. ’ The disaster caused to the people living within the neighbourhood was immense in gravity and most of the effects were of a long term nature. The mental health of the people was extremely affected; cases of cancer were later reported to be rampant in the area. All these effects came about due to the irradiation of the area by radioactive material. The workers were also affected with more than thirty losing their lives within a span of three months from the time of occurrence of the disaster. An advisory group that was later formed to look into the cause of this disaster blamed the people who were responsible for the design of the power plant. They failed to consider certain pertinent aspects of the design which could have prevented such an occurrence or which could have ensured that the accident did not proceed to reach the level it did. It was realized that in the course of preparation and subsequent testing of turbine generators, it was done without the incorporation of systems that were responsible for technical protection. This was viewed to have been a breach of the safety provisions that were required for the actual technical exercise (Pfatteicher, 2001). Some of the most outstanding organizations that are concerned with engineering ethics include the ‘Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE)’ in the United Kingdom, the ‘Canadian Society for Professional Engineers,’ and the ‘National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE)’ which have been seen to be championing for the upholding of ethical practices within the engineering field. The reasons for their establishments are to ensure that engineers in private practice, the government and in the manufacturing sector are able to subscribe to a common code of ethics within a given jurisdiction. Such bodies have certain punitive measures to their members in cases where ethics appear to have been sidelined in making decisions. To ensure that engineers adhere to such codes set by these organizations, it is mandatory to be registered with certain bodies within given jurisdictions to practice as an engineer (Haws, 2001). There has been a general drift towards formulating an all encompassing code of ethics for all engineers throughout the world. This has been noted by the fact that the codes formulated by most societies throughout the world appear to be having certain similarities. While this appears to be a very noble idea, some room and allowances will have to be allowed to accommodate the different cultures in the world. It is deemed that developing a set of common ethical codes and supplementing it with additional entries that regard the cultural setting and the exact field of specialization within engineering. The codes should be set out in such a manner that no confusion can be reported within a given jurisdiction (Luegenbiehl, 2003). References: Colby, A. , Sullivan, W. M. 2008, â€Å"Ethics Teaching in Undergraduate Engineering Education. † Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 97. Haws, D. R. 2001, â€Å"Ethics Instruction in Engineering Education: a (Mini) Meta-analysis. † Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 90. Luegenbiehl, H. C. 2003, Themes for an International Code of Engineering Ethics. Retrieved on 9th February 2010, from: http://www. asee. org/conferences/international/papers/upload/Themes-for-Int-l-Code-of-Eng-Ethics. pdf . Pfatteicher, S. K. , 2001, â€Å"Teaching Vs. Preaching: Ec2000 and the Engineering Ethics Dilemma. † Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 90.

Democratic deficit in IMF

Democratic deficit in IMF Democratic deficit in IMF Introduction International Monetary Fund(IMF) is one of the two organisations formed after the Bretton woods conference in 1944. the other one is the World Bank. It has to be noted in the earliest that though this article deals with IMF and how the democratic deficit in it affects the poorest of the countries in the world, the IMF works in tandem with the world bank and other international financial institutions. The founding principle of IMF is rooted deep in the Great Depression of 1930s. During the depression the industrialised countries of the world plummeted themselves by engaging in raising trade barriers, devalued their currencies for competing in the export market and even restricted their citizens from holding any foreign exchange all of these measures resulted in further loss of trade and employment making millions jobless and poor. One of the major reasons for establishing an institution like IMF was to oversee exchange rate stability and international payments ensuring smooth functioning of the complex international monetary system. IMF along with World Bank(WB)was formed in 1945 in the wake of the pressing need for the post war reconstruction and assuring monetary stability in the world economy especially European economy. Though it officially came into existence in December 27, when 29 countries ratified its charter or Articles of Agreement in 1945, it started its operations onl y on March 1, 1947. During the cold war years the membership in IMF was limited due to the pressure of Soviet Union on newly independent countries. End of the fixed standard As pointed earlier the IMF oversaw the fixed exchange rate system where every currency is pegged at US dollars which can be converted in to Gold. The increasing spending on the war in Vietnam adding to the increasing expenditure on Great Society Programs initiated by US President Lyndon Johnson worsened the already overvalued US dollar. This system was started to be abandoned slowly between 1968 and 1973. The major point came when US President Nixon announced the de-linking of US dollar from gold. But the transition to free floating exchange rate system, where every member of IMF was free to peg its currency against any currency or group of currencies, was smoothly done. The period also posited another challenge in the form of unprecedented rise of oil prices, culminating in what is called Oil shocks. It responded to the situation by setting up two oil facilities to help oil importers deal with current account deficit and inflation( Nayyar: 2006). The IMFs engagement with the poor countries starts from the mid 70s when it stated funding these countries through its Trust Fund. The IMF with the end of the cold war and influenced by The jettisoning of the Keynesian demand management policies after their initial success and success of the liberalisation policies initiated by the Richard Nixon in US and Margaret Thatcher in UK along with the collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc bolstered a new era symbolically represented by IMF and World Bank called Neo-Liberalism where both IMF and WB was used to force the erstwhile socialist and mixed economic countries to open their markets to foreign investors and liberalise their financial system, the effects of which were highly destabilizing. While the East Asian economies initially showed high growth rates the same programs resulted in devastations across Sub Saharan Africa. The vehemently critiqued Structural Adjustment Facility which was later changed into Enhanced Structural Ad justment Facility was initiated in March 1986. The Financial Functions of IMF Any understanding of the functioning of IMF should also differentiate between IMF and World Bank. The IMF, unlike Bank is not primarily a lending institution like World Bank. The WB also is a complex organisation. It is actually two organisation International Bank for Reconstruction and Development(IBRD) and International Development Association(IDA).WB is an investment bank. The World Bank functions by issuing bonds the repayment of which is guaranteed by its member countries. That is WB lends money to development works through market borrowing. The IDA, on the other