TV Addiction Problem

TV Addiction Problem Running head: TV ADDICTION: A GROWING PROBLEM TV addiction- A Growing Problem Most people of my generation have never known life without television. We have grown up sitting in the living room in front of the flickering TV screen. It is hard for us to see how television affects our lives. The belief that television is destructive to communication among family and friends is quite common. On the other hand, television has increased the speed at which information travels, and it can transfer circumstances and images into our homes that previous generations never had. People tend to idealize the past; they imagine a group of family and friends entertaining themselves by playing games and telling stories around a warm fireplace, but I do not think that TV can be blamed for the lack of communication among family and friends. Without a doubt, television is one of the most powerful means of communicating in the past decade, competing with other forms of communication such as the Internet, telephone, movies, cellular phones, and of course, our speech. Due to its extensive availability and enriched media with images and sounds, it is very difficult to keep it away from our lives. Television is a necessity of our lives like our meals, clothing, and home. At first, the broadcasting industry was started for public purposes. Nowadays, as to the influences of television, some people say that television offers a relaxing time and useful information to us while others argue that television does not always have a good effect on us because of its hindrance to communication among people. However, television provides us with rich topics to talk about and a chance to get together with each other. Most of all, television helps us communicate with others. We watch television almost every evening with our family. For example, my father and I enjoy watching news or knowledge-based documentary programs. Watching these programs we sometimes discuss current affairs such as the Presidential election or economic problems. Likewise, hot issues on television like news or trendy programs are the most common topics among my friends in my college. If some of them did not watch television the previous night, they cannot even take part in the discussion becaus e they have nothing to talk about. In this respect, since television provides us with various topics related to our lives, it helps us form our sense of intimacy with family or friends. Next, television promotes our communication because it offers a chance to get together with families or friends. Nowadays, most people are so busy that they do not have much time to spend with family and friends. However, through TV programs, we can have a chance to get along with them. For instance, when the 2002 World Cup was held in Korea, many people had a great time with their family or friends. To watch soccer games, we gathered in front of TV with friends or family who we were alienated from for a long time. Consequently, such TV programs help us build up closer human relationships among people. Thus, I think television plays an important role in promoting communication with family or friends. â€Å"Children are more likely to become actively engaged with anything that attracts them. Especially, television provides great interests with its variety of sounds and images to children†. They immediately desire for watching it whether content is neither too easy not too difficult to understand. By its providing some challenge, television allows them to gain an abundant vocabulary. Just like our muscles, the brain gets stronger when it is used, and declines when it isnt used. Television is so commonly criticized as being bad for children that an important fact sometimes gets overlooked†. (ScienceDaily, 2001) Some types of television viewing may actually enhance childrens intellectual development. Television contains an enormous variety of forms and content. In a study, the effects of television viewing depended on program content.† There are always bad effects on children watching TV. Children who are TV viewers increasingly view life as an entertainment extravaganza in which they are fond of playing role in TV show, and there are aggressive content of current broadcasting that greatly affect children. Besides, it is inevitable to watch TV without facing revolting violence. Once more, the effects of television viewing depend on program content and genre. Children are required to be advised what right TV program to watch by their parents. (Carter Bill, 1996) Children have no ability of choosing what is good or bad.Parents and teachers restrain childrens watching TV which is just ignoring their needs. Parents and teacher should be responsible for teaching how to manage their time and what benefits children acquire while watching TV. (Austin W.P, 2003) â€Å"This problem was less severe before cable and the advent of hundreds of channels. The increase in choice has increased the probability of every family member being addicted to a different program on some channel and this eventually leads to time conflicts when two channels show their programs at the same time and there are different viewing demands. Among high-income families this results in more than one television in the house and the physical togetherness of the middle-class family is sacrificed to television addiction. Television addiction increases because in a given family there are people of different ages, genders, with differing levels of education, personal beliefs, intellectual orientation, and personal tastes.