The Story Behind the Nazi Gold Essay Thesis Example For Students

The Story Behind the Nazi Gold Essay Thesis Nazi Gold: Hard currency looted from treasuries of countries occupied by the Axis powers during World War II. Ingots consisting of gold melted down from the teeth of murder victims and weddings bands and jewelry. About two thirds of an estimated $660 million ($7. 8 billion in todays dollars) in stolen Nazi gold passed through Switzerland during the war. And like any sharp businessmen with hot goods, the Swiss disposed of much of their gold quickly through Portugal mainly, but also to Sweden, Spain, and other central banks (Hirsh 48). Probably no more that $140 million remains unaccounted for, and a good portion of that was probably sold onward as well. But what remains of the known Nazi hoard (none of which has been returned to the Jewish community) is worth no more than about $65 million according to the Brussels-based Tripartite Gold Commission, set up after World War II to return stolen gold to national treasuries. Recently the Clinton administration created a commission to search for any Nazi funds that might have ended up in U.S. Federal Reserve vaults. We have to be willing not only to focus the spotlight on Switzerland, says Under Secretary of Commerce Stuart Eizenstat. We have to be willing to follow the trail of assets into our own treasury (qtd. in Hirsh 47). This trail though, suggests that there is no huge stash of Nazi gold in Switzerland. The loot has scattered worldwide through numerous transactions and is probably irretrievable. Also, because so many banks were involved, theamount of gold left in Switzerland is probably negligible, contrary to what investigators have until now presumed. At this point the cost or returning the Nazi Gold to its rightful owners is not worth the trouble and inconvenience it would create.Documents released in recent months have made it clear that Swiss banks traded in looted Nazi-gold, and that Swiss businesses made a fortune selling arms to the Nazis. In a historical report published around May 9,1997, it was said that there was no evidence that the Swiss or other neutral countries knew that gold from the central banks had been smelted together with gold fillings, wedding bands, and other jewelry stolen from Holocaust victims (Sanger). But, Eizenstat found incontrovertible evidence that Swiss bankers knew they were trading in gold that Germany had looted from the treasuries of states it occupied, and also a handwritten ledger sheet from the Reichsbank showed a deposit of 29,996 grams of dental gold into a Swiss account (A harsh). This confirms that the Nazis melted down and recirculated gold extracted from the teeth of murdered Jews and other death camp victims. It also proves the involvement and knowledge of dealings with gold extracted from teeth of murdered victims by the Swiss in that there were depositsmadeintotheiraccounts. Germany also sent Switzerland via diplomatic pouch packages of jewelry, looted from Jewish persecutees, to be exchanged for industrial diamonds and foreign currency essential to the German war effort (Sanders). From this evidence we see that the Swiss acted as the Nazis principal bankers and after the war took a legalistic stance to hold onto their ill-gotten gains, returning only $58 million worth of gold (Chesnoff). Some argue that the Swiss should have given up all of the gold, but why should they? It was business after all. Many Swiss argue that what Switzerland did was done for survivals sake, but their critics assert that it was Wieckowski 3 done of opportunism and amorality and should be paid for in both moral and financial terms (Cowell)During WWII, the German threat to Switzerland was real, not imaginary or exaggerated. After the collapse of France in 1940, historically neutral Switzerland was virtually surrounded by axis-dominated territory. After the Germans occupied Vichy, France in the fall of 1942, Switzerland was entirely cut off from the outside world. .u4ca8bd6a1c27849efc31d44861a812a3 , .u4ca8bd6a1c27849efc31d44861a812a3 .postImageUrl , .u4ca8bd6a1c27849efc31d44861a812a3 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u4ca8bd6a1c27849efc31d44861a812a3 , .u4ca8bd6a1c27849efc31d44861a812a3:hover , .u4ca8bd6a1c27849efc31d44861a812a3:visited , .u4ca8bd6a1c27849efc31d4 4861a812a3:active { border:0!important; } .u4ca8bd6a1c27849efc31d44861a812a3 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u4ca8bd6a1c27849efc31d44861a812a3 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u4ca8bd6a1c27849efc31d44861a812a3:active , .u4ca8bd6a1c27849efc31d44861a812a3:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u4ca8bd6a1c27849efc31d44861a812a3 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative; } .u4ca8bd6a1c27849efc31d44861a812a3 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u4ca8bd6a1c27849efc31d44861a812a3 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u4ca8bd6a1c2 7849efc31d44861a812a3 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u4ca8bd6a1c27849efc31d44861a812a3:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u4ca8bd6a1c27849efc31d44861a812a3 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left: 18px; top: 0; } .u4ca8bd6a1c27849efc31d44861a812a3 .u4ca8bd6a1c27849efc31d44861a812a3-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u4ca8bd6a1c27849efc31d44861a812a3:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: America?s involvem ent in World War Two Essay

