Article 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Article 5 - Essay Example ings have been good, â€Å"restructuring changes† excuse is used to hide some of the earnings and when it is bad, they tap into the reserves to cover the tracks of a bad financial quarter. The tampering is a form of accounting ruse that is done in such a clever and legal way that noticing the difference in economic performance is hard. According to the study, this fiddling is called searing due to the carefulness it’s accorded and the difficulty in detecting it. Guerrera in this article provides several tips to the investors (who are the majority victims of this accounts searing by CFOs) on how to detect that something is amiss in the company’s financial reports. He however warns them that it may not be as easy as put in the article and the major key is in the financial talk by the CFOs during the presentation. Some of the tips provided include: observing carefully the cash flow against the earnings, when the cash flow deteriorates but the earnings is high, there is a cause of alarm. The other is examination the company’s earnings records and any deviations that may have occurred from those recorded should also raise an alarm among the

Outsourcing HR, How advisable is this move during a recession Dissertation

Outsourcing HR, How advisable is this move during a recession - Dissertation Example However, the change to an outsourced resource for HR functions can be a risky proposition, creating a deficit in employee motivation and morale that can cost in productivity. During an economic recession cycle, the funds to fully integrate a new form of HR service to employees can be limited, thus creating an irreversibility of the decision if new strategies include outsourcing HR in order to cut costs. The sustainability of the company is in jeopardy if all of the circumstances have not been measured for potentials, both negatives and positives and if the risks are at an irreparable level, the company may not survive the transition. While a useful tool for creating a better structure within the organization, when faced as a form of cost cutting during a recession period, the long term risks may negate any savings that could have been realized. Outsourcing HR during a Recession Chapter One: Introduction 1. ... Various business research surveys have shown that as much as 70% of all human resources is now done through outside firms who function as specialists in the area in order to consolidate specialization over several firms, rather than each firm having in-house specialists in this area (Heneman 2002, p. 58). There are numerous benefits to hosting HR services through an outside source. The nature of the savings involved can be seen through improved economies of scales, more flexibility, higher levels of expertise, and higher levels of performance within core competencies (Heneman 2002). However, on the converse side of the discourse on the topic, it is possible that the de-personalization through standardization creates a lowered level of efficiency, thus decreasing overall firm performance. The reasons for outsourcing any part of a firm’s required resources is usually based on financial reasons. The unfortunate problem with firms that exist in a shareholder model of governance is that the abstract, sometimes intangible costs of doing business from the perspective of an owner responsibility based position end up costing the business more in the long run. Short term goals are considered a higher priority than long term in the shareholder model, thus using outsourced HR is a part of this framework. According to Armstrong (2009, p. 93), â€Å"Managements are facing Tom Peters’ (1988) challenge ‘prove it can’t be subcontracted’. The formal policy of a major global manufacturer reads: ‘Manufacture only those items – internal source only those supportive services – that directly contribute to, or help to maintain, our competitive advantage â€Å". This perspective suggests that all concerns that are not directly involved with making money should be outsourced. The

Holocaust & The Japanese-American Internment Essay Example for Free

Holocaust The Japanese-American Internment Essay Humanity. It is disconcerting to think about what we the humans have done to our own race. All because we believe in trying to find a difference such as our ethnicity, intellect, or looks to try to find how we are better than some. Hitler did this to the Jews as he wanted the world to have the Aryan race with the Holocaust, and America did this to the Japanese during the Japanese internment. The Holocaust and the Japanese internment are very different from one another yet they are both very similar to each other. The Holocaust was the systematic mass slaughter of Jews and other groups deemed inferior by the Nazis. The Holocaust began when Adolf Hitler, the fascist leader of Germany that would lead the world into World War II. He and his followers proclaimed that the Germanic people, or Aryans, were better then others and targeted the Jews as the cause of all previous failures Germany had made. In 1935 the Nazis passed the Nuremberg laws that deprived Jews their rights to German citizenship and forbade marriages between Jews and non-Jews. More laws came to the Jews as well later, even limiting what kinds of works that Jews could do. However, the situation began to worsen with the Kristallnacht, otherwise known as â€Å"Night of Broken Glass. When 17-year-old Herschel Grynszpan, a German Jewish youth visiting an uncle in Paris, shot a German diplomat living in Paris, wishing