So You Got Hit With an Overdraft Fee ... Now What - OppLoans

So You Got Hit With an Overdraft Fee ... Now What - OppLoans So You Got Hit With an Overdraft Fee Now What? So You Got Hit With an Overdraft Fee Now What?Overdraft protection is like a net; its there to catch you when you fall. But once youve been hit with an overdraft fee, heres what you can do to pick yourself up again.When you’re living paycheck to paycheck, keeping track of your checking account balance can be tricky, especially during those last couple days before payday. If you’re not careful, you could end up overdrawing your account and getting hit with an overdraft fee.While this might spare you the embarrassment of having your debit card declined, having to deal with that extra charge comes with real financial consequences. In fact, overdrawing your account too often and racking up all those  fees isnt all that dissimilar from relying on high-interest payday loans and cash advances to make ends meet.Ending up with a negative balance in your checking account is a situation you definitely want to avoidâ€"and we’ll touch on how you can do so later on in the piece. If you’ve already been hit with an overdraft fee, you’ll want to take the proper steps to make sure you get your finances back on track. How do overdraft fees work?Overdraft protection is a service offered by most financial institutions on their checking accounts. If you don’t have sufficient funds in your account to cover a transaction, the bank or credit union will cover it on your behalf, but they will charge a fee in order to so do. If that transaction were to result in a bounced check, overdraft protection would help you avoid hefty Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF) fee and a black mark on your banking history.Oftentimes, the financial institution will debit the fee from the checking account at the time of occurrence,” said Adam Marlowe, principal experience officer for  Georgia’s Own Credit Union (@georgiasown). “In our case, we ask that you pay the fee and bring the balance current (to a zero balance at minimum) within 15 days. We do extend that time to 30 or 45 days depending on i ndividual member circumstances.”While the average overdraft fee is $30, the amount you’ll be charged will vary from institution to institution. Overdraft fees have been on the rise over the past decade, with Americans racking up over $34 billion in overdraft fees in 2017, the most they had paid since 2009.There are a couple of different types of overdraft protection available. The first is an overdraft line of credit, which will simply cover the cost of your overdraw and charge the fee to your account. The other common form of overdraft protection will link your account to a related savings account or credit card. Funds will be transferred from that second account to cover your overdraw and a transfer fee will be charged.Check for errors and ask for help.The first thing you should do when you get with an overdraft is to check whether or not that fee was correctly charged. If it was made in error, then you should immediately contest it.If youve been hit with an overdraft fee, the first step is figuring out what went wrong,” said Megan Hanna, a senior business analyst at  FitSmallBusiness.com (@FitSmallBiz). “If the fee was the result of a bank error, then your first order of business is asking the bank to reverse the charge. Theres no reason for you to pay a fee for an error caused by the bank.”Even if the overdraft fee was charged correctly, you should still contact your financial institution to see if the charge can be waived. According to Marlowe, Georgia’s Own encourages its members to contact them if they have fallen on hard times and need a little help.“Often times financial institutions will refund the fees as long as it is not a normal occurrence. We all make mistakes,” said Marlowe. If this is the first time you’ve overdrawn your accountâ€"or it’s been a long time since you’ve done soâ€"the odds are better that they’ll make an exception.“Sometimes, banks will be willing to waive the fee if its your first overdraft, you keep a lot on deposit with the bank, and you take measures to prevent it from happening again in the future,” said Hanna.“However,” she added, if you had it within your power to prevent the overdraft, then in most cases, youll need to pay the fee. While theres no harm in asking, you need to be prepared to have your request denied.Here’s how to prevent overdraft fees in the future.Since many banking institutions  prioritize processing large transactions before smaller ones, you could find yourself incurring multiple overdraft fees that add up to way more than the amount you overdrew. Imagine having to pay $150 because you had five different purchases that added up to a total of $15. Thats an APR of 1,000 percentâ€"higher than all but the priciest bad credit loans.And while overdraft protection can help you avoid an NSF fee, overdrafts are oftentimes  also  recorded on your Chexsystems report. Too many overdrafts will cause serious damage to your  Chexsystems Consumer Score,  which i s like a credit score for your banking history. If your score drops low enough, you could be  unable to open a checking account for up to five years.As such, steering clear of overdraft fees starts with keeping a close eye on your money.“The easiest way to avoid a fee is to maintain a checking account register,” said Marlowe. “Each time you authorize an item or debit something from the account, record it in the ledger and maintain a running balance. This allows the member to always have an account of how much money is in their account, thereby avoiding authorizing a transaction that could cause an overdraft.”You can also set up alerts on your checking account in order to receive texts or emails when your account balance is getting low. This will let you curtail your own spending and also pause or delay recurring bill payments that might tip you over the edge. And if those recurring bills are falling on an inconvenient date, then try changing it!“The best way prevent overdr afts is to keep track of what youre spending, and make sure youre aligning any automatic payments with when youll be depositing funds into your account,” said Hanna. “As an example, if you know your phone bill is always due on the 11th of the month but you dont get paid until the 15th, you can see if your provider will change the due date to the 15th or 16th of the month.”Hanna also recommended keeping a month cushion in your checking account in order to cover all your bills, even when they don’t perfectly align with your pay schedule.