Pax Romana essays

Pax Romana essays Aelius Aristides obviously believes there are many benefits to the Pax Romana. Aristides feels that having a centrally run government is the best way for an empire to thrive. Through this government, greater trade is capable and no rebellions will occur. Another benefit is the concept of equality. Everyone living under the Roman Empire has citizenship and is therefore is equal. The governor sets an example of the proper way to be a citizen. In turn, the subjects follow by example, thus, order and peace reign throughout. First of all, this speech was given in front of the Emperor. You cannot speak pessimistically of your ruler to his face. Secondly, Aelius Aristides is living in Greece during a time of peace. This peace is very unique and well received in Greece particularly. Living in Greece, Aristides may not see the flaws of the Republic or he just might not care. He would like this peace to last thus giving him a biased viewpoint. The exaggeration used is a means for propaganda. While Aristides knows there are flaws, the good outweighs the bad. I believe Aristides portrayal of the Pax Romana is a fair one. Nowadays, you cannot open the paper without reading about a hostage situation in Russia or a bomb going off in the Middle East. I am a firm believer that the ends justify the means. Yes the Roman Republic was fairly corrupted. Elections were rigged and the citizens really had no political power. The fact of the matter is, between 27 B.C. and A.D. 180, no major wars were fought. The economy went through ups and downs like it always does, but the governmental system in place was structured around equality and assimilation. This proved to be successful and enduring. ...

Beware of Wielding Unwieldy Jargon

Beware of Wielding Unwieldy Jargon Beware of Wielding Unwieldy Jargon Beware of Wielding Unwieldy Jargon By Mark Nichol This post pertains to the pitfalls of employing jargon to convey ideas without considering that colorful usage may confound instead of convey. I once edited a book that referred to â€Å"dual-wielding pistols,† a reference to the trademark weapons of a movie character: a brace of flintlock pistols. Mentally shaking my head in mild consternation, I revised what I considered an exceedingly awkward and misleading effort to express that the character routinely fought with both guns at once- a dynamic image commonly seen in action films, but one that depicts a strategy seldom employed in real life. As it turns out (meaning, I did some research), the phrase is valid, but not as the author employed it. Websites and publications devoted to firearms sometimes refer to dual-wielding handguns- but with dual-wielding operating as a phrasal verb, not a phrasal adjective. One can use the phrase to refer to the action of firing two handguns at once (â€Å"Is dual-wielding pistols practical?†). However, because no firearms are specifically designed to be used in parallel- presumably (meaning, my research didn’t turn up any such weaponry), there is no such thing as dual-wielding pistols- there is no reason for such phrasing. Therefore, though the phrase exists, it was not correct as employed. And even if it had been used as a phrasal verb, although any reasonably intelligent reader could be expected to understand the phrase, because it is jargon, it would be more courteous to all readers to simply write something like â€Å"wielding two pistols at once.† The lesson for writers is, one can be clear, concise, or both, but if you must choose between clear and concise, be clear. Speaking of phrasal adjectives, one hallmark of jargon is to omit hyphenation in some such phrases, as they are understood to be terms of art (words or phrases understood by a certain readership and not requiring explanation or the hand-holding treatment hyphenation provides). Therefore, although the phrasal adjective in, for example, â€Å"data-governance initiatives† would generally be hyphenated in lay publications to clarify that the reference is to initiatives regarding governance of data, not governance initiatives pertaining to data, publishers of content intended for readers familiar with the concept might consider the helpful hyphen superfluous. (For clarity and consistency, such publishers should codify this style in a manual accessible- and familiar- to a publications writers and editors.) In publications intended for the general public, however, dictionary usage should guide writers and editors in treatment of phrasal adjectives. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:What Does [sic] Mean?Connotations of 35 Words for Funny PeopleTitled versus Entitled

