Introduction to Online Teaching for English Teachers

Introduction to Online Teaching for English Teachers There has been huge growth in opportunities for online teaching for ESL/EFL teachers over the past few years. Heres a quick overview of the current situation, exciting opportunities in the pipeline and tips on sites that are currently offering online teaching possibilities. Online Teaching as an Independent Contractor Most online teaching opportunities provide work as an independent contractor. What this means is that there are no set hours and you can work as much or as little as you wish. Of course, thats also the catch- often there is little work to be had. The upside is that online teaching generally allows you to set your own prices on these services. Establish a top reputation in online teaching, and you can ask for a higher rate. Competition In the world of online teaching, there is a lot of competition, which sometimes leads to fewer hours. However, things are changing rapidly and more and more students are finding their way to the variety of online teaching venues. Here are some of the main sites that currently offer an online teaching opportunity: VIPKID: VIPKID focuses solely on teaching English online and handles all the lesson plans and client communications. Available to teachers from the U.S. and Canada, VIPKID has an application process that involves a mock lesson. Teachers that perform well will have a higher base salary. VIPKID offers additional bonuses and incentives. iTalki: This site started off as a place to find speaking partners in various languages via Skype. Now, its grown to include online teaching services in English. Online Teaching as an Employee There are a few companies that offer opportunities for paid online teaching positions. Of course, the competition is more intense for these positions, but the pay is steady. If you are an experienced teacher, comfortable with technology, would like to take advantage of online teaching, but desire a fixed schedule this is probably for you. The best place to look for one of these positions is TEFL.com. Creating an Online Teaching Business There are a number of teachers that have set up their own online teaching businesses over the past few years. A number of these businesses seem to be doing well. Youll need the ability to think like an entrepreneur (this includes marketing yourself, networking, developing contacts, etc.) If this appeals to you, it could also be the most lucrative online teaching arrangement - but it is hard work and can take quite a while to build up to the point where you have a steady stream of English learners. Basic Requirements To successfully participate in online teaching youll need to be able to do a few things well: Use technology with ease. Make sure that you dont waste students time while you learn the technology. This sounds quite obvious, but it is often a problem.Create a few lesson plans that focus on online teaching. Youll need a game plan for online teaching. Its not the same as teaching in a classroom.Spend some money on good technology for your online teaching. These days gadgets are cheap. Make sure to invest in a good camera, headphones and microphone. Youll also need a computer that can handle video/audio streaming so make sure you have enough RAM!Willingness to promote yourself. If you would like to compete with other teachers as an independent contractor, youll need to promote yourself through your profile, blog, YouTube, etc. Currently, students dont just show up and they have lots of choices. There are many preparations to make before you begin online teaching. This guide to teaching online will help you deal with the most important technological considerations. Finally, if you have had any experience with online teaching, please share your experiences so we can all learn.

US future markets and risk management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

US future markets and risk management - Essay Example The aim of this paper is to examine futures as risk management techniques companies could use to manage their risks. The paper first of all examines the risks companies are prune too before analyzing how the risks can be solved with futures.Today, bankers are increasingly becoming conscious about recent developments in their respective markets and have resorted into various method of managing risk in bank. Risk management appears to have improved in most sub-regions as a result of the introduction of new approaches in conducting business as well as better measurement and pricing of the various risks (BIS Paper No 33, 2005).According to BIS paper No.33, financial markets are subject to various sources of risk: credit, market, liquidity, operational and legal risks. These risks tend to be more pronounced in the developing world than in developed countries due to a lower level of economic, financial and institutional development.Credit risk tends to be more acute as a result of a lack o f highly rated counterparties. Market and liquidity risks are higher due to thinly traded markets. Operational risks may also be exacerbated because of inadequate human resources or the failure of manual, mechanical or electronic systems to process payments. Finally, legal risk may also be part of the environment (for instance, due to the inability to foreclose on collateral). The next section discusses credit risk and some of its components and how it can be managed.The aim of this paper is to examine futures as risk management techniques companies could use to manage their risks. ... dit risk; this is typically the most important form of risk for commercial banks