hand is a concessional loan associate which is mainly financed by donor nations. The IMF in contrast intermediate between investors and recipients. It demands membership fee from its members which is accrued in to a general pool. Each member contributes to this pool according to its economic size and strength, providing each member a respective quota which also translate into their voting share in a skewed manner. Its o perations are to a major part are financed through this common pool. What does IMF exactly do? The IMFs role is highlighted when any member nation falls into a balance of payment debacle. a country must have both its exports and imports at almost equal levels. After the floating exchange rate system was adopted, every nation is left free to peg its currency against any or any group of currencies. But it also develops a problem over a period of time. The value of the currency tend to get overvalued. Thus a currency might be pegged at four units to one dollar. After a period of time due to trade fluctuations, the currencys actual value might have reached six units to one dollar. What effects does this over valuation have? At this time the currencys higher value helps in reducing import expenditure whereas at the same time the currencys higher value makes it costlier and reduces export revenue. Thus economy receives less income but spends more. This plummets the economy into a balance of payment crisis. This is where IMF enters into the scene. The IMF be ing the only international organisation with the support of the dominant economies and with expertise advises and directs nations to escape from such balance of payment crisis. IMF provides short term and medium term loans to tide over the debacle for the time being. But IMF also has influence over the decision making in World Bank and other financial institutions. The loans are not without fetters however. The loans are accompanied by a series of conditions generally termed as conditionalities . Thus the major functions of the IMF can be broadly classified as follows: 1) to promote exchange rate stability to maintain international trade stability 2) by providing short term and medium term financial assistance to members facing shortage of foreign currency. 3) It also plays an advisory role on macro-economic policy issues so that the economic policies of member countries do not adversely affect the balance of payment situation. 4) it also assist member nations in expanding their markets where they can exchange currencies without restriction. ( Sharma, 2002: 90). Democratic deficit What is meant by democracy in the case of international organizations like IMF? It is well known that the IMF was originally not conceived to be an organisation to help the third world countries or less developed erstwhile colonies. Its chief aim, along with World Bank was to ensure reconstruction of the capitalist economies in the war ravaged European nations. The agenda of lending and interfering in developing countries was initiated in the course of the cold war attempting to lure newly independent countries away from the socialist bloc dominated by Soviet Union. No surprise that still the organisation of the chief decision making bodies inside the Bretton woods institution reflect the political equations existing at the time of the second world war completely tuned to the interest of the Developed countries. When IMF and Bank was formed, except for United States, members were expected to be both contributors and borrowers. The decisions in the Executive board is reached through voting, if not reached by consensus. Each country holds a share of vote with regard to their contribution to the world economy. The united states the with the largest voting power holds 17.09 % of shares. Almost 63% of shares is held by just 12 member countries including US out of 186 members of the IMF. The same condition prevails in the world bank also. The 24-country African group in contrast carries only 1.42% of total voting share power making their influence practically nil in the agenda setting and decision making processes and policies. This problem arises because, there are only 8 member countries enjoying their own seat on the board. The remaining 16 are divided between the remaining 179 countries. This skewed system renders other member countries to group together to augment their collective bargaining or voting share represented by an Executive Director. This reflects in the policies of the IMF and its results. Howe ver, the democratic deficit is not the cause of the problems associated with the IMF. Rather, the very democratic structure of both the IMF and Bank are themselves symptoms of a much structural problem, the present world order based on the capitalist model of production and its prevailing ideology ‘neo-liberalism. Unequal representation Constituencies The groupings of the member countries have created what has come to be called ‘Constituency system.. all the members other than eight of them who have their own seats group together to form constituencies to elect a Director for their constituency to represent them. These constituencies are not static groupings. The size of the constituencies i.e. the memberships both qualitatively and quantitatively change depending on various factors, especially economic factors. This happens because every country except for some are on the lookout to increase their leverage vis-a vis other constituencies and within their constituency to apportion a bigger share out of the collective bargaining. But, in some cases, member countries also shift constituencies due to ideological considerations. For example, Indonesia joined the constituency headed by Italy in 1950s and later moved to a constituency of Islamic countries of North Africa and Malaysia. Later, Indonesia formed a constituency on geogr aphical basis, consisting of Korea, Philippines and Vietnam. One of the major reasons why members change constituencies has been to hold a more influential or senior position within the constituency. For example, earlier, Spain was within the constituency headed by Italy along with Poland and Greece. Later in 1978, Spain joined a central American constituency including Mexico and Venezuela assuming the post of Executive Director (Wood, 2006:483). The representation as shown above is based on the economic might of the members. The 24 member African constituency headed by Equatorial Guinea and the 19 member African constituency headed by Nigeria ahold only 1.42% and 3.01% respectively. But paradoxically these are the countries which are directly and severely affected by the policies of the IMF and World Bank. It has to be reminded that it is the masses , peasants, working classes of these countries who toil hard to repay their countrys debits. But they have almost no say on whatever the decisions that impinge and affect on their lives. It is a process of taxation without representation. But the IMF and Bank were not planned to be as undemocratic as they are now in their origin. The Bretton Woods Institutions also provide 250 basic votes to every member of the organisation. This was actually introduced to ensure a minimum sense of equal representation and fair play among members. The basic vote system atleast ensured a minimum of equal stake along with the share on the basis of contribution. The quota votes are added to basic votes to form the total vote. But the basic votes which formed 14% of the total votes in 1955 has now come down to around 3 percent in both IMF and World Bank. Selection of the head The selection of the head of the IMf is the most glaring evidence of unequal representation and hegemony of the dominant western industrialized nations. The IMFs executive board is responsible for selecting the Managing Director. Any Executive Director may submit a nomination for the position. If more than one gets nominated, the executive board reaches a decision by consensus. But by precedence, usually only a European becomes the Managing director of IMF. And in the case of World Bank only an American becomes the head. Accountability The executive board do not adequately hold staff and management to account. There are no official mechanisms for holding elected Directors, members after being elected. The Dutch executive Director however, has introduced a template to ground evaluation of his staff which is slowly gathering favour and being implemented by other Directors. But still there are no rules and regulations except for a vague and broad mention in sec 14 d of the By-Laws. It states â€Å" It shall be the duty of an executive Director and his alternate to devote all the time and attention to the business of the Fund that its interests require and between them, to be continually available at the principle offices of the Fund.