:: wikimiki.org ::

Poverty Line

Poverty line

The poverty line is the level of income below which one cannot afford to purchase all the resources one requires to live. People who have an income below the poverty line have no discretionary disposable income, by definition. It is widely discussed how and where to set the poverty line. In practice, different countries often use different poverty lines. Globally, however, it is more common to use only one poverty line in order to compare economic welfare levels. When comparing poverty across countries, the purchasing power parity exchange rates are used. These are used because poverty levels otherwise would change with the normal exchange rates. Thus, 'living for under $1 a day' should be understood as having a daily total consumption of goods and services comparable to the amount of goods and services that can be bought in the U.S. for $1. Self-produced goods and public services are included in this measure. Almost all societies have some of their citizens living in poverty. The poverty line is useful as an economic tool with which to measure such people and consider socioeconomic reforms such as welfare and unemployment insurance to reduce poverty. Determining the poverty line is usually done by finding the total cost of all the essential resources that an average human adult consumes in one year. This approach is needs-based in that an assessment is made of the minimum expenditure needed to maintain a tolerable life. This was the original basis of the poverty line in the United States, whose poverty line has since been raised due to inflation. In developing countries, the most expensive of these resources is typically the rent required to live in an apartment. Economists thus pay particular attention to the real estate market and housing prices because of their strong influence on the poverty line. Individual factors are often used to handle various circumstances, such as whether one is a parent, elderly, a child, married, etc.

Problems with using a poverty line

Using a poverty line is problematic because having an income marginally above it is not substantially different from having an income marginally below it: the negative effects of poverty tend to be continuous rather than discrete, and the same low income affects different people in different ways. To overcome this poverty indexes are sometimes used instead; see income inequality metrics. A poverty line relies on a quantitative, or purely numbers based measure of income. If other human development-indicators like health and education shall be used, they must be quantified, not a simple (if even achievable) task.

Defining poverty lines

Poverty lines can be defined in different ways:
- Social Security benefit based. If a government guarantees to make income up to some particular level then it may be presumed that that level is the poverty line. This is a problematic definition, because an uncharitable government may reduce the guaranteed income, thus reducing the incidence of poverty so defined while increasing the incidence of actual poverty.
- A relative income line, related to some fraction of typical incomes. This excludes the wealthiest individuals from the calculation. For example, the OECD and the European Union uses 60% of national median equivalised household income.
- A relative figure fixed in time and only adjusted for inflation - thus avoiding the possibility that if income inequality increases, then poverty may otherwise also increase.
- When the World Bank calculates its "$1 a day" statistics, it uses a poverty line.

Absolute poverty

A measure of absolute poverty quantifies the number of people below a poverty line, and this poverty line is thought to be independent of time and place. For the measure to be absolute, the line must be the same in different countries. Also, it does not change when the income distribution change. This is only possible when all consumed goods and services are counted and when PPP-exchange rates are used (see purchasing power parity). The intuition behind an absolute measure is that mere survival takes the same amount of good across the world and that everybody should be subject to the same standards. Notice that if everyone's income in an economy increases, and the income distribution does not change, absolute poverty will decline. Furthermore, the rate of absolute poverty can decline even though inequality is increasing - as long as the poorest get a higher income than they had before. This type of measure is often contrasted with measures of relative poverty (see below), which classify entities as "poor" not by comparing them to a fixed cutoff point, but by comparing them to others in the population under study. (The term absolute poverty is also sometimes used as a synonym for extreme poverty.)

Relative poverty

A measure of relative poverty definines "poverty" as being below some relative poverty line. An example is when poverty is defined as households who earn less than 25% of the median income is a measure of relative poverty. Notice that if everyone's income in an economy increases, but the income distribution stays the same, relative poverty will also stay the same. Measures of relative poverty are almost the same as measuring inequality: If a society gets a more equal income distribution, relative poverty will fall. Some take this further, arguing that the term 'Relative Poverty' is itself misleading and that 'Inequality' should be used instead; pointing out that if some catastrophe should happen to strike in a way that affected high earners more than low earners, then it would be possible for every citizen of that society to be worse off but 'Relative Poverty' would have decreased. The phrase relative poverty can also be used in a different sense to mean "moderate poverty". For example, a standard of living or level of income which is higher than what is needed to satisfy basic needs (like water, food, clothing, shelter, and basic health care), but which is still significantly lower than that of the majority of the population under consideration.

External links

- [http://topics.developmentgateway.org/poverty/rc/BrowseContent.do~source=RCContentUser~folderId=3330 Poverty Indicators, Statistics & Measurement]
- [http://eesc.orst.edu/agcomwebfile/edmat/html/em/em8743/part1/officialgovt.html History of the U.S. Poverty Line] by Tom Gentle, Oregon State University.

References

Ray, Debraj 1998, Development Economics, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0691017069. Category:Socioeconomics ja:貧困線

Income

Income, generally defined, is the money that is received as a result of the normal business activities of an individual or a business. For example, most individuals' income is the money they receive from their regular paychecks. In business and accounting, income (also known as profit or earnings) is, more specifically, the amount of money that a company earns after paying for all its costs. To calculate a company's income, it starts with its amount of revenue, deducts all costs, including such things as employees' salaries and depreciation, and the number that results is its income, which may be a negative number. This money is typically reinvested in the business, paid in corporate tax and used to pay the owners (the shareholders) a dividend. All public companies are required to provide financial statements on a quarterly basis. The statement of income is an important part of this. Some companies also provide a more rosy financial report of their income, with pro forma reporting, or, EBITDA reporting. Pro forma income is an estimate of how much the company would have earned without including the negative effect of exceptional "one-time events", supposedly in order to show investors how much money the company would have made under normal circumstances if these exceptional, one-time events had not occurred. Critics charge that, in most cases, the "one-time events" are normal business events, such as an acquisition of another company or a write off of a cancelled project or division, and that pro forma reporting is an attempt to mislead investors by painting a rosy financial picture. Besides that, when discussing results with analysts and shareholders CEOs and CFOs have a tendency to do even more "hypothetical accounting". EBITDA stands for "earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation", and is also criticised for being an attempt to mislead investors. Warren Buffett has criticised EBITDA reporting, famously asking, "Does management think the tooth fairy pays for capital expenditures?" It is common for some other companies, such as real estate investment trusts, to present reports using a standard called FFO, or funds from operations. Like EBITDA reporting, FFO ignores depreciation and amortization. This is widely accepted in the industry, as real estate values tend to increase rather than decrease over time, and many data sites report earnings per share data using FFO. In economics, income is the constraint to unlimited consumer purchases. Consumers can purchase a limited number of goods. The basic equation for this is I = Px × x + Py × y, where Px is the price of good x, x is the quantity of good x, and I is the income (Py and y are similar to Px and x). If you need to examine more than two goods, you can add more on. This equation tells us two things. First, if you buy one more of good x, you get Px/Py less of good y. Here, Px/Py is known as the rate of substitution. Secondly, if the price of x changes, then the rate of substitution changes. This causes demand curves to slope down. The distribution of income within a society can be measured by the Lorenz curve and the Gini coefficient. National income, measured by statistics such as the Net National Income (NNI), measures the total income of all individuals in the economy. For more information see measures of national income and output.

External links

- [http://money.cnn.com/markets/IRC/warnings.html Markets & Stocks: Investor Research Center - Earnings Warnings]
- [http://whatisthepay.com/ What salaries and pay is by job and market.] category:Income

Disposable income

Disposable income is the amount of an individual's total income left after taxes, plus any transfer payments (grants) received from the government or elsewhere. This income is available to be "disposed of" as either spending or saving. Another concept that is often confused with disposable income is discretionary income. This is equal to disposable income minus the cost of the fixed expenses of life (such as rent/mortgage, food, car payments, insurance, etc.). It is income that can be saved or spent on goods and services wanted, not needed. Unfortunately, the definition of discretionary income is fuzzier than that of disposable income, making it harder to measure.