“Lastly, you should monitor your checking account regularly to quickly identify and stop fraud, she said. “In so doing, if you see someone has stolen your account number and is withdrawing funds from your bank account, you can quickly tell the bank what happened and get it fixed before its gone too far.Should you sign up for overdraft protection?“I would highly recommend signing up for overdraft protection,” said Marlowe. “In most cas es, the financial institution will pull money from an associated savings account to cover the difference and assess a small fee (in our case $6/transfer).”The type of overdraft protection you sign up for is key. The transfer fees for overdraft protection from a linked savings account are going to be much smaller than the overdraft fees from a straight line of credit. While building up savings can be difficult when you’re living on a tight budget, that extra financial cushion will pay off time and time again.If you find yourself overdrawing your account repeatedly, that’s the situation where overdraft protection is probably a bad idea. Even though it will be difficult, consider turning off the service until you can get your finances in order. Until then, you’ll just keep racking up fees and putting yourself further and further behind.Overdraft protection is like a net; its there to catch you when you fall. Your goal should be to stop falling in the first place. If you want to achieve the financial stability neccesary to put overdraft fees and costly no credit check loans behind you, its going to take some work. To learn more about how you can turn your finances around, check out these other posts and articles from OppLoans:A Beginner’s Guide to Budgeting8 Good Habits to Get Your Financesâ€"and Your Lifeâ€"on TrackFrom Budget to Baller: 6 Tips to Grow Your Money8 Ways To Save Money Today, Tomorrow and Every Day AfterDo you have a question about personal finance that youd like us to answer? Let us know! You can find us  on  Facebook  and  Twitter.Visit OppLoans on  YouTube  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  LinkedIN  |  InstagramContributorsMegan Hanna is a Senior Business Analyst at  FitSmallBusiness.com (@FitSmallBiz). Megan earned an MBA with an emphasis in finance and has spent much of her career in commercial banking.Adam  Marlowe  is the Principal Market Development Officer for  Georgia’s Own Credit Union (@georgiasown). With nearly 20 years of experi ence in the financial services industry,  Adam  has elevated the member experience at credit unions of all sizes throughout his career. He is charged with making sure all Georgia’s Own teams stay aligned with the credit union’s brand and culture and recently received his second masters in business administration from Georgia Southern University.

The Dispute Between Mexico Ad United States Regarding...

Summary The case talks about dispute between Mexico ad United States regarding international trucking implemented by NAFTA. In year 1994, trade agreement was passed by NAFTA allowing trucks from Mexico to cross borders and deliver goods to their ultimate destination in USA to increase efficiency. Previously the trucks were not allowed to pass US border, the goods were unloaded and then loaded to American trucks, the process took lot of time and money. Two-thirds of the trade within NAFTA uses roadways, many people were in favor of the agreement as there will be more competition from Mexican trucking firms, which will lower transportation cost. The trade agreement was however opposed by Teamsters (labor union in America and Canada which†¦show more content†¦This time Mexico government did not spare United States and under the NAFTA agreement, imposed tariffs on some $2.4 billion of goods shipped from USA to Mexico. After witnessing several consequences, US promised to come up with new program that will address the problems, however nothing was in action till 2010. Problems- USA faced many problems under NAFTA agreement. These were due to Teamsters, Congress and lastly the effects US had to face because of increased tariff rates by Mexico. Each problem is summarized in detail- †¢ Teamsters - According to Teamsters Mexican trucks were old, dirty and were more dangerous than American drivers. The drivers had poor safety records and did not follow the safety and environmental standards. In America there are limited hours for driver which is ignored in Mexico. Because of the pressure from Teamsters, US had to pull its hand from NAFTA agreement. †¢ Congress – Congress was involved in thwarting the NAFTA agreement that was administered under President Bush. It was even involved in killing pilot program along with Teamsters in year 2007. †¢ Tariffs- After abandonment of NAFTA in 2009, Mexico imposed tariffs on some $2.4 billion of goods shipped from USA to Mexico. This act - Hit California, which was an important exporter - Tariffs on grapes rose to 45% - Tariffs on wine, almond, pears and juices were 20% - The raising of tariff costs about 26000 US jobs. Applications of key themes in the

Battle of Guadalcanal in World War II

Financial Crisis And Its Effects On Economy - 1413 Words

In 1997, Asia financial crisis broke out. It brought a huge and negative influence on economy of Asia, even the world economy. Financial crisis which is the value of financial assets decline, lots of financial institution out of business or stock market crash. Currency plays an important role in the market. It is a base that keep economic stability in the country. When currency change significantly, the country’s economy in turmoil. The financial crisis started from Thailand, and then Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries, domestic currency depreciate and stock market downfall. Neal Maroney wrote that â€Å"six Asian countries (Indonesia, South Korean, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand) from October†¦show more content†¦Those capital directly or indirectly affect the stock and estate market that result in house price and stock rose sharply. Then bubble economy is formed. At the same time, the production cost increased and m ake investment environment got worse. Thai Baht was depreciated greatly, the unemployment rate increased and then economic recession. On November 1997, South Korean also get the influence on their exchange currency. Moreover, lots of banks and security companies went bankrupt in Japan. At this point, Asian financial crisis started. At the second stage, in Indonesia, financial crisis broke out again in 1998. They faced the most serious economic recession in their history. The International Monetary Funds had made a strategy to deal with it to help Indonesia, but failed to achieve the desired results. Indonesia government have to implemented a new monetary policy, yet International Monetary Funds and America against it. Indonesia have a big trouble on Political and economy: sharply fall in exchange rate, interest rate volatile, inflation increase rapidly and government deficit increase and so on. After the crisis spread to Japan, Japanese yen also depreciated. And the problem of finan cial became more serious. Many large industries were forced shut down. At the last stage of crisis, a increasing number of countries got the economic problem. International speculator George Soros is a currency speculator and stock