James Joyce's The Dead Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

James Joyce's The Dead - Essay Example n in the following lines: â€Å"A light fringe of snow lay like a cape on the shoulders of his overcoat and like toecaps on the toes of his goloshes; and, as the buttons of his overcoat slipped with a squeaking noise through the snow- stiffened frieze, a cold fragrant air from out-of-doors escaped from crevices and folds†. There are other common allusions to the near freezing Dublin weather in which the story is set. The instance when Gretta Conroy, Gabriel’s wife caught cold infection is again a literal citing of the word â€Å"cold†. The sole occasion when â€Å"cold† was used in the metaphorical sense is when Gabriel replies unenthusiastically to Gretta that â€Å"You can go if you like, said Gabriel coldly†. Talking of the dark aspects of the story, in the context of Gabriel’s address to the gathering, he mentions how â€Å"our path through life is strewn with many sad memories† and continues in a morbid tone, how â€Å"were we to brood upon them always we could not find the heart to go on bravely with our work among the living" and further in the narrative he says â€Å"His soul had approached that region where dwelt the vast hosts of the dead†. This poignant remembrance of his own past had shaken up his composure. Gabriel had now been overwhelmed by a sense of losing his love and the pain associated with it. Joyce depicts the state he is in with the following dark imagery: â€Å"into a grey impalpable world", "all the living and the dead". As for the â€Å"light† in The Dead, there are again two interpretations – one is light as in humor and frivolity the other is insight or revelation. There are plenty of instances of both cases. Phrases such as â€Å"laughing very heartily†, â€Å"There was a great deal of confusion and laughter and noise†, â€Å"The table burst into applause and laughter at this sally†, â€Å"She laughed herself this time good-humouredly†, etc represent the light-hearted elements in the narrative. Light as brightness can be seen in

The Commerce Clause Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Commerce Clause - Case Study Example The state’s statute establishes that all trucks and trailers that are entering and operating within the state’s soil and roads must have contoured rear-fender mudguards and explicitly illegalizes trucks and trailers using straight mudguards. In so doing, the Georgian state government deliberately barred and interfered with trade and commerce across states by enacting a law legalizing unstandardized truck mudguards. The state contravened Artic 1, Section 8 of the American constitution that gave congress authority to regulate commerce and trade with foreign nations and between states (TA 102). When Georgia singles itself out to have its legal recommendation for trucks and trailers’ mudguards, it becomes as situation of business and commerce seclusion from other states. Georgia also contravened the legal tradition established and held by the Supreme Court in 1824 that the American government possesses the legal authority to regulate commerce if other states are substantially affected, as well. Georgia sought to single itself out at the expense of other states. However, there was a possibility of the impacts rebound back to t in 1824, that and trailers unstandardized 0000000000000000000000000000000Georgia in the case of trade and commercial excommunication and

Causes of the Development of Pakistans Banking Sector

Causes of the Development of Pakistans Banking Sector ABSTRACT The objective of this paper is to examine the determinants of development of banking sector from the perspective of Real GDP, Discount rate, Trade openness and Financial Liberalization by using annual data from 1970 to 2007. In this study, Liquid Liabilities, Private sector credit and Domestic credit are used as indicator of banking sector development. The finding of this research shows negative relationship between Trade openness and development of banking sector development. Discount rate is having a significant impact on banking sector development when Private sector credit and Domestic credit is used as the indicator while Real GDP is found significant when Liquid Liabilities and Domestic credit is used as indicator of Banking sector Development. Generalized form of data has been used in this study. Keywords: Banking Sector development, Real GDP, Trade openness, Discount Rate, Financial Liberalization INTRODUCTION The financial sector of Pakistan has shown a substantial growth in past few years, however there is still need for continuous development. The financial sector of Pakistan consists of a variety of specialized financial institutions à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" commercial banks, DFIs, NBFCs, micro