† According to IMF Articles of Agreement the Managing Director â€Å"The Managing Director shall be chief of the operating staff of the Fund and shall conduct, under the direction of the Executive Board, the ordinary business of the Fund. Subject to the general control of the Executive Board, he shall be responsible for the organization, appointment, and dismissal of the staff of the Fund† (article xii, 4,b). Regarding the accountability of the Directors, a code of conduct was established only in 2000 applicable to Executive Directors, their alternates and senior Advisors. It has established some standards of ethical conduct regarding conflict of interests arising from the functioning as Executive Director and also supposed to treat confidential information. It also mandates disclosure of regular financial reports. For the purpose of confirming to confidentiality and other ethical issues, an Ethics committee of five Executive Directors was formed. But far most, the committee ca n only warn the relevant Executive Director communicate it to the respective Governor. It has to be kept in mind that ultimately the internal accountability comes down to moral persuasions. Accountability of Executive Directors, in relation to the countries they represent, however, work in different terms. The countries with their own representatives can hold their directors directly accountable. He can be dismissed and replaced at will. But a representative Director who was elected cannot be dismissed or replaced by any of the members until his term ends. A member can be induced to resign but no Articles provide the members the right to require resignation from him. The problem with this set up is obvious. There is no mandated obligation for him to follow the orders or directions of the member countries. The director can even vote against the interests of the very member, he/she represent. Reading this with the sec 14 d of the article provides a much more clear picture. Where the Director is not mandatorily obligated to follow the directions of the countries represented by him, he is obligated to work in tandem with other members. This creates enormous opportunities f or developed nations to simply buy-out the representatives of developing and under-developed countries. This problem emanates from the fact also that constituencies are not mandatorily legitimate units of representation. Regarding the accountability of the staffs and management towards executive board, three reasons are cited. First, it is difficult for members of the Executive Board to prepare papers and positions on all countries. Many Executive Directors remain in the job only for a short time. In the cases of constituencies, as there are rotations of the seat of Director, the time for the Director is too short to acquire real idea of the organizational set up. Second, the tendency to present a picture of unified view in Board discussions, the staff and management fail to play a proactive role by seriously debating over their disagreement. Third, the most important problem is that many discussion are taken by Executive Boards before the board meetings. This is especially the sign of influence of the dominant countries in the decision making processes of the IMF. Issues like loans to countries that are against the US approval or interest will not at all be presented before the board. IMF also lacks accountability to its member nations. IMF by its, functioning is accountable only to the Finance ministers and central bank Governors. But the role of IMf has expanded to such areas that the accountability needs to be widened. The IMFs prescriptions are now not only restricted to only matters concerning finance ministries and central bank governors. Expanding activities: IMF was not instituted by its founders to carry out the range of activities it is currently carrying out. The IMF was instituted on the basis of the Keynesian demand management. It was understood that there should be an international organisation to overlook the monetary activities of the countries to keep the exchange rates relatively stable and insulated from shocks. But the area of interest expanded with decreasing clout of the Soviet bloc. More nations switched over to capitalist model and IMF and world Bank were rested with the duty to open the various . These functions got impetus with the neo-liberal policies initiated by Reagan and Thatcher in the United States and Britain. A major transformation came with the demise of the Soviet bloc after which the marketisation of these economies become the main objective of the Bretton Woods institutions. With these they have almost became the primary instruments of globalisation of world economy. The BWIs have come to be the only large lenders and monetary policy institutions. More and more countries are forced to approach these organizations in the absence of an alternative. In a sample of 25 countries, there were only between six and ten measures of performance criteria for loans on conditionality whereas it increased to 25 measures at the end of 1990s.But the accountability and transparency of the IMF has not increased with these new functions. The role of US and other developing countries The role of US especially the Treasury in the functioning of the Bretton Woods institution has been a matter of concern and critique for the democratization of the global financial institutions. Also the US along with other developed countries called G7 form a formidable group controlling almost 47.13% of the total voting power. These countries act as a de facto management of IMF. Also unlike the developing countries they have well equipped staffs . They co-ordinate between each other. This is ensured by their shared interests, being the major creditors. The ministers, central bank governors convene a meeting on issues and agendas before the annual and spring meetings and issue press communiquà © together. The Executive Directors also co-ordinate with each other on common positions. The IMF has acted more as an arm of the western especially US financial interests. The liberalization policy was forced on Kenya by the US Treasury through the IMF. The experience of Kenya when it implem ented financial liberalization was devastating. The result was fourteen bank failures in 1993 and 1994. Also the US holds the only veto power in the IMF with its 17% voting share. Also in 2000 the US congress was unilaterally able to propose and pass a resolution and later implement a measure of change and reform in IMF without consulting any other member. The US through its executive Board members, staffs and location of the organization and as the BWIs court US favour for their operation exercise a hegemonic influence over both IMF and Bank ( Stiglitz, 2002). Needed Reforms Most of the problems regarding IMF arise because