† (Television addiction, 2007) Therefore, family members are obsessed with watching their favorite channels. Naturally, their watching time gradually increases and they become addicted to it after all. Most of the people prefer spending time with their families and friends rather than spending time watching television. Television plays an important role in peoples lives. However, most people would definitely choose family and friends over television. Moreover, most knowledgeable people are aware of the harmful effects of watching too much television. Through my experience, after a long day at school, I had plenty of time talking with my parents. For me and my family, our precious time together can not be compared to anything. In addition, the effect of television is simply not so great that it could be said to have â€Å"destroyed† communication among family and friends. Granted, communication among people in industrialized countries has decreased in recent years. It might be tempting to blame this problem on television since its rise roughly coincided with the decrease in time we spend with our families. However, I believe this situation is more likely due to increased pressures relating to work, school, and the economy. In my case, for example, I find that my pressures from studying are so great that I must often sacrifice time at home so that I can meet the challenges of achieving my own goals. In some situations, however, it is true that TV is responsible for decreasing communication among family members. In my childhood in the countryside, I frequently saw parents and children watching television for hours every day, and they barely talked with one another. It seemed for them that television was a way to escape from when they were sad or in a miserable mood. However, admittedly television brought on bad circumstances However, even in this case, I would say that television merely contributed to the bad situation, but it did not cause it; if television were nonexistent, surely these people would have found other escapes, alcohol or gambling, for example. In other words, people always find a way to do want they want to do. Likewise, we need to realize that nobody forces us to sit in front of the TV. We can choose to turn it off and spend more time communicating with our loved ones. Instead of thinking of ourselves as victims of television, we should see how TV can be a good tool for us to use as we see fit. Also, we are able to use it to learn about the world or simply to entertain us when we are bored. â€Å"Television addiction becomes a problem when a subject does not want to watch TV, but experiences an uncontrollable compulsion to start or continue watching.† It is common beliefs that stop watching TV is the fastest method to quit TV addiction. Addicted people just turn off TV screen and try to never approach to it when they find out first time. It may seem work at the beginning. However, as time goes on, they get stressed out by what they are restricted to. They should find out root cause of it and at least show some efforts. Even though it takes long to quit TV addiction, the main purpose is to find you feel free from TV watching. It is common a belief that the fastest method to quit TV addiction by stop watching TV. Addicted people just turn off the TV and try to never approach it. It may seem work at the beginning. However, as time goes on, they get stressed out by what they are restricted to. They should find out the root cause of the addiction and at least show some efforts. Even though it takes a long to quit TV addiction, the main purpose is to be free from TV watching. There are five steps that help us to deal with TV addiction. First of all, you keep a record of how much TV you watch every time you do. You need to know how much time you spend watching TV. Next, compare the amount of time you watch TV to average time people spending on TV. If you do more than the average, try to reduce the amount of time. Secondly, List all the other fun activities you can do at home instead of watching TV. Place your list on your refrigerator so you can check this list before you turn on the TV. Consider fun activities to do as family, household projects you would like to complete, outside activities, reading, exercise, etc. Third, set a limit for how much TV you will watch in later on. Fourth, record your time and stick to your commitment. You can control yourself spend watching time within limited time, Fourth, commit to exercising whenever you watch TV by walking on a treadmill, or riding a stationary bike. If you do so, you will feel less guilty about wasting your time watching TV. Last, Consider removing your TV for a set period of time. You might find yourself talking to your family again instead of watching the TV too much. (N/A, 2007) From these beliefs, I strongly believe that television has not damaged or harmed interpersonal communication among families and most people. Most people think that television is simply a temporary means of spending time, and they do not use it to substitute for interpersonal communication. The damage is attributable to other social factors, not television. Therefore, all of us must choose what we want to do with our free time. We should quit thinking of ourselves as victims of technology and realize that technology offers us choices. Let us take control of technology and use it to improve our lives. Only we can decide how much time we want to spend communicating with friends and loved ones. The television does not decide this for us, we decide it by ourselves.

