In the book aptly titled Hannibal Essay Example for Free

In the book aptly titled Hannibal Essay In the book aptly titled Hannibal, Serge Lancel provided a nitty-gritty exposition of Rome’s Great Commander life history. Through this book, Lancel aims to provide a concise account of Hannibal’s greatness to enlighten some misconceptions about the hero, and to outline how Hannibal reached the summit of success, in terms of war. The book explicates Hannibal’s historical biography from childhood up to the moment of his downfall, to give the reader a clear picture of Hannibal’s attributes, strengths, weaknesses, and most especially his essential characteristics that made him a true hero. Lancel does not only establish Hannibal’s internal complexities but he also provided a precise status quo of the Carthaginian world throughout the progression of the Great Commander’s life history. With this, Lancel successfully sketched the annihilation of Hellenistic world and the ascension of Rome. Hannibal was brought in to world in 247 BCE at Carthage, which was experiencing a tremendous loss from Rome during the First Punic War (264-241). The domination of Rome during this period has a great influence to young Hannibal’s life because he was the eldest son of a Carthaginian general named Hamilcar Barca. At the age of ten, Hannibal witnessed the step by step triumph of his father through the latter’s accomplishment of other territories for the expansion Carthage empire. Many believed that Hamilcar compelled Hannibal to make a promise that the latter will have a perpetual abhorrence to the Roman Empire. Lancel posited that these could be hearsay only but this event could be true since Carthaginians have all the reasons to detest the Romans. When Hamilcar died in 229 BCE, Hasdrubal the Fair (Hamilcar’s son in-law) assumed the position, and during his reign he changed the landscape warfare by promoting diplomatic means. Eight years after, Hasdrubal was assassinated, which paved way for Hannibal’s commandership over the Carthaginian militia in Iberia. From diplomatic practice, Hannibal went back to his father approach of battle, which is aggressive in nature. His first attack was towards the natives of Salamanca in 220 BCE, followed the seizure Santagnum, which led to a conflict with the Romans because during Hasdrubal supremacy, Carthage and Rome made a treaty to prevent any disagreement between the two empires. Carthage and Rome underwent a negotiation, and while it is going Hannibal continued his goal of extending his territory. When he completely invaded the Iberian Peninsula the Carthage-Rome relationship worsened and catapulted the Second Punic War. Rome sent out reinforcement in Sicily, while Hannibal made a bold move in beleaguering Italy before the former can prepared themselves in the waging war. The existing war gave Hannibal an opportunity to get the support Gaul militia, which in the end made his army more powerful, and resulted, to his second triumph at Trebia River. In March 217 BCE, the Great Commander winning streak perpetuated though in an unfortunate event he lost one of his eyes (some historians posited that this due to opthamalia) during the war. Roman militia’s power diminished as the war went on, in an unexpected happenstance their consul Flaminius was ambushed near the Trasimene Lake. Because of this, Hannibal exterminated two Roman legions, but it did not stop Rome and its allies from engaging and continuing the war. Instead, they aggravated the conflict when Quintus Fabius Maximus was chosen to be Rome’s dictator. The Roman council suggested an end-all be-all war, in which they were successful at its first battle at Cannae but they were eventually defeated when Carthaginian army overwhelmed them in a circular formation. Several of Roman allies was so disappointed with result of the Second Punic War, they decided to turn their back with Rome and decided to join the Carthage Empire. Then at age of thirty, Capua was established as Hannibal’s capital in Italy. He commanded his brother Mago Barca to relate the good news in Carthage and in doing so; Mago decanted hundreds of golden rings taken from the decimated cadavers of Roman army, while he was entering the entrance hall of the Carthaginian senate. Nevertheless, Roman council, along with their remaining allies, still resisted any agreement with Hannibal. Then the Great Commander decided to make an alliance with the Macedonian empire, which he acquired through the approval of King Philip V of Macedonia. With this approval, the Carthaginian forces were joined by Syracuse forces in 214 BCE. Rome did not falter; instead, they started an alliance with the Aetolia since this Greek town has a dispute with Macedonia. In the undying desire of Hannibal to expand his territory, he pursued Cumae and Puteoli ports, in order for him to strengthen his militia, but due to this, Rome found an opportunity to regain its nation’s confidence and to start anew because Hannibal neglected his offensives in Central Italy. In 212 BCE, Hannibal tasted his first failure.