to avenge his father’s deportation from Germany to Poland, the Nazis retaliated with a violent attack on the Jewish community. On November 9, Nazi storm troopers attacked Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues across Germany, murdering about 100 Jews in the process. After Kristallnacht, many Jews saw that violence against them was only going to increase resulting in several German Jews to flee the country. Hitler first favored the emigration as a solution to what he dubbed as â€Å"the Jewish problem,† but the other countries such as the United States, France, and Britain, stopped the constant immigration of German Jews after admitting tens of thousands. Another plan was put into effect when Hitler discovered he couldn’t get rid of â€Å"the Jewish problem† by emigration and so he began to isolate them. He isolated the Jews by having them move to designated cities where they would be herded into desolate, overcrowded ghettos, segregated Jewish areas. By isolating the Jews in horrible conditions, the Nazis hoped they would either starve to death, or die from disease. This process went by too slowly, however, thus causing Hitler to take a more direct approach. His plan, the â€Å"Final Solution,† would lead to about six million innocent people’s deaths. The killings began as units from the SS moved from town to town hunting down Jews across Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Together, the SS and their allies rounded up men, women, children, and sometimes babies to isolated spots. The SS would then shoot the people into pits which later became their graves. Jewish communities that were not taken by the SS were taken to concentration camps were Hitler believed that the horrible conditions of these camps would speed the total elimination of the Jews. The prisoners worked as slaves everyday for either the SS or for German businesses where they were beaten severely or killed for working to slow. The prisoners were given hardly enough food in these camps dieing of starvation or disease. In 1942, however it seemed like the worse had yet to come with the arrival of extermination camps. Extermination camps were equipped with huge gas chambers that could kill up to 6,000 people a day. SS doctors would separate the strong from the weak or other wise mainly the men from the young, the sick, the elderly, and the women. Those that were put into the weak category would die immediately, while the strong would work till over-extortion. About six million died, and fewer than four million survived, however those that did would never be the same again. The Japanese internment happened during 1942. It was where government propaganda would take a negative effect on society. After the attack on Pearl Harbor many Americans discriminated against the Japanese American. Everyone that even looked to be Japanese would be mistrusted and be labeled as â€Å"the enemy. † On February 19, 1942 President Roosevelt issued an executive order which rounded up every Japanese person that lived in the US as they were seen to be threats to the nation. Many endured names such as being called an â€Å"alien. † In March, the government shipped the Japanese to relocation camps where they were sure to be not in contact with the enemy. Any former possession that the internees might had had were usually gone shortly afterwards as their lands would be repressed. Despite the fact that most of these Japanese were Nisei, native-born American citizens whose parents were Japanese, and that some volunteered for military service they were still put into these camps. They were housed in barracks and used communal areas, for washing and eating. Over half of those taken in were merely children. These camps were then overseen by military personnel. All internees over the age of 17 were given a loyalty test were they were asked questions. 120,000 Japanese were taken in, and only 60,000 survived. In 1988, the U. S.  Congress passed legislation which awarded formal payments of $20,000 each to the surviving internees. At the end of the war some remained in the US and rebuilt their lives, others however were unforgiving and returned to Japan. Both the Holocaust and the Japanese internment are eerily similar to one another. The Japanese and the Jews were seen to be the enemy and needed to be isolated in camps. The camps had inadequate medical care and the high level of emotional stress the people suffered were too much. Both lived in overcrowded areas and were over watched by the military. Life in the camps was hard for both the Jews and Japanese. Internees and Jews had only been allowed to bring with then a few possessions. However, internees were given 48 hours to evacuate their homes. Consequently they were easy prey for fortune hunters who offered them far less than the market prices for the goods they could not take with them. A big difference is that while the Jews were given free food, the Japanese were rationed out at an expense of 48 cents per internee, and served by fellow internees in a mess hall of about 300 people. Internees slept under as many blankets as they were allotted. Leadership positions in both concentration camps and the relocation camps were given to German-born Jews and American-born Japanese. While, the government ideals may have been different, when they spew propaganda they seem to be very alike. While both cases are different, the Japanese internment and the Holocaust are still the same as well. A different location, and different procedures, these two cases had, but still for the same cause of government propaganda.