finance banks, Islamic banks, Modarbas, Stock Exchange and Insurance companies. Thus the whole financial sector of Pakistan offers a wide range of products and services to its customers. (Zaidi, 2005) states that growth of financial sector is significantly related with economic growth therefore, country needs well developed financial sector in order to fully utilize the financial resources. Banking system has a significant importance in financial market. Banking Sector of Pakistan is an important financial intermediary and responsible for the economic growth in the country. In 1990, Denationalization of Government owned banks have changed the overall scenario of the banking sector of Pakistan. After the amendments in banking companiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ ordinance, Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB) and Allied bank Limited (ABL) were denationalized in 1991 and 1993 respectively. The process of denationalization remains suspended for numbers of years and was restarted in early 2000s, when United Bank Limited (UBL) was privatized. In 2004, Habib Bank Limited (HBL) was also denationalized and due to which, the asset share of public sector banks was reduced to 25% at that time. In the last decade, state bank of Pakistan has made several efforts in promoting the Islamic modes of financing. In 2002, the first Islamic bank was established under the name of Meezan bank. Since then, the number of Islamic banks has been opened. Various traditional ban ks are now opening Islamic specialized branches. At the end of 2009, total assets of the Islamic banking have reached to 366.3 billions and the deposits in Islamic banks have reached to 282.6 billions  [1]  . At the end of calendar year 2009, there are 9522 total branches of banks in Pakistan which shows an increase of 376 branches in banking sector from the 3rd quarter of 2009. Moreover, the asset base of banking sector has shown a growth of 7 percent over the last quarter. (Yasmin, Jehan, Chaudhary, 2006) explains that after independence in 1947, Pakistan avoided trade openness because of weak industrial structure. In 1960à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s, industrial base was laid and manufacturing industry expanded widely in Pakistan. However, industrial expansion face setback in 1970à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s due to nationalization of industries. In 1980à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s, IMF and World Bank provided facilities to the Pakistan in order to initiate the financial restructuring in country. A loan of $150 million and $200 Million was provided for this purpose under à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Financial sector adjustment loanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? in 1989 and 1997 respectively. Another project named as financial sector deepening and Intermediation project was initiated in 1995. The estimated worth of that project was $216 million. (Hanif, 2002) Despite of the remarkable performance since last two decades, the banking sector of Pakistan is less developed and remains small in relation to the economy, when it is compared to the other banking sectors of the world. This shows that a number of financial and banking needs are still ignored and that much of the economic potential of Pakistan is not achieved yet. LITERATURE REVIEW (Christopoulos Tsionas, 2004) states there is no one opinion of economist on the issue of financial development and growth of economy. (Pagano, 1993) describes that savings are mobilized towards the productive investment due to financial deepening which helps in improving corporate governance. (Khan Qayyum, 2007) says there are three major channels through which financial development can affect economic growth (i) marginal productivity of capital can be increased (ii) savings are directed towards the investment (iii) level of private saving rate can be increased. The relationship of economic growth and financial development was first discussed by (Goldsmith, 1969), (McKinnon, 1973) and (Shaw, 1973). Their study shows that there is a positive relationship between financial development and the level of output i.e. when the financial market will increase the credit level, the investment will increase thus, showing that real income and real interest rate is a positive function of financial development. (Yu Gan, 2010) study shows that due to positive real interest rate, the mobilization of savings of banks increases and it also increases the growth with the increase in volume and productivity of capital. (Yanikkaya, 2003) argues that trade openness has a significant impact on the GDP share. In developing countries, trade openness creates new opportunities to increase the growth process and hence the unemployment level decrease. (Jin, 2000) states that trade openness facilitates in establishing the development process. Moreover, local technology and production process can be improved through trade liberalization. One school of thoughts is of view that the financial liberalization is also a major contributor towards the financial development in developing countries. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Financial liberalization means the deregulation of domestic financial markets and liberalization of the capital account.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Attaullah, Cockerill, Le, 2004) empirically shows that the effectiveness of banking sector is improved following the financial liberalization. (Bekaert, Harvey, Lundblad, 2005) Suggests that there is a significant relationship between financial liberalization and economic growth. However, (Stiglitz, 2000) argues that increase in financial liberalization enhances the macro economic vulnerability of nations and chances of crises becomes significant. The study of (Gong, Lee, Chen, 2004) supported the fact that increase in financial liberalization can cause crisis. (Wyplosz, 2001) suggested that financial liberalization is effective if the objective is to increase the competition and d ecrease the monopoly powers. However, financial liberalization is quite risky for developing countries. Many developing countries in Asia and Europe have grown faster even with strong financial restraints. MODEL SPECIFICATION Based on the above literature, we can propose that in Pakistan, banking sector development is a function of real Gross Domestic Products (RGDP), Discount date (DR) and Trade openness (TO) and Financial Liberalization (FL). This can also be shown as BSD Pak = f (RGDP, RI, TO, FL) Where, BSD Pak = Banking Sector Development of Pakistan In this study, we have used following models which are estimated by using least square techniques. In model 1, we will use Liquid liabilities as the indicator of banking sector development. In model 2, Private Sector Credit will be used as the indicator of banking sector development where as in model 3, domestic credit will be used as the indicator of banking sector development. (Yu Gan, 2010) ln LL= ÃŽÂ ²o+ÃŽÂ ²1ln RGDP+ ÃŽÂ ²2 DR + ÃŽÂ ²3TO+ ÃŽÂ ²4FL + e ln PRI= ÃŽÂ ²o+ ÃŽÂ ²1ln RGDP+ ÃŽÂ ²2 DR + ÃŽÂ ²3 TO+ ÃŽÂ ²4FL+ e ln DC= ÃŽÂ ²o+ÃŽÂ ²1ln RGDP+ ÃŽÂ ²2 DR + ÃŽÂ ²3 TO+ ÃŽÂ ²4FL+ e where, ln LL= Natural logarithm of liquid liabilities ln PRI= Natural logarithm of Private sector Credit ln DC= Natural logarithm of Domestic Credit Data source: We have used annual data from 1970 to 2007 in this study. The data is obtained from the World Bank database and international financial statistics. However, Financial Liberalization Index of Pakistan, constructed by (Waliullah, 2010) is used in this study. Real GDP (RGDP) is calculated by using following formula EMPIRICAL METHODOLOGY In this study, Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique has been used. In order to run the OLS model, order of integration of every variable is determined. There are two methods to examine the order of integration i.e. Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test and Phillps-Perron test. In this study, we will use ADF test for examining weather the data is stationary or non-stationary. We will run co-integration test when all variables becomes stationary at same level. The generalized form of data has been used in this study. In model 1, liquid liabilities have been used as an indicator of banking sector development. Table 1 show that Real GDP, Financial Liberalization and Trade openness are statistically significant and Discount rate is not statistically significant to the development of banking sector in Pakistan. However, Trade openness is inversely related with liquid liabilities which means that increase in trade openness will eventually affects the development of banking sector. While, Real GDP and Financial liberalization have a significant impact on the banking sector development i.e. higher Real GDP and Financial Liberalization in Pakistan will leads towards development of banking sector. R square is (.99) which shows substantial explanation of independent variables in dependent variables. Table 2. OLS Results of Model 2 (Private Sector Credit) Dependent Variable: PRI Method: Least Squares Date: 01/24/11 Time: 16:16 Sample: 1970 2007 Included observations: 38 Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob. RGDP -7.684614 5.715274 -1.344575 0.1879 TO -7.525119 3.603842 -2.088082 0.0446 DR 25.87713 9.222809 2.805775 0.0084 FL -0.204028 1.108112 -0.184122 0.8550 C 0.033118 0.090551 0.365739 0.7169 R-squared 0.343149 Mean dependent var 0.041883 Adjusted R-squared 0.263531 S.D. dependent var 0.648747 S.E. of regression 0.556741 Akaike info criterion 1.788644 Sum squared resid 10.22868 Schwarz criterion 2.004116 Log likelihood -28.98424 F-statistic 4.309923 Durbin-Watson stat 1.880175 Prob(F-statistic) 0.006483 In model 2, we have used Private sector credit as an indicator of development of banking sector in Pakistan. Results of table 2 indicate that