Alternative Minimum Tax Essay Example for Free

Alternative Minimum Tax Essay Good to hear from you Alex. Estate and gift tax can be a burden so let me help you clear the air and give you a fresh take on what to do. First I’m going to want to explain to you the estate tax formula. Then I will discuss the interplay between gift and estate taxes. I have a few strategies for you to minimize estate taxes that I can let you in on and will help you on the long run. I would also like to explain the generation-skipping transfer tax and its relationship to gift and estate tax, because this might relate to you. From all this I will give you my advice on whether to invest in your son and his business idea. I would like to explain the estate tax formula and how it is computed. The first step is to gather or compile the gross estate and that consists of all the property in which you have an interest in. This would be the total dollar value of all the property and assets you have at the time of your death. The gross estate figure will be before liabilities like debt and taxes are deducted. The next step will be to subtract all the debt, funeral, and administration expenses. This will give you the adjusted gross estate. We would then normally subtract the property passing to the surviving spouse. In your case, your spouse no longer plays a factor but that may come to play if you decide to remarry and include your possible future spouse in your will. After we have taken out these items we would come up with your taxable estate. We will have to add the adjusted taxable gifts. This would be the excess of $13,000 annual gift exclusion amount. Under some special circumstances, if the gift was included in the gross estate it would not have to be reported again. Once this is done we will have you estate tax base. We then can find your tentative estate tax from the tax table. Our next step would be to subtract gift taxes payable on gifts includible in the estate tax base. We also have to subtract the applicable credit amount. The applicable credit is also known as the unified credit. This credit applies to both the gift and estate taxes. In 2012 the maximum unified credit is at $1,772,800 and the applicable exclusion amount is at $5,120,000. If after all this is done and a tax is still payable we will subtract other possible credits. These credits would include state tax credits, the credit for prior transfers and the foreign tax credit. The final result would be the tax payable that is due with the estate tax return. Gift and estate taxes work together and there is a specific purpose to that. While you are alive, and gift transfers may be subject to the federal gift tax. After your death, the estate transfers (property and assets) may be subject to federal estate tax. The reason these two taxes work together is so at the time of your death you cannot avoid the estate tax by giving away your property. The one good thing is that they both have exclusions that we can take advantage to avoid taxes. A gift and estate lifetime exclusion can work together to allow you to transfer up to $5,120,000 of lifetime gifts. They both will not be imposed with gift or estate tax. Anything after this exclusion will be subject to the 35% tax rate and that goes for both gift and estate tax. Another way they are intertwined is that if you have to make large gift tax payments during your lifetime this would result in lower estate taxes. In some circumstances the combine total of the early gift taxes and the later estate tax would give you an even lower estate tax that you would have gotten with the estate tax alone. This would then allow you to pass on even higher values to your beneficiaries. There are a few estate tax strategies that I want you in on and that will eventually lower you estate tax. First is marital transfer, which neither lifetime gifts nor bequests at death to one’s spouse are subject to estate taxes. This type of transfer might be an incentive for you to remarry but don’t recommend that be your only reason for remarriage. Another strategy is lifetime gifts to children and grandchildren. An example of this is to give annual gifts of $12,000 to any number of persons. By giving this gift a husband and wife can give a collective amount of $24,000 per year per recipient without having to incur a gift tax. This can add up to a substantial amount over a number of years. Uniform transfer to minors is another option. You can accomplish this by gifting to the children that are still minors which is usually given to a custodian for the benefit of the child. This would be distributed to the child when the child reaches 18 and like other gifts would be subject to an annual exclusion for lifetime gifts. Irrevocable life insurance trusts are available for you to use. To do this you would be transferring small amounts of your estate that are equal to the amount of a life insurance premium to an irrevocable life insurance trust. When this is done, you will be reducing your taxable estate and creating a much larger asset outside of the estate. The life insurance proceeds are generally not taxable. A private annuity can be made to make a sale of an asset to a younger generation in exchange for an unsecured promise. This promise is to pay annual amounts to the seller for the seller’s lifetime. Furthermore, charitable transfers can reduce the size of the estate and thereby reduce the estate