India: the 2015 Budget and the Stock Market

India: the 2015 Budget and the Stock Market Introduction The Union Budget 2015-16 was presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 28th February and was a highly anticipated event for all sections of the Indian society. It was the first budget of the newly formed Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The government was formed with full support from the people of India, who considered P.M. Narendra Modi to be a change agent with the widely publicized campaign â€Å"Ache Din Aane Waale hainâ€Å". The BJP led campaign received widespread support not only from the masses but also from the corporate and stock market watchers. The stock market was not performing well since the last few years due to loss of investor sentiments, low return on investments and badly performing shares across sectors. On the day of the election result announcement, the stock market shot up to higher levels. This created widespread cheer among the investors and the corporate. They surely wished that better days are coming ahead. Hence the Budget was highly awaited by the business houses and the stock market players with a positive outlook, against the economic backdrop of a still-nascent recovery in the economy. The stock market response to the budget is often viewed as an important summary statistic of the â€Å"quality† of the budget in terms of improving the macroeconomic prospects of the country. Expectation of Stock Markets Fuelled by hopes and expectations, the stock market opened higher on the Budget morning. The experts were predicting a volatile market and it sure did not disappoint. Just like any other day, trading started at 9:15ISTand concluded at 15:30 IST. Analysts were ready to scrutinize measures in the Budget for financing infrastructure projects as well as the governments own capital expenditure on infrastructure for the year ahead. This was the first full fledged Budget of the  Narendra Modi  government and analysts looked for a roadmap for economic growth for the next few years. Before the Budget Day Indian stocks surged on 27 February 2015 after the Economic Survey 2014-15 tabled in parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stated that the government remains committed to fiscal consolidation and said that there is a scope for Big Bang economic reforms. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1957.10 crore on 27 February, as per provisional data. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 491.93 crore on 27 February, as per provisional data. On the Budget Day The benchmark index, Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex, opened at 29,411.33 points. The Sensex, which was trading with a gain of over 200 points before Finance Minister Arun Jaitley began his much-awaited Budget speech, swung between positive and negative terrain as he announced different measures. However, as the budget speech got under way, volatility set in and at 11:59am, markets slipped into the red. After some seesawing through the day, the markets closed with gains, with the equity benchmark Sensex adding 141.38 points or 0.48%., and closed at 29,361.50 points. It raised 141.38 points higher on promise of lower corporate tax rates logging the first rise on a Budget day in four years. In the previous three sessions on Budget 2014, 2013 and 2012, the Sensex had ended lower. However, the difference between the days high and low was 678.3 points. The best performing sector of the day was BSE Bankex, which gained 3.27%, followed by BSE Healthcare at 2.03%. Meanwhile, the worst performing sector was BSE FMCG which fell 4.09%, followed by BSE Consumer Durables, which fell 2.05%. The broader National Stock Exchange (NSE) index Nifty also moved up by 57.25 points to end the week at 8,901.85, after hovering between 8,751.35 and 8941.10. To better understand the effect of the Budget on the Stock Market and across the various sectors and companies listed in the Sensex, it is better to understand the major points mentioned in the budget which led to such widespread reactions. Budget Highlights Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced a budget aimed at high growth, saying the pace of cutting the fiscal deficit would slow as he seeks to boost investment and ensure that ordinary people benefit. Mentioning below some of the major highlights from the Budget Fiscal deficit seen at 3.9 percent of GDP in 2015/16. Will meet the challenging fiscal target of 4.1 percent of GDP. GDP growth seen at between 8 percent and 8.5 percent. Expects consumer inflation to remain close to 5 percent by March, opening room for more monetary policy easing. Market Reforms Propose to merge commodities regulator with SEBI To bring a new bankruptcy code They plan to amend the RBI act this year, and provide for a monetary policy committee To set up public debt management agency Proposes to introduce a public contract resolution of disputes bill. To establish an autonomous bank board bureau to improve management of public sector banks. Inflation Monetary policy framework agreement with the RBI clearly states objective of keeping inflation below 6 percent GENERAL ANTI-AVOIDANCE