discount rate and trade openness have significant impact on the development of banking sector. However, Trade openness is inversely related to the banking sector development. Financial liberalization and Real GDP are not found statistically significant. R square of model 2 is (.34) which shows that independent variables are explaining 34 % of the dependent variable. OLS Results of Model 3 (Domestic Credit) Dependent Variable: DC Method: Least Squares Date: 01/24/11 Time: 16:20 Sample: 1970 2007 Included observations: 38 Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob. RGDP 0.289400 0.002316 124.9755 0.0000 TO -0.007190 0.001983 -3.626526 0.0010 DR 0.014020 0.005240 2.675496 0.0115 FL 0.001211 0.000307 3.938439 0.0004 C -6.23E-06 4.61E-06 -1.351692 0.1857 R-squared 0.999939 Mean dependent var -1.15E-05 Adjusted R-squared 0.999931 S.D. dependent var 0.003380 S.E. of regression 2.80E-05 Akaike info criterion -18.00387 Sum squared resid 2.59E-08 Schwarz criterion -17.78840 Log likelihood 347.0735 F-statistic 134392.7 Durbin-Watson stat 1.559156 Prob(F-statistic) 0.000000 In model 3, we have used domestic credit as an indicator of banking sector development. Results of table 3 indicate that all variables are statistically significant to the development of banking sector of Pakistan. R square of model 3 is (.99) which shows that independent variables have a significant impact on the dependent variable. (Goldsmith, 1969) As mentioned above, generalized form of data has been used in this study and numbers of tests have been applied on these three models and there is no serial correlation, heteroscedasticity. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION The results of this study shows that Trade openness is inversely related to the development of banking sector in Pakistan in all three models which validates the findings of (Siddiqui Iqbal, 2005) that Trade openness negatively affects the economic growth of a country. However these results are not according to the findings of (Miller Upadhyay, 2000) which states that trade openness leads to the development of financial sector. Moreover this study also does not support the findings of (Yu Gan, 2010) which states that trade openness have no impact on the development of banking sector. In case of Liquid liabilities as indicator of banking sector development, it is clear that Real GDP and Financial liberalization have the significant impact on the development of banking sector of Pakistan. This result is according to the findings of (Yu Gan, 2010) and (Attaullah et al, 2004) which show that Real GDP and Financial Liberalization significantly impact the banking sector development. It means that increase in Real GDP and Financial Liberalization will lead the banking sector of Pakistan towards prosperity. In case of Private sector credit as the indicator of banking sector development, it is found that discount rate is statistically significant to the banking sector development. It means that increase in discount rate will lead towards increase in private sector credit which will eventually results in financial sector development. However, financial liberalization was found inversely related to the banking sector development and Real GDP was not found significant which is against the findings of (Yu Gan, 2010) which identifies that Real GDP has a significant impact on the development of financial sector of Pakistan when Private sector credit is taken as indicator of banking sector development. In case of Domestic credit as indicator of development of banking sector, results shows that all four variables are statistically significant to the financial sector development which are according to the findings of (Rajan Zingales, 1998), (Cetorelli Gambera, 2001) which states that Financial Liberalization and Real GDP significantly impact the development of financial sector. PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATIONS FOR BANKING SECTOR On the basis of the findings of this study, we can conclude that trade openness is having inverse relationship with the banking sector development. As a result of Trade openness, the less developed banking sector of Pakistan faces tough competition from the developed financial sector of other countries. Moreover, increase in trade openness increases the countryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s exposure to international shocks i.e. if any economy faces will suffer a crisis, there will be more chance of transferring crisis in Pakistan. Discount rate is also found significant in this study when Private sector credit and Domestic credit was used as an indicator of banking sector development. When the discount rate will be high, financial institutions will be encouraged to get loan from state bank of Pakistan. Banks usually uses discount rate as benchmark interest rate when they further lend the money to borrowers. So increasing the discount rate will eventually lead the banking sector to development.