Ethical concerns of the little albert study

Ethical concerns of the little albert study 1. The first major ethical concern we encountered in this exam period was that of Watson and his Little Albert study. The modern code of ethics denounces evoking fear responses from human participants, unless the participant has been made aware of and consented beforehand. As an infant, Albert was obviously unable to give consent and also unable to realize that what he was taking part in was controlled research. Scaring a child to the point where he is visibly terrified and crying seems unequivocally immoral. I take more issue with the fact that Watson didnt remove the fear in Albert by de-conditioning him, even though he had time to allow for it. The impact of the study might justify ethical wrongs it committed. It is one of the most influential studies on phobias of all time, paving the way for counterconditioning (Cover Jones) and other therapies that have allowed millions of people to overcome incapacitating fears and emotional issues. Another case briefly covered this exam period was the study done by Schreiner and Kling on Kluver-Bocy Syndrome. The syndrome is a behavioral disorder that typically occurs as a result of damage or malfunction of the amygdale. In carrying out their research, Schreiner and Kling removed the amygdale of cats and monkeys (Squire 201). This research led to a greater understanding of the brain and the importance of the amygdale, but obviously came at a cost to the animals involved in the testing. Modern research by Rusiko Bourtchouladze has shown the syndrome to hinder the ability to understand feelings and emotions. He describes how they lose their desire to compete or cooperate and an inability to detect sadness, disgust, fear or rage (Bourtchouladze 83). This is in addition to highly unusual sexual practices and various memory and recognition problems. The research was illuminating, but in retrospect, leaving an animal with a disorder in the process seems unethical and avoidable. The last psychologist Ill highlight is Harry Harlow, one of the most ethically controversial figures of modern psychology. The knowledge he attempted to gain from his research was noble; understanding the caretaker-child relationship and how this relationship leads to certain behaviors and abnormalities in the childs maturation. The execution, however, is highly unethical by todays standards. Many of the monkeys Harlow experimented on were severely traumatized by their time in the research lab. Harlow employed devices such as his rape rack to artificially inseminate monkeys and also a pit of despair to produce isolation and depression. In addition, he purposefully tried to evoke fear responses in the animals and admitted to physically abusing some of the subjects. It really doesnt come as a surprise that many of the subjects of his studies were left permanently psychotic upon the completion of the research. As ethically deplorable as Harlows studies may seem today, the impact of his studies do seem to justify their moral impropriety. The influence and impact of Harlows studies are high; they helped improve and educate society about parenting. Many of those from my fathers generation grew up with limited intimacy and affection from their parents. My dad told me that his father rarely showed any sort of physical affection towards him, never once hugging him or telling him that he loved him. The work of Harlow helped illuminate just how important contact comfort and affection is in the relationship between a child and its caregivers. This principle has also helped positively shape the methods used in dealing with children that have been abused and children in orphanages. Furthermore, some study had to be the one that led to a major push in ethical reform of psychological research. Harlows highly unethical treatment of his rhesus monkeys was a major factor in the animal advocacy movement an d also in the creation of the American Psychological Associations code of ethics. Harlow was wrong, but the publicity and attention he brought to his studies had the side effect of revealing some of the improper and unethical practices that had been occurring within psychological research. Bourtchouladze, Rusiko. Memories are made of this: how memory works in humans and animals. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002. Print. Squire, Larry R.. The history of neuroscience in autobiography . Washington D.C.: Society for Neuroscience, 1996. Print. 2. In contrast to the dominant thinking of the time, John Watsons behaviorism relied only on observable behav ­ior for its information. His Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It is now known as the behaviorist manifesto and is one of the most influential documents in the formation of behaviorism. The prevailing school of thought in psychology at the time relied heavily on introspection, but Watson did not believe introspection to be objective enough to be measured and accurately portrayed as science. In hoping to increase this objectivity, he took the focus away from enigmatic mental processes and placed it on empiricist principles that sought to predict and control actions. Emotions to him werent understandable through introspection but rather as a response to a stimuli. One of his major pieces of research was his study of Little Albert. Albert, an infant, was exposed to a white rat which he showed no visible fear towards. Watson then began accompanying the presentation of the ra t with a loud noise. Eventually Albert was conditioned to associate the two; even when the noise was discontinued, Albert kept his fear response when presented with the rat. This study verified to Watson that conditioned reflexes could be used to explain behavior and that psychological research should be rooted in observable stimuli and responses to these stimuli. Skinner was a proponent of a school of behaviorism called radical behaviorism. In many ways, his behaviorism, which focuses on operant conditioning, has supplanted the behaviorism of Watson. Skinner was focused on behavior as a function of schedules under which rewards are attained. Rather than