of the dissonance created between IMFs supposed functions and the current functions it is carrying out. The IMF, to use Nobel laureate and earlier chief economist in World Bank, Joseph Stiglitz ‘the IMF never likes to discuss the uncertainties associated with the policies that it recommends, but rather, likes to project an image of being infallible†(Stiglitz, 2002: 230). The IMF, time and again has been only admitting mistakes as in the handling East Asia crisis. The IMF have also been slow in learning from its mistakes. But the mistakes are not simply mistakes by indifferent individuals. They are also evidence to the level of influence of free market ideology professed by the international financial community and the US Treasury. The reforms must also focus on the operational costs being forced on to the developing countries, the principle borrowers. The operational costs of IMF is financed by the subscriptions every member country makes and also from the interests to the loans debtor countries pay back. By this logic, it is the developing countries which are financing most of the IMF expenses. From the breakdown of the expenses of the IMF, it has been founded that the contribution of the developed countries who are the creditors have come down to 29% in 2000 from 71% in 1980. this means that three fourths of the administrative expenses of the IMF is financed by the same countries are dependent on the loans provided by the IMF. Also the fund allocated for the Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes(ROSCs) and the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP). Nearly 89 countries and 95 countries have participated in these schemes, respectively. But the majority of the countries who have had the assessme nts are developed countries. Developing countries and Sub Saharan African countries were hardly assessed about their financial and monetary status. Thus a good amount of money is spent on countries that are in good health rather than on those who need help and re-structuring (Woods, 2006:498). The IMF should restrict itself to the mandated functions it was allocated to it when it was formed i.e to only monitoring and advising on the exchange rate stability. The lending business should be handed over entirely to the world bank. Also the basic votes to the member countries should be brought back to the level at earlier years of IMF and should be slowly increased to enable a far more democratic practice than what is practiced now. Developing countries like India, China, Brazil, South Africa should be provided more voting share as their global contribution has also increased in recent years. Especially the case for increase of voting share of China is a long standing issue came to spotlight during the recent financial crisis when China has bargained for an increase in its voting share. More seats of Executive Directors should be formed to accommodate varied under-represented countries(Ambrose, 2007). Also agencies f horizontal accountability have to be built like independent evaluation unit. Like the supreme court acts as horizontal agency working as a component of constitutionalism one of the benchmarks of democracy in modern era, offices endowed with overseeing accountability and transparency have to be established. Conclusion The IMF and World bank, especially IMF have veered away from their mandated area of functioning. The need for an international monetary agency always remains as long as capitalist economy prevails. The veto power hld by US also need to be balanced at least by providing other larger economies including developing economies with more role in decision making process. A more rational approach towards representation of poor nations has to be made. The liberalization of the asian economic powers has created rifts even within borrowers regarding the kind of schemes of lending. While developing countries like China, India, Indonesia etc. are provided with schemes with less scrutiny, Sub-Saharan countries receive credit after a long process of office work. The democratization of IMF based on the economic strength of present era will obviously provide great boost in bargaining power of developing countries vis-à  -vis developed countries. But it is not sure whether the process will surely ben efit even the poorest in these developing countries, let alone other poor countries of Latin America and Africa. The constituency system should be replaced by atleast minimum one per one country added with the vote in relation to their contribution to the world economy. Accountability within the organization can be developed only when the term of the Directors are ensured unlike in the case of constituency where rotation system operates. References Nayyar, Deepak (ed.). 2006. Governing Globalization: Issues and Instituions. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Stiglitz, Joseph. 2002. Globalization And Its Discontents. New York: Allen Lane. Ambrose, Soren. 2009. Multilateral Money. Counterpunch. Available online at: http://www.counterpunch.org/ambrose09022009.html Ambrose, Soren. 2007. Confidence Crisis at the IMF. Counterpunch Available online at: http://www.counterpunch.org/ambrose04172007.html Ambrose, Soren. 2007. IMF Reforms: Mere Tinkering or Change We Can Live With? Foreign Policy in Focus. Available online at: http://www.fpif.org/articles/imf_reforms_mere_tinkering_or_change_we_can_live_with Elson, Diane. 1994. People, Development and International Financial Institutions: An Interpretation of the Bretton Woods System. Review of African Political Economy, 21, 62 : 511-524 . Available online at : http://www.jstor.org/stable/4006259 Glenn, John. 2008. Global Governance and the Democratic Deficit: stifling the voice of the South. Third World Quarterly, 29, 2: 217 — 238. Available online at : http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01436590701806798 Sharma, Shalendra D. 2002. Reforming the IMF: Can it serve as an â€Å"international lender of last resort?†. Global Economic Review, 31, 2: 89 — 104 Available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/12265080208422895 Woods, Ngaire. 2001. Making the IMF and the World Bank More Accountable. International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-),77, 1: 83-100. Available online at : http://www.jstor.org/stable/2626555 Woods, Ngaire and Lombardi, Domenico. 2006. Uneven patterns of governance: how developing countries are represented in the IMF. Review of International Political Economy, 13, 3: 480 — 515. Available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09692290600769351

School Vouchers Essay -- Educational Vouchers Scholarships