Raising the Driving Age

For at least the last ten years, the issue of whether or not to raise the driving age to 18 years old has been a touchy subject on every level of the spectrum; from State Highway Safety Association to teenagers and everybody in between. Although everyone has some degree of approval that raising the driving age would be a good idea no one has really put forth the effort to actually have it come to pass. This has lead to the ongoing debate of whether it should even be a consideration anymore.There are several reasons that establishing the driving age at 18 is a legitimate idea. First, by having the driving age moved to the minimum of 18 this can be both environmentally and economically commendable. Also, teenagers under the age of 18 are more mentally underdeveloped when it comes to making sound decisions on the road, which then leads teenagers to having one of the highest fatality rates involving automobiles. Global warming has become key issue all over the world, especially in more o ver-crowded counties and cities, due to higher volume of emissions being released into the air.In the year 2000, the Carbon Emissions that are released into the air by cars in the United States is 302 Million Metric tons (MMTc) (Environmental). In that same year, there were 190 million licensed drivers in the United States, and 9,743,000 were drivers under the age of 19 (U. S), that’s five percent of the population. I know it doesn’t seem like that much but when you take in consideration the total emissions being released into the air and multiply it by the number of teenage drivers, that will reduce the amount of emissions by 15. MMTc. People are desperate to help stop global warming; one way we can do this is to reduce the amount of drivers on the roads and create a more accessible public transportation in rural areas. Increasing the age for driving would also be beneficial to parents of teen drivers due to the fact that insuring a teen driver is very expensive. A re cent study, in 2009-2010 for a one-car family to insure their teen-driver would raise their premium 42 percent, 58 percent for a two-car family and 62 percent for a three-car family (Schultz).An average of $620 dollars a year is what parents pay to add their child to their insurance (Bradford). That is one child, I come from a family of five and eleven years ago, when I turned sixteen my parents already had two teen drivers on their auto insurance and we were living off two teacher salaries. By the year 2000 the average teacher in Texas was making 37,576 (IES); that would leave them with a combined income of just over 75 thousand a year.Paying an average of $620 dollars per teen driver wouldn’t have gone over well with living expenses, so needless to say, I got my divers license but I wasn’t able to drive until I was 18. There are always two sides to an argument, Parents grow weary of driving their kids for one place to the next; interrupting their own busy schedules t o drive their teen to their next social event. Bill Van Tassel, AAA’s National manager for driving training programs says â€Å"We have parents who are pretty much tired of chauffeuring their kids around, and just want them to be able to drive† (Davis).This is completely understandable, with today’s busy world no one has time for anything but does it really merit putting a population of underdeveloped minds behind the wheel for our own convenience? Which brings me to my next point; are teens mentally mature enough to be granted with the responsibility of driving a car? In 2005, new findings in brain research at the National Institutes of Health explain why efforts to protect teen drivers usually fail. The scientists at the NIH in Bethesda, Md. have found that a part of the brain that weighs risks, makes judgments and controls impulse behavior which is referred to as â€Å"the executive branch† is still developing in teenage years and isn’t fully ma tured until the age of 25 (Davis). These findings should be proof alone that teens are too immature to handle the responsibilities that come with driving a car. Teens are already emotional and compulsive more so then most adults, giving them keys to a vehicle could be potentially one of the worse ideas in history.Teens don’t process consequences the same way adults do, they rely more on the emotional part of their brains to make their decisions. Which is why when a teen is driving 15 to 20 miles over the speed limit the part of their brain that processes thrill is working brilliantly; But the part that cautions of negative consequences, is all but useless, explains Jay Giedd, chief of brain imaging in the child psychiatric unit at the National Institute of