the reflex focused theory of Watson, Skinner incorporated more the role of consequences in behavior and conditioning. Many human and animal actions cant simply be explained as reflexes. Writing this paper, for example, is not a reflex and the stimuli that govern it do not precede it. Rather, it is influenced by what follows it, its consequences, such as a good grade and the outcome of a good grade. Of interest to Skinner in understanding behavior are the types of reinforcement we get from our actions. Positive results from a behavior will typically increase that behavior and negative results will decrease it. One of Skinners famous studies was that of superstition in the pigeon. Placing pigeon s in a box that would release food at regular intervals, Skinner found that the pigeons associated the release of the food with whatever coincidental action they had performed as it was delivered. The pigeons would then repeat this action, believing it to have an effect on the releasing of the food. This study helped continue to cement Skinners belief in and support for operant conditioning. Tolman rejected Watsons reflex based form of behaviorism. He felt that mental processes could be objective and measurable in the same way physical ones were, broadening behaviorism to incorporate the psychological concepts of purpose and cognition. To Tolman, learning does not have to manifest itself in performance, nor is reinforcement needed to connect stimuli. For Tolman, reinforcement is not the essential aspect of learning that Skinner claims it to be. Rather, we can learn things latently and then use them in a flexible manner that may not necessarily be immediate. He used studies involving rats and various mazes to demonstrate that we can learn even when rewards are not present. Rather than a rigid model based in automatic responses, Tolman saw us as creating tentative, cognitive maps that indicate to us routes, paths and relationships that are relevant to goal orientation. His theory of goal-directed behavior focuses on an organisms behavior, what it is attempting to accomplis h with the behavior and where it is going. Tolman also took Skinners idea of a third variable (a variable other than stimuli and response) and tweaked it to suit his own form of behaviorism. Rather than something external in the environment as Skinner posited, Tolmans intervening variable was something mental occurring within the person or animal, such as hunger, motivation, intelligence, or intention. A June 2002 survey by the Review of General Psychology chose Skinner as the most influential psychologist of the 20th century and I agree. He is often credited with the change in terminology for renaming academic psychology departments behaviorism departments during the 1950s. His work is highly influential in academia, psychological treatment and therapy, and the understanding of learning, education, communication, and human behavior. 3. The person in psychology that we have covered in class that has resonated most with me is Mortons study on skull size and its use to justify racism. Morton conducted an extremely biased study where he found the skull size of Caucasians to be largest and North American Indian and Africans to be smallest. His study prompted many to believe that Indians and blacks were of a different species and, in a highly Christian influenced culture, that the bible was not directed at them. This implied that African and Native Americans were not destined to heaven as their Caucasian and Asiatic counterparts were. His ethnology was accepted as a way to justify racism and slavery against the Africans who were forcefully brought to the U.S. against their will for labor. In regards to the Indians, their mistreatment was justified since they were looked at as savages or a subhuman race. In this theory, it was believed that the size of one skull is the decisive factor in terms of ones mental capacities and belief system where a larger skull is most desirable. Even if skull size was an accurate way to determine intelligence, it is obviously not true that all Caucasians would have larger skulls than all blacks. There might be some Caucasians with small skulls and blacks with larger. He was selective in choosing his subjects though where he had more women for the groups that were supposedly inferior since generally, women have smaller skulls sizes than men. This produced his desired outcome. This was a landmark study because racism had existed long before this study was published. It still continues today after this study was found to be erroneous. At the time of the study though, Caucasians justified the mistreatment of other races. They were inferior and lacked the intellectual capacities so it was not immoral. It was found though that Morton only used data that supported this conclusion and rejected data that might counter his argument. It is interesting that after this study was found to be false, other eugenic studies have come out insinuating that whites were superior. (Herrnstein and Murrays The Bell Curve comes to mind as a modern example.) These studies show the way the human mind operates. It is obvious that there was a sense of guilt in the mistreatment of other races. The only way to justify these actions to God would be through science where treating an inferior group poorly would not be immoral. The inferior group would not understand this mistreatment. Mortons study also shows that the groups doing the mistreating knew that what they were doing was not right. They knew that it was not moral to forcefully remove a race and ultimately annihilate it as they did with the Native American race and on the other hand, forcefully bring another race in a country, stripping them from their families, to act as slaves. Another way that the Caucasian race showed their sense of superiority was through the assimilation of other groups. Many Native American tribes were forced into boarding schools where their language was forbidden, converted into Christianity, and forced to embrace western culture. They did not believe the Native culture to be as refined or sophisticated as theirs. This study seems absurd through the 21st century lens however it was widely accepted at the time. Racism still exists today in more subtle ways. The American Dream is supposedly attainable for all yet there are still disproportionate numbers of whites at the top and racial minorities at the bottom in terms of wealth. Success in this country is determined by factors that are biased towards the upper class Caucasian group. It is possible for other races to be successful but there are more barriers to entry. For one, racism makes some racial groups believe that they are not good enough to make it to college or top jobs in a self fulfilling prophecy. It is disheartening to think that the remnants of this study, however absurd they seem, still negatively affect the out groups today. 