External link

- [http://www.disposableincome.net/ A simple discretionary income calculator] -- even though this says it's measuring "disposable income," using the economist's language, it's discretionary income. Category:Taxation Category:Income

Purchasing power parity

In economics, purchasing power parity (PPP) is an estimate of the exchange rate required to equalise the purchasing power of different currencies, given the prices of goods and services in the countries concerned. PPP exchange rates are used for a number of purposes, most notably to compare the standard of living of two or more countries. It is necessary because comparing the gross domestic products using market exchange rates does not accurately measure differences in income and consumption. Market exchange rates fluctuate widely, and the purchasing power parity hypothesis suggests that the long run equilibrium value is that which yields purchasing power parity. Estimation of purchasing parity is complicated by the fact that countries do not simply differ in a uniform price level; rather, the difference in food prices may be greater than the difference in housing prices or in the opposite direction of the difference in entertainment prices. Therefore, it is necessary to compare the cost of baskets of goods and services using a price index. This is a difficult task, since purchasing patterns and even the goods available to purchase differ across countries. It is necessary to make complex adjustments for differences in the quality of goods and services, a task undertaken by the International Comparisons Project. Additional statistical difficulties arise with multilateral comparisons when (as is usually the case) more than two countries are to be compared. The differences between PPP and real exchange rates can be significant. For example, GDP per capita in China is about USD 1,400, while on a PPP basis, it is ca. USD 6,200. At the other extreme, Japan's nominal GDP per capita is ca. USD 37,600, but its PPP figure is only USD 31,400.

Explanation

PPP Spot exchange rates between the US and UK should be : S = P$ / P£ ($/£) If the actual spot rate is > S, it would mean that the £ is over-valued and the $ is undervalued, relative to PPP If the actual spot rate is < S, it would mean that the $ is over-valued and the £ is undervalued, relative to PPP Eg. :S (per PPP) = 1.5 $/£ :S (Actual spot rate) = 1.8 $/£ This would indicate that PPP suggests, 1 £ should buy you only 1.5 $. However in the actual market you can buy 1.8 $ (i.e., more $s) using 1 £. Thus, the £ is over-valued(i.e., the £ is giving you more $s, than is suggested by the PPP) vs. the $, OR the $ is under-valued vs. the £

Method

The PPP method considers a bundle of goods, then calculates the price of this bundle in each country (using the country's local currency.) To calculate the exchange rate between two currencies, one takes the ratio of the prices. A simple example of a measure of absolute PPP is the Big Mac index popularised by The Economist, which looks at the prices of a Big Mac burger in McDonald's restaurants in different countries. If a Big Mac costs USD 4 in the US and GBP 3 in Britain, the PPP exchange rate would be £3 for $4. In the same way, if a Big Mac or any basket of goods costs $4 in the US, the PPP exchange rate is always GBP£3 for $4. The Economist does not attach any special significance to the Big Mac, beyond it being a well-known good whose price is easily tracked in many countries.

Relative PPP

Relative PPP is concerned with change of price levels over different periods, also known as inflation rate. The equation looks like

\frac=\frac

, where

S_t

is the spot rate and

P_t

is the price in period t (foreign values are marked by an asterisk). The change in the exchange rate is determined by price level changes in both countries. For example, if prices in the United States rise by 3% and prices in the European union rise by 1% the PPP of the USD has to depreciate by 2% compared to the PPP of the EUR (or alternatively the EUR will appreciate by 2%).

PPP equalization and the law of one price

The law of one price states that prices of traded goods will equalize in the absence of tariffs, other barriers to trade and prohibitively high shipping rates. The naïve PPP hypothesis is that free trade of goods should revert exchange rates to their PPP values. However, econometric analysis rejects this hypothesis, and gives a better prediction of the PPP/exchange rate relationship (the CPI) based on relative GDPs. Neo-classical economics includes Balassa-Samuelson effect theory, which explains the PPP model adjustment giving the equilibrium CPI. For more discussion, see discussion and clarification of PPP.

Application

A common measure of the standard of living is the per capita Gross Domestic Product, which is calculated by dividing the GDP of a country by its population. In order to compare the standard of living in two nations, one first needs to express these numbers in the same currency. Using actual exchange rates when making these comparisons can give a very misleading picture of living standards. The PPP method is used to as an alternative. For example, if the value of the Mexican peso falls by half compared to the US dollar, the Gross Domestic Product measured in dollars will also halve. However, this exchange rate results from international trade and financial markets. It does not necessarily mean that Mexicans are any poorer; if incomes and prices measured in pesos stay the same, they will be no worse off assuming that imported goods are not essential to the quality of life of individuals. Measuring income in different countries using PPP exchange rates helps to avoid this problem. PPP exchange rates are especially useful when official exchange rates are artificially manipulated by governments. Countries with strong government control of the economy sometimes enforce official exchange rates that make their own currency artificially strong. By contrast, the currency's black market exchange rate is artificially weak. In such cases a PPP exchange rate is likely the most realistic basis for economic comparison.

Examples

West and Central African Franc

During 2003 the US Dollar bought on average about 550 CFA franc. Because of a difference in the perceived "purchasing power parity" within some of the regions using the CFA franc, their purchasing power parity exchange rate differed like this (lower is stronger parity): Cameroon 240, Central African Republic 166, Chad 172, Republic of the Congo 677, Equatorial Guinea 114, Gabon 413, Benin 273, Burkina Faso 167.

GDP of China

The CIA uses the purchase power parity method in its calculations of Gross National Product [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fields/2001.html]. By this measure the People's Republic of China has the second largest economy in the world, at $7.262 trillion (2004 est.) ([http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/docs/notesanddefs.html CIA methodology for PPP]).

PPP: clarification and discussion

The main reasons why PPP does not perfectly reflect standards of living are
- PPP numbers can vary with the specific basket of goods used, making it a rough estimate.
- Preferences and choices can vary from country to country. Goods then differ in their contribution to welfare.
- International competitiveness is mainly affected by the exchange rate and not by PPP.
- Differences in quality of goods are not sufficiently reflected in PPP. PPP calculations are often used to measure poverty rates. For problems with this methodology, see [http://www.columbia.edu/~sr793/count.pdf How Not To Count The Poor].

Range and quality of goods

The goods that the currency has the "power" to purchase are a basket of goods of different types: # Local, non-tradable goods and services (like electric power) that are produced and sold domestically. # Tradable goods such as non-perishable commodities that can be sold on the international market (e.g. diamonds). The more a product falls into category 1 the further its price will be from the currency exchange rate. (Moving towards the PPP exchange rate.) Conversely, category 2 products tend to trade close to the currency exchange rate. (For more details of why, see: Penn effect). More processed and expensive products are likely to be tradable, falling into the second category, and drifting from the PPP exchange rate to the currency exchange rate. Even if the PPP "value" of the Chinese currency is five times stronger than the currency exchange rate, it won't buy five times as much of internationally traded goods, but non-traded goods like housing, services ("haircuts"), and domestically produced rice. The relative price differential between tradables and non-tradables from high-income to low-income countries is a consequence of the Balassa-Samuelson effect, and gives a big cost advantage to labour intensive production of tradable goods in low income countries (like China), as against high income countries (like Switzerland). The corporate cost advantage is nothing more sophisticated than access to cheaper workers, but because the pay of those workers goes further in low-income countries than high, the relative pay differentials (inter-country) can be sustained for longer than would be the case otherwise. (This is another way of saying that the wage rate is based on average local productivity, and that this is below the per capita productivity that factories selling tradable goods to international markets can achieve. This is sometimes called exploitation.) An equivalent cost benefit comes from non-traded goods that can be sourced locally (nearer the PPP-exchange rate than the nominal exchange rate in which receipts are paid). These act as a relatively cheaper factor of production than is available to factories in richer countries.