RULES (GAAR) Government defers rollout of anti-tax avoidance rules GAAR by two years. It is ananti-tax avoidanceregulation ofIndia. GAAR to apply prospectively from April 1, 2017.Retrospective tax provisions will be avoided. It was considered controversial because it had provisions to seek taxes from past overseas deals involving local assets retrospectively. Taxation Major highlights were: To abolish wealth tax Replaces wealth tax with additional 2 pct surcharge on super rich Proposed to cut to 25 percent corporate tax over next four years as they consider that corporate tax of 30 percent is uncompetitive FM proposed modification of permanent establishment norms so that the mere presence of a fund manager in India would not constitute a permanent establishment of the offshore fund, resulting in adverse tax consequences. Extends withholding tax concession on foreign debt purchases by two years Expects to implement goods and services tax by April 2016 To reduce custom duty on 22 items Infrastructure Investment in infrastructure will go up by 700 billion rupees in 2015-16 over last year. It plans to set up national investment infrastructure fund. It also proposes tax-free infrastructure bonds for projects in roads, rail and irrigation project. Investments It proposed to do away with different types of foreign investment caps and replace them with composite caps to allow foreign investment in alternative investment funds Stock Market Reactions Positive Reactions the Companies/Sectors Benefitted The Union Budget 2015-16 presented by Arun Jaitley on Saturday is widely considered a good Budget. It announced many measures that cheered the common man and even industry bodies. India Inc was happy with the budget with most calling it a pro-reform and a positive budget. The lower corporate tax tied with fewer exemptions was accepted to simplify the tax structure and promote investment. Sentiments were lifted after FM announced a cut in corporate tax by 5 per cent to 25 per cent over four years starting April 2016. The government’s focus on investment in the infrastructure sector was also viewed positively by the market In order to boost infrastructure spending, the finance minister proposed to reintroduce tax-free bonds. These are secured, redeemable, non-convertible debentures issued by government entities to mobilize funds needed for infrastructure development. This should help attract savings looking for stable long-term risk-free return. Among other measures, foreign investors have been allowed to invest in alternate investment funds. Besides, the proposal to defer applicability of General Anti-Avoidance Act (GAAR) by two years, April 1, 2017, also boosted buying. Among the 30 Sensex scrips, Axis Bank topped the gainers by surging 8.1 per cent. Governments initiative to bring in a Comprehensive Bankruptcy code for the ease of doing business by 2015-16 is a big welcome step from the banking sector perspective. Stocks in banking, healthcare, auto, oil and gas and IT rose. Major Sensex gainers were Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Dr Reddy, Hindustan Unilever, Cipla, GAIL, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Infosys, RIL and MM. They gained between 1-3 per cent. Meanwhile, foreigners bought shares worth a net Rs 1,957.10 crore on the day. Says KPMG India CEO Richard Rekhy: â€Å"The Finance Minister has come out with a pragmatic Budget which is directionally focused at achieving growth and keeping the fiscal prudence in mind. The focus is on ease of doing business in India and increased infrastructure spend. Measures like New Bankruptcy legislation, startup entrepreneur’s funds, GST rollout by FY 2016, deferral of GAAR will definitely support the cause of ease of doing business in India.† Negative Reactions the Sectors/Companies Impacted Media companies:Companies in the media space like PVR, Eros, Dish TV and Hathaway could be affected by the change in service tax rules. Now, the entertainment sector would be brought under the service tax net. Metal and mining stocks: The Budget announced two measures that could directly impact metals and mining companies like Hindalco, Sesa Sterlite and Kalyani – the increase in clean energy cess on coal to Rs 200/tonne from Rs 100/tonne, and the hike in basic custom duty on metallurgical coke to 5% from 2.5% earlier. PSU banks: The public-sector banks like PNB, Bank of India, Syndicate Bank and Dena Bank are heavily dependent on government finances.The Budget announced that the government will infuse Rs 7940 crore in PSU banks in the next fiscal. The Budget indicated the setup of a Holding Company for PSU banks, which would give them more freedom and control. It also indicated that PSU banks could issue more stocks in the market. This will help them raise money by themselves, thus lowering their dependency on government capital. ITC, Cigarettes Industries: The government usually reduces taxes for essential goods and increases tax burden on goods which are not essential and/or harmful. One such product which sees high taxation is cigarettes. The Budget further increased tax burden by hiking excise duty in certain cigarette products by 25% and 15%. This would make the