Principles of Public International Law Essay

â€Å"Law will never really play an effective part in international relations until it can annex to its own sphere some of the matters which at present lie within the domestic jurisdiction of the several states. † Discuss ‘The principles and regulations established in a community by some authority and applicable to its people, whether in the form of legislation or of custom and policies recognised’. The aforementioned is a definition of law as defined by the American Heritage dictionary of the English Language. If we apply this definition of community in its strictest sense it becomes increasingly difficult to subscribe to the view that there is an international community at large. If we begin to analyse statistics that show that there are over 7000 languages in the world, approximately 10,000 distinctly different religions, and a disputably infinite number of ethnic groups across just the 195 countries that comprise our global society, then it becomes patently clear that we would be better off highlighting our divisiveness rather than our prospects as a global community. Our collective history as human beings, however, tells a different story about our common interest and the way in which we have formally raised and torn down barriers to promote the same. We have, on the other hand, been separated on the basis of differing ideologies and the exercise of exclusive nationalism. Since the latter is a sentiment which resides in particular nations which have at their core a set legal framework validating their very existence and their interaction with other nations, it is essential to any study of law’s application to international relations. How does a sovereign nation reconcile its very sovereignty with its growing need to be integrated into a shrinking global society with its concomitant shrinking global economy? It is clear that some compromises must be made. Before we consider any specific cases in which states have decided to relinquish some of their sovereign power, we must consider the implications of the term sovereignty itself, the elements of sovereignty and its importance to a nation-state. Much has been written on the topic of sovereignty. Definitions vary slightly from one text to the other but they all have at their core, when specifically referring to the idea of state sovereignty, the idea of legitimate authority. In Sohail H. Hashmi’s discourse on sovereignty in the book ‘State Sovereignty, Change and Resistance in International Relations’, he asserts, referring to the concept of legitimate authority, that it is â€Å" a broad concept – not a definition but a wide category – that unites most of sovereignty’s tradition. He further notes that authority can be defined as â€Å"The right to command and correlatively, the right to be obeyed† and is only legitimate â€Å"when it is seen as right by those living under it. † It is to be noted that legitimate authority is not simply the idea of more power. R. P. Wolf, the twentieth century political philosopher and individual anarchist, illustrates the difference more sharply in a classical example in which he argues â€Å"if I am forced at gunpoint to hand over my money, I am subject to power; if I pay my taxes even though I think I can cheat I am recognizing legitimate authority. † We must recognize, however, that though legitimate authority is the overarching principle on any discourse on state sovereignty, there are specific elements of state sovereignty that are crucial, which every sovereign state holds dear to it and attempts to retain regardless of seemingly necessary or stipulated concessions of power, influence or authority to the international community. They include International Legal Validation (of a sovereign state), Interdependence Sovereignty and Domestic Sovereignty. International Legal Validation can be viewed as the right of the state to be a sovereign entity as prescribed by ‘international law’. It is legitimate authority as a legal construct or as Hashami puts it â€Å"legitimate authority† that is â€Å"prescribed by the law. † (Hashami, pg 18) The author Stephen D. Krasner in his book ‘Sovereignty, Organised Hypocrisy’ describes this element of sovereignty as international legal sovereignty. He states that it â€Å"refers to the practices associated with mutual recognition, usually between territorial entities that have formal juridical independence. † At its core international legal validation concerns issues of the recognition of states. If one were ignorant about the political climate on the global front, the natural answer to the question ‘how did a state become a state? ’ would be that ‘the would-be state must satisfy the defined stipulations (in international law) for becoming a state. Following this line of reasoning would inevitably lead one to the very first article of the Montevideo Convention on Rights and Duties of States, which since 1933 set out that â€Å"The state, as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: (a) permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with other states. It does not take much political savvy, however, to understand that the legal criteria for statehood and the actual criteria for being recognized as a state by the international community at large is a de facto and de jure issue. As Krasner postulates â€Å"States have recognized other governments even when they did not h ave control over their claimed territory, such as the German and Italian recognition of the Franco regime in 1936, and the American recognition of the Lon Nol government in Cambodia in 1970. States have continued to recognize governments which have lost power, including Mexican recognition of the Spanish republican regime of 1977, and recognition of the Chinese Nationalist regime by all of the major Western powers until the 1970s. States have refused to recognize new governments even when they have established effective control, such as the British refusal to recognize the July monarch in France until 1832, the US refusal to recognise the Soviet regime until 1934. (Krasner, pg 15) The recognition of states is definitely an area in which the law (as prescribed by the Montevideo Convention and more recently the EU, which has almost