Mental Health (Davis). Parents see their newly licensed teen river as additional help for running errands and taking younger siblings to events and practices, but when it comes to handling issues that may arise on the road to and from their destination; teenagers just don’t have the mental maturity to consider the consequences of risky behavior. When I was still in high school two friends of mine were bragging one morning of their reckless and very dangerous excursion across town in the pouring rain without their windshield wipers on, just because they wanted to see how far they could go.I would advocate this as a true example, that teenagers are indeed too immature and reckless to be given the responsibilities of driving. Of course one would argue that not all teenagers are as immature and irresponsible as most, in fact there are some parents that would make their teen a poster-child for safe driving; but there are always exceptions to the rules. Adolescent drivers no matter how responsible they prove themselves to be don’t have the mental development to properly react to hazardous situations that arise on the road.The research above leads to my next topic, Due to their inability to ass es dangers that come up while driving, a teen driver is more likely to be involved in or the cause of an automobile accident. In 2009, about 3,000 teens in the United States aged 15–19 were killed and  more than 350,000 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor-vehicle crashes (CDC). With this information, one would wonder why the driving age has yet to be raised.Yet, despite the increasing number of teens dying in automotive accidents, there has yet to be a successful bill passed to raise the driving age. In September of 2008, lawmakers in Delaware, Florida, Georgia and Massachusetts introduced a bill to raise their driving age to 17; they all failed (Rubin). Some people are lead to believe that raising the driving age will not prevent teen deaths, rather just delay them, because maturity has no weight on teen driving, it’s all down to experience; It is this rational that is keeping teen drivers behind the wheel.Most states have a probatio nary period where teen must follow guidelines such as: * Night driving is prohibited for the first six months unless he/ she are accompanied by a licensed driver. * A passenger limitation of only one passenger under the age of 20 for the first six months unless a parent or guardian is present. * During the second six months only three passengers under 20 (Pabst) These restrictions have had only modest success, but with the judgment center of the teen brain not fully developed there remains a struggle to instill decision making skills in immature drivers (Davis).Most of these restrictions are left to the parents to enforce and these poorly enforced restrictions don’t seem to be helping stop the high volume of deaths due to irresponsible teenager’s being given the right to drive. In 2006, my father was killed in accident involving a teenage driver, who neglected to follow the speed limit, and disregarded the stopped school bus with its lights on, and plowed right into th e back of the vehicle behind my father causing it to hit my father on his motorcycle. I don’t know what she was doing to completely miss the big yellow stopped school bus, and the car right next to it, but it cost my father his life.The only argument against the high rate of death and injury cause by the sober mind of a teenager, are the high number of deaths caused by intoxicated driver. In 2003, 10 percent of the 16-year-old deaths in automobile accidents had a blood alcohol level of 0. 10 or higher compared to the 43 percent of 20- 49 year-olds drivers, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (Davis). The government has made it illegal to drive intoxicated to protect the lives of their people, so why can’t they raise the driving age to save even more lives?Raising the driving age is something that should be taken with the highest regard, but there are people who don’t quite understand the severity of this particular situation and would simply argue that driving there teen around is an inconvenience to them and a frustration for their teen. In actuality by having the driving age moved to the minimum for 18 can be both environmentally and economically commendable. Also, teenagers under the age of 18 are more mentally immature when it comes to making sound decisions on the road, which then leads teenagers to having one of the highest fatality rates involving automobiles.Having an understanding of the matter is very important; people shouldn’t ignore this topic just because it doesn’t fit into today’s busy and ever growing world.