Coca Cola Origin in Australia

Question: Discuss about the Coca Cola Origin in Australia. Answer: Introduction: Its in 1904 that Coca Colas origin in Australia dates back to, wherein it started as the British Tobacco company. It was in 1964 that the companys first foray came in with the Coca-Cola Bottlers purchase in Perth, and in 1972 this company was listed in the Australian Stock Exchange. The companys primary focus gradually then became the snack foods and soft drinks and was later renamed in 1973 as Allied Manufacturing and then in 1977 as Amatil Limited. It then began expanding its operations of bottling in Europe overseas, it then purchased 1982 the bottling plant in Australia and expanded further in the year 1987 into New Zealand and Fiji. In 1989 a majority of the companys stakes got purchased by the Coca-Cola Company, although its ownership toda is at 29% ("Coca-Cola Amatil | Home" [2016]). The WD HO Wills tobacco division was sold in year 1989 to the British American Tobacco company ("British American Tobacco Australia - British American Tobacco Australia" [ 2016]). In the year 1992 the food operations were sold, and a new company, the Coca-Cola Beverages were spun off in the European operations in the year 1998. Its expansion continued in Asia, the Filipino bottling though was sold eventually to the parent Coca-Cola Company and San Miguel Brewery. The facilities of Coca Cola Amaltis is all over in Australia, the key sites being at North Sydney (NSW), Northmead (NSW), Moorabbin (Vic.), Richlands (Qld), Hazelmere (WA) and Thebarton (SA). The CCA from 2006 to 2011 had with SABMiller a joint venture called the Pacific Beverages which was there for distribution of beverages in Australia. The Fosters Group was acquired in 2011 by SABMiller and in exchange the full ownership of the Pacific Beverages, the Samoa and Fiji operations was sold by Fosters in 2012 to Coca-Cola Amatil. The Coca Cola Amatil have about 19000 employees. Worldwide the statistics present that in the year 2011 there were some 146.2 thousand people who were employed in the company and this number continues to grow. In 201 the revenue of the company amounted in U.S. dollars to about 46 million. The global headquarters of Coca-Cola company is in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Previous Logo There are various regulatory frameworks in the country which have had and an effect on the company. There was much controversy that Coca-Cola was surrounded in when it opposed fiercely the public policy of Cash for Containers. This allegation of the company that they were using the wealth and power to an advantage that was unfair over a public regulation became prominent damaging the impression of the company. The allegation were supported even John Hyde by the WA former shadow minister. There were various allegations that were made against Coca Cola Amatil damaging their reputation. It was stated by Director of Corporate Affairs Coca-Cola Amatil Alec Wagstaff that the beverage industry had in fact spent quite a lot of money campaigning against the promoters of the Cash for Container Scheme which was the Green Party, since this regulatory obligation could cause damage to the profits of the company. There were similar tactics which were used in Western Australia by the beverage compan y and they were blamed for the rejection by the Government of the Cash for Container scheme despite the fact that the container-recycling rate of the states were a dismal 20 only. The Coca-Cola Amatil along with Lion and Schweppes brough in 2013 an action against the Cash for Containers policy of the Northern Territory government which was also known as the legislation for Container deposit which as scheme for recycling stating that the same breach the Mutual Recognition Act 1992 ("Money for empties" [2016]) ("MUTUAL RECOGNITION ACT 1992" [2016]). There was a legal requirement that was created by the legislation that those goods which are imported into or produced in the 1st State that may be sold in that state lawfully may be sold in the second state as well (2016). It was argued by the Beverage Companies that this Cash for Containers policy which had recently been introduced, and which within the limited time that it operated had double the recycling rate in Northern Territory by thirty percent, was hindering the said right which required that the company should implement for the same product different process of production in different territories and state (Radio National 2016). There is an exemption in South Australia from actions that is legal in nature as the scheme of Container Deposit here precedes the Act (Radio National, 2016). It was in favour of the Beverage Companies that the federal court ruled in favour of. There was a lot of public agitation that arose due to this judgment and the Facebook page of Coca Cola was bombarded and there were even demands of completing boycotting the product. This not only damaged the image of the company but also its production and profit for a considerable period of time (NewsComAu, 2016) (Packaging News | Jobs | Production | Design | Innovation, 2013). It was found according to a poll in 2008 called Clean Up Australia that there was 80% of the population which supported the policy of Cash for Containers a recycling scheme by which 20 cent deposit would be refunded to the customer as a reward for returning the container back. It was argued by the company that the Cash for Container policy was actually costly and ineffective and an alternative solution of National Bin Network was suggested by them. This case highlighted the fact that the regulatory requirements for the company should be be uniform across the state. It is stated by the Mutual Recognition Act (Austlii.edu.au, 2016) that its purpose is the promotion of integration in the economy and between the participants increased trade. There will be one technique of regulation that the government will have to ensure that there is reduction in the regulatory impediments so that the services and goods can move across the jurisdictions. This