identical tenets concerning the recognition of states) has proved ineffective in international relations precisely because of the political agendas and consequently domestic jurisdiction of the several states which reflect the political climate in which they operate. States attempt to hold on to this type of sovereignty because it affords them clout and validation in a global society in which interdependence is not just an ideal but a tool for survival, at the very least and a necessary aid to prosperity at the very most. The point here is not that nonrecognition brings with it a form of absolute isolation which renders the unrecognised state permanently barred from international commerce and diplomatic relations. What is of paramount importance, however, is the fact that nonrecognition brings with it an air of uncertainty concerning the unrecognised state, particularly in the eyes of multinational firms which as a result may be more reluctant to invest. Krasner notes that â€Å"by facilitating accords, international legal sovereignty offers the possibility for rulers to secure external resources that can enhance their ability to stay in power and promote the security, economic, and ideational interest of their constituents. (Krasner, pg 17) Interdependence sovereignty is the ability of a state to regulate the flow of information, goods, ideas and people into and out of its country. States try to hold on to this type of sovereignty because their ability to do this is directly related to their ability to effectively take control and organise their own polity, which in essence is domestic sovereignty which states must hold on to by definition i. e. in order to be a state in the first place. We shall consider reasons which prompt states to relinquish some of their sovereignty later in our discussion. We have thus far acknowledged, via several examples, based on the politics involved in the process of mutual recognition of states, that the issue of international legal sovereignty or international legal validation is a de facto versus de jure consideration. Is this, however, a trend in the legal procedures in international relations? The law, based on our previously defined definition, must be applicable to the actors in the community in hich it is operating. If, in the realm of international relations, the law can be voluntarily and regularly flouted by those who come under its subjection then serious questions arise about the very existence of ‘international law’. It must be duly noted though that states undeniably operate within the workings of a law order which to a large extent regulates their day to day interactions with one another and which is autonomo us in its operations. There are a countless number of international treatises that are steadfastly observed on a day to day basis. Examples include international agreements which facilitate the smooth to and fro transport of letters which are transported to all corners of the globe at fixed rates which are stipulated by the Universal postal union, the establishment of hundreds of football leagues worldwide- the individual countries who oversee them all subscribing to the specific rules and regulation set out by the world governing body in football, F. I. F. A. and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations which afford diplomats exemption from prosecution within the courts of the country in which they are stationed. It is evident then that there is a legal framework that regulates the goings on of international relations. We have to probe a bit deeper into the workings of this system in order to ascertain whether or not it can accurately be characterised as international law. It can be argued that upon examination of our above examples of situations in which law plays an effective role in international relations, that the circumstances demand that such broad and far-reaching legal action be undertaken. The methods may vary but in order for letters to be transported globally there must be some standardisation procedure. This sort of necessary ‘self-coercion’ can be observed in a slightly different manner in the operations of international trade and commerce. Often times when two countries have a trade dispute they seek to resolve it in the World Trade Organisation (W. T. O. ), the foremost international authority on trade and trade disputes. The country that loses the dispute, in a legal case which is heard before a court of law under the auspices of the W. T. O. , more often that not abides by the decision. This, again, is not necessarily because the losing party has a great respect or reverence for ‘international law’ or the W. T. O. per se, but rather because it is within its interest to do so. As Harris explains, â€Å"The great majority of the rules of international law are generally observed by all nations without actual compulsion, for it is generally in the interest of all nations concerned to honour their obligations under international law. † (Harris pg 8) He further argues that a nation will be â€Å"reluctant to disregard its obligations under a commercial treaty, since the benefits that it expects from the execution of the treaty by the other contracting parties are complimentary to those anticipated by the latter. It may thus stand to loose more than it would gain by not fulfilling its part in the bargain. This is particularly so in the long run since a nation that has the reputation of reneging on its commercial obligations will find it hard to conclude commercial treaties beneficially to itself. † (Harris pg8) There is, evidently then, a law amongst nations, which is effective regardless of the reason for it being so. The problem of defining this law amongst nations as ‘international law’, however, lies in part because of those very cases in which it is flagrantly disregarded. For any legal system to functional optimally it must operate in a community in which there is a legislative system to make laws as it sees fit, a judiciary to implement the administration of justice and an executive body to enforce the law. Now grant it, generally speaking, there is no formal legislative system in international relations, when countries enter into agreements with each other the signing of treaties