Shapiro, 2003; Buckley, 1996; Muller and Verschoor, 2005; Solt and Wayne, 2001).Solt & Wayne (2001) argues that, in assessing credit risk, an institution needs to consider three issues: default probabilities over the horizon of the obligation, credit exposure (ie how large the obligation is when the default occurs) and the recovery rate (ie what part of the exposure may be recovered through bankruptcy proceedings or some other form of settlement) (Solt and Wayne, 2001). Credit risk is often difficult to assess due to the lack of information on the credit history and financial position of borrowers, inadequate accounting practices and standards that make it difficult to evaluate credit exposures, macroeconomic volatility and deficiencies in the institutional environment (e.g., political instability) (BIS Paper No.33, 2005). Weak enforcement of creditor rights may also contribute to uncertainty regarding recovery rates. Although many of these factors have been improving in recent years, progress in some cases is slow (Mohanty et al., (2006). Moreno (2006) highlights two key issues related to credit risk that are relevant for emerging market economies (EMEs). First, the distinct increase in the share of credit to the household sector that has been observed in a number of countries could lower credit risk if the concentration of bank assets fell, if consumer credit diversifies risk among a larger number of borrowers. 2.0 Risk Management In management of credit risk, I will focus only on the currency risk exposure aspect of credit risk. That is in a situation where credit is offered in multiple denominations of currency. Currency risk or foreign exchange exposure or better still foreign

Network Security Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Network Security - Term Paper Example (213) INTRODUCTION: It consists of various policies to prevent the misuse of the data or unauthorised access of the data by users who does not own it. Certain provisions and policies are made in this regard by the administrator, to ensure confidentiality of data .This system is so designed that authorization of access to data in a network is controlled by the network administrator only without interference of any other person. For this purpose, all users are given a separate ID i.e. the identity of the individual and a password by the administrator so that access to information and programs are allowed by that user only within their authority. It is a complex job and can be tackled by efficient, experienced and well-trained experts. Network security system is a combination of many computer networks which can be either public or private. It includes everyday jobs like conducting transactions and communications among businesses, government agencies and individuals. Networks can also be private, such as a network dealing a specific company, and others which might be open to public access. In organizations, enterprises, and other types of institutions Network security is involved so as to maintain the confidentiality of their data (King, 10). Role of Network Security: How does it protects you It performs the key role as the name indicates as quoted by (Bragg et al) : Unauthorized access: It secures the network, and does not allow any unauthorized access. Confidentiality : It also plays a chief role in protecting and overseeing operations being done and preventing their unknown user access. A Unique Name : Protection of a network resource requires the corresponding password and unique name as mentioned above in an earlier section. Executing Commands Illicitly: It is undesirable for an unknown and non-trusted individual to execute and run the commands server machines. Security system doesn’t allow any such activities. Protects the system from Viruses, worms an d Trojan horses: Many antiviruses are developed so that a secure system may be provided. Concept: The key feature of network security is allocating the user, commonly with an authentic username and a password. One-factor authentication: The password is something which known by the user only. This can he termed as one-factor authentication. Two- factor authentication: This something the user already has can also be used as his identity. For an example, A security token An ATM card Mobile phone number Any of the above belongings can be used as an individual’s identity in a secured network. Three-factor authentication: Every individual can be identified by something the user is. For an example, A fingerprint Retinal scan Firewall: It enforces access policies blocking the unauthorized network access. For instance, which services may be allowed to be accessed by the user in certain network? This feature is plays a very helpful and efficient role in preventing the unauthorized acce ss to the data. The only drawback of this component is that it way fails to detect any potentially harmful error like ‘Computer worms’ are being transmitted over the network (Radack, 215). Proxy According to Okechukwu et al.,( 480) Process of having one host act in behalf of