One of the most important topics in government today is the issue of school vouchers. The two sides have remained deeply entrenched in their rival positions concerning this issue. Some wonder about the practicality of using the vouchers, while others wonder if it is defeating the purpose of the educational system. Educational vouchers can be very beneficial for both the student and even the school districts involved in the program. Many people do not realize the benefits of this program. Educational vouchers are something that many school districts need to implement due to their advantages. The benefits of educational vouchers very much outweigh the disadvantages.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Educational vouchers, also known as scholarships, redirect the flow of education funding, channeling it directly to individual families rather than to school districts. This allows families to select the public or private schools of their choice and have all or part of the tuition paid. These vouchers are funded by either public (government) or private (corporations, foundations) funds. Scholarships are advocated on the grounds that parental choice and competition between public and private schools will improve education for all children (www.schoolchoices.org).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Publicly-funded education vouchers allow families to make private decisions regarding how public taxpayer money should be spent. Therefore, a voucher program hopes to create an educational market where schools must compete for students. Supporters claim market benefits, such as choice and innovation, will improve education. Opponents, on the other hand, say that vouchers will lead to greater inequality and the loss of civic preparation. Current evidence concerning the impact of vouchers is disputed (IBID.).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Zelman versus Simmons-Harris court case that ended on June 22, 2002, is probably one of the most monumental court cases to date on this subject. The United States Supreme Court upheld a Cleveland, Ohio school voucher program by a 5-4 vote. Judges Rehnquist, O’Connor, Kennedy, Scalia, and Thomas were for the decision (www.law.umkc.edu). This case was the latest in a long series of Supreme Court decisions that eroded constitutional requirements for school voucher programs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In order to comply with these constitutional requirements, a constitutional voucher program must take many actions. The prog... ...oney to afford a better school. If the administrators continue to allow this, we are denying our children’s’ rights to a good, quality education. School vouchers are something that can guarantee a parent the right to send the student to any school that would best fit his learning style and values. Voucher programs are perhaps the most effective way to help low-income families become active consumers in the educational marketplace, helping them gain control over their children’s education and encouraging them to become more involved. Educational vouchers are a way of putting the student first†¦which should be the main goal of educational personnel everywhere. By implementing an educational voucher program, schools will better themselves and students across the nation will reap in the benefits. WORKS CITED â€Å"Case Analysis.† Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. www.au.org â€Å"Education Vouchers.† www.ncspe.org . â€Å"School Choices.† www.schoolchoices.org/roo/vouchers.htm . â€Å"So You Wanna Learn About School Vouchers?† www.soyouwanna.com/site/pros_cons/vouchers.html â€Å"Zelman v. Simmons-Harris.† www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/zelman.html .

Crime and Punishment and Raskolnikovs article, On Crime :: Crime Punishment Essays

Crime and Punishment and Raskolnikov's article, "On Crime" Raskolnikov's article, "On Crime," is vital to the understanding of his beliefs. This article also has a profound effect on Crime and Punishment as a whole, the subject matter being one of the main themes of the novel. The idea of the "extraordinary man" is referred to literally throughout the book, but also notable is the subconscious effect the idea has on Raskolnikov. Sometimes Raskolnikov is not even aware of this influence. It is important to note originality, or the ability to "utter a new word," as a defining characteristic of the extraordinary man. Therefore, we must take into account the presence of similar ideas, those of Pisarev, Nietzsche, and nihilism, as these might bring to light the possibility that Raskolnikov is not original, a possibility that haunts him throughout the novel. Within the article Raskolnikov analyzes the psychology of a criminal before and after the crime. This main portion of the article is not discussed, but it is likely that the psychological explanation that Porfiry gives Raskolnikov later, in the examination, is very similar. During this later examination, Raskolnikov appears resentful, but never disputes what Porfiry tells him, perhaps because it is a regurgitation of Raskolnikov's own thoughts. In the last meeting of the two men, Porfiry admits that he liked the article very much, and actually felt a connection with it. The one part of the main body of the article that is mentioned is "that the perpetration of a crime is always accompanied by illness" (225). Porfiry comments that this idea is very original; Raskolnikov welcomes this praise. Shortly, Porfiry moves on to the main topic of their discussion, a topic only mentioned briefly in the article, the idea that "certain persons...have a perfect right to commit breaches of morality and crimes" (225). Raskolnikov immediately realizes that Porfiry is intentionally exaggerating the idea, and "decided to take up the challenge" (226). Dostoevsky lets the reader know that the conversation will be a battle of wits. The ensuing argumentative dialogue makes the passage very entertaining, especially in contrast to later interviews between the two, in which Porfiry does nearly all the talking (he loves to hear himself talk). Raskolnikov attempts to clarify his idea, explaining that the "extraordinary" people have the right, but are not bound, to "overstep obstacles" if it is "essential" for the fulfillment of their idea.

HIV and Its Coreceptors Outline Essay -- Biology AIDS

What is HIV? The Human Immune System * In order to understand HIV, one must understand the human immune system. The first line of defense is a person’s skin, mucous membranes, and other secretions which prevent pathogens from ever entering your body. Pathogens are considered things your body does not want, for example bacteria and viruses. * The second line of defense includes nonspecific mechanisms which attempt to contain the spread of pathogens throughout one’s body. The second line of defense relies heavily on the use of white blood cells, which ingest invading organisms. About 5% of white blood cells are made of monocytes, which develop into macrophages. The role of these macrophages is vital to the human immune system, as they are able to engulf pathogens without having to self destruct. * The body’s third line of defense is a highly specific means of distinguishing â€Å"self† from â€Å"non-self† and destroying all â€Å"non-self†. All of one person’s cells are marked with a unique set of proteins which label them as â€Å"self†. Certain cells in the body are capable of recognizing every antigen (molecules belonging to viruses/bacteria) that may enter one’s body over a lifetime. These cells include macrophages, T-Cells, B Cells, and interior thymus cells. These cells rely on Helper T-Cells to alert them of antigens in the body, thus creating an immune response. Once recognized, Killer T-Cells actively destroy pathogens and even the body’s own cells if that have been invaded by a pathogen. How HIV attacks the Body * As commonly known, HIV cannot penetrate your immune systems first line of defense. You cannot contract HIV by breathing bad air or by holding the hand of somebody who is HIV positive. You have to wo... ... lymphocytes. Phipps and Branch observed Fyn Kinase activity in patients with and without HIV. Those with HIV contained high Fyn Kinase activity and low levels of Fyn protein. They also found that Fyn Kinase activity increases within 30 minutes of infection of the CD4+ T cells. This new-found information revolutionized the way testing for HIV occurs. References: Alkhatib, G. et al, "CC CKR5: A RANTES, MIP-alpha, MIP-1 beta Receptor as a Fusion Cofactor for macrophage-tropic HIV-1." Science 272, 1955 (1996). Grimes, W., R. Hallick, M. Hewlett, J. Aronson, and B. Fishel. Biology 181 Laboratory Manual 2002. Hayden-McNeil Publishing, Inc. Moore, J.P. "Co-receptors: Implications for HIV Pathogenesis and Therapy." Science 276, 51, 1997. Purves, W., D. Sadava, G. Orians, and H. Heller. Life: The Science of Biology , Sixth Edition 2001. Sinauer Associates, Inc.