cigarettes costlier from April 2015. Any rise in price negatively impacts demand and thus corporate profits. Shares of cigarette major ITC fell 8 per cent following the Budget proposal to increase excise duty on cigarettes. The government came down heavily on smokers and tobacco consumers in Budget 2015-16 with a steep increase in excise duty.Citing need for promotion of public health, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said: Excise duty on cigarettes is being increased by 25 percent for cigarettes of length not exceeding 65 mm and by 15 percent for cigarettes of other lengths. Similar increases are proposed on cigars, cheroots and cigarillos. Plastic Industries : The government wants to deter plastic consumption to reduce its harmful effects on the environment. For this reason, the Budget increased excise duty from 12% to 18% on plastic products (polymers). This would make plastic products costly. Conclusion Budget 2015 operates on some clear themes, and Government explains not just the challenges it faces but also the key ideas it is banking on. Declining agricultural income, the need for increasing investment in infrastructure, the need to remain on the fiscal consolidation path, a perceptible decline in manufacturing and the impact of the greater devolution of taxes to states have been highlighted in this Budget as the major challenges. This Budget was expected to be a ‘Big Bang’ Budget. It was expected to announce a slew of reforms to get India back on the growth path. While the Budget did announce small-scale reforms for the industries, it did not mention any big reforms. As a result, market benchmarks Nifty, Sensex slipped back into the red after the Budget speech. They were earlier up 1% because of the deferral of GAAR and a cut in corporate tax by 5%. Overall, Budget 2015 shows the Governments commitment towards increasing competitiveness of the Indian economy while managing the expectation of domestic corporate and the common man too. The real test lies in how efficiently the new government would be able to execute the ambitious proposals brought forth in Budget 2015 and how it helps in the bull run of the Stock Markets. References The Hindu : Union Budget Live http://www.thehindu.com/business/budget/live-union-budget-2015/article6944394.ece Business Today : Stock Market Sensex on 28th February http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/stock-market-bse-sensex-nse-nifty-union-budget-2015-16/1/216277.html

Womens Studies Essays -- Analysis, Evelyn Nakano Glenn

Evelyn Nakano Glenn, Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies and of Ethnic Studies at Berkeley, University of California serves as Founding Director of the University’s Center for Race and Gender (Glenn 2). It is a leading American center in the study of intersectionality amongst genders, class social groups, institutions and race. Her scholarly work includes focus on the dynamics of gender, race and the prevailing processes of inequality and exclusion in class structures in the social setting. Her earlier work included the documentation of neglected women employed in the domestic services sector, due to their skin color (race) and that of women holding clerical posts. This led her into historical research on the issue of gender structure and race in the structural makeup of the local labor markets and hitherto consequences of the American labor market on the positions of the workers. This included the forms of resistance/ self-preservation available to them. She has al so engaged in the comparative analysis of gender and race in the construction of citizenship and labor across the United States of America. Her upbringing greatly influenced her critical thinking and perspective of the world, due to her racial background and the situation of the time. In the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor tragedy, her parents were among thousands of other Japanese Americans imprisoned in American internment camps. The war pitted the Axis powers against the Allied forces, with the latter eventually emerging the victors. This shaped the political and philosophical thoughts of the time with Liberalism emerging as the dominant theory of the time. Others that were to subsequently emerge were in one way or the other linked to this thought with some aspec... ... same character traits. Proper and sequential legislation addressing these issues should be passed based on them either as a grouping or in their individual aspects. This is to ensure better understanding, appreciation and acknowledgement of every human being that composes the global community. In conclusion, Evelyn Nakano Glenn’s scholarly work includes focus on the dynamics of gender, race and the prevailing processes of inequality and exclusion in class structures in the social setting. She considers Liberalism, as a political thought, entails the plurality of actors in the international political arena and Republicanism as an Ideology that is embraced by the citizenry of a republic. This has been exemplified by the widely held ideal of the American â€Å"worker citizen† as being the twin attributes of ‘whiteness/ blackness and ‘masculinity/feminism.