purpose is a sound and required provision of the company. Since there is no proper compliance to it has led to there being for the company through proposed state and territory based deposit scheme of container and regulations for beverage and food that is state based and regulation of the beverage. For example the Government of NSW regulation that recently requires in which the standard food menu outlets should have on the menu the kilojoule counts of the food being served is adding to the c ompanys cost of compliance. . There is also fragmentation in the policies and programs for Emission reduction, policy for waste and water; this had led to there being an increase operation of the business nationally. There is no coordination and an inconsistency in the range of water, waste and energy policies and program at the Territory and State level and the Commonwealth, and also regulations which are duplicate, impose burden on the manufacturing sector of beverage and food which are not necessary. The company further should not be interpreting the food labels role in the merits of health or otherwise as that product which is within the total diet of the consumer. This should be an advice on the part of health and nutritional education and policy. The multiple regulations for traffic light labeling in the packet systems from the main objective of which is the attempt of making the choice of food simpler for the consumers by putting a label on them based on the nutrient content whether they unhealthy or healthy. This categorization of the sale has only increased the cost of compliance for the company. The commitment of CCA is towards beverage and food manufacturing in Australian which include the regional Australia as well. This is done by using of products which are available locally and employment of people that are local whenever the same is possible. However similar to the issues that are being faced by their peers as well, there are various operational challenges that the company faces, which includes, however is not limited to, rise in the cost of input, rate of exchange, support of consumer for innovation that is local, a regulatory burden which is increasing and a rise in the cost of business which is driven by social agenda and environment. For the future viability of the company it is necessary for the government to support the abolition of the taxation of the state payroll for the sector of manufacturing, particularly in the sector of beverage and food. The depreciation that is accelerated in the re-equipment of the sector that is non-mining is proving detrimental for the company. The depreciation which is accelerated for the carbon and water emission which is in turn reducing the technology and equipment is further causing damage to the cost of company. There needs to a restoration of a level of Research and Development that is reasonable for the sector of manufacturing, in particular that of beverage and food manufacturing. There is requirement for a national system for product composition and labeling which is streamlined so that it is ensured that a product which has its manufacturing in Australia anywhere can be sold nationally and legally. This no uniformity is causing an increased cost of compliance for the com pany. The high regulatory burdens are associated with cost of regulatory compliance which is high at the Federal as well as the Territory and State level. These include regulations and standards for food, social and environmental regulations, regulations for planning, requirements with respect to occupational safety and health and relations at the workplace. There being a lack, across the Commonwealth, Territory and State, of uniformity and problems related to jurisdiction as well. There are concerns related with the Clean Energy Legislative package of the government related to carbon pricing which has created on the company an additional burden on manufacturing local, and there is drive up in the cost as compared to the international competitors of the company where these burdens are not in existence or have been considerably subsidized. An evident significant overlap which is there is between the regulation for Australian Consumer protection and Food Standards Code (ABC News, 2016). It is in the area of product representations and claims and application of claims which are misleading, deceptive and false which is a glaring example of this. There is an additional burden which is introduced on the company due to the over lapping of the Consumer and Competition Law which is overlapping with the State and Territory Food Act over provisions that are related to mandatory recall by notifying such incidents which have been associated with illness, death or serious injury. With respect to the various anti-dumping agreements which are in place already, food dumping is major issue with the company. The company is advocating for easy and ready access to measures which will have a purpose which is clear for the prevention of goods which are being dumped in the country and proving detrimental to the company as well as the domestic sector (Bloomberg.com, 2016). The regulations provide an ability for competing on the global market equitably with the measures for anti dumping providing for equitable and transparent remedies, however it does not encourage or allow frivolous or vexatious claims. The measures of administration should be such that there processed in a timely manner such that the cost to the company is minimized as well the uncertainties which are there for the business and also provide a remedy that is swift to an injuring activity, or that may cause an injury to the domestic sector (Ausfoodnews.com.au, 2016). There is an effect on the company by the international anti-free trade measures as well. While upon being a party to the agreement there has been a general benefit to the country due to there being a more open economy, there has been an impact on the sector dealing with food processing due to pressure that is there of competition that is global in the overseas market as well as at home. There is evidence of this pressure in the increase of imports of vegetable and fruits which are cheap and processed and decrease in the export steadily, a trend which has been long-term had been accentuated by the conditions of the current market due to the price of Australian dollar being high. This has resulted in the profits of the company being decreased due to the openness which has been introduced in the market. References Abc.net.au. (2016).PM - NT's container deposit scheme fails court challenge 04/03/2013. [online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2013/s3703117.htm [Accessed 20 Aug. 2016]. ABC News. (2016). One can a week is OK: Coca-Cola Amatil hits back in obesity row. [online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-02/coke-one-can-not-harmful-coca-cola-obesity/7212744 [Accessed 23 Aug. 2016]. Ausfoodnews.com.au. (2016). Coca-Cola-Amatil | Australian Food News. [online] Available at: https://ausfoodnews.com.au/tag/coca-cola-amatil [Accessed 23 Aug. 2016]. Austlii.edu.au. (2016).Mutual Recognition act 1992. [online] Available at: https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/mra1992221/ [Accessed 20 Aug. 2016]. Bata.com.au. (2016).British American Tobacco Australia - British American Tobacco Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.bata.com.au/group/sites/BAT_9RNFLH.nsf/vwlivelookupHomePage/HOME?opendocument [Accessed 20 Aug. 2016]. Bloomberg.com. (2016). Coca-Cola Amatil Apologizes After $367 Million SPC Writedown - Bloomberg. [online] Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-02-18/coca-cola-amatil-apologizes-after-a-404-million-spc-writedown [Accessed 23 Aug. 2016]. Ccamatil.com. (2016). [online] Available at: https://www.ccamatil.com/-/media/Cca/Corporate/Files/Annual-Reports/2015/CCA166-CCA-Annual-Report-2015-WEB_final.ashx [Accessed 20 Aug. 2016]. Ccamatil.com. (2016).Coca-Cola Amatil | Home. [online] Available at: https://www.ccamatil.com/ [Accessed 20 Aug. 2016]. NewsComAu. (2016).Anger at Coke's successful bid to abolish Northern Territory recycling deposit. [online] Available at: https://www.news.com.au/national/anger-at-cokes-successful-bid-to-abolish-northern-territory-recycling-deposit/story-fncynjr2-1226590581256 [Accessed 20 Aug. 2016]. Packaging News | Jobs | Production | Design | Innovation. (2013).Coke under fire from angry consumers after successful bid to abolish container deposit scheme. [online] Available at: https://www.packagingnews.co.uk/news/coke-under-fire-from-angry-consumers-after-successful-bid-to-abolish-container-deposit-scheme-12-03-2013 [Accessed 20 Aug. 2016]. Radio National. (2016).Money for empties. [online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/money-for-empties/3588236 [Accessed 20 Aug. 2016]. Radio National. (2016).Money for empties. [online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/money-for-empties/3588236#transcript [Accessed 20 Aug. 2016].

The Greek Financial Crisis free essay sample

Ever since the end of 2009, Greece has been involved in a financial and economic crisis that has been record breaking and shattered world records in terms of its severity and worldwide effects. The Greek government, since the beginning of the crisis, has attempted to take several governmental measures to try and â€Å"stop the bleeding,† including economy policy changes, dramatic government spending and budget cuts and the implementation of new taxes for citizens. In addition to this, the government has tried to alter the perceptions of Greek government and economy by the rest of the world in an effort to appear both more liberal and more democratic. Greece has also been working to privatize many previous state-owned corporations in a desperate effort to stabilize the currency and the economy. This paper will address the various actions taken to date by the Greek government to pull the country out of this terrible crisis, and will explore the specific factors that were causation for this horrible financial crisis. We will write a custom essay sample on The Greek Financial Crisis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It is important to note that certain policies and government actions and their success is merely subject to personal opinion, but financial data and statistics is absolute and cannot be disputed regardless of personal or political beliefs. In May of 2010, Greece was awarded a 110 billion euro bailout from both the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. This bailout was effective only in the sense that it prevented Greece from defaulting on country debts and loans, which would have had catastrophic ripple effects on not only the Greek and European markets, but on the global markets including the United States and Asian economies. Soon after this bailout was executed, it became evidently clear to both the EU and the IMF that more money would be needed in order for Greece’s survival and for their long road to economic recovery. With that being said, a second bailout worth 109 billion Euro was given to Greece again by the EU and the IMF in late July of 2011. Of course, these bailouts have been the subject of a tremendous volume of worldwide media attention. These bailouts, along with the privatization of corporations, policy changes, capital injections and governmental changes have been implemented in hope that positive progress will be achieved. The media has successfully painted these reforms as containment methods for this huge mess, and as means of ensuring that this infected economy does as little damage as possible to other economies in the world. Some country-specific economies that are particularly unstable and thus at risk of damage from the Greek crisis are Italy, Ireland, Portugal and Spain. Although the Greek economy has received, by far, the most media attention for economic difficulties, these other four nations are experiencing serious economic problems of their own. It appears that this was a major motivating factor behind the two bailouts, that it is vitally important to contain the damage before it spreads to these other vulnerable nations, something that the European Union simply cannot afford to have happen. In the words of economic experts, â€Å"Greece is just the tip of the iceberg,† and that the economies of EU nations are more intertwined and interdependent than we would have hoped. Given that EU countries share the same currency, the Euro, continuously trade with one another, and hold massive debts for one another, this opens the EU as a whole up to tremendous vulnerability. Essentially, if Greece or any other EU nation defaults on debts, this could send the entire EU into a recession and put the banking system as a whole at risk, much like what happened in the United States in 2008. The goal of these capital injections and bailouts is for Greece to remain financially liquid for enough time to pay their outstanding debts as much has possible to neighbor countries, thus reducing the amount of government debts owed and the interconnected pressure on the entire EU to continue to bail out Greece. If Greece is able to pay back a significant enough portion of their debts, in the event that they do default on some of them, it may still be able to be contained and not infect the rest of Europe with