is usually undertaken and this serves as the source of law that is meant to dictate the terms of their agreement. However, unlike what is the case in municipal law, there is no definite enforceability method. There is no one authority that can guarantee the compliance of states to international treaties or conventions. We have already made the point that in most cases compliance has become second nature – but what of the cases (though they are scarce) in which it is not? Within the domestic law arena there are cases in which the law is glaringly broken. Once there is enough evidence to convict the wrongdoer, he is convicted and punished. The punitive measures that are undertaken would have been pre-determined by the legislative body and subsequently enforced by an executive body. There is no such arrangement in the international domain. As Harris puts forward â€Å"The problem of enforcement becomes acute, however, in that minority of important and generally spectacular cases, particularly important in the context of our discussion, in which compliance with international law and its enforcement have a direct bearing on the relative power of the nations concerned. In those cases†¦considerations of power rather than of law determine compliance and enforcement. † (Harris, pg 9) Therein lies the difficulty in saying that there is a law of nations. Having established the problematic nature of ‘international law’ or a ‘law of nations’, we shall henceforth temporarily ignore our challenges with nomenclature for the purposes of our remaining discussion. That being said, it is of critical importance to analyse the impact of international law on municipal law and vice versa. There is an ongoing dispute between theorist who believe that international law and municipal law are two separate legal orders and theorist who believe that they are part of the same legal order. The formative argument is known as dualism while the latter is known as monism. There is no one argument based on either monism or dualism that comprehensively settles the dispute. â€Å"On the international plane, international law is invoked and applied on a daily basis by states and intergovernmental organisations. With minor exceptions, it is the only law that applies to the conduct of states and international organisations in their relations with one another. Here international law is a distinct legal system, comparable in its scope and function to a national legal system. † (Buergenthal-Murphy, pg 3) The point mentioned above is very valid and gives credence to the dualism argument. Diplomatic relations, as discussed earlier, are dealt with strictly on the international plane. In order to see the appeal of the monism argument however we have to look no further than the argument establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice (C. C. J. ). Article XXIII of this agreement is as follows: 1)Each contracting party should, to the maximum extent possible, encourage and facilitate the use of arbitration and other means of alternative dispute resolution for the settlement of international commercial disputes. )To this end, each contracting party shall provide appropriate procedures to ensure observance of agreements to arbitrate and for the recognition and enforcement of arbitral award in such disputes. The C. C. J. is a court whose aim is to have a â€Å"determinative role in the further development of Caribbean jurisprudence through the juridical process† is thus an international lega l authority. In order for its smooth operation it must nevertheless depend on the domestic jurisdictions of its member states. Monism and dualism can hence be viewed as fluid concepts which exist in varying degrees.

Global Financing and Exchange Rate

Global Financing and Exchange Rate Mechanisms March 07, 2009 Global Financing and Exchange Rate Mechanisms Hard currencies are a currency, usually from a highly industrialized country, that is widely accepted around the world as a form of payment for goods and services. A hard currency is expected to remain relatively stable through a short period of time, and to be highly liquid in the forex market (Investopedia, 2009). The forex market is the largest, most liquid market in the world with an average traded value that exceeds $1. 9 trillion per day and includes all of the currencies in the world. There is no central marketplace for currency exchange; trade is conducted over the counter. The forex market is open 24 hours a day, five days a week, and currencies are traded worldwide among the major financial centers of London, New York, Tokyo, Zurich, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Singapore, Paris and Sydney (Investopedia, 2009). Another criterion for a hard currency is that the currency must come from a politically and economically stable country. The U. S. dollar and the British pound are good examples of hard currencies (Investopedia, 2009). Soft currency is another name for â€Å"weak currency†. The values of soft currencies fluctuate often, and other countries do not want to hold these currencies due to political or economic uncertainty within the country with the soft currency. Currencies from most developing countries are considered to be soft currencies. Often, governments from these developing countries will set unrealistically high exchange rates, pegging their currency to a currency such as the U. S. dollar (Investopedia, 2009). Hard Currency is used in global financing operations by developed nations. Hard currency is easily traded and bartered throughout the world. Using hard currency ensures that there is an even playing field for all parties in the transaction. Hard currency is important in managing risks because â€Å"a company can counter an imminent devaluation by speeding up collections of receivables, postponing bill paying, and converting cash into hard currency† (Feist, Helly, & Lu, 1999) . Another way that hard currency manages risks is by utilizing or adopting it, it is least likely to be a factor in the loss of funds. World organizations which invest internationally face the prospect of uncertainty in the returns after they convert the foreign gains back to their own currency. Unlike the past when most U. S. investors ignored international