5) In class we discussed different cases in which scientists have cheated. There are different reasons why these scientists cheated but all are for personal gain or simplifying their studies. The types of cheating are data fabrication, selective exclusion of results, plagiarism, and ghost-writers. We see these same types of cheating in our world today whether it is in our peers, ourselves, our government, or large corporations. Comparing the case of Kammerer and the actions that resulted in the 2008 government bailout, we see two instances where data fabrication occurred. In Kammerers studies he was trying to prove that acquired traits could be passed down through heredity. Today this is known not to be true but Kammerer proved it through cheating in a study with toads and nuptial pads. The nuptial pads were acquired when toads lived and mated in an aquarium.   He claimed that the offspring of these toads who lived in aquariums and acquired the nuptial pads were born with the pads as well.   It was later found that he had actually injected the offspring with ink to imitate the nuptial pads to support his theory of heredity of acquired traits. Kammerer committed suicide and in a last note, he stood by his word that he did not commit fraud but was suspicious of someone who manipulated his study. During the financial crisis many large financial institutions were selling securities that they knew were not good investments to their clients. Selling these securities would give them money in the short term. In the long run though, they lost money and many organizations had to declare bankruptcy. They claimed that the government had to bail them out otherwise the whole countrys finances would collapse, which arguably happened anyway. The average American was defrauded into debt through the credit rating system. The ratings are used by investors to determine the risk of the credit ideally making the costs lowest for both borrowers and lenders. Financial products and investments were given high grades even if they were risky or bad investments. The low interest rates were an incentive for Americans to buy things they simply could not afford through borrowing. Often times the bankers would bet against an investment or loan that they gave a high rating to. This would give them more mo ney if the loan failed. In both cases the motives involved personal gain. In the Kammerer case, he wanted to make a landmark discovery that would put him down in history as one of the greatest scientists. He did not directly have innocent victims but could have misled the public to believe that something was possible that was not. Also, being a scientist, he should have known that future studies would be done involving his theory and would undoubtedly find his theory to be false. In the case of the large financial institutions giving bad loans and falsely rating investments, their incentive was to get more money for themselves regardless of who would suffer. The United States was the victim in this matter causing the greatest recession since the great depression. People lost their savings and homes. The perpetrators were not punished and should have been. I found the latter case to be far more problematic with fewer consequences. The financial institutions did not seem to have any sort of guilt since it was a large umbrella organization and not one single individual as in the former case. Kammamer obviously felt guilty about his actions and took his own life as a result. In that case tangible things were not taken but rather a false idea was put in the minds of the public. In the latter case, many people lost everything they had. Their careless actions caused many people depression in the aftermath. The individuals on Wall Street failed to perform their job and made the American people pay for their mistakes through their losses and in the tax dollars they used in bailing them out.

Marketing Paper -- essays research papers

Barnes and Noble is one of the biggest booksellers in the world. This wasn’t always so. B&N started off as a small bookstore in New York City. During that time, the store was not doing very well. Actually, it was about to close when it was bought by another store. Being bought out was one of the best things that could have happened to the store. Barnes and Noble today, has changed the way people shop for books; whether it is in one of their stores, or online. B&N has revolutionized the book buying experience. I want to discuss two ways in which they have done that. One way that B&N has done this is by making their stores so comfortable and inviting, and two is by opening their online store. Walking into a Barnes and Noble, I feel immediately comfortable. The way they have their stores set up makes it easy to browse, explore, and even to sit and read. With their cafes, comfy couches and chairs, B&N encourages customers to enjoy themselves. They are selling a whole experience, not just a book (Barnes and Noble.com). That is what makes them so unique in the book business. With the opening of their online store, B&N at first had problems. It was in 1996, that they first launched and estimated expense was over 50 million dollars (Trafficlabs.com). The reason for the problems was that the internet was relatively new, and Amazon had already carved out a niche for books online. It was in the combining of the brick and mortar store, and online services that saved ...