taxes. Lifetime gifts provide an additional benefit of an income tax deduction. This last one I think is one of your best bets for transferring your estate to your child or children. A family limited partnership can provide a valuable estate planning tool to assist your family in transferring ownership of family owned businesses. This would also help protect your family assets from creditors as an added bonus. Considering that you will be making larger amounts of money, this option permits taxation of partnership income at your child’s lower tax rates. This plan offers plenty of intriguing options but also the added features of the family limited partnership flexibility and revocability. With your son’s possible criminal record, this gives you control in case things don’t pan out like you wish. What is generation skipping transfer? A generation skipping transfer is shift of property by gift to a person who is two or more generations below that of you. For years wealthy individuals gave away their fortune or property to grandchildren without paying federal estate taxes. This tax was made to prevent people avoiding this tax by skipping generations. This tax is only due when a skip person receives amount in excess of GST estate tax credit. One good thing is that most people will never encounter the GST tax because the tax credit levels are pretty high. Currently taxpayers are entitled to a $5 million GST tax exemption. Leaving a dynasty trust offers two advantages to the GST exemption. One is that the trust will escape all transfer taxes when the child dies. I would then pass tax-free to the grandchildren. The trust can be protected from the claims of creditors and to some extent, money seeking ex-spouses. Overall I hope I have given you some ideas on what to do and how to avoid estate taxes. Estate taxes can be avoided and you don’t have to take it sitting down. There are plenty of tax loopholes that you can still take advantage of. Now for the matter of your son it is in my personal recommendation for you not to just give your child, Jackson, the gift of three million. As there will be a gift tax that will apply to it for this current year that can be avoided. Instead I hope you decide to make a family limited partnership as to give you control of that money and still give your son the opportunity to pursue his dream to make custom cabinets. Eventually you can leave the company to Jackson after you know that the felony charges will not affect him and he has shown promise in maintaining the company. This once again is my recommendation but you have the option to do as you see fit. You are not limited to this and we can always work together to find something that will fit your c hildren or family needs.

Is globalization of the Vietnamese economy good or bad

Is globalization of the Vietnamese economy good or bad Vietnam has made a great progress in global integration since it began the Doi Moi process, especially when our country became the 150th member of WTO in 2007. The global integration has helped to change a poor country facing with starvation in the 1980s into a highly developing country now. However, Vietnam also has to face up with challenges affecting economic stability such as global financial crisis, severe competition from foreign enterprises. In order to understand more about globalization and its effects on the Vietnamese economy, I would like to write this paper to discuss the opportunities and challenges of this process upon the Vietnamese economy and what can be done to overcome these challenges. I. Literature Review 1. What is globalization? Globalization has now become a popular term appearing regularly on television, radio and newspaper. It is a very broad term which is related to economy, politics, culture, and environment. Carbaugh (2008) defines globalization as the process of greater interdependence among countries and their citizens. It consists of increased integration of product and resource markets across nations via trade, immigration, and foreign investment that is, via international flows of goods and services, of people, and of investment such as equipment, factories, stocks, and bonds. It also includes noneconomic elements such as culture and environment. Simply put, globalization is political, technological, and cultural as well as economic (p.2). Within this paper, we only focus on the economic side of globalization. 2. History of globalization in the worlds economy Carbaugh (2008) mentions three waves of globalization which constitute the so-called globalization nowadays. The first process was initialized by the global economic integration occurred from 1870 to 1914. It began with the decreases in tariff barriers and the development of new technologies railway, steam engines, and steam ships which lowered transportation cost. This wave was mainly driven by European countries, American businesses and individuals. As a result, the ratio of exports over the worlds total income nearly doubled to 8 percent and the United States became the richest country in the world. The first wave of globalization was ended by World War I, followed by the Great Depression of the 1930s, which pushed back the process. The second wave of globalization happened within the period 1945-1980 with the continual falling cost of transportation and the removal of trade barriers among developed countries. This period were featured by a new