a recession. As far as Greece’s role in creating this crisis in the first place, it can be said that Greece is at fault for a variety of reasons. The media has been focusing on the corrupt political system and infrastructure, the lack of competition in the private sector, the wastefulness and inefficiency of the public sector and a flawed tax system as causation for this mess. When the public sector was expanded in the 1980’s, Andreas Papandreou was given various agricultural subsidies and grants to do with what he pleased. This enabled the funding of certain post-World War II groups to heal political wounds and fund unions and other special interest groups to aid his political capital and strength. The policies enacted in this decade allowed for the increase in power and funding of the middle class by creating a vast amount of inefficient public sector government jobs for citizens. This resulted in an increase in the levels of inefficiency, bureaucracy, corruption and wasteful spending coupled with the increase in wages, pensions and benefits. This proceeded to drain through government money and resources, and did not breed a culture of highly motivated, efficient and effective government employees. A high amount of debts accumulated as the nation continued to proceed in this way, using state money to subsidize failing businesses and to finance the continued expansion of the public sector. Papandreou is continuously criticized for the creation of such a wasteful and inefficient public sector, and this is a primary reason for the economic struggles that Greece is facing today. Debt continued to build, and inefficiency continued to increase rapidly. Another important factor to discuss is the massive amounts of de-industrialization that occurred in Greece during the 1980s. This means that labor was outsourced to different countries outside of the European Union where labor costs were significant cheaper, in an attempt to reduce expense margins. Instead of investing in a strong public sector, Papandreou poured money into the private sector that was clearly diminishing in relation to other countries. As a result of this, the public sector continued to expand as a compensation method for the failing private sector. This resulted in the creation of a socialist culture in Greece, causing more and more debt to buildup to an alarming level. This wastefulness and inefficiency in the extremely large public was simply adding fuel to the fire that would come back to hurt the nation several years later, as we can see. As the level of national debt and borrowing was increasing, it can be said that the bubble began to burst in the early 2000s when the Euro was adopted in Greece. This provided Greece with an opportunity to capitalize on very low interest rates, declining from roughly 20% in the early 1990s to roughly 3. 2% in 2005. This fueled the fire in the sense of the borrowing culture that had already been in place in the Greek government for decades, as they continued to accrue an alarming amount of national debt, a terrible liability for any nation to carry. These billions of euros of debt continued to rise, and can be considered a very important factor in the current economic crisis that is occurring as a result of decades of wasteful spending and ineffective currency control by the government. Another important factor to consider when analyzing the specific reasons for Greek’s current financial crisis is the highly corrupt political system that exists in the country. Corruption and bribery play a role in Greece’s outstanding level of national debt. According to statistics, the Greek government has lost roughly 8% of GDP each year as a direct result to these unethical practices. According to the Brookings Institute, â€Å"if Greece had better control of their government corruption, it would have had a smaller budget deficit by 4% of GDP. † This fascinating data shows that the practices of this corrupt government actually contributed to Greek’s staggering amount of debt coupled with their incremental declines in GDP levels. On the topic of governmental corruption, there are two key scandals worthy of mention that clearly have contributed to the current economic turmoil Greece is currently facing. The first scandal is the Koskotas Affair, and occurred during the Papandreou administration. Mr. Koskotas was the owner of the Bank of Crete. In this scandal, he was convicted and charged with the embezzlement of $200 million dollars. In the following coverage of the scandal, it was revealed that Papandreou’s’ administration had asked for large deposits to be transferred from other banks into the Bank of Crete at a lower-than-legal interest rate. The profits from these transfers were given to the government and political parties. Although Papandreou was indicted for involvement, he was acquitted and justice was never served. This hurt both the economy and the morale of Greek citizens. The second scandal worthy of mention is the Siemens case. The executive team of Siemens paid out several million Euros in the form of bribes to several Greek politicians from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. These bribes were paid in return for the securing of government contracts in wide variety industries. The politicians involved into offshore accounts laundered the money. The two major political parties in Greece were both involved, and Siemens was fined over $1 billion dollars by the US government for its involvement in these crimes. These two massive scandals successfully illustrate the level of corruption in the Greek government, and the unethical practices that were adopted by both parties in order to remain in power. Unfortunately, in Greece it is very difficult to prosecute and charge corrupt political figures. Many politicians simply get away with the crimes they commit because their peers are not interested in prosecuting them given the immunity they are given as per the Greek Constitution. According to statistical data, no Greek minister has gone to jail since the 1970s showing Greece’s unwillingness to sentence and prosecute corrupt politicians. Obviously, this poses problems related to national accountability and furthers the distrust of the Greek government by both the citizens of Greece and by other nations in the EU and worldwide. The culture and nature of the Greek government seems to be very conducive to the acceptance of bribes, and the funding of certain special interest groups that are likely to benefit the government in some questionable way. It has been said that Andreas Papandreou created certain government jobs for the sole purpose of his own personal gains. Politicians who are