Difficulties with PPP comparisons in welfare economics

While using PPP exchange rates for income comparison is an improvement over using nominal (currency) exchange rates, it is still imperfect, and comparisons using the PPP method can still be misleading. Comparing standards of living using the PPP method implicitly assumes that the real value placed on goods is the same in different countries. In reality, what is considered a luxury in one culture could be considered a necessity in another. The PPP method does not account for this. (This is not primarily a flaw in the exchange rate methodology, as cultural and interpersonal differences in utility functions are a more fundamental microeconomic problem.) A PPP exchange rate varies depending on the choice of goods used for the index (CPI). Hence, it is possible to deliberately or accidentally bias a PPP exchange rate by the choice of a bundle. Indeed, it may be hard to construct equivalent representative bundles for the consumption habits of very different societies. PPP could also have difficulty accounting for differences in quality between goods in one country and equivalent goods in another, see: consumer price index. Even if a good PPP is used, GDP per capita is still a measure of the economic output of the whole economy, not a direct measure of the mean or median person's quality of life. Other factors such as the standards of homes and schools, access to public services, the extent of pollution, and strength of consumer protection laws are hard to quantify and generally not fully reflected in the GDP. Even a PPP-adjusted measure of GDP per capita must be used with caution, for all the usual reasons that the GDP figure itself is limited (for instance, its inability to capture the surplus between subjective value and payment price). For example, in 2002, the nominal GDP per capita in Japan was about US$40,000, while the equivalent PPP into a US goods basket was estimated at $27,000. In the US, GDP per capita was about $36,400 (nominal and real if based on 2002 dollars). This means that the average US citizen could enjoy slightly more consumption than the average Japanese (vastly more if private saving is removed from consumption income). However, it does not necessarily follow, that this implies a "higher standard of living" in the sense of "enjoying life" more; the US has higher crime rates and less social cohesion than Japan, while Japan has much less physical space per person and arguably less individual freedom. Ultimately, the quality of life will depend on subjective judgement and individual preferences. Per capita income also does not take into account inequalities in wealth distribution.

Difficulties with PPP in country comparisons

The ability of PPP-adjusted GDP to describe economy's ability to trade is limited by differences in:
- Infrastructure
- Barriers to trade; e.g., Tariffs, sanctions and duties
- Transportation costs
- The difference in the PPP exchange rate and the nominal (see: Penn effect.)

Clarification to PPP Numbers of the IMF

The GDP number for all reporting areas are one number in the reporting areas local currency. Therefore, in the local currency the PPP and market (or government) exchange rate is always 1.0 to its own currency, so the PPP and market exchange rate GDP number is always per definition the same for any duration of time, anytime, in that areas currency. The only time the PPP exchange rate and the market exchange rate can differ is when the GDP number is converted into another currency. Only because of different base numbers (because of for example "current" or "constant" prices, or an annualized or averaged number) are the USD to USD PPP exchange rate not 1.0, see the IMF data here: [http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2004/02/data/dbcoutm.cfm?SD=1980&ED=2005&R1=1&R2=1&CS=3&SS=2&OS=C&DD=0&OUT=1&C=111&S=NGDP_R-NGDP-NGDPD-NGDPRPC-NGDPPC-NGDPDPC-PPPWGT-PPPEX-PPPPC&CMP=0&x=59&y=15]. The PPP exchange rate is 1.023 from 1980 to 2002, and the "constant" and "current" price is the same in 2000, because that's the base year for the "constant" (inflation adjusted) currency.

Clarification to PPP equalization

PPP equalization fails on many counts. The exchange rate only reflects traded goods in contrast to non-traded ones. Also, currencies are traded for purposes other than trade in goods and services, e.g., to buy capital assets whose prices vary more than those of physical goods. Also, different interest rates, speculation, hedging or interventions by central banks can influence the foreign-exchange market.

External links

- [http://www.economist.com/markets/Bigmac/ Big Mac Index] (The Economist)
- [http://www.economist.com/countries/ Countries] (The Economist)
- [http://fx.sauder.ubc.ca/PPP.html Explanations from the U. of British Columbia]
- [http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2004/02/data/dbcoutm.cfm?SD=2003&ED=2003&R1=1&R2=1&CS=3&SS=2&OS=C&DD=0&OUT=1&C=914-446-612-666-614-672-311-946-213-137-911-962-193-674-122-676-912-548-313-556-419-678-513-181-316-682-913-684-124-273-339-921-638-948-514-686-218-688-963-518-616-728-223-558-516-138-918-353-748-196-618-278-522-692-622-694-156-142-624-449-626-564-628-283-228-853-924-288-233-293-632-566-636-964-634-182-238-453-662-968-960-922-423-714-935-862-128-716-611-456-321-722-243-965-248-718-469-724-253-576-642-936-643-961-939-813-644-199-819-184-172-524-132-361-646-362-648-364-915-732-134-366-652-734-174-144-328-146-258-463-656-528-654-923-336-738-263-578-268-537-532-742-944-866-176-369-534-744-536-186-429-925-178-746-436-926-136-466-343-112-158-111-439-298-916-927-664-846-826-299-542-582-443-474-917-754-544-698-941&S=NGDP-PPPEX&CMP=0&x=61&y=16 PPP US dollar exchange rates (IMF)]
- The most widely used PPP exchange rate come from the Penn World Tables at the [http://pwt.econ.upenn.edu Center for International Comparison] in Pennsylvania, USA. Category:Economic indicators Category:International trade Category:International economics ko:구매력평가 ja:購買力平価説

Welfare (financial aid)

:This article is about financial assistance paid by government organisations. For other uses of term welfare, see welfare (disambiguation). In the United States, welfare means money paid by the government to those who are in need of financial assistance, are unable to work, or whose circumstances mean the income they require for basic needs is in excess of their salary (e.g. tax credits for working mothers). The sum paid usually gives an income well below the poverty line, and it usually also has conditions attached, such as the need to prove one is searching for work or that there is some condition, such as a disability or obligation to care for children, that prevents them from working. In some cases recipients are forced to do work, and this is often known as workfare. Some kind of safety net provision of this kind is made in almost all developed countries.

Welfare in the US

See also: social security (United States) Welfare is an appropriation of taxpayer money given to a person, business or entity without expectation of goods or services in return. In less charitable terms, it has been called income redistribution from the productive to the unproductive. Welfare has many forms and can include personal welfare such as AFDC, WIC and EITC, so called "corporate welfare" such as subsidies for corporate farms, oil companies, research grants for Embryonic Stem Cell Research or alternative fuels, and grants to institutions such as the United Nations. In the United States, personal welfare often goes to households where children are included (usually headed by single mothers) and even these households have only been able to access benefits for a maximum of five years per lifetime of the adult recipient since 1996. Before that, most American states had been providing welfare benefits to single adults and childless married couples as well since the Great Depression, but the number of states doing so declined steeply during the 1990s, and many of the states still doling out such benefits use methods other than cash payments to render the assistance; indeed, today only two states - New Jersey and Utah - still give out cash to poverty-stricken adults who do not have child dependents. These programs were often known officially by such names as Home Relief and General Assistance. The federal welfare program for households with children was originally named Aid to Dependent Children; this was later changed to Aid to Families with Dependent Children (often referred to by the acronym AFDC), and since 1996 has been officially known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (or TANF). The field of welfare often also involves program evaluation to determine if the welfare programs are working, how well they are working, and how they could be improved.

External links

- [http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-3/work.htm Welfare-to-Work Programs: Strategies for Success]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-4/welfare-reform.html Welfare Reform and Urban Children]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/2001-1/welfare.html Welfare to Work: Considerations for Adult and Vocational Education Programs]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/1992-3/welfare.htm Interagency Collaboration: Its Role in Welfare Reform] category:Welfare ja:福祉

Unemployment insurance

Unemployment benefits are sums of money given to the unemployed by the government or a compulsory para-governmental insurance system. Depending on the jurisdiction and the status of the person, those sums may be meager, covering only basic needs (thus a form of basic welfare), or may compensate the lost pay somewhat proportionally to the previous earned salary. They often are part of a larger social security scheme. Unemployment benefits are generally given only to those registering as unemployed, and often on conditions ensuring that they seek work and do not currently have a job.