kind of trade: agglomeration economies-firms clustered together and were connected in a vertical linkage; parts manufacturers located near the main assembly line to lower the cost of transport. However, most developing countries still could not participate in this process for many different reasons. As the result, per capita income in developed countries increased dramatically while other developing countries were left behind. The last wave of globalization began in 1980 and continues up to now. The pace of this global integration has become much faster and dramatic because of unprecedented advancements in technology, communications, science, transport and industry. The wave is featured by the dramatic increase in global trade not only from developed countries but also from developing countries, which has made the global GDP increase quickly. Developing countries such as China, India, Brazil have succeed in joining the world market, exporting the goods they have competitive advantage mostly labor-intensive products. The communication technology developed very quickly. Another aspect of this wave is the increasing foreign outsourcing, which aims mainly at lowering the production cost by producing parts in developing courtiers. The period is also featured by bilateral and multilateral trade agreements and the establishment of the worlds biggest trade institution: WTO (the world trade organization) to superv ise and liberalize international trade. 3. The globalization of the world economy-for better There is maybe no other issues which are more controversial than globalization. There are maybe no other international institutions which are more protested than WTO. However, theories and reality have proved globalizations indispensability. According to the law of competitive advantage by David Ricardo, because of trade, films, regions, countries will gain benefits if they specialize in producing things they do well at a lower cost and use the earnings from these activities to by goods for which they are high-cost producers. Carbaugh (2008, p.14) Globalization encourages innovation and efficient production in each countrys economy. Because of competitiveness from foreign enterprises, domestic producers have a strong incentive to improve the quality of their products. Carbaugh (2008, p.14) Globalization also helps reduce the price of goods. For example, in the case of the US, because of global competition, the prices of such items as TV sets, clothing, toys have reduced dramatically. Meanwhile, the prices of products untouched by globalization, such as hospital services, sports tickets, and car repair have a tendency to increase. Carbaugh (2008, p.14) Globalization through the form of international trade provides stability for production. For example, a company can buy parts and components worldwide to supply its production. Moreover, it can export its products to other countries if the demand in the domestic economy is low. Carbaugh (2008, p.16) Globalization plays an important part in the economic growth of one country. For example, countries that open their economy to international trade tend to benefit from new technology and other sources of economic growth. (Carbaugh, 2008, p.16) Protestants of globalization often mention job displacement, loss of countrys sovereignty, environmental damage, etc. as reasons for anti-globalization. Indeed, these problems can be properly addressed if each government has determination and right strategies. 4. The globalization of the Vietnamese economy-some important events To Vietnam, since the country began the Doi Moi process in 1986, the economy has gradually integrated into global market. With the guideline Vietnam is prepared to be a friend and reliable partner of all countries in the world community, striving for peace, independence and development. Vietnam has gradually joined international organizations and economic institutions as well as cooperated with other countries for mutual development. Vietnam re-joined the World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 1992 and 1993. The year 1995 saw many significant external economic events. Vietnam joined the ASEAN and committed to implement the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), signed a Cooperative Agreement with the European Union (EU) and normalized relations with the US and applied for WTO membership. In 1998 Vietnam officially became a member of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). (Ho) In order to enhance trade among Vietnam and other countries, many bilateral and multilateral trade agreements have been signed. On July 13th 2000, the Viet Nam-United States Bilateral Trade Agreement was officially signed. Our country has signed over 80 bilateral trade agreements 40 bilateral investment agreements and 40 agreements on avoidance of double taxation. Most significantly, after eleven years of negotiation, in 2007 Vietnam became the official member of the world trade organization (WTO)-the worlds biggest trade organization. Since then, Vietnam has entered the largest trade play ground where every country is equal in both opportunities and challenges. So it can be summarized that Vietnam has taken part in the international integration for over the past twenty years and fully joined in the globalization process for three years dating from 2007. II. Benefits and opportunities of globalization to the Vietnamese economy Integration deeply into the world market has brought many tangible benefits and opportunities to the Vietnamese economy. 