Alienation And Discrimination: Of Mice And Men :: essays research papers fc

The 1930s was a time period in which racial discrimination played a vital role in the lives of minorities. Around this time period many men were rovers, or men who wandered in search of work. These men were often very lonely. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Crooks, a black stable buck, endures alienation due to racial discrimination. Racial discrimination also hinders him from any type of success. Despite the hardships, he overcomes these obstacles and faces this struggle head on.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Forced into isolationism, due to segregation, alienation becomes Crooks’ companion. On an attempt for his alienation to be broken, Lennie walks into Crooks’ room â€Å"smiled helplessly in an attempt to make friends† (75). At the sight of this Crooks becomes defensive and declares, â€Å"I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse and you ain’t wanted in my room...They say I stink†(75). It is obvious that Crooks has been treated badly. he wants company but he does not really know how to except it or express himself towards it. Suddenly, â€Å"Crooks scowled but Lennie’s disarming smile defeated him†(76). This action shows the importance of human contact and though he scowls, Lennie looks over him. 1this entire incident shows how Crooks wants his loneliness to end. As Lennie entered Crooks room he (Crooks) slowly began to let his guard down because he needs companionship and friendship with others to share his ideas. Until this point ant time none of the other men had ever been in Crooks’ room just as he had never been in the bunkhouse. More ironic incidents are bound to happen.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After Candy enters Crooks’ room, Curley’s wife enters the room also and tries to hold a conversation with the three men. After the men do not respond to her she states, â€Å"Funny thing... If I catch one man, and he’s alone, I get along with him fine. But just two of the guys get together and you won’t talk†(84). Curley’s wife is also very lonely (just as the men are). The men do not want any trouble so Crooks tells her, â€Å"Maybe you better go along to your house now, we don’t want no trouble†(84)...†You ain’t got no rights in a colored man’s room†(88). She does not have the right to be in his room. Neither of the men want to be in any type of trouble with the boss or Curley, His son, because she decided to go into Crooks’ room. But all of a sudden she becomes furious and exclaims, â€Å"Listen, Nigger, you know what I can do to you if you open your trap?

Intermediate Sanctions

Intermediate sanctions are the sanctions that are more restrictive than the probation and less restrictive than imprisonment. It is also intended to relieve the pressure on the over crowed facilities that deal with the corrections and the probation departments that are understaffed. The purpose for the intermediate sanction in the criminal justice process is that it helps with any of the concerns from the facilities being packed and over crowed. Jails and the prisons are packed more this century then the last century. It also helps with the short staff that is in the offices and the probation officers short staffed. The government should take it under consideration that the criminal justice system needs the staff and the money to make the criminal justice organization work together. There are two functions as a sentencing alternative in the intermediate sanction. They are to divert the offenders from the overcrowded jails or prisons. The second one is to place the different offenders under the higher levels of the control. It is the risk that the community poses to. * I believe that the intermediate sanctions are not an appropriate punishment. People should not have to serve their time behind bars because they prisons and jail cells are over packed and crowded. The government should put in more funds so that if people do the crime, then they should do the time. Also, probation is an advantage and that people should not be misused. * In conclusion, I believe that the intermediate sanction can work out if people do not take advantage of the probation punishment. This punishment should only be used if there is no room in the jail cell or the prisons. I believe that once someone does a crime, that that person may do it again.

Gary Becker’s Contribution to Family Economics

Gary Becker’s research on economics has also been his life’s work and garnered him the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1992 for â€Å"having extended the domain of the microeconomic Analysis to a wide range of human behavior and interactions, including non-market behavior. † (Federal, p. 1).Becker’s entire life has been spent taking the typical economic approach and extending it to a wider range of social issues. In addition to sheer monetary issues, Becker goes further and shows that individuals, contrary to widely held belief do not operate solely under financial gain and, in fact can show great acts of altruism as well.It has been said that Becker’s analysis should perhaps be known as the theory of rational choice, or purposeful behavior rather than simply as the straight economic approach generally seen. (The Prize p. 1). Becker himself notes that economic analysis can be applied to many issues in our daily social lives, other than the ones we tradi tionally believe to be strictly â€Å"economic. † He further states that â€Å"the horizons of economics need to be expanded. Economists can talk not only about the demand for cars, but also about matters such as the family, discrimination, and religion, and about prejudice, guilt and love.