Canada

In Canada the system is known as Employment Insurance, but until 1996 it was called Unemployment Insurance. Canadian workers pay into a central fund that contributors can draw on if later unable to work. The amount a person receives and how long they can stay on EI varies with their previous salary, how long they were working, and the unemployment rate in their area. The EI system is managed by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (formerly Human Resources Development Canada), a federal government department. EI is especially important in the Atlantic provinces, which have higher rates of unemployment. Many Atlantic workers are also employed in seasonal work such as fishing and go on EI over the winter when there is no work. There are special rules for fishers making it easier for them to collect EI. EI does not only cover unemployment, it also pays for maternity leave, compassionate leave, and illness coverage. The program also pays for retraining programs. An unemployment insurance program was first attempted during the Great Depression by the government of R.B. Bennett. It was, however, ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada as unemployment was considered a provincial responsibility. After a constitutional amendment was passed, the first Canadian system was established in 1940. Because of these problems Canada was the last major western country to bring in an employment insurance system. It was extended dramatically by Pierre Trudeau in 1971 making it much easier to get. After this act more than 80% of unemployed Canadians received benefits. The system was sometimes called the 10/42, because one had to work for 10 weeks to get benefits for the other 42 weeks of the year. The EI system was dramatically cut by the Liberals in the mid-1990s. It was made harder to get EI by increasing the number of hours that needed to be worked before one could claim EI. Today only some 40% of unemployed Canadians receive EI. The length of time one could take EI was also cut. These changes contributed to a sharp fall in Liberal support in the Atlantic provinces in the 1997 election. Premiums were not cut and the EI program has consistently run a surplus of several billion dollars per year, which is added to general government revenue. Almost the entire federal fiscal surplus of the Chrétien and Martin years has come from the EI system. This has drawn criticism from both business and labour groups, and is a central issue of the Bloc Québécois. Recently the government has used the surplus to greatly increase parental leave from 10 to 35 weeks and to allow workers to take EI for compassionate leave while they are caring for a dying relative. External Link
- [http://www.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/ae-ei/employment_insurance.shtml Government Site]

Sweden

In Sweden unemployment benefits are divided into a voluntary scheme with income related compensation up to a certain level and a comprehensive scheme that provides a lower level of basic support. The voluntary scheme requires a minimum of 12 months membership and a certain degree of employment during that time before any claims can be made. Employers pay a fee on top of the pre-tax income of their employees, which together with membership fees, fund the scheme. Private insurance is also available, mainly through professional organizations, to provide income related compensation that otherwise exceeds the ceiling of the scheme. The comprehensive scheme is funded by tax.

United Kingdom

Main article: Jobseeker's Allowance Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA), the primary form of unemployment benefit in the United Kingdom, exists in two forms: income-based and contributions-based. If a claimant has paid enough National Insurance contributions of the correct class in the two complete tax years previous to the claim year in which the claim is being made, and can prove that they are available for work and are actively seeking employment, then they are entitled to contribution-based benefit. If not, and they have a low or no income they receive income-based benefit, but they still have to prove that they are available for and actively seeking work. Benefit levels are lower for those under 25 and to keep receiving benefit a claimant has to visit the Job Centre every two weeks, give details of how they have been looking for work (a "job seeker's diary" is provided), and sign a declaration that they are following their Job Seeker's Agreement (so called signing on). JSA is £56.20 per week for people aged over 25, £44.50 per week for people aged 18-24 and £33.85 per week for people aged 16 and 17. Income-based JSA is reduced for people with savings of over £3,000, by a reducation of £1 per week per £250 of savings, up to £8,000. People with savings of over £8,000 are not able to get JSA at all.

United States

In the United States there is Unemployment Insurance, a federal program, established by the Social Security Act of 1935, and administered by individual states and territories. The reason for leaving your last job must be "lack of work" or a determination of your eligibility for benefits will be issued. Payments to an eligible person are generally based on their earnings during each of the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters, not to exceed a state maximum. It generally takes two weeks for benefit payments to begin, the first being a "waiting week", which is not reimbursed, and the second being the time lag between eligibility for the program and the first benefit actually being paid. Federal rules are drawn by the United States Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. In general, the maximum period for receiving benefits is 26 weeks, though the federal government may choose to extend the benefit period in difficult economic times. Most recently, this was through the TEUC program. Because it is a joint federal/state program run by the states, taxing business for the benefit of labor, the politics of unemployment insurance are very complex. The federal government loans money to the states for unemployment insurance when the states run short of funds. In general this can happen when the unemployment rate is high. The need for loans can be exacerbated when a state cuts taxes and increases benefits. All loans must be repaid, with interest. Congressional actions to massively increase penalties for states incurring large debts for unemployment benefits led to state fiscal crises in the 1980's. To calculate the unemployment insurance benefits you might receive in the United States, see the useful page at the [http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/datazone_uicalc_index Economic Policy Institute]. To begin a claim, you must apply for benefits (there are a few exceptions where an employer will apply for you). Most states accept claims only by internet or through call centers. Once you apply, the state will notify you whether you have sufficient wages to qualify and what your weekly benefit rate will be. The state will also review the reason you were separated from employment. To actually receive benefits, you must certify to your eligibility every one or two weeks (this varies by state). Generally, the certification includes your affirming that you are "able and available for work", the amount of any part-time earnings you may have had and whether you are "actively seeking work" These certifications are usually either by internet or via an IVR (interactive voice response) telephone call, but in a few states may be by mail. Only after claiming benefits will you receive money. In most states this will be in the form of a check or in a minority of states, optionally, by direct deposit.

Technical analysis of unemployment benefits

- Starting without unemployment benefits, the budget line is FE and indifference curve U0, the person could consume 110 hours of leisure and not earn anything. However the person would choose optimum consumption point P, where the budget line and indifference curve intersect, and have 70 hours leisure and 40 hours work per week. Image:economics_reservation_wage.png
- If an unemployment benefits program is now introduced it shifts the endowment point vertically from E to G, as they now consume the same amount of leisure time but have an income as well. Potentially the person could consume 110 hours of leisure time, but still earn $500 from the unemployment benefits. Because the wages now earned will have a lower net value as unemployment benefits are reduced with income earned the slope of the budget line rotates to GH.
- The income effect moves the chosen work/leisure ratio to point Q and the substitution effect then moves the chosen work leisure ratio from Q to point R where the person is working for 10 hours and having 100 hours leisure. This is because the price of leisure has been reduced by the unemployment benefits system. The substitution effect dictates that the person will always switch to the relatively cheaper option. Thus, in theory, unemployment benefits encourage people to choose to have more leisure time and work less. However NAIRU, the "natural rate" of unemployment, suggests that a certain percentage of the population will always be unemployed.

Discrete

The word discrete comes from the Latin word discretus which means separate. It is used with different meanings in different contexts:
- In perception, a discrete entity is something that can be perceived individually and not as connected to, or part of something else.
- In topology, a branch of mathematics, a discrete space is a topological space in which all sets are open, and a discrete set is a set of isolated points.
- In discrete mathematics, without notion of continuity, a discrete set is a countable set; this concept is also important for combinatorics, probability theory, and statistical theory.
- In discrete mathematics and in theoretical computer science, the abstract world is usually modeled as a discrete space with discrete time.
- In electrical engineering, discrete means having separate electronic components, such as individual resistors and inductors. This is the opposite of integrated circuitry.
- In audio engineering, discrete means having separate and independent channels of audio, as opposed to matrixed stereo or quadrophonic, or other multi-channel sound.
- A discrete signal in information theory and signal processing
- In music, a discrete pitch is one with a steady frequency, rather than an indiscrete gliding, glissando or portamento, pitch. Discrete is not the same thing as discreet.

Quantitative

A quantitative property is one that exists in a range of magnitudes, and can therefore be measured. Measurements of any particular quantitative property are expressed as as a specific quantity, referred to as a unit, multiplied by a number. Examples of physical quantities are distance, mass, and time. Many attributes in the social sciences, including abilties and personality traits, are also studied as quantitative properties.

Historical background

The classical concept of quantity

In classical terms, the structure of a quantitative property is such that different magnitudes of the quantity stand in relation to one another as ratios which, in turn, can be expressed as real numbers. Measurement is the determination or estimation of ratios of quantities. Quantity and measurement are therefore mutually defined: quantitative attributes are those which it is is possible to measure, at least in principle. The classical concept of quantity can be traced back to John Wallis and Isaac Newton, and was foreshadowed in Euclid's Elements (Michell, 1993).

The representational theory of measurement

In the representational theory, measurement is regarded as "the correlation of numbers with entities that are not numbers" (Nagel, 1932). In some forms of representational theory, numbers are assigned on the basis of correspondences or similarities between the structure of number systems and the structure of qualitative systems. A quantitative property is therefore one for which such structural similarities can be established. In other forms of representational theory, such as that implicit within the work of Stanley Smith Stevens, numbers need only be assigned according to a rule. The rule may be a purely operational one such as the statement by an experimental subject of a number in response to a physical stimulus, or the assignment of a number to a statement in a Likert scale. Stevens proposed four levels of measurement.