1. Increasing export revenues As a result of integrating into the regional and global market, export revenues have increased continually since 1990, speeded up sine 1995 when Vietnam joined ASEAN and grew sharply since Vietnam joined WTO in 2007. The growth in export revenues is illustrated in the following table Total Of which: Balance(*) Exports Imports Mill.USD 1990 5156.4 2404.0 2752.4 -348.4 1991 4425.2 2087.1 2338.1 -251.0 1992 5121.5 2580.7 2540.8 39.9 1993 6909.1 2985.2 3923.9 -938.7 1994 9880.1 4054.3 5825.8 -1771.5 1995 13604.3 5448.9 8155.4 -2706.5 1996 18399.4 7255.8 11143.6 -3887.8 1997 20777.3 9185.0 11592.3 -2407.3 1998 20859.9 9360.3 11499.6 -2139.3 1999 23283.5 11541.4 11742.1 -200.7 2000 30119.2 14482.7 15636.5 -1153.8 2001 31247.1 15029.2 16217.9 -1188.7 2002 36451.7 16706.1 19745.6 -3039.5 2003 45405.1 20149.3 25255.8 -5106.5 2004 58453.8 26485.0 31968.8 -5483.8 2005 69208.2 32447.1 36761.1 -4314.0 2006 84717.3 39826.2 44891.1 -5064.9 2007 111326.1 48561.4 62764.7 -14203.3 Prel. 2008 143398.9 62685.1 80713.8 -18028.7 Table 1 Export and import of goods Source: General statistics office of Vietnam (GSO) The countrys export turnover in 2007 reached US$48 billion, 21.3 percent higher than 2006s figure, surpassing the 3.1 percent target set by the government. Vietnams key export items having high export turnovers were seafoods, rice, coffee, vegetables, rubber, cashew nuts, and pepper. (GSO) The second year of WTO membership saw a sharp increase in the countrys export turnover. Export turnover in 2008 reached US$62 billion, 29.5 percent higher than that in 2007. (GSO) In 2009 the export turnovers were estimated to be US$56.6 billion, reflecting a drop of 9.7 percent from 2008.However, it was due to price drops during the economic crisis. Vietnamese commodities have been exported widely to 150 countries and territories, with many sectors benefiting from WTO membership including labor-intensive industries like clothing, footwear and electronics. (SGGP) An example of quick development in export after joining WTO is textile and garment industry. Vietnam has become one of the ten largest exporters of textiles and garments in the world after earning US$7.7 billion from exporting these commodities in 2007. The US market made up 56 percent of this total turnover, followed by the EU (US$1.45 1.65 billion) and Japan (US$700 million.) (GSO) Unit 2005 2006 2007 Prel. 2008 Crude oil Thous.tons 17966.6 16442.0 15062.0 13752.3 Coal 17987.8 29308.0 32072.0 19354.7 Electronic parts (Including TV parts), computer and their parts Mill.USD 1427.4 1807.8 2165.2 2638.4 Articles of plastic 357.7 452.3 709.5 921.2 Electrical wire and cable 518.2 705.7 882.3 1001.3 Rucksacks, bag, pockets, wallets(*) 470.9 502.1 627.1 833.0 Footwear 3038.8 3595.9 3999.5 4767.8 Textile, sewing products 4772.4 5854.8 7732.0 9120.4 Rattan, bamboo and rush products 157.3 214.1 246.7 255.6 Pottery and glassware 255.3 274.4 334.9 344.0 Embroidery products 78.4 98.1 111.8 Fresh and processed vegetables fruit 235.5 259.1 305.6 407.0 Pepper Thous. tons 109.9 114.8 83.0 90.3 Coffee 912.7 980.9 1232.1 1059.5 Rubber 554.1 703.6 715.6 658.3 Rice 5254.8 4642.0 4580.0 4741.9 Shelled cashew nut 109.0 127.7 154.7 165.3 Tea Thous. tons 91.7 105.4 115.7 104.5 Wood and wooden products 1561.4 1943.1 2384.6 2829.3 Fishery products Mill. USD 2732.5 3358.0 3763.4 4510.1 Of which: Frozen shrimps 1265.7 1262.8 1387.6 Frozen fish 608.8 1083.4 1379.1 Frozen cuttle fish 73.9 92.5 60.8 (*) Data from year 2004 include hats and umbrellas. Table 2: Some main goods for exportation Source: General statistics office of Vietnam (GSO) 2. Rapid increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) As a WTO member, Vietnam has become an attractive destination for foreign investors. Registered FDI surged to US$71 billion in 2008, compared with only $12 billion in 2006. Although FDI commitments dropped last year to $21.4 billion as a result of the global financial crisis, the figure was still at the same level as pre-crisis 2007. (Thanh Nien news) During the three years of WTO membership, total registered FDI into Vietnam reached more than $114 billion, 4.5 times higher than the target set for the 2006-2010 period. Of this, $29.5 billion was disbursed in the five years. (Thanh Nien news) The data for FDI into Vietnam over the past 20 years are summarized in the following table: Number of projects Registered capital (Mill. USD) (*) Implementation capital (Mill. USD) Total 10981 163607.2 57045.5 1988 37 341.7 1989 67 525.5 1990 107 735.0 1991 152 1291.5 328.8 1992 196 2208.5 574.9 1993 274 3037.4 1017.5 1994 372 4188.4 2040.6 1995 415 6937.2 2556.0 1996 372 10164.1 2714.0 1997 349 5590.7 3115.0 1998 285 5099.9 2367.4 1999 327 2565.4 2334.9 2000 391 2838.9 2413.5 2001 555 3142.8 2450.5 2002 808 2998.8 2591.0 2003 791 3191.2 2650.0 2004 811 4547.6 2852.5 2005 970 6839.8 3308.8 2006 987 12004.0 4100.1 2007 1544 21347.8 8030.0 Prel. 2008 1171 64011.0 11600.0 (*)Including supplementary capital to licensed projects in previous years. Table 3: Foreign direct investment projects licensed in period 1988 2008 Source: General statistics office of Vietnam (GSO) 3. Increase in enterprises awareness, adaptation and performance Joining WTO means that Vietnam has entered a large play ground where