Memoir Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Memoir - Essay Example Usually, I used to celebrate my birthday at home and only call my friend to wish him a happy birthday. One day, as we approached our birthdays, my friends suggested that we went hiking and celebrate surrounded by nature. That was a completely new experience for me, and I agreed. The only thing left to handle was to ask my parents whether I could do that. They allowed me to go hiking and celebrate my birthday with friends but they were upset because our tradition would be broken. I said I was old enough to decide how I wanted to celebrate. Now that I am recollecting that moment I deeply regret I said so. On the day we went hiking, the weather was perfect, and I was cheerful and optimistic. I could not wait to halt, put up tents and start celebrating my friend’s and my birthdays surrounded by nature around the campfire. I really enjoyed spending my special day with my friends; they gave us presents and said a lot of great words to us. They even managed to bring a small cake and light candles. Everything seemed to be perfect. I felt some discomfort though. At first, I thought it was caused only by the unfamiliar environment for I that was the first hike in my life. With some time passing, however, I understood what was wrong. I realized that it was not only the environment but people that made me feel that way. That discomfort was caused by the absence of my family and the atmosphere of a holiday that our house always has at such days. I have never really thought that our family ties are so strong. Also, I have never thought of myself as of a stay-at-home person. In fact, I have always thought I am not tied to my home and believed that I am able to leave it any time I want to do so. In reality, it appears that my family and the home we live in are the most important things in my life. All these memories and feelings were inspired by photos which I tend to look through from time to time. When I opened the page with the photos

Rise And Growth Of Communalism

Rise And Growth Of Communalism India has always been a hub of cultural and religious diversities and its orientation goes back in the historical times. India has a number of religions and they co-exist side by side peacefully. This diversity includes a large number of Hindu populations and a minority of Muslims. Despite this factor there had never been much of a problem between the two religions. So what led to the disputes between these two diverse religions? There is a belief that people following same religion have common thinking and cultural, social, economical and political interests. The communalist emphasizes that Hindus and Muslims cannot have common secular interests, instead their interests are bound to be opposed to each other. Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian communalisms have similar ideologies. The rise and growth of communalism Communalism emerged as a consequence of the emergence of modern politics. As Jawaharlal Nehru said One must not forget that communalism is a latter-day phenomenon which has grown up before our eyes, which means that this ideology came into being in the recent-past and it was a result of the conditions which have in other societies produced similar ideologies and phenomenon. The consciousness of communalism in India arose under the impact of colonialism and the need to fight against the system, which was not accepted by the citizens of India during the colonial rule. The new ways of common interests started building up amongst the people because of the growing political, economic and social amalgamation of the regions, the developing opposition between colonialism and the citizens of India and the common desire to make India into a nation. This also followed from the birth of the new politics during the late 19th century. It was based on the increasing number of politicization and mob ilization of the Indians. The transformation in the ideologies was a gradual and difficult process. The process included the spread of modern ideas of cultural and linguistic development, nationalism and the need to raise voice against discrimination on the basis of region, race, religion, caste, color, etc. In the process of spreading and accepting these ideas and identities, gave a way to some other new ideas and identities. The religiousness consciousness was transformed into communal consciousness in some parts and sections of the country. This transformation took place as there were some factors that favored its growth in that situation and served these sections of the society. The ideology of communalism grew across the country during in the 20th century as it had political and socio-economic roots. The resulting economic downfall and the impact on the Indians produced conditions which were favorable to division and opposition within the society. Some of the problems like unemployment, especially for th e educated middle and lower-middle classes who could not fall back on their land and the absence of development of health, education, etc., led to socio-economic deterioration. This situation gave birth to some of the popular movements including nationalist movement, which enabled to look for long term solutions to the problems of the people by fighting against colonialism. The lower-middle and middle classes were the ones who were part of the military nationalist movement and left wing parties. But because of intense competition after the economic downfall among the individuals for jobs, the middle class individuals used other group identities such as religion, caste, region, etc. for getting a larger share of economic opportunities. Communalism benefitted these individuals in the short run but at the same time gave birth to communal politics. People started using this technique of communalism to achieve their individualistic goals. However, it played short-term and partial role in the social existence of the middle classes. Communalism often misinterpreted social tension and class conflict between the exploiters to different religions as communal conflict. Most often, the exploiting sections were the upper class Hindus and the exploited were Muslims or lower class Hindus. The Muslim communalists used