Fundamental considerations in quantitative research

Whether numbers obtained through an experimental procedure are considered measurements is, on the one hand, largely a matter of how measurement is defined. On the other hand, the nature of the measurement process has important implications for scientific research. Firstly, many arithmeitic operations are only justified for measurements either in the classical sense described above, or in the sense of interval and ratio-level measurements as defined by Stevens (which arguably describe the same thing). Secondly, quantitative relationships between different properties which feature in most natural theories and laws imply that the properties have a specific type of quantitative structure; namely, the structure of a continuous quantity. The reason for this is that such theories and laws display a multiplicative structure (for example Newton's second law). Continuous quantities are those for which magnitudes can be represented as real numbers and for which, therefore, measurements can be expressed on a continuum. Continuous quantities may be scalar or vector quantities. For example, SI units are physical units of continuous quantitative properties, phenomena, and relations such as distance, mass, heat, force and angular separation. The classical concept of quantity described above necessarily implies the concept of continuous quantity. Recording observations with numbers does not, in itself, imply that an attribute is quantitative. For example, judges routinely assign numbers to properties such as the perceived beauty of an excercise (e.g. 1-10) without necessarily establishing quantitative structure in any sort of rigorous fashion. A researcher might also use the number 1 to mean "Susan", 2 to mean "Michael", and so on. This, however, is not a meaningful use of numbers: the researcher can arbitrarily reassign the numbers (so that 1 means "Michael" and 2 means "Susan") without losing any information. Put another way, facts about numbers (for example, that 2 is greater than 1, that 5 is two more than 3, and that 8 is twice 4) don't mean anything about the names corresponding to those numbers. A person's name is not, therefore, a quantitative property. Whether or not counts of objects or observations are considered measurements is also largely a matter of how measurement is defined. Again, though, an important consideration is the manner in which resulting numbers are used. Counts are not measurements of continuous quantities. If, for example, a researcher were to count the number of grains of sand in a specified volume of space on a beach, the result denumerates how many separate grains there are; i.e. the number of separate distinguishable entities of a specific type. Arithmetic operations, such as addition, have meaning only in this specific sense. For instance, combining 5 and 4 grains of sand gives 9 grains of sand. The numbers used in this case are therefore the natural numbers. Any object is characterized by many attributes, such as colour and mass, only some of which constitute continuous quantities. For example, the mass of a specific grain of sand is a continuous quantity whereas the grain, as an object, is not. Thus, the mass of a grain of sand can be used as a unit of mass because it is possible to estimate the ratio of the mass of another object to the mass of a grain of sand, given an appropriate instrument. In the social sicences, it is also common to count frequencies of observations; i.e. frequencies of observable outcomes in an experiment. Examples include the number of correct scores on an assessment of an ability, and the number of statements on a questionnaire endorsed by respondents. Provided each observable outcome is governed by an underlying quantitative attribute, such frequencies will generally indicate orders of magnitude of that attribute. Strictly speaking, however, counts and frequencies do not constitute measurement in terms of a unit of continuous quantity.

Use in prosody and poetry

In prosody and poetic meter, syllable weight can be a governing principle. Syllables with naturally long vowels, diphthongs, and vowels followed by two or more consonants are said to be “heavy” (or “long”). Syllables with naturally short vowels, followed by only one or no consonant, are said to be “light” (or “short”). Some languages use syllable weight in assigning word accent. Some poetic meters are based on the arrangement of heavy and light syllables.

References

Michell, J. (1993). The origins of the representational theory of measurement: Helmholtz, Hölder, and Russell. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 24, 185-206. Nagel, E. (1932). Measurement. Erkenntnis, 2, 313-33, reprinted in A. Danato and S. Morgenbesser (Eds.), Philosophy of Sciences (pp. 121-140). New Yourk: New American Library.

Government

A government is the body that has the power to make and enforce laws within an organization or group. In its broadest sense, "to govern" means to administer or supervise, whether over an area of land, a set group of people, or a collection of assets. The word government is derived the Greek Κυβερνήτης (kubernites), which means "steersman", "governor", "pilot" or "rudder".

Definitions

One approach is to define government as the decision-making arm of the state, and define the latter on the basis of the control it has over violence and the use of force within its territory. Specifically, the state (and by extension the government) has been considered by some to be the entity that holds a monopoly on the legitimate use of force within a territory. This view has been taken by the political economist Max Weber and subsequent political philosophers. The exact meaning of it depends on what is understood by “legitimate”. If we use the term in an ethical sense, then this definition would suggest that an organisation might be considered a state by its supporters but not by its detractors. An alternative definition is to take "legitimate" violence to be simply that which has active or tacit acceptance by the vast majority of the population. In this view, the presence of insurrection or civil war against an entity would jeopardise its claim to be a state, provided the insurrection enjoyed significant popular support. Similarly, an entity that shared military or police power with independent militias and bandits could be considered to have a monopoly on “legitimate” violence but to be failing to enforce it, reducing its claim to statehood. In practice, such situations are often described as "failed states". Government can also be defined as the political means of creating and enforcing laws; typically via a bureaucratic hierarchy. Under this definition, a purely despotic organization which controls a territory without defining laws would not be considered a government. Another alternative is to define a government as an organisation that attempts to maintain control of a territory, where "control" involves activities such as collecting taxes, controlling entry and exit to the state, preventing encroachment of territory by neighbouring states and preventing the establishment of alternative governments within the country. In Commonwealth English, the word "Government" can also be used to refer only to the executive branch, in this context being a synonym for the word "administration" in American English (e.g. the Blair Government, the Bush Administration). In countries using the Westminster system, the Government (or party in Government) will also usually control the legislature. The French use of the word gouvernement covers both meanings, whereas Canadian French generally uses it to mean the executive branch. The German word Regierung refers only to government as the executive branch; the wider meaning of the word, government as a system, can be translated as Staatsgewalt.

Forms of government

Various forms of government have been implemented. A government in a developed state is likely to have various sub-organisations known as offices, departments, or agencies, which are headed by politically appointed officials, often called ministers or secretaries. Ministers may in theory act as advisors to the head of state, but in practice have a certain amount of direct power in specific areas. In most modern democracies, the elected legislative assembly has the power to dismiss the government, but in those states that have a separate head of government and head of state, the head of state generally has great latitude in appointing a new one.

Theories

There are a wide range of theories about the reasons for establishing governments. The four major ones are briefly described below. Note that they do not always fully oppose each other - it is possible for a person to subscribe to a combination of ideas from two or more of these theories.

Greed and oppression

Many political philosophies that are opposed to the existence of a government (such as Anarchism, and to a lesser extent Marxism), as well as others, emphasize the historical roots of governments - the fact that governments, along with private property, originated from the authority of warlords and petty despots who took, by force, certain patches of land as their own (and began exercising authority over the people living on that land). Thus, it is argued that governments exist to enforce the will of the strong and oppress the weak.

Order and tradition

The various forms of conservatism, by contrast, generally see the government as a positive force that brings order out of chaos, establishes laws to end the "war of all against all", encourages moral virtue while punishing vice, and respects tradition. Sometimes, in this view, the government is seen as something ordained by a higher power, as in the divine right of kings, which human beings have a duty to obey.

Natural rights

Natural rights are the basis for the theory of government shared by most branches of liberalism (including libertarianism). In this view, human beings are born with certain natural rights, and governments are established strictly for the purpose of protecting those rights. What the natural rights actually are is a matter of dispute among liberals; indeed, each branch of liberalism has its own set of rights that it considers to be natural, and these rights are sometimes mutually exclusive with the rights supported by other liberals.

Social contract

One of the most influential theories of government in the past two hundred years has been the social contract, on which modern democracy and most forms of socialism are founded. The social contract theory holds that governments are created by the people in order to provide for collective needs (such as safety from crime) that cannot be properly satisfied using purely individual means. Governments thus exist for the purpose of serving the needs and wishes of the people, and their relationship with the people is clearly stipulated in a "social contract" (a constitution and a set of laws) which both the government and the people must abide by. If a majority is unhappy, it may change the social contract. If a minority is unhappy, it may persuade the majority to change the contract, or it may opt out of it by emigration or secession.