† (Religion p. 1). He very staunchly states that economic imperialism is not the same thing at all as crude materialism and that the idea that the total of a person’s value lies in their material worth has more in common with Marxist analysis than his own. (Religion p. 1). Robert Pollack, a self-stated critic of Becker’s concedes that he is really more of a follower of Becker’s than a critic, and that in all reality Becker put the family on the economic professions research agenda. (Pollack p. 5). The economics of the family is a creation of Gary Becker, and exhibits incredible significance in our lives today. B.Objectives/Hypotheses/Position Becker calls the for m of interdependent preferences within the family â€Å"altruism. † These preferences are introduced by supposing that one spouse is egoistic, while the other is altruistic, or cares both about his or her own consumption as well as the spouse’s utility. Pollack argues that rather than altruistic, the word should be known as â€Å"deferential,† as it is much more descriptive, denoting that, for instance the husband defers to his wife’s preferences regarding her consumption pattern. (Pollack pg. 12). Regardless of the terminology used, we can take Pollack’s model for explanation.Family members often have non-deferential preferences wherein each spouse cares about each other’s consumption habits either instead of or in addition to caring about their own. For the laymen, Pollack lays out Becker’s theory even simpler: A wife may have non-deferential preferences in that she wants her husband to spend more time jogging â€Å"because it†™s good for him,† and less time watching TV. In other words, non-deferential preferences tend to mean that each spouse prefers a different consumption patter for the other spouse, than the other spouse would choose for him/herself. (Pollack p. 14).Becker would state that the altruist, or deferential partner does not give anymore weight to his own well-being or self-interests than he gives to any other family member. Becker typically allows that the head of the household is regarded as an altruistic agent of the interests of all family members. (Pollack p. 14). Martha Nussbaum, a philosopher, finds this theory to be full of holes. Because the typical head of the household is male, Nussbaum feels that Becker’s theory becomes flawed as â€Å"males are often neglectful of the interests of females, whether wives or children, and makes decisions inimical to those interests.† (Pollack p. 14). Whether or not you agree with Nussbaum that the typical male head of househo ld is far from altruistic, or deferential, I think we can all agree that in theory there is generally one altruistic or deferential spouse in a relationship, along with the other who is the non-deferential spouse, or is more concerned with their own financial issues than of those of their spouse. Becker’s deferential preferences as related to parents and children would state that parents were not only concerned with their children’s utilities, but with their consumption patterns as well.In other words, while parents might be willing to pay for college, or perhaps a down payment on their children’s first house, they will be much less inclined to pay for a Hummer, or a trip to Europe. (Pollack p. 16). So the deferential model has parents willing to fund the â€Å"necessities† of life, such as education or a roof over their children’s heads, but are much less likely to want to pay for the frills. C. Methodology Becker’s household production mod el theorizes that households â€Å"combine both time and market goods to produce more basic commodities that directly enter their utility functions.† (Pollack p. 16). This is, of course, based on the assumed absence of joint production in the family as well as the assumed observability and measurability of commodities. Becker denotes â€Å"commodity shadow prices† in his household production model, which is the ratio at which a household can transform one commodity into another. All time and market goods that produce more basic commodities means treating all household functions as commodities. Therefore, time spent cooking, time spent cleaning, time spent helping children with homework all become commodities.Please note, that Becker defines commodities as anything that is observable or measurable, therefore in his model, time spent watching a pay with the children, sleeping, or listening to music is measurable, while stating these same things differently, such as †Å"music appreciation,† makes them unable to be measured or observed. So, the same activity, stated differently might or might not be a commodity. (Pollack p. 19). Becker’s altruistic model in the context of family consisted of a â€Å"brood of egoistic but rational â€Å"kids† and one deferential or altruistic parent.In his â€Å"Rotten Kid Theorem,† Becker notes that â€Å"Each beneficiary, no matter how selfish, maximizes the family income of his benefactor and thereby internalizes all effects of his actions on other beneficiaries. † (Pollack p. 21). Becker frequently uses the wife in the family model as the Rotten Kid, and Pollack’s example is that an altruist (or his selfish beneficiary) would eat with his fingers only when its value to him exceeds the value of the disgust suffered by another family member, or the altruist would read in bed late at night only when its value to him far exceeds the loss of sleep suffered by his spouse.(Pol lack p. 21). D. Innovating Aspects of Paper Becker basically looked upon the family, or the household as a miniature factory which produced services for the members of the household, â€Å"with an input of time and purchased consumer goods, the latter being regarded as intermediate inputs in the production process taking place in the household. † (The Prize p. 1). In this particular context, then, a wage rise can lead to less time-consuming production of services within the household.In other words, the father’s increase in pay might well enable the mother to hire a maid to help with the household chores, thereby freeing up more of her own time for the children or for leisure activities. In a really innovative step, Becker also applied his economic family theories to the area of crime and punishment, making the assumption that except for a certain number of true psychopaths, â€Å"individuals who behave criminally react in predictable ways to different stimuli in the form of benefits and the costs of criminal activities.