to grumble that the Hindus are exploiting Muslims or the Hindu Communalists used to complain about the Muslims destroying their property. The struggle between landlords and tenants in various parts of the country also portrayed the struggle between Muslims and Hindus. The landlord-moneylender coercion, attack by rural poor on rural urban and many such cases were represented as oppressions by Muslims on Hindus or by Hindus on Muslims. One aspect of the growth of communalism in Punjab was the attempt by the higher level Muslim landlords to protect their economic and social position by using the way of communalism as revenge against the act performed by the Hindu moneylenders and traders against the Muslim ten ants to protect their threatened class interests. Communalism also enabled the colonial rulers and the upper classes to unite with the lower classes and to utilize the politics of the later to serve their own needs. The Divide and Rule policy under the rule of British bore special responsibility for the growth of communalism in modern India. But it is true that the reason for this success was the internal political and social conditions. They used communalism to counter and weaken the growing national movement. It was being portrayed as a problem of the defense of minorities by the British. The disunity between Hindus and Muslims and the need to protect the minorities and the suppression by the majority was a form of justification for protection of the British rule. An attempt was made to put caste against caste, region against region, leftist against rightist and even one class against the other. But the most successful was the communal division which survived till the end. The colonial authorities did whatever they could do by staking everything on it to make Indians fight against each other. Communalism was not developed to such an extent that it could divide the country into two, but the powerful support of the colonial rule increased the chances of division of the country. It was communalism that helped the British in influencing the workers, the middle and lower middle classes and the peasants which gradually included all the sections of the society. The peasants during the 19th century lacked the understanding of the colonial system and the social movements itself and also lacked the possession of new ideologies that we as a nation can have a concept of an alternative and self-governing society. The concept that would unite the people in a common struggle and develop political movements that would last for a long term. On 26th March 1902, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, in one of his speeches included the condition of the country, the condition of finances of the country and the poverty of the people. He came to a conclusion that the condition of the people is deteriorating gradually and its the worse in the economic history of the world. He set to analyze the budget in detail and showed how the land and other taxes had been going up even in cases of drought and famine. He asked for reduction of these taxes so that the middle and the lower middle classes would not be harassed. He was victorious as his proposal was accepted by the British government. Bharat Singhs, one of the revolutionaries, approach towards politics was very secular and he understood the conditions of the people more clearly and the danger that communalism posed to the nation and the national movement. He and his companions were against and openly opposed the suggestion that youth belonging to religious-communal organizations should be appointed as a member of the Sabha. He wrote that a new group of youth was coming forward who did not recognize any differences based on religion and saw a person as a human being and then as an Indian, instead of discriminating on the basis of religion. He admired Lala Lajpat Rai as a leader but he didnt stand by him during the last years of his life as Lajpat Rai switched to communal politics. He saw the importance of making the people free from all the mental burden of religion. A large number of revolutionaries started criticizing the colonial ideologies and some turned to Marxism, some had the idea of a socialist revolution and the others joined the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the Communist Party, the Gandhian wing of the Congress and the other Left parties. In the years following the Non-cooperation Movement, 1922, the conviction of nationalism was still alive in the hearts of the Gandhian followers, who kept the Government on its toes by not following the colonial policies and protested and fought for their rights. The colonial operations by the British colonialists in India led to growth of the communal organizations and movements. These organizations focus on promoting the interests of that particular community. Some of these organizations were Hindu Mahasabha, All India Muslim League, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, etc. Indian National Congress (INC) was found in the 1885 in order to narrow the Hindu-Muslim divide and all sorts of discrimination between Indians on the basis of religion. But Sir Sayed and many such Muslim leaders portrayed the Congress as a representative body of Hindus, so they tried to hinder the unity between Hindus and Muslims. Poor participation of Muslims in the INC proves it. The majority of number of seats was being dominated by Hindus. At the same time Hindus were against the Congress as the religious and communal leaders thought that this movement was supportive of the Western cultural assault. All India Muslim League was a movement that started by the Muslim leaders