Vietnamese enterprises have to compete with many giant players-big foreign corporations with strong financial power and experience. Moreover, the reduction of tariffs and non-tariffs measures, the open of servicing market have made the domestic market more competitive. All these factors have forced domestic enterprises (both state-owned and private ones) to restructure and self-improve. Being aware of these challenges, Vietnamese enterprises have invested money to standardize their operation and products. Thousands of Vietnamese enterprises in different fields such as textile, transport, service, telecommunication, food production have met international standards: ISO 9000, ISO 14000. Furthermore, besides traditional markets such as the US, Japan, they have reached new markets such as Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. More effort is put on employee training and attraction high quality employees. Some big Vietname se enterprises which have strong competitiveness are Co.opmart, Hoang Anh Gia Lai group, Sai Gon tourist, VNPT. This is also a chance for state-owned enterprises pending on the Government protection and subsidies restructure their operation. Otherwise they will be defeated even in the domestic market. So under the competition pressure, the Vietnams enterprises will become more effective and competitive. 4. More favorable legal system for trading activities Global economic integration and accession to the WTO have given Vietnam a chance to refine its policy and legal system to be more transparent, sustainable and predictable to be in line with WTO regulations and to attract more foreign investors. For example, according to Law on Foreign Investment, there are flexible regulations of establishment Enterprises with foreign investment are permitted to change the form of investment, and divide, consolidate or merge with other enterprises. Existing joint ventures are allowed to transform into wholly-owned foreign capital enterprises under certain conditions. In addition, there is no obligation to form a joint venture with a local partner. Foreign investors are entitled to make their own choice from three forms of investment set forth by the Law on Foreign Investment. There is also the reduction of the administrative burden The duration for investment licensing was cut from 60 working days to 45 working days for projects under the category of appraisal and issuance of investment licences, and to 30 working days for projects under the category of registration for investment licences Furthermore, under the Governments Project 30 to enhance administrative reform, about 5,700 administrative papers at all levels have been under consideration. Duplicate or unnecessary documents will be abolished. The Prime Minister has proposed a 30 percent reduction of all legal documents. To enhance administrative procedures Vietnamese government are developing e-commerce and e-government to create effective links between administration agencies, businesses and people. (Vov news) Moreover, as a WTO member, Vietnam is treated as a full WTO membership. Vietnamese enterprises have a healthy environment for development in foreign markets. If there are trade disputes, they can be treated under WTOs Dispute Settlement Mechanism. Vietnamese enterprises will be judged by the WTO international court, which means we have more advantages to protect our rights. (Ho) For example, the lawsuit is no longer imposed by domestic laws as the previous catfish war case- Vietnams tra and basa dumping disputes, and we can implement some legal retaliating tools within WTO regulations. Vietnam will have equal status with other countries in the global trade policy-making process and an opportunity to participate in building a more equal and logical international trade cooperative framework. Le (2008) III. Challenges of globalization to the Vietnamese economy Globalization is an indispensable process. As a result, 153 countries have become official members of WTO and up to now no countries would like to exit this organization. This illustrates clearly the benefits of globalization. Globalization by its nature does not make a country worse. However, the opportunities created by globalization are always accompanied with challenges. If a country cannot overcome these challenges, it will meet a lot of difficulties. Vietnam is not the exception. Our challenges are not only from the outsiders but also from the domestic economy. Three major groups of challenges are described as follows 1. Low competitiveness of nation, enterprises and products Vietnamese enterprises are mainly medium and small-sized. According to Le (2008), none of Vietnams state-owned enterprises was on the list of 1000 world biggest corporations, neither its commercial trademarks in the list of 1000 most prestigious global trademarks. If we want to gain strong competitiveness in international market, we must have many strong enterprises like Sony, Toyota of Japan, or Hyundai, Samsung of South Korea. According to World Economic Forums report for the year 2009-2010, in terms of global competitiveness index, Vietnam ranked 75th out of 133 countries in the year 2009-2010, dropping 5 places compared to 2008-2009s index. From the report and practical situation, we can come up with some drawbacks in our economy which lead to poor nations competitiveness. Firstly, the most problematic factor of doing business which accounts for 16.1 percent in the World Economic Forums report is the inadequate supply of infrastructure. According to Thomas Siebert, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), the lack of high-quality infrastructure and logistical services is both a pressing concern and an impediment, especially to potential American investors. Indeed, this important issue has been brought up in every meeting between AmCham and the Vietnamese authorities since May 2006. Various problems include the delay in constructing bridges, inter-provincial roads and overland infrastructure. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) said that 80% of Japanese companies considered roads as the first factor that needs improvement, followed by power supply (60%) and ports (40%). Dr Le Dang Doanh once compared a gap in infrastructure among Vietnam and other economies in the region by a typical example, it takes ten minutes to do logi stics for a container in a Singapore port but seven days in a Vietnamese port. Secondly, difficulty in accessing financing ranks second in problematic factors of doing business in Vietnam. According to Dr Le (2008), Vietnams financial depth ratio, a measurement of money supply relative to the size of the economy the ratio of M2 over GDP was about 84% GDP, with around 6 million bank accounts over the population of 84 million, the stock market just accounted for 6% GDP and still in the pilot stage and incomplete. Not to mention technology, Basel standards for the banking industry, number of commercial banks services offered, ratio of bad debts, we can see clearly how big the gap is for Vietnam to fill. Thirdly, poor system of higher education and training, which ranks 92/133, is a big challenge. Inadequately trained faculty, ineffective teaching methods, and lack of access to modern technologies severely limit students learning. Government sponsored educational reform has not kept pace with the need to transmit from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy. We are now facing with the dilemma of too much common labor force but inadequately educated workforce which ranks 3 in the problematic factors of doing business in Vietnam. Moreover, the quality of management schools is too low (111/133), which results in incompetent staff at different levels, from central to grassroots, from State agencies to businesses. Table 4: The competitiveness index for Vietnam 2009-2010 Source: World Economic Forum Table 5: The competitiveness index in detail for Vietnam 2009-2010 Source: World Economic Forum 2. Issues relating to macro policies and administrative procedure According to the World Economic Forums report, although the country improves in most of the categories of the Index, Vietnam is down five positions to 75th, the considerable worsening of its macroeconomic situation-dropping from 70th to 112th place-weighs heavily on its economy and competitiveness. A widening trade deficit, an overheating economy, and a global rise in commodity prices caused inflation to shoot up to 23 percent in 2008.This in turn triggered a crisis of confidence, big swings in interest rates, and a sharp fall of the dong, the local currency. Although this issue was over and the government has performed better when dealing with the global financial crisis, it is an important lesson that because the Vietnamese economy has integrated deeply into the global economy, the exchange rates, inflation, balance of payment and budget deficit will develop unpredictably. I share the same point of view with what Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said when having a meeting with the ba nking sector: what is right today may not right tomorrow. If we follow the rightness today too long, we may make mistake in tomorrows situation. Hence, it is essential for the government to pay close attention to the world economy, better the forecast ability and have flexible guidance so that Vietnam can reap the benefits of the efforts and successes achieved in other areas. One of the main reasons for Vietnams 75th position is the variable Burden of government regulation (106/133) which constitutes a big disadvantage. In fact, the current administrative system is a serious obstacle to development. Although the government is trying to reduce unnecessary administrative procedure such as one door, the current result is not as much as expected. According to the former Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, Vietnamese public administration has been laden with the following problems: red-tape, ineffectiveness, inefficiency, cumbersomeness, corruption, and an unskilled and under-qualified public service. The administration is clearly not keeping itself abreast of economic level. 