† (The Prize p. 2). This theory would then offer fairly solid predictions about which groups of citizens could reasonably be expected to commit which types of crime. Studies on this subject have shown that an increase in the probability of being convicted at all is more a deterrent to the would-be criminal than the expectation of a certain level of harshness of punishment. (The Prize, pg. 2). D. Brief Critical Literature Survey Another famous book of Gary Becker’s is entitled â€Å"The Economics ofDiscrimination. † The theory of this book is that discrimination carries certain costs. For example, let’s assume that a certain businessman doesn’t like hiring women, or blacks, or any specific group, for that matter. In our present day highly competitive marketplace this businessman must then bear the cost of his particular discrimination. If he hires a high-wage white worker as opposed to an equally productive but lower-wage female worker, he has then foregone profits that could accrue to his firm.Although he may still decide to discriminate based on his strong feelings about one group or another, essentially the stronger his prejudices, the higher the cost. Although in some situations these costs might be hidden, and even though a competitive market will never completely eliminate discrimination, the market will, in itself, tend to reduce discrimination purely because the company that discriminates must pay the monetary costs associated with discrimination. (Economic p. 3).Becker also discusses Richard Epstein’s book, â€Å"Forbidden Grounds,† calling it a very â€Å"thoughtful book, which raises good questions. † (Economic p. 3). Epstein stresses the difficulties in implementing civil rights legislation, stressing the huge gap between the promise and the practice; Becker agrees with Epstein’s conclusion that there should be no civil rights legislat ion. (Economic p. 4). II. Analysis A. Hypotheses/Model Becker believes his model of household production puts economics into a simpler form that can be more easily understood by the general public.In fact, the American people as a whole tend to be frightened by economics, to the point, Becker says, that when you mention you are an economist, the typical response is that people say they took an economics class in college and either hated it or were terrible at it, or both. Becker believes that we should relax over the whole issue of economics, and that economists should attempt to express economic concepts in simple language, and detail the solving of economics in a straightforward, simple way. (Federal, p. 6).Becker continues by saying that many intellectuals and economists use big words and obscure language when they are writing about economics. â€Å"Sometimes it is a way of disguising that they are not saying a heck of a lot. Of course, some propositions are tougher to express. † (Federal p. 6). The challenge to a writer of economics, or any subject considered by the average person to be difficult, is to give a reasonably intelligent person a feel for the basics, and let their own intellect take it from that point. B. Analytical Discussion of Topic/Model In an interview with Gary Becker, he was asked if it was a true story that the initialInspiration for his work on the economics of crime was found while searching for a parking spot, and he agrees, â€Å"True story. † As he tells the story, he was coming down to Columbus University for an oral exam. He was to ask students a half-hour’s worth of questions on price theory. Becker was living in the suburbs at the time and drove to Columbia. He was running a bit late—never a good thing in New York City with parking spaces at such a premium. Because in those days Columbia had no designated parking for their faculty members, the choice was to either park illegally or go into a parking lot.Realizing how late he was, Becker pondered on the two choices, mentally calculating his chances of getting caught if he parked illegally versus parking a couple of blocks away which would entail a longer walk, as well as costing money. As Becker walked to the exam—a walk that took about ten minutes—he suddenly realized that if he was thinking about his chances of getting caught while parked illegally, that in all likelihood, the police were thinking about the same thing. They must, if they were rational human beings, be thinking about the likelihood of catching someone who was illegally parked.When Becker reached his student’s oral exam, the first question he presented was the one he had been pondering, and while he remembers the student didn’t do to well with an answer, Becker realized what an interesting topic it was, and started working seriously on it from that point out. Becker states that â€Å"I set it up so that society was trying to minimize the expected loss from criminals, taking account of the damage done by the crime, cost of policing, cost of taking somebody to trial, cost of punishment, how much deterrence there would be if criminals expected greater punishment or lesser punishment and so on.† (Federal p. 2). In the end, Becker was grateful to his parking problem, as it led him to one of his most â€Å"famous† theories of crime and economics. C. Theoretical Analysis Gary Becker was a great believer that family law would be a good area in which to do more law and economics work. He notes that family law is often looked down on in law school, not being a field that â€Å"top† people should consider going into, yet the family is such an important institution in society, that family law should certainly garner more respect from the legal industry.Families have been ever-changing, particularly in the last few decades, and now there are more and more areas of family law such as divorce, fertility, c hild care, homosexual marriages, homosexual parenting, marriage contracts, custody provision†¦the list goes on and on. Therefore Becker finds family law an area of great interest, ready to have more law students making it their specialty. Becker feels that family law is clearly one area that can have much more done with it using the tools of laws and economics. (Federal p. 3). D. Experts’ Insights and FindingsPollack finds Becker’s earlier talked about altruistic model as an â€Å"ultimatum game. † Pollack’s example is that the first player, or the proposer, offers a division of a fixed sum of money between himself and the second player. The second player, or the responder, is