Free Online Public Schools for Florida Students K-12

Florida offers resident students the opportunity to take online public school courses for free. Below is a list of no-cost online schools currently serving elementary and high school students in Florida. In order to qualify for the list, schools must meet the following qualifications: classes must be available completely online, they must offer services to state residents, and they must be funded by the government. Virtual schools listed may be charter schools, state-wide public programs, or private programs that receive government funding. List of Florida Online Charter Schools and Online Public Schools Florida Connections AcademyFlorida Virtual School Florida Cyber Charter Academy About Online Charter Schools and Online Public Schools Many states now offer tuition-free online schools for resident students under a certain age (often 21). Most virtual schools are charter schools; they receive government funding and are run by a private organization. Online charter schools are subject to fewer restrictions than traditional schools. However, they are reviewed regularly and must continue to meet state standards. Some states also offer their own online public schools. These virtual programs generally operate from a state office or a school district. State-wide public school programs vary. Some online public schools offer a limited number of remedial or advanced courses not available in brick-and-mortar public school campuses. Others offer full online diploma programs. A few states choose to fund â€Å"seats† for students in private online schools. The number of available seats may be limited and students are usually asked to apply through their public school guidance counselor. Choosing a Florida Online Public School When choosing an online public school, look for an established program that is regionally accredited and has a track record of success. Be wary of new schools that are disorganized, are unaccredited, or have been the subject of public scrutiny. For more suggestions on evaluating virtual schools see how to choose an online high school.

Discourse Is A Shared Way Of Apprehending The World

Discourse is a shared way of apprehending the world (Dryzek, 1997). It is understood as ‘the ensemble of ideas, concepts and categories through which meaning is given to social and physical realities, and which is produced and reproduced through an identifiable set of practices’ (Hajer, 2006: 67). Discourse favors certain description of reality and empowers certain policy tools while marginalizing others (Litfin, 1994). Discourses frame the policy debates, limit what are considered ‘reasonable’ options and inform policy-making process (Gregorio et al, 2014). Discourses represent the dominant representatives, understandings and knowledge regimes present in governance debate and they are deeply embedded in the formation of knowledge. The discourses are produced based on the perception and role of the actors (Keller, 2011). Different discourses promote specific conceptualization of environmental problem including the causes of the problems and on their soluti ons. For instance, discourse on forests seeing as important carbon sink could be different from seeing forest as source of local livelihoods or source of biodiversity. Therefore it is crucial to understand the different construction of meaning by different actors. Current international debates about climate change are shaped by different, often conflicting but also partly overlapping environmental discourses (den Besten et al., 2014). Authors such as Dryzek (1997, 2005), Hoffman (2011), Bà ¤ckstrand Là ¶vbrand (2007) andShow MoreRelated Equality of Life4144 Words   |  17 Pagespluralism as well as cultural diversity. I contend that the defender of religion who argues from the incommensurability of this form of life must also give up all traces of worldview exclusivism, the dogmatic claim to possess the one truth about the world. Finally, I argue that if we are to move into a future of peace, we must acknowledge that various forms of life are lived on a level playing field. That is, all forms have important contributions to make, and none have revelatory advantages over anotherRead MoreEssay on Two Models of the Criminal Process8207 Words   |  33 Pagesof the other. The two models merely afford a convenient way to talk about the operat ion of a process whose day-to-day functioning involves a constant series of minute adjustments between the competing demands of two value systems and whose normative future likewise involves a series of resolutions of the tensions between competing claims. I call these two models the Due Process Model and the Crime Control Model. . . . As we examine the way the models operate in each successive stage, we will raiseRead MoreBlotter System9115 Words   |  37 Pagesof the Police E-Blotter had launched, police will only have to fill out all the basic information in an existing form. The form will then be uploaded to the database of the NCRPO or to their PNP Crime Incident Reporting System. Its a more accurate way of monitoring crime. The move will make metro police records available to officers at the Philippine National Police Headquarters in Camp Crame. Instead of manual, its now going to be hi-tech. According to Bacalzo the service would eventually changeRead MoreRastafarian79520 Words   |  319 Pagesstructure of colonial society by the early 1930s. The emergence of Rasta during that period corresponds with so much that was happening around the world. Rastas could tell that social unrest in Jamaica was going to lead to a movement away from colonial rule and, having heard Marcus Garvey speak of the importance of Africa to black people in the New World, found in his remarkable success as a leader of thousands in the United States quite an amazing thing. Those who would presage the arrival of Rastafarianism