running for office make all sorts of outlandish promises to different groups in order to receive support, with no intentions of actually carrying out the promises. Also, the immunity from prosecution clauses in Greek law has increased politician’s levels of recklessness. This immunity prevents politicians and executive-level government officials from prosecution for any crimes committed. This is an extremely dangerous provision in the law, because there are virtually no accountability standards and has shown to lead to aggressive and self-serving policy decisions that have had drastically negative impacts on the country and the economy. To reflect on the government style and roots of Greece, the country has been described as having â€Å"one foot in the West, and another in the East. † The country has been a synthesizing point for democracy, but ironically does not seem to display the necessary integrity and self-correction methods that are essential for the functionality of a democracy. In the words of Manolopoulous, the country â€Å"has never had a Western-style reformation, nor the development of a large middle class, nor the emergence of conservative and liberal philanthropy that developed in Western and Northern Europe and also North America. † This goes to show that while Greece has been perceived and thought of by others as a Westernized nation, it is not that simple. The inefficiency of the public sector is a recurring problem in this discussion because of its severity and enormous impact on the financial crisis that Greece is currently facing. The public sector has been characterized and defined as being â€Å"statist. † This essentially describes an environment in the country where public sector jobs are preferred as opposed to private or other types of jobs. This belief that is held by a majority of Greek citizens has been a key contributor to the inefficient and unproductive bureaucracy of government jobs and positions. This mindset also prevents Greece’s private sector from reaching its potential, and does nothing to reduce unemployment. This mindset is held partly because public sector jobs offer the things that private sector jobs cannot, including a generous pension, a pre-determined retirement age and incremental pay increases as time goes by. This creates a sense of job security, which is desired by all as part of human nature. Job security is not a bad thing, but problems clearly arise when an entire country has become dependent on the continued influx of meaningless government jobs. Individuals who work in the public sector statistically make more, on average, than those who work in the private sector. There is currently no statistical data that supports a link between worker productivity, job satisfaction and overall motivation to pay grade. This lack of an incentivized program that encourages employees to work hard is perhaps one of the biggest roots of the problem. The increases in public sector wages and pensions reached almost 9% in 2008. Even as the country’s economy continues to sink farther and farther into historic territory, jobs are not being cut and employees are continuing to receive excellent pay and benefits for their relatively meaningless low-end government positions. Another problem with Greek’s public sector is the early retirement age of 58. When an employee retires at this age, they are given a full pension and in most cases, continuing benefits for a generous period of time. To put this in perspective, the average retirement rate in the rest of the European Union is 63. This over-generous system is a major drainer of government funds. According to statistics, the pensions given to an average public-sector employee can reach up to 98% of their original salary right before retirement. The final point presented is the nearly complete level of job security within the public sector. Due to a high amount of policies and regulations about termination, it is extremely difficult for one to lose their job unless a major mistake has been made. That being said, it seems as if an overly comfortable work force has been created. There must be some degree of threat of job loss in order to motivate employees to put forth their best effort each and every day. According to Manolopoulos, there are numerous sources that display the extremely low competitiveness of the Greek economy. This is the next factor that can be discussed to illustrate the problems responsible for the current economic meltdown. According to this data, â€Å"the burden of administration in Greece is abnormally high, the degree of regulation is excessive, and the amount of competition is severely limited due to tremendous government intervention. † Also, it is shown that Greece rarely is a center of foreign investment, in relation to other nations in the European Union. It does not take an expert to determine that the Greek government and economic environment is not desirable enough for foreign nations to engage with. Since 2009, there have been more than 1,400 companies formerly with headquarters in Greece who have relocated to other nations. Currently, 20% of Greece businesses are failing or will fail at some point in the coming months. These staggering statistics go to show that these philosophies are more than conceptual, and there are actual statistics to illustrate the severity of the problems. With regard to taxation, the Greek tax system is highly progressive. A progressive tax system is a system where the smallest proportion of the population, the wealthiest individuals, pays the highest taxes. In Greece, this is the case, and in fact the average and below-average households pay virtually no taxes at all. Although this progressive system can be effective, as seen in other countries, the problem is that there are so few high earners that very little tax revenue is actually being raised. The line for which a household can declare themselves exempt is higher than most families earn, leaving very few candidates who are qualified to pay these high amounts of taxes. This threshold is 12,000 Euro per year, and has created a culture where many Greeks are understating their income in order to remain under this threshold and avoid paying taxes. The disinterest in paying taxes is inevitable in all countries, but in this situation, citizens are actually able to get away with tax evasion, adding to the problem. This goes back to the corruption of Greek politicians, and the culture deeply rooted in cheating and dishonest practices. Politicians are wise enough to know that if they crack down on tax evasions among Greek citizens, they will not be re-elected and will lose their political power, influence and