Operations

Governments concern themselves with regulating and administering many areas of human activity, such as trade, education, medicine, entertainment, and war.

Enforcement of power

Governments use a variety of methods to maintain the established order, such as police and military forces, (particularly under despotism, see also police state), making agreements with other states, and maintaining support within the state. Typical methods of maintaining support and legitimacy include providing the infrastructure for administration, justice, transport, communication, social welfare etc., claiming support from deities, providing benefits to elites, holding elections for important posts within the state, limiting the power of the state through laws and constitutions (see also Bill of Rights) and appealing to nationalism. Different political ideologies hold different ideas on what the government should or should not do.

Territory

The modern standard unit of territory is a country. In addition to the meaning used above, the word state can refer either to a government or to its territory. Within a territory, subnational entities may have local governments which do not have the full power of a national government (for example, they will generally lack the authority to declare war or carry out diplomatic negotiations).

Scale of government

Main articles: government ownership, government spending The scale to which government should exist and operate in the world is a matter of debate. Government spending in developed countries varies considerably but generally makes up between about 30% and 70% of their GDP.

Fraction (mathematics)

: In mathematics, a fraction is a way of expressing a quantity based on an amount that is divided into a number of equal-sized parts. For example, each part of a cake split into four equal parts is called a quarter (and represented numerically as ¹⁄₄); two quarters is half the cake, and eight quarters would make two cakes. Mathematically, a fraction is a quotient of numbers, like ³⁄₄, or more generally, an element of a quotient field. In our cake example above, where a quarter is represented numerically as ¹⁄₄ the bottom number, (called the denominator) is the total number of equal parts making up the cake as a whole, and the top number (called the numerator) is the number of these parts we have. For example, the fraction ³⁄₄ represents three quarters. The numerator and denominator are the terms of the fraction. The word "numerator" is related to the word "enumerate." To enumerate means to "tell how many"; thus the numerator tells us how many fractional parts we have in the indicated fraction. To denominate means to "give a name" or "tell what kind"; thus the denominator tells us what kind of parts we have (halves, thirds, fourths, etc.). The word is also used in related expressions, like continued fraction, see Special cases below.

Arithmetic

There are four basic arithmetic operations, which in order of simplicity for fractions, includes (1) Multiplication (2) Addition (3) Subtraction (4) Division.

Addition

Adding Fractions

Adding fractions can be a little tricky, since you cannot simply add the numerators and denominators. For example, if we had a cake divided into three pieces, each piece would be 1/3. Then, if we try to add one piece from the cake divided into four pieces, and one piece from the cake divided into three pieces, what would be have? Well, we would have, um, 1/4 + 1/3 = ??? You can see this is NOT equal to 1/7 or 2/7 !! To add fractions together, they must be changed to equivalent values having the same fractional unit -- the same denominator -- in this case 1/12. How do we do this? By multiplying each fraction by 1. By one? Yes. 1 = 3/3 and 1 = 4/4. Now watch: 1/4 = 1/4 x 1 = 1/4 x 3/3 = 3/12. And 1/3 = 1/3 x 1 = 1/3 x 4/4 = 4/12. So now 1/4 + 1/3 = 3/12 + 4/12 = 7/12 and we have the correct result. Notice that we only add the numerators together. The denominator does not change, since we are working with the same fractional unit. Another way to see this is: 1/4 + 1/3 = 3/12 + 4/12 = 1/12 x (3 + 4) = 1/12 x 7 = 7/12. Lets take another example. If you add a half dollar to a quarter, what will you get? You know it's 75 cents, right? When we say 75 cents we have automatically, in our mind, changed each coin into cents (pennies): One half dollar = 50 cents; one quarter = 25 cents; so 1/2 + 1/4 = 50/100 + 25/100 = 75/100 or 75 cents. Of course, we could use a smaller denominator since we know one half dollar equals two quarters. I.e., 1/2 + 1/4 = 2/4 + 1/4 = 3/4. In words, one half plus one quarter equals two quarters plus one quarter equals three quarters, or 75 cents. So the trick is to find a common fractional unit -- a common denominator -- that will let us simply add the numerators together. Let's take one more example. Find 2/3 + 1/2. We see that the denominators are 3 and 2. We need to find a value that each denominator can be multiplied by to give a common value. Well, it's easy to see that we can multiply 3 by 2, and 2 by 3, to give a common denominator of 6. But remember, you cannot change the value of each fraction, so we must multiply both numerator and denominator by the same number. We now have: 2/3 + 1/2 = 2/2 x 2/3 + 3/3 x 1/2 = 4/6 + 3/6 = 7/6 or 1 + 1/6.

Multiplication

By whole numbers

If you consider the cake example above, if you have a quarter of the cake, and you multiple the amount by three, then you end up with three quarters. We can write this numerically as follows: :

3 \times  =

As another example, suppose that five people work for three hours out of a seven hour day (ie. for three seventh of the work day). In total, they will have worked for 15 hours (5 x 3 hours each), or 15 sevenths of a day. Since 7 seventh of a day is a whole day, 14 sevenths is two days, then in total, they will have worked for 2 days and a seventh of day. Numerically: :

5 \times  =  = 2

By fractions

If you consider the cake example above, if you have a quarter of the cake, and you multiple the amount by a third, then you end up with a twelfth of the cake. In other words, a third of a quarter (or a third times a quarter), is a twelfth. Why? Because we are splitting each quarter into three pieces, and four quarters times three makes 12 parts (or twelfths). We can write this numerically as follows: :

\times  =

As another example, suppose that five people do an equal amount work that totals three hours out of a seven hour day. Each person will have done a fifth of the work, so they will have worked for a fifth of three sevenths of a day. Numerically: :

\times  =

General rule

You may have noticed that when we multiply fractions, we simply multiply the two numerators (the top numbers), and multiply the two denominators) (the bottom numbers). For example: :

\times  =  =

By mixed whole number/fractions

If we are multiplying fractions that include a whole number component, then it is best to convert the whole number into a fraction. For example: :

3 \times 2 = 3 \times \left ( \right ) = 3 \times  =  = 8

In other words,

2

is the same as

\left ( \right )

, making 11 quarters in total (because 2 cakes, each split into quarters makes 8 quarters total). And 33 quarters is

8

since 8 cakes, each made of quarters, is 32 quarters in total.

Commutativity

It is also worth recalling that multiplication is commutative which just means that the order of the numbers we are multiplying does not matter. In other words, three lots of a quarters is equivalent to a quarter of three; numerically: :

3 \times  =  \times 3 =

Note that when talking, we say "three times a quarter", but "a quarter of three", the implication being that in the latter example, we are talking about a fractional part of a larger number.

Special cases

- A vulgar fraction (or common fraction) is a rational number written as one integer (the numerator) divided by a non-zero integer (the denominator). The line that separates the numerator and the denominator is called the vinculum. Rational numbers are the quotient field of integers.

Particular vulgar fractions

- irreducible fraction: a vulgar fraction "in lowest terms", where the numerator is an integer, the denominator is a positive integer, and the highest common factor of the numerator and the denominator is 1;
- proper fraction: a vulgar fraction with (absolute) value between 0 and 1;
- improper fraction: a vulgar fraction with a (absolute) value greater than 1;
- unit fraction: a vulgar fraction with a numerator of 1;
- Egyptian fraction: the sum of distinct unit fractions;
- decimal fraction: a vulgar fraction where the denominator is a power of 10;
- dyadic fraction: a vulgar fraction in which the denominator is a power of two.

Other fractions

- A mixed fraction: A mixed fraction is an integer plus a proper fraction.
- A compound fraction is a fraction where the numerator or denominator (or both) contain fractions.
- Rational functions are the quotient field of polynomials (over some integral domain). Let us end with the only example on this page where the "fraction" is not an element of a quotient field:
- A continued fraction is an expression such as

a_0 + \frac

, where the a_i are integers. The term partial fraction is used in algebra, when decomposing rational functions. However, a partial fraction is an expression of a particular decomposition, and so is more than just an element of a quotient field. The term irrational fraction is sometimes used to indicate a magnitude whose quotient with another fixed magnitude is irrational, e.g. "1 is an irrational fraction of 2π". "Fraction", in this sense, simply means "a part of the whole", not a strict ratio in the mathematical sense. Taking the latter meaning, the term is an oxymoron.