on 30th December 1906 as a proposal for a political association for the Muslims in India. The motive behind this proposal was to counter Congress influences, to protect Muslim interests and to support the British administration. The 1st meeting of this proposed entity took place in Karachi on the 20th December, 1907. It gave the Muslim leaders a platform on local, national and international levels. Khilafat Movement (1919-24), was an Islamic movement in India during the colonial rule. It was an effort by the Indian Muslim community to unite together against the Turkish Empire ruled by the Khalifa, whom the Muslims considered as the caretaker of Islam. The leaders involved the Khilafat movement fully supported the non-violent methods of Gandhi facilitating the establishment of Muslims and Hindus against colonialism. This effort formed a major threat to the British rule. This movement did not last long and resulted in violent incidents and the final outcome was deaths of many Indian and British people. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, one of the members of the Gandhis congress party, made speeches on pressurizing Hindus and Muslims to live together, but later in 1935 when he returned to India he came up with a mission to save Indian Muslims from Hindu domination. He built up a moribund Muslim League which he later disclosed that this union was only for the Muslims. Hindu Mahasabha was a Hindu nationalist organization which was found in 1915 to oppose the Indian National Congress and the All India Muslim League. This movement started at a small scale as a conference in Allahabad by the leading Hindus. Many socio-political problems led to emergence of Hindu Mahasabha as a communal organization. A certain section of Hindus decided to organize the Hindus with the motive of self-defense. Madan Mohan Malaviya enlightened his fellow Hindus that Muslims and Christians had been carrying on activities since a long time resulting in non-participation of Hindus. Conclusion There have been many such conflicts between Hindus and Muslims in India since the beginning of the colonial rule which may be in the form of violence or non-violence. Before the colonial rule, both the religious groups: Hindus and Muslims were able to live together peacefully. There were communal movements and conflicts in the country which were based on religious communities and strong feelings of nationalism in India during the late 19th century. Some Muslim leaders desired to call for a communal Muslim society. This belief led to initiation of a separate community for Muslims. It became very difficult for them to follow the colonial policies, culture and power. They started refusing to learn English and to associate with the British. They found that Hindus were at better positions with the British in government than they were and they started believing that they favored Hindus. On the other hand, Hindus protested against the Indian National Congress and the All India Muslim League as they believed that the other religious communities were getting the opportunity to participate in political events but they were neglected. The British took advantage of the disputes and misunderstandings between these two religious groups by strategizing one against the other and by favoring the seemingly more peaceful Hindus and Sikhs over the Muslims and enforcing their belief systems upon each religion. Jinnah took an astonishing decision by demanding a separate nation for Muslims in the sub-continent. Later, in the year 1947 he was rewarded with a new country, Pakistan because of the growing communal tensions.

How Electronic Commerce Is Affecting American Industry Essay example --

ELECTRONIC-Commerce How It Is Affecting American Industry The Internet over the past few years has seen a huge increase in online businesses and consumers. Electronic-commerce is expected to generate $36 billion in revenue during 1999, up 140% from last year alone.[1] With such a huge amount of money to be made on the Internet it is becoming very appealing for small businesses and start-up companies to try and make their niche in e-commerce. The Internet is drastically affecting the way companies and people conduct business now. E-commerce encourages growth in existing as well as new businesses because of lower overhead costs, the huge consumer base and the freedom of information flow. However the online revolution has created a large amount of competition for consumers between businesses despite the fact that the public does not yet have total confidence in the e-commerce market. The Internet is a free and seemingly boundless medium that is distributed to over 200 million people worldwide.[2] This creates a large market for companies that are competing on the Internet, which acts as a level playing field. Small companies can compete with larger vendors by getting their product and prices seen by anyone interested online while not being limited by their locale or to just their local area consumers. Another reason why e-commerce is so attractive are the low star-up costs required to start a company. A basic site can be created with as little as a couple hundred dollars, a computer and a little imagination. A business can then be run from a home or network instead of a large expensive building where many employees and machines are needed. Because of this online businesses can sell their products for much less by passing their ... ... Internet shopping is expected to increase by at least 50% into the millennium, which leaves much room for growth and new opportunities for new and adventurous companies.[4] E-commerce has opened up a new market in American industry that is forcing companies to become part of the online revolution or suffer the consequences in the long run. The freedom of the Internet combined with the huge amounts of information make for a more easily accessible environment that will revolutionize the way all business is conducted in the future. Notes 1. Shop.org. 30 October 1999. http://www.shop.org/nr/99/071999.html 2. NUA - Internet Surveys. 03 November 1999. http://www.nua.ie/surveys/how_many_online/index.html 3. C-Net. 1997. 30 October 1999. http://sellitontheweb.com/ezine/news0296.shtml 4. C-Net. 31 October 30, 1999. http://sellitontheweb.com/ezine/news0310.shtml