Lecture Reviews about Business Marketing Strategy Management

Question: 1. Discuss each of the issues raised and use the material from the lectures and other sources. 2. Where appropriate use references in the Harvard style, and diagrams and theories Answer: 1:- There are many factors that affect the marketing management and help in building and maintain the form has with its target customers. These environment factors include macro- environmental factors like demographics, natural forces, economic, political and legal forces. As the firm operates in these macro environment forces it both pose threats and shape oppurtunities for the firm. As these factors influence a firm development and performance but these factors are outside the control of the firm.( Weick, 2000) Environmental scanning has always helped firms or organisations to use and acquire information about relationships, trends and events in a firms external environment.( Anderson Nicols, 2007) This knowledge helps the management to plan the course of action for future strategies. This scanning helps them to understand the external environment and change their strategies accordingly which helps them to gain competitive advantage along with improving short and long term planning. This environment analysis is about searching for information and along with viewing this information. Figure 1:- A conceptual Framework for Environmental scanning or analysis (Choo, 2000) But does the environmental analysis or scanning help the firms with their business has been studied by many. West in the year 1988 examined the relationship between environment analysis and organisational strategy in the US food industry. (West, 1988)He used the data from about 65 companies and found out that environmental analysis had a substantial influence on the organisation sales and assets.( Subramanian,FernandesHarper, 1993) Subramanian in the year 1993 studied environment analysis in US fortune 500 companies and found out that growth and profitability depended on environmental analysis. Choo in the year 2001 suggested how managers who had higher level of perceived environmental uncertainty usually tend to go for a higher level of environmental analysis.( Choo, 2000) Lets take an example of Motorola whose strategic intelligence system was the first in the 80s. Motorola hired Jan Herring who was an intelligence officer by profession as he designed the scanning system or analysi s system. Through him the corporate office ran maintained and coordinated the central database along with the supporting operating divisions. But the operating divisions took the tactical and operational decisions themselves as they did the environment analysis were being done on divisional level. The staff and the management have been trained for both the business and intelligence experience as they analyse the information that is gathered by the environment analysis. They also base strong emphasis on the information gathered from foreign countries. As Motorola is one of the very few US firms that analyses its data in countries like Japan that helps them to develop and maintain successful relationships with Japanese firms and researchers.( Peteraf Bergen,2003) Now lets take an example of socio cultural factor that is demographic changes such as population changes. In the US the decline in population due to decrease in birthrate and increase in aging population due to better health facilities caused in an increase in the average age. Thus changing with the scenario many companies that were first targeting the youth are now trying to appeal the older generation. One such example is of Levi Strauss co which was in the past very popular among the younger generation. But now they have created a new label Dockers to attract the adult market which is becoming very popular among the older generation. Many times environmental analysis results in huge profits for the firms example Ford Motor successfully analysed the technological change that was needed in their Norfolk assembly plant. They updated to a F-150 assembly line that not only created 270 new jobs but also increased their production by eleven percent. 2:- The competitive advantage of an organisation is likely to be based on the strategic capabilities it has that are valuable to customers and that its rivals do not have, or have difficulty in obtaining, Johnson, Whittington and Scholes (2014). This could be best understood by taking an example of Yahoo and its leaked memo that was issued by manager Brad Garlinghouse. This memo in the media was named as the Peanut butter manifesto as it accused Yahoo senior management of lacking any strategic direction. Brad has pointed out how the growth of the company has slowed down as Yahoo was being overtaken by Google. The share price and the revenues that were being generated from online advertisements have decreased significantly. He explained how Yahoo like peanut butter is spread too thin as a much needed strategic change is needed. Therefore we know that all firms whether it be a technological giant as Yahoo or any smaller firm face challenges regarding strategic decisions and directions. (Wang Ahmed, 2007) Firstly let us study what is a strategy.