Financial Performance and Bank Efficiency: Comparison Between Conventional Banks and Sharia Banks Essay

This study aims to compare the financial performance and bank efficiency between conventional banks and sharia banks in Indonesia in the period of 2008-2011 by using financial ratios to measure the financial performance, as well as SFA (Stochastic Frontier Approach) to the measure bank efficiency. Financial ratios that are used are consisted of CAR, NPL, ROA, ROE, and LDR. Meanwhile variables that are used to measure the efficiency are receivables, placements with Bank Indonesia and other banks, third-party funds, and issued capital and fully paid capital. The samples consist of 11 conventional banks and 11 sharia banks. T-test is conducted to determine whether there is any significant difference in financial performance between sharia Banks and conventional Banks. The results of hypothesis testing and multiple regression analysis indicate that there are significant differences of CAR, ROA, ROE, profit efficiency between conventional banks and sharia banks. Keywords: financial perfor mance, bank efficiency, SFA, conventional banks, sharia bank. ABSTRAK Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk melakukan perbandingan kinerja keuangan serta efisiensi Bank Umum Konvensional dan Bank Umum Sharia di Indonesia pada periode 2008-2011 dengan menggunakan rasio keuangan untuk mengukur kinerja keuangan, serta SFA (Stochastic Frontier Approach) untuk mengukur efisiensi bank. Rasio keuangan yang digunakan terdiri dari CAR, NPL, ROA, ROE, dan LDR. Sedangkan variable untuk mengukur efisiensi laba diantaranya Pembiayaan yang diberikan, Penempatan pada Bank Indonesia dan bank lainnya, Dana pihak ketiga, dan Modal yang disetor dan dibayar penuh. Sampel yang digunakan adalah 11 Bank Konvensional dan 11 Bank Sharia. Uji t dilakukan untuk mengetahu apakah terdapat perbedaan yang signifikan kinerja keuangan antara Bank Konvensional dan Bank Sharia. Hasil dari uji hipotesis dan regresi berganda tesebut menunjukkan bahwa terdapat perbedaan yang signifikan CAR, ROA, ROE, efisiensi laba diantara Bank Konvensional dan Bank Sharia. Kata kunci: kinerja keuangan, efisiensi bank, SFA, bank konvensional, bank syariah. INTRODUCTION It has been almost a quarter of century since the first sharia bank was established. Sharia banks not only have big expansion in Muslim countries, but also in Non-Muslim countries. Some people choose sharia banks because of the differences between conventional banks and sharia banks. Actually there are not many differences between them but, the main reason why people choose sharia banks is because there is no riba system like in conventional banks. In the discussion of banking in Indonesia, it is important to analyze the performance. Performance represents the condition of the bank, it represents whether the management of the bank can run the operational well or not. It is important for banks to measure their performance in order to be able to improve its service to satisfy the customers. There are several ways to assess bank’s performance. Performance evaluation is an important tool to assess the success of any business including sharia financial institution. In the performance evaluation, setting the bench mark is vital in order to make comparison between the desired and the actual performance. In 1979, the use of the CAMEL factors in evaluating a bank’s financial health has become well known among regulators. Piyu (1992) stated that financial ratios are often used to measure the overall financial sound of a bank and the quality of its management. Bank regulators, for example, use financial ratios to evaluate a bank’s performance as a part of the CAMELS system. CAMELS system consists of Capital adequacy, Asset quality, Management, Earnings, Liquidity, and Sensitivity to market risk. An overall composite CAMELS rating, which is ranging from one to five is then developed from this evaluation. As a whole, the CAMELS rating, which is determined after an on-site examination, provides a means to categorize banks based on their overall health, financial status, and management. Another important aspect in measuring performance and competition in banking industries is efficiency. Efficiency is improved by reducing cost in production process or by increasing revenue. If there is a rapid change of financial structure, we have to identify the fund efficiency and revenue. Banks which is more efficient is hoped to be able to derive maximum profit and give better service quality for costumer. One of the ways to measure the efficiency of a bank is by using parametric approach with Stochastic Frontier Approach (SFA) through alternative profit efficiency. SFA has an advantage, which is it is able to compare other measurement methods that involve disturbance term. Disturbance term is representing disturbances, measurement error and exogenous shocks beyond the control, environment variables which are easily treated, possibility to conduct hypothesis testing by using statistical test, and ease in identifying the outliers. SFA efficiency value range is between 0 and 1. If the value of SFA equals to 1, it means that the bank’s performance is efficient. Meanwhile, if the value of SFA equals to 0, it means that the bank’s performance is inefficient. Banks’ efficiency is also needed as an important indicator to analyze bank’s performance and as a tool to improve the effectiveness of monetary policy. Generally, there are 3 basic concepts of efficiency model in banking sector. They are cost efficiency, standard profit efficiency, and alternative profit efficiency. PREVIOUS RESEARCH Islamic Banks Sole (2007) on his journal entitled Introducing Islamic Banks into Conventional Banking System. From his journal, can be concluded that over the last decade, Islamic banking has experienced global growth rates of 10-15 percent per annum. It has been moving into an increasing number of conventional financial systems at such a rapid pace that Islamic financial institutions are present today in over 51 countries. Despite this consistent growth, many supervisory authorities and finance practitioners remain unfamiliar with the process by which Islamic banks are introduced into a conventional system. Banks Performance Wirnkar (2008) on his journal entitled CAMELs and Banks Performance Evaluation: The Way Forward, said that the findings revealed the