American Economy

In a broad sense, the macroeconomic policies developed and implemented by the Federal Reserve (the Fed) are those which regulate the national supply of money. Either through foreign exchange operations, or management of public funds, the Fed seeks to maintain the level of money supply in ways that would sustain stable inflation rates. It should be noted that while Fed’s macroeconomic policies tend to impact aggregate demand and GDP these are primarily short-term effects, with the rate of inflation being the main long-term target of any monetary policy.Now, in conditions of the growing financial crisis, it is more than important to reconsider and reevaluate the effects of the major Fed’s macroeconomic policies on the major sectors of the U. S. economy. Given the instability of the current financial and housing markets, this analysis is expected to become the source of useful policy recommendations in short and long run. American Economy Introduction In a broad sense, mac roeconomic policies developed and implemented by the Federal Reserve (the Fed) are those which regulate the national supply of money.Either through foreign exchange operations, or management of public funds, the Fed seeks to maintain the level of money supply in ways that would sustain stable inflation rates. It should be noted that while Fed’s macroeconomic policies tend to impact aggregate demand and GDP these are primarily short-term effects, with the rate of inflation being the main long-term target of any monetary policy. Now, in conditions of the growing financial crisis, it is more than important to reconsider and reevaluate the effects of the major Fed’s macroeconomic policies on the major sectors of the U.S. economy. Given the instability of the current financial and housing markets, this analysis is expected to become the source of useful policy recommendations in short and long run. Monetary policies have long been the issue of the Fed’s major concern . Through the prism of numerous monetary factors, the Fed used to evaluate the causes and consequences of particular monetary decisions and their effects on economic behaviors. The truth is, however, that in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the macroeconomic policies in the U. S., a detailed review of the structural factors that stand behind the current economic crisis is required. The combination of the housing and credit crunch drivers needs to be reconsidered, to realize the real-life implications of all monetary initiatives the Fed has been able to implement over the course of the last three years. To start with, the current economic crisis originates from the strategic change in equilibrium within housing markets, as well as the decline in house prices â€Å"as the market gives back the excessive part of the rise in real house prices – the part not justified by realized rentals† (Wu, 2008).These structural shifts have obviously impacted the situation with em ployment, banking, and construction. Another set of structural factors is readily visible in the financial sector, where subprime mortgages and the following illiquidity and reduced supply of loans have led the banks to the need for increasing their assets and making their share prices vulnerable to even the slightest changes in business sector (Kutter & Mosser, 2007).The slowdown of productivity, the decreasing value of business and economic expectations, and oil prices have also contributed in the expansion of the current financial crisis, which is more the result of structural shifts in global and national economy, rather than the direct consequence of ineffective monetary approaches. In this context, the natural question is what the Fed has done to decrease the negative impact of financial crisis on the major sectors of business and economy, and whether Fed’s macroeconomic policies in their traditional form remain relevant in the changing financial and economic conditions .Since the end of 2006 and up to the beginning of 2009, the gradual increase of the Fed’s reserve balances has been the distinctive feature of the Fed’s response to the expanding economic crisis. The increase in reserve balances have become particularly visible and sharp by the end of 2008, when the Fed faced a serious need to provide banks and business entities with additional liquidity instruments and loans (Lacker, 2009). In a very short-time period, the Fed has increased the reserve balances supply by over 100-fold, with the latter reaching the amount of $848 billion (Boivin & Giannoni, 2008).Purchasing securities and providing financial institutions with guaranteed loans was one of the reasons for such sharp reserve balances increase, but beyond that, the Fed sought to finance its loan activities by creating additional money. It should be noted here, that with the need to obtain additional financial instruments, the Fed can follow the three different pathways: cre ating money, borrowing funds from the U. S. treasury, and issuing debt (Gilpin, 2008).Selling government securities is just another option the Fed can utilize to obtain additional funds. Importantly, with the emergence of the economic threats and during the first months of crisis the Fed chose to follow the fourth path, adjusting its portfolio to its economic and financial needs by selling off government securities, but with the amount of government securities being insufficient to maintain financial and monetary stability in the U. S. , the Fed has come to realize the need for creating new money.In the light of the essential structural shifts, and given the long-term impacts which the process of creating new money produces on all areas of economic activity, these macroeconomic policy decisions have already turned into the source of increasing professional concerns, and there are several reasons for that. First, the effectiveness of federal reserves increase seems doubtful due to th e inflationary trends with which it is usually associated. Under the impact of falling commodity prices, when inflation risks seem at least improbable, the Fed nevertheless should not lose the sense of caution.The fact is that when the need withdraw the funds and to reduce the amount of federal reserves arises, the Fed is likely to face another inflationary challenge, and whether it is able to avoid long-term increase in prices will depend on the moment the Fed chooses for reducing the amount of funds (Boivin & Giannoni, 2008). Second, Gilpin (2008) suggests that as long as the Fed is increasingly involved into selective financing as a part of its macroeconomic initiatives, the Fed’s independence from other governmental institutions becomes irrelevant and at least doubtful.Rudebusch (2008) writes that â€Å"the recent request by the Treasury for the Fed to assist in creating a Consumer and Business Loan Initiative is certainly reminiscent of the request by Treasury for the F ed to help out in its own borrowing operations before the Accord of 1950†. Thus, whether the Fed acts in accordance with macroeconomic principles or follows the recommendations and requirements of Congress will also determine its consistence as the central financial body and as the source of the major macroeconomic initiatives.Finally, as Congress is trying to tie the Fed to its authoritative decisions, and the Fed does not look beyond the need for creating additional money and applying selective funding principles, the only effect the Fed has been able to produce is proving its inability to act as an independent financial body. The problem is that against the continuous success of its expansionary initiatives and the absence of deep recessions, the Fed found itself in the midst of predictable policies and workable macroeconomic guidelines.Since the end of 2006, however, those guidelines and policies have gradually lost their effectiveness (Rudebusch, 2008). Scholars and profe ssionals in economics recognize the declining effectiveness of the major Fed’s initiatives: the Fed is no longer able to produce immediate positive effects on the interest rates; the benefits of the major macroeconomic initiatives have been muted by the mortgage securities market issues; investors are disappointed with the recent Fed’s decisions – all these factors significantly contribute into the expansion of the current financial crisis, making the financial image of the Fed even more negative.Until present, the ineffective macroeconomic activity of the Fed has only led to re-appreciation and reconsideration of the benefits of fiscal stimuli and responses to the changing economic conditions. Against the inconsistency of the Fed’s decisions, the scope of the Fed’s operations was limited to adjusting federal funds rate and issuing additional financial instruments. Federal Reserve lending in the broader macroeconomic contexts has also become the to pic of increasing professional interest.In response to recent slowdown, the Fed has developed a whole set of lending initiatives, which either targeted specific groups of assets, or specific business entities or institutions, or implied the need for standard discount window lending (Lacker, 2009). From the viewpoint of macroeconomics and the long-term impact which these interventions tend to produce, before the middle of 2008 the Fed had been working to provide lending in ways that would not increase the monetary base but would instead redirect additional bank reserves to cover its lending commitments.Since the end of October 2008, however, the Fed has no longer been able to maintain its monetary base unchanged, and had to combine its lending ideas with additional monetary stimuli (Lacker, 2009). These lending programs have been effective to the extent that changed the balance of credit in specific markets, and â€Å"while some market segments benefit from reduced funding costs, ot hers may actually see their costs rise as credit is diverted to those markets that have been targeted by support† (Lacker, 2009).In relation to lending, it is essential to note that over the last three years the Federal Reserve intentionally chose to conduct its monetary interventions with the help of the federal funds rate, which provides the Fed with an increasingly active position regarding macroeconomic policies in the U. S. By changing the discount rate, the Fed gives financial institutions a chance and the right to borrow directly from the Fed, and the Fed’s board can either approve or deny the loan (Gilpin, 2008).The situation is similar with other lending initiatives, but when it comes to supporting specific business entities or markets, the Fed risks losing its independence and faces a decision-making