( Whittington, 2000) Strategy is a scope and direction for a firm over a period of long time that generates profit or advantage for the firm in a changing environment. Now lets concentrate that why issues are such as the one that Yahoo was facing were called strategic. The capabilities of any organisations are called strategic due to many reasons some of them are when a long term direction is needed in any organisation as in the case of Yahoo. Brad Garlinghouse has successfully analysed that Yahoo needed a marathon realization and improvement in its strategies. Another reason for a strategic capability build up would be advantage over the competitors as we have already read that in the case of Yahoo it was getting lagged and overtaken by Google. Thus strategic capabilities that would resolve this issue can be many such as providing better services than your competitors. (Lovallo Kahneman, 2003) Nokia is another example of a company that is growing due to its strategy to keep customers as their main priority. They believe in focusing on people and using technology to help people feel closer. There business strategy focuses on five areas that are build networks, focus on technology to create new devices, expand services, embrace internet services being used by consumers and deliver solutions. They invest in customer fulfillment and engagement, brand and design and architecture and technology. (YigangChi,1999)Strategies do not happen on their own there are people who plan and execute them. There are many factors that have to be taken care of while generating and forming a strategy such as Environment, and the strategic capability of an organisation. We have to realize that where the competitive advantage lies in a firm or organisation. This can be achieved by analyzing the internal constraints and influences. We learnt from both the examples of Nokia and Yahoo that strategic c apability of a firm can be a combination of the resources or the high levels of core competence. (YigangChi, 1999) Figure 2:- Strategic capabilities and competitive advantage Organisations are not identical they have different capabilities as in the case of Sainsburys, Asda and Tesco. All three are from the same environment yet Tesco is the superior performer amongst them. Thus the firm can only obtain competitive advantage when it focuses on capabilities that its competitors do not possess. Reference Anderson Nicols, M.H. M.L. , 2007, Information gathering and changes in threat and opportunity perceptions,Journal of Management Studies, 44(3), 367387 Choo, C W, 2000,Information management for the intelligent organization: the art of scanning the environment, 3rd ed, Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc West, J J , 1988,Strategy, environmental scanning, and their effect upon firm performance: an exploratory study of the food service industry, 1st ed, Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Weick, K E, 2000,Making sense of the organization, 1st ed, Boston, MA: Blackwell Publishers Subramanian,FernandesHarper, R, N E, 1993, "Environmental scanning in US companies: their nature and their relationship to performance." .Management International Review, 33 (3), 271-286 Lovallo Kahneman, D. D. , 2003, Delusions of success,Harvard Business Review, 81(7), 5664 Peteraf Bergen, M.A. M.E. , 2003, Scanning dynamic competitive landscapes: a market and resource based framework,Strategic Management Journal, 24(10), 10271042 Wang Ahmed, C.L. P.K. , 2007, Dynamic capabilities: a review and research agenda, International Journal of Management Reviews, 9(1), 3152 Whittington, R. , 2000,What is Strategy and Does it Matter?, 2nd ed, UK: Thomson YigangChi, P P S.K. , 1999, "Financial Performance and Survival of Multinational Corporations in China." ,Strategic Management Journal, 20(1), 359374

Security Breach at OSHA Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Security Breach at OSHA. Answer: Introduction Information Security has grown to become the most researched area in the present scenario. It is because of the reason that there are a number of security issues that have emerged and there are also a great use of the information sets by the users and business organizations all across the globe. There are data sets that fall under the category of public, private, sensitive, critical, personal and shared classes. The security and privacy of the information in all of these data sets is equally important. It is, therefore, required to be made sure that none of the security occurrences and events takes place and there is no breaching/leakage of information as well. One of the recent security breach and the ransomware attacks that took place a couple of months back has been covered and analyzed in the report. Security Breach at OSHA OSHA is an abbreviation for Occupational Safety and Health Administration which is a United States Government agency that operates in the department of labor. Because of the nature of operations and the line of business, the information that OSHA is associated with comprises of sensitive health information. In accordance with the latest development in the technological area, OSHA made a