immunity. For this reason, most politicians look the other way on massive amounts of tax evasions, and citizens are not forced to pay their taxes, adding to the already discussed lack of accountability. This is why the threshold for tax-exempt families is currently at such an alarming level. In the words of Manolopoulos, â€Å"the authorities proceed to hound the honest few, and let the thousands of dishonest high income individuals escape with impunity. Tax avoidance is a national pastime in Greece. It has become a cultural trait. The Greek people never learned to pay their taxes, because no one is punished. † This mindset described by Manolopoulos is at the heart of the problem, and clearly shows the unwillingness of typical Greek citizens to do their part and contribute to the overall welfare of the country. As far as reforms to try and aid the recovery of this failing economy, little has been done. The Economic Adjustment Program is essentially a program that has planned out 5-year economy strategy for the country, called the Medium-Term Fiscal Strategy. This was created in 2011 and sought to increase the efficiency of public spending, eliminate wasteful spending that drains government resources, reduce the size of the public sector, broaden the base of tax payers, and eliminate the amount of individuals who are evading taxes by imposing meaningful penalties and consequences. The plan for this strategy is to increase efficiency, and further incentivize the labor force to increase how hard people work and their inclinations to give back for the greater good. This seeks to decrease the tax-free threshold from 12,000 to 8,000 euro per year. A luxury tax will be imposed on very wealthy individuals to bring in further revenue. 200 new companies have been created to bring business back to Greece. There will be an increase in the amount of audits and increased sentences for tax evaders. Although this does not fully address the power imbalance issues that are a central issue in the crisis, many are hopeful that this plan, over time will increase the output of the economy and reduce the massive deficit the country currently faces. In conclusion, these structural measures being taken have not been overly successful, but the country will benefit in the long run from them. The only reason this failing countries economy is still relatively in tact is because of the continuous capital injections from the EU and the IMF. In an effort to keep the economy relatively liquid, Greece has remained above water. It seems that the true problem at the root of this crisis is the imbalance of power, which must be addressed if full recovery is ever to be achieved. In other words, there is a long way to go for this former superpower.

Free Essays on Cellphones

Riiiing!!†¦Hello! They are everywhere and their various ring tones can be heard ringing out from the bleachers of a little league game to the pin drop silence of a board meeting. What are these seemingly mobile music boxes you ask? Cellular telephones! Once only for the social elite the cell telephone has now become a common commodity. This little essentiality mobile personal communication device has transformed the face of society. No longer confined to the length of a cord, telephones are now able to go just about everywhere. With ever improving technological advancements in microchip hardware the big bulky telephones of old are being traded in for sleek compact telephones what can fit in the palm of a child’s hand. The pressure to have the newest, smallest, and sleekest cell phone is on. How cellular telephones work is really very simple, they use low-energy FM radio waves to transmit voice to the nearest antenna site connected with the local telephone network. The call goes through either a regular telephone line, or by radio signal to another cell telephone, depending on the service. Wireless technology uses individual radio frequencies over and over by dividing service areas into different geographic zones. These zones are called "cells." Cells can be as small as Madison Square Garden or as large as New York City. Typically, there are more cells in cities than in rural areas simply because there are more people trying to make calls in urban areas. Sounds complex doesn’t it? Cell phones while convenient and easy can sometimes get you into trouble. I recall driving home from school one day and I was chatting on the phone with my boyfriend, lost in conversation I noticed upon the sound of another drivers horn, that I was in the middle of an intersection and the light for me to go went from green to red. I couldn’t believe how distracted I’d become. Another instance was when I drove about five miles past... Free Essays on Cellphones Free Essays on Cellphones Riiiing!!†¦Hello! They are everywhere and their various ring tones can be heard ringing out from the bleachers of a little league game to the pin drop silence of a board meeting. What are these seemingly mobile music boxes you ask? Cellular telephones! Once only for the social elite the cell telephone has now become a common commodity. This little essentiality mobile personal communication device has transformed the face of society. No longer confined to the length of a cord, telephones are now able to go just about everywhere. With ever improving technological advancements in microchip hardware the big bulky telephones of old are being traded in for sleek compact telephones what can fit in the palm of a child’s hand. The pressure to have the newest, smallest, and sleekest cell phone is on. How cellular telephones work is really very simple, they use low-energy FM radio waves to transmit voice to the nearest antenna site connected with the local telephone network. The call goes through either a regular telephone line, or by radio signal to another cell telephone, depending on the service. Wireless technology uses individual radio frequencies over and over by dividing service areas into different geographic zones. These zones are called "cells." Cells can be as small as Madison Square Garden or as large as New York City. Typically, there are more cells in cities than in rural areas simply because there are more people trying to make calls in urban areas. Sounds complex doesn’t it? Cell phones while convenient and easy can sometimes get you into trouble. I recall driving home from school one day and I was chatting on the phone with my boyfriend, lost in conversation I noticed upon the sound of another drivers horn, that I was in the middle of an intersection and the light for me to go went from green to red. I couldn’t believe how distracted I’d become. Another instance was when I drove about five miles past...