challenge of cooperation with Congress. More than that, with lending being one of the major macroeconomic operations initiated by the Fed in the last 3 years, pro fessionals have come to realize the inconsistence and the distorted vision of the Fed with regard to discount rate as the central policy instrument.In other words, where financial institutions seek to replenish the lack of liquidity, they prefer borrowing overnight, thus leaving the Fed no time to review the real financial needs of financial institutions (Krugman, 2007). As a result, it was not before the middle of 2007 that the Fed has become concerned about the decreasing liquidity of its assets and the need to reduce the discount rate for primary credit.Since that time, the Fed continuously supported its â€Å"federal funds rate reduce† line, which suggests that reducing discount and federal funds rates was one of the least ineffective macroeconomic approaches and did not extend beyond producing short-term positive impacts on financial and commodity markets (Yuan & Zimmerma, 2008). The structural forces that currently govern the economic and financial balance in the U. S. and the world inevitably impact the so-called natural interest rates, of which the Fed seems unaware.That means that while the current rate of return on equities is above 5. 5%, it is also much higher than the policy rates which the Fed adjusts to make them fit to the current rates of inflation (Gilpin, 2008). Furthermore, given that the origins of the current economic crisis lay within the limits of the housing markets, it is very probable that â€Å"what will be driving real rates of interest once the economy settles into its new growth path is the rate that households require on loans† (Krugman, 2007).Thus, in its credit initiatives, the Fed has obviously neglected a whole set of important factors, which make its macroeconomic policies at least irrelevant. While the Fed seeks to expand the liquidity of available funds by maintaining interest rates at the levels close to zero, it distorts the macroeconomic balance. The fact is that against the reduced wealth levels and the growing negative expectations, the expected rates of interest in future will be much higher than the Fed currently promotes (Krugman, 2007).With the growing need for funds on the side of financial and business entities, the Fed is likely to face the crisis of expectations, where it is either unable to maintain sustainable interest rates or fails to provide businesses with sufficient amount of financial assets. Thus, whether the Fed is able to promote the success of its major macroeconomic initiatives depends on its ability to timely review its macroeconomic attempts and to adjust them to real-life market contexts.In the light of the increasing inefficiency of the major Fed’s interventions, special attention needs to be paid to the so-called moral hazard problem. â€Å"Safety net support for financial institutions encourages private market participants to view some institutions as ‘too big to fail’ and weakens those institutions’ incentive to monitor and m anage the risks they face in their business strategies and financial market transactions† (Gilpin, 2008); as a result, this inattentiveness to the major market risks weakens financial and business institutions and increases the cost of this financial protection.In other words, while the Fed pursues the need to reduce the cost of credit for ultimate borrowers by providing financial and credit institutions with additional financial assets, it unintentionally leads these institutions undertake higher additional risks than they otherwise would be willing to recognize (Lacker, 2009). As a result, the cost of borrowing substantially increases, leaving these institutions in the need to absorb the effects of moral hazard without external support.Does that mean that the Fed has initially chosen a wrong macroeconomic path? This question lacks a single and obvious answer, and while many financial institutions and business entities will require expanding the range of available liquid reso urces by using federal funds, a stronger regulatory basis and strict system of monitoring could significantly increase the efficiency of all macroeconomic policies aimed at reducing the negative impact of the current financial crisis. ConclusionThe Federal Reserve has appeared completely unprepared to facing the challenges of the expanding economic crisis. Despite the relevance of the new liquidity mechanisms and the Fed’s striving to expand the range of available financial instruments, these measures will hardly be effective in the long run. Moreover, given the undue risks financial institutions and business entities undertake and the limitedness of the Fed’s financial resources, its current macroeconomic initiatives are likely to become counter effective in the U.S. striving to preserve its leading position among the major economic powers. In this context, strict regulation and a well-developed system of federal monitoring will increase the effectiveness of all Fedâ €™s initiatives at the macroeconomic level. References Boivin, J. & Giannoni, M. P. (2008). Has monetary policy become more effective? The Review of Economics and Statistics, 90 (3): 445-462. Gilpin, R. (2008). Global political economy: Understanding the international economic order.Orient Longman. Lacker, J. (2009). Government lending and monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Retrieved April 1, 2009 from http://www. richmondfed. org/press_room/speeches/president_jeff_lacker/2009/lacker_speech_20090302. cfm Krugman, P. (2007). 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