Honda Cars :: essays research papers fc

Racial Riots in America   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Over the past century, beginning before World War I, many incidents have occurred involving white mob assaults against entire black communities. In most of the cases these white mobs attacked the black neighborhoods, beating and killing the residents in many numbers. They also set fire and destroyed the blacks property. This was the result of the white society trying to maintain their superiority over the black communities, keeping them as the minority. These brutal confrontations are mostly referred to as race riots. Out of the many and many of these race riots that have been committed over the years, I have chosen a few to talk about in my paper.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In September of 1906, in Atlanta, Georgia, months of fury had broken out of race hatred. The newspapers had begun to treat black crime, mostly rape and assault, in an inflammatory manner. It had been reported that twelve white females had been raped in on week. The impression was given that it was black males who had been doing this. That began the riot. Mobs of whites murdered blacks, also destroying and looting their homes and places of work. This came with little help from the local authorities. The blacks attempted to resist the whites, but were too outnumbered. Some blacks armed themselves in self-defense, but were arrested. After the rioting went on for four days, two whites and ten blacks were dead with hundreds injured, and over a thousand had left the city. In 1917, in East St. Louis, many white working men felt that blacks were threatening their political and social status. After workers of a labor union at an aluminum plant went on strike in April of 1917, the plant hired blacks to do the work. When a militia, of both white and black, destroyed the strike the whites blamed the blacks for the defeat of the strike. A rioted was started, when whites began to burn and demolish black’s buildings. Many blacks were also beaten, and the only thing that the police did was to take the injured to the hospital. On July 1, a few whites in a Ford car drove down streets in a major Negro part of town. They shoot into many homes and buildings. After this the blacks armed themselves, so when the police came to investigate, who also were driving in a Ford, the blacks fired upon them, killing two police men.

King Corn

The Documentary ‘King Corn’ is an intersting and entertaining account that examines the impact of the corn industry on food production in America. The film follows Curtis Ellis and Ian Cheney, two recent university graduates who set out to study the overwhelming influence that industrial corn has on the varieties of foods that America consumes each year. The concept of the film is introduced when Curt and Ian have samples of their hair examined, and are surprised to find out that the large amounts of carbon found in the samples originates from ingesting corn products. Many people including myself, would likely be shocked upon hearing this fact, based on the traditional concept of corn; being the small yellow vegatable enjoyed on occasion at most. Sharing this viewpoint, the boys become interested in finding out for themselves why it appears that they are eating so much corn; and hence the topic of the documentary. They decide the best plan of action is to travel to Greene, Iowa, and grow 1 achre of corn to establish how this plant is transformed into so many of the foods that we each. This critique aims to examine some of their findings and discuss the influence and credibility of their arguments. In short, the issue the film addresses is the overwhelming reliance that the American food industry has on the growth and production of corn and its various bi-products. From first glance, many may inturpret this issue as not being a huge problem; after all, when I think of corn, I think of a vegetable. There are certainly other ingredients that would appear to be much more detremental to the health of consuming citizens. But as the film progresses, the viewer learns that the type of corn and it’s bi-products being considered, is far from the conventional concept. While in Iowa, Curt and Ian learn from local farmers, professors and other stakeholders within the industry that the corn they are producing will be used for a variety of purposes, two of the main ones being feed for cattle, and high-fructose corn syrup. As their tiny achre grows, they set out to research the implications of using the corn based products for these purposes. Generally, the documentary took the position that current usage of these products in the food industry promotes a variety of health issues, which will be discussed further in this paper. The corn industry has evolved significantly over the past several decades, not only due to technological advancement, but also the types of corn grown, and purposes that it will serve. The latter cause being fuelled exclusively by the changes in consumer demand, specifically referencing the food industry. This type of industry is largely driven by situations where there is high buyer power; that is, food companies produce the types of food that the consumer