decision to move and convert its entire database in the electronic form. However, the decision backfired as the organization fell victim to a massive breach of information security in the month of August, 2017. The breach resulted in the breakdown and a complete shutdown of the electronic reporting system at OSHA. There was a web-based form that was present in the application to provide the employees with the ability to submit the details on injuries and associated information electronically. An injury tracking application was launched by OSHA on August 1, 2017 so maintain an automated record of all the reported injuries. Soon after, certain pages of the application became inaccessible and it gradually led to a shutdown. The sensitive health information of the patients was exposed to the unauthorized entities leading to a serious occurrence of a computer security breach (Gonzalez, 2017). The worst impact of the breach came down on the employees of OSHA along with the patients that have reported their injuries. The personal and critical data of these entities went in the hands of the malevolent elements. Such computer security breaches also impact the brand image and the market value of the organization that happened in this case as well. OSHA has to bear the rage of the customers and also lost a huge amount of its customer base (Tornone, 2017). The primary threat agent that the attackers made use of in case of OSHA was the weak link in the form of an unsecure access point. The injury tracking application was launched in OSHA on August 1, 2017 and such an application was being implemented for the first time at the agency. The development and the implementation team must not have taken the adequate measures which led to the presence of a weak access point. It became major security vulnerability and the same was utilized by the attackers to cause security breach and attack (Golla, 2017). Networks have been found to be prime threat agents in the recent times. It is through the aid of these networks that the attackers and other malicious entities succeed in gaining entry to the systems and the information. The countermeasures that OSHA may have adopted are in the form of the network based automated systems and tools. These tools have been created to perform various activities and operation to enhance the network security. For instance, there are tools that may perform advanced detection of the intruders and can also implement the preventive measures for the same (Bertino, 2015). There are also automated tools that have been created for the enhanced security of the network through continuous and advanced monitoring and control. The attackers succeeded in breaking through the access control mechanisms that were implemented at OSHA. The agency must have made sure that proper access control mechanisms were deployed and used. With the use and implementation of advanced access control, it is possible that the authorized users only pass through the access gates and the unauthorized users are restricted. There are advanced access control protocols that have been developed that grant the access on the basis of user roles and privileges. The same process should have been implemented in OSHA to protect the internal and external connections. Advanced authentication may also have been used in the form of multi-fold authentication measures comprising of a mix of biometric mechanisms, one time passwords (OTP) and single sign on (Wangen, 2017). Physical security of often not paid much attention by the organizations after the development of the automated tools and applications. However, the relevance and importance of the physical security measures must not be ignored. The presence of physical security mechanisms at all the entry and exit gates of the organizations must be ensured and shall also be reviewed at an timely basis. There have been advancements that have been done in the areas of malware protection with the development of numerous anti-malware packages. These packages can prevent the attack of malware such as viruses, worms, logic bombs and Trojan horses. Denial of service attacks are also common in the current times which can be prevented and controlled through automated anti-denial tools. Planning and analysis are the two major activities that have a lot of significance in every activity. There are many analytics tools that have been developed that may assist in the process. These analytics tools can bring up the trends and patterns that are present in the execution of the security attacks by the malevolent entities. These tools make use of data from different data sources and analyze all of the data to reveal the interesting trends. Also, it is necessary for the organizations to include only the defense mechanisms that are applicable to the requirements of the organizations. It shall be ensured that a plan is put in place before the implementation of the prevention and detection methods. Ransomware Attack May 2017 Occurrence of security attack or risk is not a rare phenomenon in the current era. There have been multiple incidents that have been reported in the past. However, there are some incidents that take place that cause a lot of damage. There was a ransomware attack that was launched at a massive scale in May, 2017. Ransomware is defined as a type of a malware which leads to the blocking of access of the systems that are targeted and the unblocking of the