investing alternatives, investors today must recognize and understand exchange rate risk, which can be defined as the variability in returns on securities caused by currency fluctuations. Exchange rate risk is sometimes called currency risk. This risk is true for the nations also. For example if a currency is free-floating, its exchange rate is allowed to vary against that of other currencies. Exchange rates for such currencies are likely to change almost constantly as quoted on financial markets, mainly by banks, around the world. This can lead to lot of speculation and also losses especially for weak economies. Moreover investors generally prefer hard currencies to soft currencies at times of increased inflation (or more precisely increased inflation differentials between countries), at times of heightened political or military risk, or when they feel that one or more government-imposed exchange rates are unrealistic. In some cases, an economy may choose to abandon local currency altogether and adopt a hard currency as legal tender. Examples include the adoption in Ecuador and Panama of the US dollar, and the adoption in Kosovo and Montenegro of first the German mark and later the euro. â€Å"Countries open to capital flows can adopt a wide range of arrangements, from free floating to a variety of crawling pegs with broad bands around them (under which the central exchange rate is frequently and marginally adjusted), as well as very hard pegs sustained by policy commitments such as currency boards, dollarization (or, more generally, the adoption of another foreign currency as legal tender), or membership in a currency union† (Finance & Development, 2001). Hard pegs are defined as â€Å"In economics, a policy in which the authorities insist on some permanent, precise guarantee of the value of the local currency to some other thing: a unit measure of gold, the US dollar, the euro, or the pound. Historically, the US dollar had a hard peg to gold from 1946 to 1971, while other currencies in the developed world had a hard peg to the US dollar. Since 1971, most of the world's money is in floating currency (whose relative value is set by the free market)† (Urban Dictionary). A floating currency is â€Å"A currency whose value is set by the currency markets; money whose exchange rate relative to other currencies is determined mainly or entirely by unrestricted trading in the currency. Most currencies are dirty float |dirty floats, which means that the government issuing them attempts to manage their traded value in some way; or else hard peg |hard pegs, in which the value is tied to something specific. When a currency is floating, then its value may rise because the county is running a trade surplus, or it is running a capital account surplus. Floating currencies are not fiat money, although they are often confused for each other† (Urban Dictionary). In some cases the US dollar is considered fiat money because it is deemed â€Å"money that (a) derives its value entirely from the mandate of the government, and (b) cannot be freely traded. Fiat money is not the same thing as floating currency, because if a floating currency is intrinsically worthless then its lack of worth will be reflected in the forex markets. Fiat money, on the other hand, does not require a disciplined monetary of fiscal policy on the part of the issuing authorities; exchange rates are fixed by decree, which means the state also controls supplies of hard (foreign) currency† (Urban Dictionary). â€Å"Times change, and a currency that is considered weak at one time may become stronger, and perceived as a hard currency later on. For example, the pound sterling was considered structurally weak and liable to depreciate (in real terms) for much of the post World War II period; now it is considered to have re-established fiscal and monetary soundness and to be strong. The U. S. dollar (USD) has been considered a strong currency in recent years, and importantly a safe-haven in times of international tension or war, but the USA has large fiscal and trade deficits and an unresolved problem that many Asian currencies are pegged to the dollar and therefore do not appreciate as their trade surpluses with the USA grow; some commentators believe that these considerations imply that the U. S. dollar will now enter a period of weakness, especially that there are signs that China may be relaxing the rate at which the yuan is pegged to the dollar† (Answers, 2007). Soft Currency is used in global operations by underdeveloped or unstable nations. Soft currency is also used as local currency like the Mexican peso. Soft currency is important in managing risks because it is a warning for companies to take proactive measures to reduce currency exchange losses. Soft pegs may lead speculation, which can be costly in industrialized countries, but are frequently harmful to emerging market countries, as in Latin America (Mexico and Ecuador), East Asia (Thailand, Korea, and Indonesia) and Turkey. The breakdown of soft pegs in emerging market countries is as damaging as it is because their debt structure is generally short term and is denominated in foreign currency. Thus a successful speculative attack leads to a sharp deterioration in balance sheets, which in turn leads to a financial crisis. Hard pegs may be desirable, particularly in countries whose political and monetary institutions are especially weak; they can used to stabilize the economy. However, hard pegs will not be successful in promoting a healthy economy unless government policies create the right institutional environment. Thus Pegging has typically been a way to substantiate the value of a local currency against the world's convertible currencies and to stabilize the exchange rate. References Investopedia, (http://www. investopedia. com/terms/s/softcurrency. asp) Feist, William R. , Heely, James A. , & Lu, Min H. (1999). Managing A Global Enterprise. , Greenwood Publishing Group. International Financial Management by Madhu vij Finance & Development, (http://www. imf. org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2001/06/fischer. htm) Urban Dictionary, (http://www. urbandictionary. com/define. php? term=hard%20peg)

A Timeline of India in the 1800s (British Raj)