Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Lance Armstrong Talks about Philosophy of Life Essay

Lance Armstrong Talks about Philosophy of Life - Essay Example My fellow world citizens, I am Lance Armstrong, the famous cyclist. The recent headlines do not allow me to claim the fame. But, I think I have all the right to introduce myself as a famous cyclist whether I have my titles or not. Even my negative publicity is linked to cycling without which I am nothing. I am not here to claim I am innocent or confess. I just want to share a few of my realizations with you. I had great plans after retirement. I wanted to do so many things after I survived cancer, after I retired after I was free from my busy schedules. But, the after came so suddenly and unexpectedly, stripping me of all my dignity. I have all the time in the world now to do whatever I want and what I do with all of it - I ride my cycle. I started to ride my cycle when I was two and continue it till now. I started to ride professionally at the age of 13. I was a swimmer before that. I got fascinated by the bike when I was 12. At that time my mother used to say "if you’re going to get anywhere, you’re going to have to do it yourself because no one is going to do it for you". I had no idea where I should go but believed winning was the only thing necessary in life. I became a bully. I started to dope. My life was driven by an unquenchable thirst to win, to win like nobody else. I do not know who put that idea into me, my coach, my victories, my fans or my family. I saw everybody around me running for something elusive. I was happy when I won. But was I satisfied? No. I was ready to do anything to establish what others cannot.

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Government Debt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Government Debt - Essay Example External government debt refers to the aggregate funds collected from outside the country from foreign investors and governments. According to Gartner (2006, p. 68) the government will always sell its securities in the open market when it wants to raise funds from the investors. Key traded government securities in the open market include but not limited to treasury bills, notes and bonds (Snowdon & Vane (1997, p.103). Sovereign debt refers to government debt owed to investors mostly foreign in foreign currencies. Shone (1989, p. 119) states that Sovereign debts are normally used by the government when they are in need of large amount of money to carry out an expensive public project. Sovereign debt is considered risky owing to the fact that it is affected by fluctuation in currency and any default by the issuing company may translate to low credit rating and no further debt advancement as foreign investors will be scared away. Government bonds, which is the common form of raising rev enue from local investors in local currency is highly preferred by most government because it is not affected by the credit rating of the country (Miles & Scott 2005, p.19). It is unfortunate that the United Kingdom government debt has been growing at an alarming rate over the recent past. The global recession that began in 2008 has left several developed nation into huge debts. Carlin and Soskice (2006;101), asserts that the UK higher budget deficit can be attributed to the large government spending and low government revenue owing to loss of jobs and reduced spending. The UK society has been enjoying the deficit sending without a glimpse at its consequences. The United Kingdom debt which includes the aggregate amount of money owned by the central government in form of government bonds, sovereign bonds, Social Security trust fund, and accrued capital expenditure. Fiscal consolidation refers to the policies taken by the government to manage its debt and reduce its budget deficit. Fi scal consolidation policies vary from country to country depending on the financial objective of the government. Most countries are always caught up in dilemma when it comes to fiscal consolidation especially during recession. Most economies have been unstable since the beginning of recession as unemployment rate increases from time to time, key companies facing financial constraints and individuals losing mortgages and thus it becomes difficult for the government to decide whether to come up with economic stimulus or fiscal consolidation policies. For instance the UK government has been facing bulging public debt and budget deficit while the same time unemployment rate is escalating unprecedentedly. Tobin theory is a theory of investment behavior also renowned as Tonin’s Q Theory and denoted by letter â€Å"q†. This theory is used to determine the ratio of the companies issued shares (share capital) to the replacement cost associated with the assets of the company. Th ree significant situations are evident when relating the market value and the replacement cost and they include â€Å"q† being greater (q>1), lower (q