inability of each factor in CAMEL to capture the wholistic performance of a bank. Also revealed, was the relative weight of importance of the factors in CAMEL which resulted to a call for a change in the acronym of CAMEL to CLEAM. In addition, the best ratios in each of the factors in CAMEL were identified. For example, the best ratio for Capital Adequacy was found to be the ratio of total shareholders’ fund to total risk weighted assets. The paper concluded that no one factor in CAMEL suffices to depict the overall performance of a bank. Among other recommendations, banks’ regulators are called upon to revert to the best identified ratios in CAMEL when evaluating banks performance. Banks Efficiency Majid (2010) in his journal entitled Efficiency in Islamic and Conventional Banking: An International Comparison, can be concluded that he was with Saal and Battisti investigated the efficiency of a sample of Islamic and conventional banks in 10 countries that operate Islamic banking for the period 1996-2002, using an output distance function approach. They obtain measures of efficiency after allowing for environmental influences such as country macroeconomic conditions, accessibility of banking services and bank type. While these factors are assumed to directly influence the shape of the technology, we assume that country dummies and bank size directly influence technical inefficiency. The parameter estimates highlight that during the sample period, Islamic banking appears to be associated with higher input usage. Correlation between banks performance and banks efficiency Kosmidou (2008) on his journal entitled Measurement of Bank Performance in Greece can be conclu ded that banks have been forced to be more competitive and to implement bank rating systems to evaluate their financial risks. The present study evaluates the performance and efficiency of the commercial and cooperative banks in Greece for the period 2003-2004. The results obtained indicate that commercial banks are tending to increase their accounts, to attract more customers and ameliorate their financial indices, thereby becoming more competitive and maximizing their profits. Concerning the cooperative banks in Greece, the conclusions are not so uniform, since there are banks that are enjoying considerably increased profits and market shares, and others whose financial indices seem to be deteriorating. RESEARCH METHOD Type of Study This research use secondary data which gathered from several sources such as website of Bank Indonesia, website of each banks and contain all information needed. Then, the data analyzed by using SPSS. Population and Sample The populations in this research are conventional banks and sharia banks. Meanwhile, the samples are the banks (11 conventional banks and 11 sharia banks) listed in Bank Indonesia which have been published their financial report from 2008-2011. Research Variables In this study, the dependent variable is SFA (Stochastic Frontier Approach) while the independent variables are CAR, ROA, ROE, NPL, LDR, receivables, third party fund, placement in Bank Indonesia and other banks, and issued capital & fully paid capital. ANALYSIS Classical Assumption Test Multicollinearity Test: The result showed that all of the independent variables used in this research have tolerance value greater than 0.10 and VIF less than 10. Thus, , independent variables are free from multicollinearity symptoms or there is no multicollinearity among the independent variables. Autocorrelation Test: Based on the result of Durbin Watson test, it is known that Durbin Watson value is 1.368 which is between -2 to 2. It means that there is no autocorrelation in the regression model. Heteroscedasticity Test: The graph scatter plot shown that that there is no clear pattern and the points spread above or below the number 0. Then, it can be stated that there is no heterocedasticity. The result of T-Test The independent t-test result obtained for CAR is -2.329, with the probability of 0.022 which less than ÃŽ ±=0.05. Thus, the first hypothesis in this study which states that â€Å"There is significant difference in CAR between conventional and sharia banks in Indonesia† is supported. The independent t-test results obtained for NPL is 1.494, with the probability of 0.139 which is greater than ÃŽ ±=0.05. Thus, the second hypothesis in the study which states that â€Å"There is significant difference in NPL between conventional and sharia banks in Indonesia† is not supported. The independent t-test results obtained for ROA is 2.278 with a probability of 0.025 which is less than ÃŽ ±=0.05. Thus, the third hypothesis which states that â€Å"There is significant difference in ROA between conventional and sharia banks in Indonesia† is supported. The independent t-test results obtained for ROE is 4.040 with the probability of 0.000 which less than ÃŽ ±=0.05. Thus, the fourth hypothesis in the study which states that â€Å"There is significant difference in ROE between conventional and sharia banks in Indonesia† is supported. The independent t-test results obtained for LDR is -1.275 with the probability of 0.206 which is greater than ÃŽ ±=0.05. Thus, the fifth hypothesis which states that â€Å"There is significant difference in LDR between conventional and sharia banks in Indonesia† is not supported. The independent t-test results obtained for efficiency ratio (SFA) is 4.345 with the probability of 0.000 which is less than ÃŽ ±=0.05. Thus, the sixth research hypothesis which states that â€Å"There is efficiency difference between conventional banks and sharia banks in Indonesia† is supported. Multiple Regression analysis result The equation is as follows: SFA = 0,368 – 0,001CAR + 0,071NPL + 0,022ROA + 0,008ROE + 0,001LDR + 0,002REC + 0,00018PBI + 0,00004TPF + 0,002ISSUED + ÃŽ µ The the relationship between bank’s performance and bank’s efficiency is indicated by the multiple correlation coefficient (R) which is equal to 0.674. This means that there is a strong relation ship between the bank’s performance and bank’s efficiency. To clarify whether the relationship between the independent variables and dependent variables are significant or not, it can be tested with the F test. The test showed that F value is 7.213 with the probability 0.000 which is less than ÃŽ ±=0.05. This shows that the Sig F is smaller than the 0.05 value thus, the performance of banks as measured by CAR, NPL, ROA, ROE, LDR, receivable, placement with Bank Indonesia and other banks, third parties fund, and issued capital and fully paid capital are simultaneously related to the efficiency of banks. Thus, the seventh hypothesis which stated that â€Å"There is influence between bank’s performance and bank’s efficiency† is supported. CLOSING Conclusion Based on the result of data processing, there are some conclusions: 1. There is significant difference between sharia banks and conventional banks in terms of CAR. This study finds that sharia banks’ CAR is greater than conventional banks. 