Pedagogical tools

In Primary Schools, fractions have been demonstrated through Cuisenaire rods. See also the external links below.

External links

- [http://www.mathfactcafe.com Curricula for Creating Fractions]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/2000-2/fractions.htm Curricula for Teaching about Fractions]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/2004-1/fractions.htm Teaching Fractions: New Methods, New Resources]
- [http://www.kwiznet.com/p/takeQuiz.php?ChapterID=1551&CurriculumID=4&Method=Worksheet Worksheets: Identifying Fractions]
- [http://www.kwiznet.com/p/takeQuiz.php?ChapterID=1364&CurriculumID=4&Method=Worksheet Worksheets: Improper Fractions to Mixed Numbers]
- [http://www.math-lessons.ca Curricula for Teaching about Equivalent Fractions]
- [http://www.quiz-tree.com/Fractions_Practice_main.html Free online quizzes about Fractions]
- Category:Mathematical disambiguation Category:Elementary arithmetic Category:Numbers ja:分数

European Union

: This article is about the European Union. For other meanings of 'EU', see the EU (disambiguation) page. The European Union or the EU is an intergovernmental and supranational union of 25 European countries, known as member states. It will include another 2 countries in 2007 - Romania and Bulgaria. The European Union was established under that name in 1992 by the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty). However, many aspects of the Union existed before that date through a series of predecessor relationships, dating back to 1951. The European Union's activities cover all areas of public policy, from health and economic policy to foreign affairs and defence. However, the extent of its powers differs greatly between areas. Depending on the area in question, the EU may therefore resemble:
- a federation (for example, on monetary affairs, agricultural, trade and environmental policy)
- a confederation (for example, on social and economic policy, consumer protection, home affairs)
- an international organisation (for example, in foreign affairs) A key activity of the EU is the establishment and administration of a common single market, consisting of a customs union, a single currency (adopted by 12 of the 25 member states), a Common Agricultural Policy, a common trade policy, and a Common Fisheries Policy. The most important EU institutions are the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice.

Status

The members of the European Union have transferred to it considerable sovereignty, more than that of any other non-sovereign regional organisation. As has been mentioned, in certain areas the EU begins to take on the character of a federation or confederation. However, in legal terms, member states remain the masters of the Treaties, which means that the Union does not have the power to transfer additional powers from states onto itself without their agreement through further international treaties. Further, in many areas member states have given up relatively little national sovereignty, particularly in key areas of national interest such as foreign relations and defence. This unique structure means the European Union is perhaps best seen as a sui generis entity. On 29 October, 2004, European heads of government and state signed the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. This has been ratified by some member states and is currently awaiting ratification by the other states. However, this process faltered on May 29, 2005 when the majority of French voters rejected the constitution in a referendum by 54.7%. The French rejection was followed three days later by a Dutch one on June 1 when in the Netherlands 61.6% of voters refused the constitution as well. The current and future status of the European Union therefore continues to be subject of political controversy, with widely differing views both within and between member states. For example, in the United Kingdom, currently holding the EU presidency, one poll suggested that around 75% of the population are indifferent or opposed to the European Union. However, other countries are more in favour of European integration — soon after the Netherlands and the French voted "no" on the constitution, Luxembourg voted "yes."

Current issues

Major issues currently facing the European Union cover its membership, structure, procedures and policies; they include the adoption, abandonment or adjustment of the new constitutional treaty, the Union's enlargement to the south and east (see below), resolving the Union's problematic fiscal and democratic accountability, revision of the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact, and the future budget and the Common Agricultural Policy. At the next Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), which is a semi-annual meeting of EU member states' heads of state and government, EU member states must decide on how it will allocate the EU budget. Also, here is the issue of the "Financial Perspective", which is renegotiated every seven years. The next Financial Perspective will be for 2007-2013. Issues that will be controversial during upcoming budget debates will be the British rebate, France's benefits from the Common Agricultural Policy, Germany and the Netherlands' large contributions to the EU budget, and reform of the European Regional Development Funds. Many commentators have envisaged these debates to yield a major split between governments such as France and Germany, who call for a broader budget and a more federal union, and governments such as that of the UK, who demand a slimmer budget with more funding transferred to science and research (and whose watchword is modernisation). Turkey on 4 October 2005 furthered its will to enter the European Union, making them the first predominantly Muslim country to open membership talks with the organisation. Many states within the union are wary of this decision, chiefly Austria. Austrian apprehension for Turkey dates back for centuries, leading from the 1683 Battle of Vienna, where the Austrians defeated the Ottoman Turks. Fears of an influx of migration from Turkey into Austria if the country and its 70 million inhabitants are allowed into the union is a heated topic. Others argue that most of the country is on the wrong side of the Bosporus Strait, which many believe to be the dividing line between Europe and Asia. Turkey also refuses to acknowledge any relations with the state of Cyprus since Turkish troops invaded the northern section of the island in 1974 following a coup attempt by Greek ultra-nationalists. Austria has proposed for an esteemed partnership for Turkey which would come short of an actual membership. Turkey rejected that proposal. Other European states claim that denying Turkey to a membership would brew future hostilities with other Muslim nations.

Origins and history

1974 Attempts to unite the disparate nations of Europe precede the modern nation states; they have occurred repeatedly throughout the history of Europe. Three thousand years ago, Europe was dominated by the Celts, and then conquered and ruled by the Mediterranean centred Roman Empire. These early unions were created by force. The Frankish empire of Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire united large areas under a loose administration for hundreds of years. More recently the 1800s customs union under Napoleon and the 1940s conquests of Nazi Germany had only transitory existence. Given Europe's collections of languages and cultures, these attempts usually involved military subjugation of unwilling nations, leading to instability, others have lasted thousands of years and large spells of peace and economical and technological progress as in the Roman Empire's Pax Romana. One of the first proposals for peaceful unification through cooperation and equality of membership was made by the pacifist Victor Hugo in 1851. Following the catastrophes of the First World War and the Second World War, the impetus for the founding of (what was later to become) the European Union greatly increased, driven by the determination to rebuild Europe and to eliminate the possibility of another war. This sentiment eventually led to the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community by (West) Germany, France, Italy and the Benelux countries. This was accomplished by the Treaty of Paris, signed in April, 1951, and taking effect in July, 1952. The first full customs union was originally known as the European Economic Community (informally called the Common Market in the UK), established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957 and implemented on 1 January 1958. This later changed to the European Community which is now the "first pillar" of the European Union. The EU has evolved from a trade body into an economic and political partnership. For more details, please see History of the European Union. As president of the Convention on the Future of Europe, the former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing proposed to change the name of the European Union to United Europe but it was not adopted.

Member states and enlargement

The European Union has 25 member states, an area of 3,892,685 km² and approximately 460 million EU citizens as of December 2004. If it were a country, it would be the seventh largest in the world by area and the third largest by population after China and India. The European Union has land borders with 20 nations and sea borders with 31. India Since its inception with six countries, nineteen further states have joined in successive waves of enlargement: Note:
- Greenland, which was granted home rule by Denmark in 1979, left the European Community in 1985, following a referendum.
- Romania and Bulgaria will join EU on 1 January 2007

Overseas territories

Several overseas territories and dependencies have close associations with particular EU member states, for example Greenland, the Isle of Man, the Azores and Madeira.

Future enlargement and close relationships

- Romania and Bulgaria are scheduled to become members on 1 January 2007, provided that they meet the conditions for membership and that the Treaty of Accession for the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania is ratified by parliaments of member states. The treaty was signed by representatives of the EU Member States at the Abbaye de Neumünster in Luxembourg on 25 April 2005. As of 2005, member state parliaments are taking forward its ratification.
- Turkey is an official candidate to join the European Union. Turkish European ambitions date back to 1963 Ankara Agreements. Turkey started preliminary negotiations on 3 October 2005. However, analysts believe 2015 is the earliest date the country can join the union due to the plethora of economic and social reforms it has to complete. Since it has been granted official candidate status, Turkey has implemented permanent policies on human rights, abolished the death penalty, granted cultural rights to its large Kurdish minority, and taken positive steps to solve the Cyprus question. However, due to its religious and cultural differences, Turkey faces strong opposition from conservative and religious governments of the member states, mainly France, Germany, Austria, Greece, Cyprus and Slovenia.
- Croatia is another official candidate country to join. It is expected to join by 2010, although the accession process could still be hampered by issues with the UN War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague among other things. See also: Croatian accession to the European Union.
- On 9 November 2005, the European Commission recommended granting candidate status to Macedonia [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4420158.stm].
- The EFTA states of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are members of the European Economic Area which allows them to participate in most aspects of the EU single market without joining the EU. Switzerland, the fourth EFTA state, rejected EEA membership in a referendum; however, it has established close ties to the EU by means of bilateral treaties.