wants to eat, rather than what the company wants to produce. As commonly known, several businesses especially in the fast food industry, do not operate on the basis of providing healthy options for consumers to enjoy. Rather, they aim to offer cheap food that consumers want to have. In my opinion, this concept outlines a large point being made by the film; the fact that consumer demand has driven the corn industry (and thus the food industry) to evolve over the past several years into its current state. The bottom line of this argument is that corn is being used in the massive quantities we know of for the very simple reason that is it cheap. To illustrate this point, I will focus on the two main bi-prodcuts of corn that were examined during the film. First, high-fructose corn syrup is used as a sweetner for products ranging anywhere from soft drinks to pasta sauce. In reality, ingesting too much of this sweetner can be very hazourdous to someone’s health, and too much of the product can cause certains conditions such as obeisity and diabetes. This corn syrup has stolen a huge market share from conventional sugar over the last few decades, for no other reason aside from the fact that it is a cheaper alternative, and thus more appealing for businesses to use. As Curt and Ian prove in the film, almost anything processed food imaginable contains at least some quantity of this high fructose syrup, a direct bi-product of corn. The other main product analyzed is the use of corn as animal feed, which is a large source of food for specifically chicken and cattle. These corn-fed animals are themselves processed and used to make the all-American favorite meals. It was starting to become clear to the boys, and the viewer of the film where all this corn was coming from, and offered a justification for the massive size of this industry. During one the interviews, Curt and Ian spoke with a cattle rancher who owned a feed lot. He explained that the cows diet consisted of mainly corn because it was cheap to buy, and was successful in quickly supporting the cow into mature weight, available for slaughter. The farmer had one particularly interesting statement which captured a lot of the concept of the film, suggesting that if people wanted grass fed cows, he would raise grass fed cows. The reality is, grass fed cows are more expensive, a cost ulitmately borne by the consumer. Although much leaner and healthier meat, grass fed cows are not raised as often as corn fed cows because it wouldn’t allow consumers to purchase their favorite fast food burgers at the same price. Even the corn farmers interviewed during the film suggested that they knew their corn was used to create unhealthy foods, but that had become the reality of the food industry. Being producers of a raw material, their livelihood relies on growing corn that the American economy demands. Throughout the film, there are several points of interest made to support the argument that corn products were used to process several health threatening products. The filmakers chose to interview a variety of professionals, mostly university professors, which added to the credibility of of the argument being proposed. The opinion was fairly unanimous that the corn products in the United States are fuelling unhealthy diet choices, and resulting in some of the problems with obesity and other conditions that the country is dealing with. The film was successful in proving its point that the American food industry has evolved to become highly reliant on corn and it’s bi-products. Furthermore, it was able to reliably convey the idea that the exessive consumption of these products had potentially serious health effects. Given these facts, the film is not designed to attack the corn industry, as if they are the reason for these harmful additives in the food being eaten. The onus is really on the consumer; as mentioned, the reason these unhealthy bi-products are being made is in response to the demands from American consumers, who want cheap and tasty meals. The unfortunate reality is that a large number of people fail to devote the right attention to what they are putting in their bodies. The most surprising point in the film was definitely the scale at which the corn industry operates. It was interesting to use the boys â€Å"tiny† achre of corn as a reference point, whereas it was stated that it is not uncommon for one farmer in Iowa to manage one thousand achres of corn each harvest. The shere size of the industry reflects the huge amount of demand placed on the food industry in America every year. Personally, the lack of comparison to other countries was probably where the film lacked in reference. It is fairly well known that the American population consumes more fast food then any other nation in the world, so it really comes as no surprise that the corn industry is as large as it is. I felt as though it would be interesting to compare the American reliance to corn and it’s bi-prodcuts to a country in Europe for example, where typically people eat healthier and less cheaply made, processed foods. Comparing another nation with the United States would suggest that American reliance on corn is not a necessity, but rather a consumer driven evolution in food choices.