informed of the proposed division, and must then choose between two alternatives which are: †¢ She can accept the proposed division, in which case both players receive the proposed payoffs, or †¢ She can reject the proposed division, in which case both players receive exactly nothing.Therefore, Pollack reasons, the ultimatum game is a one-shot non-cooperative game in which the â€Å"proposer moves first and confronts the potential recipient with a take it or leave it offer. Commitment is essential to ultimatum games—if the responder rejects the offer, the game ends; the proposer cannot improve his offer. † (Pollack p. 24). E. Regressions/Correlation Analysis/data/tables To relate the above ultimatum game to Becker’s altruistic model, consider the game in which the proposer and the responder divide a fixed sum of money. Further consider that the proposer has egoistic tendencies.Therefore, the proposer offers a division in which he gets the entire sum, and the responder accepts, because she can do no better. If, on the other hand the proposer cares about the responder’s utility, then the proposer is going to offer a division that benefits the responder above himself. F. Findings/Arguments/Evidence The take it or leave i t family ultimatum game provides â€Å"a model in which all Becker’s claims about efficiency, distribution, and family demand functions hold. The altruist attains his most preferred feasible point, subject to the constraint that others receive enough to remain in the family. † (Pollack p. 25).G. Statistical Data/Tables â€Å"Empirical work on pooling began with articles by Duncan Thomas and T. Paul Schultz. † (Pollack p. 33). Thomas showed that kids do better in terms of mortality and morbidity when their mothers control a larger fraction of the family resources. Beck’s alternative theory to this assumption is the â€Å"better mothers† story, or the fact that mothers with more energy and ability are more likely to control a larger fraction of family nonlabor resources, and thus to have kids who do better. Thomas and Shultz, however, do not observe energy or ability. III. Policy Findings and Conclusions A. Basic Findings/SummaryAccording to Pollack, Becker’s economic approach to the family is often believed to imply that certain types of government policies cannot and do not affect allocation within families because they â€Å"will be fully neutralized by individuals’ responses. † (Pollack, p. 39). Both Becker’s altruist model and Rotten Kid Theorem imply that which parent receives the child benefit must be irrelevant, however Pollack feels that the conclusion that parents will neutralize the child benefit â€Å"depends on the assumption that family collective choice is determined by the altruist model, and that preferences exhibit transferable utility.† (Pollack p. 40). B. Policy Recommendations from your findings The role of technology and its place in facilitating the ability of human capital is both critical and important in today’s world. Becker felt that modern economies depend on modern technology, and you can’t have one without the other. Additionally, these various tech nologies are generally produced by people who have lots of human capital. Without that human capital there would not be the opportunity to build and make effective use of technology.Lastly, according to Becker, these new technologies are going to significantly impact the acquiring of this capital. People are beginning to use the various forms of technology to work at home, or earn degrees at home, thereby reducing the cost of gathering many people under one roof. (Manville, p. 3). The possibilities of the new technologies, along with the specific economics of these same technologies offer incredible opportunities for our future. C. Limitations of your study The limitations of the study on Gary Becker’s contributions to Family Economicsexist only in the capacity to devote enough information to each subject in the required amount of space. D. Suggestions for Future Research Reading Gary Becker’s â€Å"Human Capital and Poverty Alleviation† would be my number one s uggestion for future research. Becker believes that the main purpose of economics is to both understand and help alleviate poverty and this issue seems to be one that requires further investigation and study. IV. References: A. Scholarly Books/Journal Articles Pollak, Robert A. 2002. Gary Becker’s Contributions to Family and Household Economics.National Bureau of Economic Research. Cambridge, MA 02138, October 2002. B. WWW. References Becker, Gary S. December 16, 1994. Human Capital and Poverty Alleviation. http://www. worldbank. org/html/extdr/hnp/hddflash/workp/wp_00052. (Accessed June 17, 2006). Becker Honored with Phoenix Prize. April 23, 2001. Economist Wins Prize for Contributions to Social Sciences. http://www. chibus. com/media/storage/paper408/news/2001/04/23/GsbNe ws/Becker. Honor (Accessed June 13, 2006). Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. June, 2002. Interview with Gary Becker. http://minneapolisfed.org/pubs/region/02-06/becker. cfm (Accessed June 15, 2006). Man ville, Brook. 1994. Talking Human Capital with Professor Gary S. Becker, Nobel Laureate. http://www. linezine. com/7. 1/interviews/gbbmthc. htm (Accessed June 12, 2006). Religion and Liberty. March and April 1993. Economic Imperialism. http://www. acton. org/publicat/randl/print_interview. php? id=76 (Accessed June 13, 2006). The Prize in Economic Sciences 1992. The Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1992. http://www. nobelprize. org/economics/laureates/1992/presentation-speech(Accessed June 12, 2006). V. Appendix A. Mathematical/statistical elaboration There was little mathematical elaboration in the sources I used, although Pollack used a specific mathematical equation to explain Becker’s household production model. B. Data Data used consisted of both Gary Becker’s writings and interviews as well as the views of other professionals regarding his conclusions. C. Results The results of this paper are to explore Becker’s theories of economics and present the results in a format that is hopefully more easily read by the laymen.

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