Context – rationale for enlargement and future prospects

Supporters of the European Union argue that the growth of the EU is a force for peace and democracy. They argue that the wars which were a periodic feature of the history of Western Europe have ceased since the formation of the European Economic Community (which later became the EU) in the 1950s. They also claim that in the early 1970s, Greece, Portugal and Spain were all dictatorships, but the desire of the business communities in these three countries to be in the EU created a strong impetus for democracy there. Others argue that peace in Europe since World War II is more due to other causes, such as the need for a unified response to the threat from the Soviet Union, a need for reconstruction after World War II, and a collective temporary tiring of waging war, and that the dictatorships cited came to an end for totally different reasons. In more recent times, the European Union has been extending its influence to the east. It has accepted several new members that were previously behind the Iron Curtain, and has plans to accept several more in the medium-term. It is hoped that in a similar fashion to the entry of Spain, Portugal and Greece in the 1980s, membership for these states will help cement economic and political stability. Further eastward expansion also has long-term economic benefits, but the remaining European countries are not viewed as currently suitable for membership, especially the troubled economies of countries further east. It is hoped by some that eventual membership of states that are currently politically unstable might help deal with tensions resulting from earlier conflicts such as the Yugoslav wars and the Cyprus dispute, and help avoid such conflict in the future. As the EU continues to enlarge eastward, the candidate countries' accessions tend to grow more controversial. As discussed, the EU has finished accession talks with Bulgaria and Romania, and set an entry date for the two countries in 2007. However, the rejection of the EU Constitution by France and the Netherlands, and the EU's slow economic growth, have cast some doubt on whether the EU will be ready to accept new members in 2007, despite the fact that both Bulgaria and Romania have signed Accession Treaties to join in 2007. A further point of contention for EU members is the accession of Turkey. Accession preliminary talks between Turkey and the EU are due to begin in early October 2005. Turkey's Government, led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has enacted many legal reforms to meet the EU's entry requirements. However, some member states, especially Austria [http://euobserver.com/9/19989] repudiate Turkey joining the EU, and the possible economic, immigration and cultural implications that may bring.

Institutions and legal framework

EU institutions

The functioning of the European Union is supported by several institutions:
- The European Parliament (732 members 750 max.)
- The Council of the European Union (or 'Council of Ministers') (25 members)
- The European Commission (25 members)
- The European Court of Justice (incorporating the Court of First Instance) (25 judges (& 25 judges of CFI))
- The European Court of Auditors (25 members)
- The European Council (25 members) - whose unique role is perhaps better described as that of a "quasi-institution" There are several financial bodies:
- European Central Bank (which alongside the national Central Banks, composes the European System of Central Banks)
- European Investment Bank (including the European Investment Fund) There are also several advisory committees to the institutions:
- Committee of the Regions, advising on regional issues
- Economic and Social Committee, advising on economic and social policy (principally relations between workers and employers)
- Political and Security Committee, established in the context of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, monitoring and advising on international issues of global security. There are also a great number of bodies, usually set up by secondary legislation, which exist to implement particular policies. These are the agencies of the European Union. Examples are the European Environment Agency, the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market. Lastly, the European Ombudsman investigates complaints of maladministration by EU institutions.

Location of EU institutions

The EU has no official capital and its institutions are divided between several cities:
- Brussels, Belgium - Considered the de facto capital of the EU
- Seat of the European Commission and the Council of the European Union
- Venue for the European Parliament's committee meetings and mini-sessions
- Host city for all European Council summits (since 2004)
- Strasbourg, France
- Seat of the European Parliament and venue of its twelve week-long plenary sessions each year
- Also the location of two key European organisations — the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights — which are different from the EU and have a wider membership than the EU
- Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
- Seat of the European Court of Justice and the Secretariat of the European Parliament
- Seat of the European Investment Bank
- Frankfurt, Germany
- Seat of the European Central Bank
- The Hague, The Netherlands
- Seat of EUROPOL (the European Police Office)

Legal framework

EUROPOL] European Union law comprises a large number of overlapping legal and institutional structures. This is a result of its being defined by successive international treaties, with each new treaty amending and supplementing earlier ones.. In recent years, considerable efforts have been made to consolidate and simplify the treaties, culminating with the final draft of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. If this proposed treaty is adopted, it will replace the set of overlapping treaties that form the current constitution of the EU with a single text. The earliest EU treaty was the Treaty of Paris of 1951 (took effect in 1952) which established the European Coal and Steel Community between an original group of six European countries. This treaty has since expired, its functions taken up by subsequent treaties. On the other hand, the Treaty of Rome of 1957 is still in effect, though much amended since then, most notably by the Maastricht treaty of 1992, which first established the European Union under that name. The most recent amendments to the Treaty of Rome were agreed as part of the Treaty of Accession of the 10 new member states, which entered into force on 1 May 2004. The EU member states have recently agreed to the text of a new constitutional treaty that, if ratified by the member states, would become the first official constitution of the EU, replacing all previous treaties with a single document. Although accepted by many countries, this document was rejected in a French referendum with a 55% majority on May 29th and in the Dutch referendum with a 62% majority on June 1st. If the Constitutional Treaty fails to be ratified by all member states, then it might be necessary to reopen negotiations on it. Most politicians and officials agree that the current pre-Constitution structures are inefficient in the medium term for a union of 25 (and growing) member states. Senior politicians in some member states (notably France) have suggested that if only a few countries fail to ratify the Treaty, then the rest of the Union should proceed without them, possibly creating an "Avant Garde" or Inner Union of more committed member states to proceed with "an ever-deeper, ever-wider union".

The role of the European Community within the Union

European Communities: European Community plus Euratom The term European Communities refers collectively to two entities -- the European Economic Community (now called the European Community) and the European Atomic Energy Community (also known as Euratom) -- each founded pursuant to a separate treaty in the 1950s. A third entity, the European Coal and Steel Community, was also part of the European Communities, but ceased to exist in 2003 upon the expiration of its founding treaty. Since 1967, the European Communities have shared common institutions, specifically the Council, the European Parliament, the Commission and the Court of Justice. In 1992, the European Economic Community, which of the three original communities had the broadest scope, was renamed the "European Community" by the Treaty of Maastricht. European Union: European Co

Poverty line

Problems with using a poverty line

Defining poverty lines

Absolute poverty

Relative poverty

External links

References

Income

See also

External links

Disposable income

See also

External link

Purchasing power parity

Explanation

Method

Relative PPP

PPP equalization and the law of one price

Application

Examples

West and Central African Franc

GDP of China

PPP: clarification and discussion

Range and quality of goods

Difficulties with PPP comparisons in welfare economics

Difficulties with PPP in country comparisons

Clarification to PPP Numbers of the IMF

Clarification to PPP equalization

See also

External links

Welfare (financial aid)

Welfare in the US

See also

Further reading

External links

Unemployment insurance

Canada

Sweden

United Kingdom

United States

Technical analysis of unemployment benefits

See also

Discrete

Quantitative

Historical background

The classical concept of quantity

The representational theory of measurement

Fundamental considerations in quantitative research

Use in prosody and poetry

References

See also

Government

Definitions

Forms of government

Theories

Greed and oppression

Order and tradition

Natural rights

Social contract

Operations

Enforcement of power

Territory

Scale of government

See also

Relevant lists

Fraction (mathematics)

Arithmetic

Addition

Adding Fractions

Multiplication

By whole numbers

By fractions

General rule

By mixed whole number/fractions

Commutativity

Special cases

Particular vulgar fractions

Other fractions

Pedagogical tools

See also