same can be done only after providing a ransom amount to the attackers. WannaCry took place at a global level and cause damage to various systems and applications spread in over one hundred and fifty countries. The malware was a kind of a cryptoworm that blocked user access on the systems that has Microsoft Windows as the operating system. Encryption of the user data and information present within the system was done and the ransom that was being demanded to unlock the access was in the measures of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency (Wong Solon, 2017). The first occurrence was reported by National Health Staff (NHS) in the United Kingdom on 12th May, 2017. NHS experienced the uncontrolled shutting down of its systems and applications and there was a message being displayed that stated that $300 (230) was required to be paid as ransom. The reporting of the incident by NHS was soon followed by the reporting by many other European countries. The incident also impacted a huge number of business applications and systems in Russia. It is being stated that Russia was the country that was affected the most. Many of the private and government institutions were impacted by the ransomware attack in Russia (Hern Gibbs, 2017). Countries such as Germany, China, Taiwan, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Spain, and Portugal etc. also reported of the similar cases and occurrences. Worms are the malicious codes that are intentionally designed to cause damage to the systems and the malware spreads on its own. There are many malicious codes that demand human intervention of some form or the other to be triggered. However, the case is not the same with worms. These cryptoworm were used in WannaCry that led to the damage at such a massive scale (Bbc, 2017). The first step that was carried out by the attackers was the exploration of the security vulnerabilities and loopholes associated with the systems having Microsoft Windows as their operating system. EternalBlue was one of the security vulnerabilities that were identified in the Windows-based systems. The vulnerability that was found demanded the implementation of the security patches to control the attack using the same. However, the Shadow Brokers was the group of the attackers that made the vulnerability available in the public in the month of April, 2017. The same vulnerability was used to give shape to WannaCry. The primary reason that was present with the launch of WannaCry was the existence of the security loopholes and vulnerabilities. With the presence of so many security threats and issues, all of the security vulnerabilities shall be analyzed carefully and an immediate action must be taken to overcome the same. There was negligence that was observed by the users and the business organizations that allowed the attackers to easily make advantage of the same (Palmer, 2017). There are steps that Microsoft could have taken to ensure that the users had complete information of the security vulnerability and weakness that was present. The awareness could have been made with the aid of the social media platforms and with the use of email exchanges with the customers. It would have provided the users with the ability to easily detect the loopholes at their end and the fixes would have been made (Erlich Zviran, 2010). Malicious codes have the ability to spread to a number of systems that are connected with each other and the spread takes place at an extremely rapid rate. The infected systems lead to further reproducibility of the codes and there are scenarios wherein it becomes extremely difficult to put a control on the transfer of these codes. The same situation happened in the case of WannaCry as well. The malicious code made use of the security vulnerability and the cryptoworm was launched. The organizations and the users must have made use of the technically and logically advanced tools such as anti-denial, anti-malware and intrusion based detection and prevention. These tools would have generated alters regarding the presence of such malicious codes and the corrective measures would have been taken (Al-Hamdani, 2009). There are many loopholes and insufficient knowledge that is present with the users as well. Users are still not aware of the common security issues that take place and the basic security practices that they must follow. Such events lead to the occurrence of unintentional and accidental attacks at the end of the user. There shall be campaigns and sessions that must be carried out to increase the user knowledge and awareness in this area. Conclusion It is essential to put a check on the security attacks to make sure that the necessary properties of the information are protected and secured. These properties include integrity, availability and confidentiality of the information. References Al-Hamdani, W. (2009). Three Models to Measure Information Security Compliance. International Journal Of Information Security And Privacy, 3(4), 43-67. https://dx.doi.org/10.4018/jisp.2009100104 Bbc. (2017). Massive ransomware infection hits computers in 99 countries - BBC News. BBC News. Retrieved 23 August 2017, from https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39901382 Bertino, E. (2015). Security and privacy of electronic health information systems. International Journal Of Information Security, 14(6), 485-486. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10207-015-0303-z Erlich, Z., Zviran, M. (2010). Goals and Practices in Maintaining Information Systems Security. International Journal Of Information Security And Privacy, 4(3), 40-50. https://dx.doi.org/10.4018/jisp.2010070103 Gollan, J. (2017). Labor Department blames data breach for injury reporting sites shutdown. Reveal. Retrieved 23 August 2017, from https://www.revealnews.org/blog/labor-department-blames-data-breach-for-shutdown-of-employee-injury-reporting-site/ Gonzalez, G. (2017). Security breach shuts down OSHA electronic reporting application - Business Insurance. Business Insurance. Retrieved 23 August 2017, from https://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20170816/NEWS08/912315224/Security-breach-shuts-down-OSHA-electronic-reporting-application Hern, A., Gibbs, S. (2017). What is WannaCry ransomware and why is it attacking global computers?. the Guardian. Retrieved 23 August 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/12/nhs-ransomware-cyber-attack-what-is-wanacrypt0r-20 Palmer, D. (2017). Your failure to apply critical cybersecurity updates is putting your company at risk from the next WannaCry or Petya | ZDNet. ZDNet. Retrieved 23 August 2017, from https://www.zdnet.com/article/your-failure-to-apply-critical-cyber-security-updates-puts-your-company-at-risk-from-the-next/ Tornone, K. (2017). OSHA halts new online reporting following security breach. HR Dive. Retrieved 23 August 2017, from https://www.hrdive.com/news/osha-halts-new-online-reporting-following-security-breach/449551/ Wangen, G. (2017). A framework for estimating information security risk assessment method completeness. International Journal Of Information Security. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10207-017-0382-0 Wong, J., Solon, O. (2017). Massive ransomware cyber-attack hits nearly 100 countries around the world. the Guardian. Retrieved 23 August 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/12/global-cyber-attack-ransomware-nsa-uk-nhs

Heres the LA Opportunity for Improvement Policy Essays - Webmail

Here's the LA Opportunity for Improvement Policy : T his policy applies to: quizzes, tests , discussions, and portfolio assignments. Quick checks are not eligible for OFI. You can rewrite your writing assignments up to 3 times for more credit. Send your revisions in a Word document and attached to a WebMail. If you would like to recover points fora previous quiz or test or discussion, you will need to follow these guidelines to get the credit back. You will also have 3 attempts for each assignment. You cansubmit OFI for as many quizzes, tests, or discussions as you like. When you are done with your OFI, send it to me as an attachment to a Webmail. For each question that you got wrong, you will need to answer two questions listed below: 1. What the correct answer is, 2. Why the answer you selected was incorrect. When writing your answers please follow all spelling and grammar rules and use complete sentences.

What is Black Economy

What is Black Economy What Is the Black Economy? If you need a similar essay feel free to  ask our writers for help! The Black Economy is a significant but difficult to measure part of almost every economy in the world. Depending on the source, â€Å"black economy† is taken to mean that part of the economy that involves illegal and criminal activity, such as the trade in drugs or smuggled goods. However, the term is also used interchangeably with terms such as shadow economy, informal economy, or underground economy. Whether it involves illicit activity or not, the black economy has four key characteristics: It is a cash-based economy and is isolated from the banking system. It may feature its own sophisticated system of credit. It exists outside a country’s business regulation framework. It is usually difficult if not impossible for the government to track, and therefore is untaxable. It is not reflected in the country’s GDP or GNI statistics, though it may be a very large part of the economy. How large is the black economy? For years, the International Monetary Fund has estimated that around 30% of the global economy is â€Å"informal†; the figure is higher in poor and developing countries, and lower – but still exists at a significant level – in first-world countries. More recent studies, in particular, one done by a researcher at Bogazici University (Turkey) in 2012 using several sophisticated statistical models, give slightly lower estimates of about 22%. The black economy is largest in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, accounting for between 38 and 40 percent of those economies, and smallest in the OECD countries at slightly less than 18%. The black economy is also said to be counter-cyclical, that is, growing when the formal economy shrinks; since 1960 the size of the black economy gradually declined in most of the world but began to grow rapidly again from 2008, after the onset of the global financial crisis. The Link Between the Black Economy and Poverty The black economy is obviously larger in poorer, less-developed countries, and the link between poverty and the â€Å"informal† economy was established in two important reports published by the International Labour Organisation in 1972-1973, which characterized the development of a black economy as an outcome of survival strategies by impoverished people, most often those migrating into cities in search of economic