2. There is no significant difference of financial performance between sharia banks and conventional banks in terms of the NPL ratio. This means that NPL in sharia banks are equal to conventional banks, which all banks have NPLs below 5%. 3. There is significant difference between sharia banks and conventional banks in terms of ROA. The difference that occur shows that the conventional banks’ ROA is higher than sharia banks which means that the ability of conventional banks in earning profit based on the owned asset is higher than sharia banks’. 4. There is significant difference between the profitability performances of sharia banks and conventional banks in terms of ROE. The difference that occurs shows that conventional banks’ ROE is higher than sharia banks. It means tha t the ability of conventional banks in earning profit based on the owned equity is higher than sharia banks. 5. There is no significant difference in the performance of banks on LDR (Loan to Deposit Ratio). This means the liquidity of sharia banks and conventional banks are equal. 6. There is significant difference in bank efficiency between sharia banks and conventional banks in terms of SFA. In this case, conventional banks are more efficient compare to sharia banks because their SFA value is higher compare to sharia banks’. 7. Banks’ performance has influence on banks’ efficiency. This means that the higher performance of the bank, the more efficient the bank in conducting its operations. Among all of the performance ratios, they are NPL and ROE that have significant influence on efficiency. Meanwhile for the CAR, ROA, LDR, Receivable, Placement with Bank Indonesia and other Banks, Third Parties Fund, and Capital Issued does not have significant influence on bank’s efficiency. Research Limitation This research focused on comparing conventional bank and sharia bank on the basis of financial performance by using CAEL only, because the data used is just financial ratio and effectiveness using SFA. The financial performance and effectiveness can be assessed by analyzing the annual report published by Bank Indonesia. This research uses annual reports from 2008 to 2011 and quarterly data, taken from 11 sharia Banks and 11 well known conventional banks. Recommendations Some suggestions for the future research on this topic based on the limitation that researcher found are mentioned as follows: 1. For Sharia Banks, this research found that sharia banks have lower profitability ratio and efficiency compare to conventional banks. Thus, the researcher would like to recommend sharia banks to increase those ratios by minimizing bank’s operational costs, improving the market to get more customer through innovative sharia products. 2. For Conventional Banks, this research found that conventional banks have lower capital aspect compare to sharia banks. Thus, they need to reduce credit risk by improving credit management in order to reduce the value of risk-weighted assets (RWA). 3. For Banks in general, to improve the efficiency of the bank’s performance, banks should improve the overall performance, both from the capital, assets, management, earnings and liquidity 4. For the Future Researchers, this study uses only five ratios in measuring the bank’s financial performance, the future researchers should use more ratios to measure performance. REFERENCES Abustan. (2009). Analisa Perbandingan Kinerja Keuangan Perbankan Sharia dengan Perbankan Konvensional, Retrieved December 24, 2012, from : http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:_eUXttjW3VgJ:www.gunadara.ac.id/librar y/articles/graduate/economy/2009 Alphonsius, W. & Tanko, M. (June 24, 2008). CAMELs and Banks Performance Evaluation: The Way Forward. Social Science Research Network. Retrieved April 15, 2012, from http://ssrn.com/abstract=1150968 Endang Sumachdar and Hariandy Hasbi. (2010). Financial Performance Analysis for Islamic Rural Bank to Third Party Funds and The Comparation with Conventional Rural Bank in Indonesia. International Conference on Business and Economics Research. Retrieved April 18, 2012, from http://www.ipedr.com/vol1/67G00011.pdf Mohd, I., Mazlina, N.,

Ruth case

In order to make the first cut in the list of potential countries, Hannah looked at the penetration strategy, market development, diversification and product development as a strategy for entering a new market. The unused variable that would be helpful would be the political stability, competition and the regulations that might limit the business growth. For research purposes the following were taken in consideration: Population, legal to import USA beef, affinity for American brands, consumer dining bits and amount of beef-eaters in that country.The exhibit number 4 was used to narrow the 200 countries to 33. My top 5 choices are different from Henna's. My choices are Germany, United Kingdom, Singapore, Spain and Bahamas. The main reason for this choice is because Germany is the national largest economy in Europe and has a very high standard of living, which increase the changes of success in this country. United Kingdom has very small political risk and their way of eating is simil ar to this country. United Kingdom also has affinity to American products. Singapore is growing very quick.Their standard of living Is very high and Is one of the most expensive Asian countries to live In. Spain GAP per capita Is the 8th largest in the world. Spain also has a very large population (over 40 million). Their beef eating habits are similar to US. The last one would be Bahamas because even thought Is small, it's a very tourist place. It's full of visitors all year long, increasing the chances of success for restaurants. Bahamas Is second to US In beef consumption. These five countries are meat eaters according to the US Census Bureau of 2012.