opportunities. The ILO drew the significant (for that time) conclusion that the black economy should be considered an integral rather than complementary or marginal part of the economy but considered the existence of a large black economy as still being evidence of poverty. You may be interested in: From Boom to Bust: Financial Crisis of 2008 Currency Exchange Rates and Management What is Fiat Money? Financial Rewards Are the Only Way to Gain Employee Loyalty Money Makes the World Go Around The reasoning behind this assertion is that while a black economy can grow and actually provide fairly stable livelihoods for a lot of people, its extralegal nature prevents small entrepreneurs from growing beyond a certain point, and keeps individual workers from entering the formal job market and financial system. The ILO prescription for correcting the problem of the black economy growing in countries where unemployment and low economic output persisted was to address what the organization saw as its root causes: Excess labor supply, undercapitalization of the business sector, and a lack of skills and accessible technology. By providing educational, financial, and technical resources, it was thought, much of the black economy could be transferred to the formal economy. That was a nice idea, but in most countries, it did not work. In his 2000 book The Mystery of Capital, author Hernando de Soto explains that the ILO misread the real problems that led to the growth of a black economy. In most countries, according to de Soto’s research, the informal economic sector actually has a great amount of technical, financial, and skill resources, and the evidence of it should be instantly recognizable. After all, the full spectrum of economic activity, even if only in rough forms, is represented in the black economy, which would not be possible without the existence of the very resources the ILO believed were lacking. In de Soto’s view, simply providing more resources through training programs, housing assistance, conditional cash transfer programs, health care, and similar initiatives simply adds wealth to the black economy system and allows it to flourish, making it even harder to ‘correct’. The real solution, de Soto asserts, is n ot to provide resources but to correct institutional and regulatory structures that keep black economy resources isolated from the mainstream economy by introducing legal reforms that encourage contract enforcement, statutory and tax legalization of businesses, and strong protections of property rights. To some degree, this direction is already being followed in many parts of the world. The growth of microfinance programs, particularly in South Asia and Latin America, have in the past couple decades given more people access to the mainstream financial system by providing credit and savings. Microfinance programs also have an added advantage for governments, in that they permit at least some of the people in the black economy to be tracked, accounted for in economic calculations, and taxed. Another initiative that has grown in some parts of the black economy, particularly among agricultural workers and their families, is the growth of cooperatives. While an individual small farmer or sharecropper might only produce barely above a subsistence level of output and find himself marginalized from opportunities to formalize his business, gathering many of these people together into a cooperative gives them access to a formal business structure, and as a result, credit and other resources t o help them expand their economic activity. Despite progress in some areas, however, as the growth of the world’s black economy after 2008 showed, it is still a persistent and widespread part of global society, one which is highly sensitive to changes in economic conditions. Part of its longevity can be attributed to its attractiveness; living and working under circumstances where one is not troubled by pesky laws or taxes is not an unappealing concept. So while governments will continue to strive to reduce the black economy, it is unlikely it will ever disappear entirely. Read more about it:  Hernando De Soto, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else. New York: Basic Books, 2000.

GREEK MYTHOLOGY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 0 words

GREEK MYTHOLOGY - Essay Example Even the writings of Shakespeare and Byron are inclusive of passing references made to these Greek myths. Therefore, I would definitely associate the Greek culture with the notion of 'myth'. One of the most popular Greek myths, in our contemporary world, is that of Jason and Argonauts. This myth has been popularised by television shows and films that have adopted this name. The myth goes like this: There lived a virtuous King called Aeson, who reigned over Ioclus in Thessaly. He and his good wife, Alcimede by name, were a happy couple. However, their happiness was destroyed by the King's evil brother, Pelias, who took the throne forcibly. The couple fled with their infant son called Jason. They took refuge and entrusted their son to Centaur Chiron, beseeching him to bring up their son as a virtuous person in order to avenge their wrongs. Around the age of 20, as Chiron and Jason crossed a mighty water body, they found an old lady struggling to do the same. Jason helped her cross and to his surprise, she transformed into Goddess Juno, who blessed him in his future endeavours.