3. Difficulties in agricultural sector Agriculture  [1]  is the main sector in the economy, accounting for 20 percent of GDP and 66 percent of the national population. However, it is confronting with vigorous competition in the global market. Over the past three years, there was no sudden change in the export of agricultural products. Although the export revenue increased compared to the year 2006, the growth rate was lower than the general growth rate of export of the country as a whole, except for coffee. (Center for Information and Documentation). The table below illustrates the growth rate of agricultural export 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Prel. 2008 Mill.USD TOTAL 20149.3 26485.0 32447.1 39826.2 48561.4 62685.1 By economic sector Domestic economic sector 9988.1 11997.3 13893.4 16764.9 20785.7 28155.9 Foreign invested sector(*) 10161.2 14487.7 18553.7 23061.3 27775.7 34529.2 By commodity group Heavy industrial products and minerals 6485.1 9641.9 11701.4 14428.6 16000.0 19200.0 Light industrial and handicraft goods 8597.3 10870.8 13293.4 16389.6 21598.0 28575.0 Agricultural products 2672.0 3383.6 4467.4 5352.4 7200.0 10400.0 Forest products 195.3 180.6 252.5 297.6 Aquatic products 2199.6 2408.1 2732.5 3358.0 3763.4 4510.1 Structure (%) TOTAL 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 By economic sector Domestic economic sector 49.6 45.3 42.8 42.1 42.8 44.9 Foreign invested sector(*) 50.4 54.7 57.2 57.9 57.2 55.1 By commodity group Heavy industrial products and minerals 32.2 36.4 36.1 36.2 32.9 30.6 Light industrial and handicraft goods 42.7 41.0 41.0 41.2 44.5 45.6 Agricultural products 13.3 12.8 13.7 13.4 14.8 16.6 Forest products 1.0 0.7 0.8 0.8 Aquatic products 10.8 9.1 8.4 8.4 7.8 7.2 (*) Included crude oil. Table 6: Exports of goods by economic sector and by commodity group Source: General statistics office of Vietnam (GSO) This is due to a combination of many weaknesses. Farmers lack knowledge and professional skills. Production technology is small and backward, which increases the production costs compared to those of other countries and makes the quality of the products low. Agricultural enterprises are often of small size and disperse. As a result, they have weak financial capacity to improve production technology and labor productivity. Moreover, there are no shared strategies on developing in foreign markets, no strong and famous trade mark. For example, although Vietnam is currently the worlds second largest rice exporter Vietnamese rice still does not have an established trademark on the international market. Another problem is the slow and inaccurate market forecast about the worlds demand and price forecast by functional agencies, causing a lot of damages to agricultural enterprises and farmers. For example, in 2008, wrong forecasts about food security and the worlds rice price led to Vietnams not exporting rice when the worlds price was

Tv Viewing :: essays research papers

Television viewing is a very important part of our student's lives. There is a big issue on whether it should be allowed in our public schools. It should be allowed to some extent, all depending on the age group. I think age is very important when it comes to viewing TV in school. The students should be divided into three age groups: young, teen and adults. These age groups can help us distinguish what kind of viewing will be allowed, if any.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  TV Viewing can be a very good learning experience for young students depending on the viewing material. Young children tend to copy most of what they see on TV because of that fact we must be very careful with the viewing material. The young kids should be limited to educational films only. Any other type of TV viewing should be done at home at explained by the parent.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Teens are more mature, therefore their TV viewing should be decreased because of the fact that at that age they need to learn more about life and what goes on around them. The best way to do that is through life experience not through TV. For example if a student saw drug use on TV he/she would have no idea about drugs until they experiment with the drug, or see the effects of drugs on someone in real life. Teenagers are at a point where they can distinguish reality from fiction. Schools should focus on giving teenagers more projects about life. For example marriage projects that are not real. This way they can experience life more realistically.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Adults can watch whatever they want. At this point they know right from wrong, what's real and what's fiction. They should know what's appropiate for them to watch. They know the difference between entertaining TV viewing and educational viewing.

Essay --

There was once a point in time when people fought for the right to do what people in this day and age would an everyday ritual. They had to live with the day to day struggle of having to sneak to pray to their God. The ability to express your thoughts and concerns verbally could cost you your life. Decisions were made without the input of citizens. Like a child, citizens were to be seen and not heard. Independence and freedom was craved so badly, it drove people to leave the place they once called home. Men gathered together collaborating ideas on what would soon be our Constitution. July 4, 1776, life was no longer as some new it. American people were as happy as a child on Christmas. Freedom is something many of us take for granted. To them, freedom was more than just a right. It was the privilege to your opinion out loud. It was the privilege to walk in the building to worship God. It was the privilege to have the ability to make decisions that could impact your country. People lo nged for that right and it was appreciated. America was now a place where people could live freely. There were no strict rules that bounded you from life. Now, according to G.Gordon Liddy, America is no longer this way. According to him and his novel, when he was a kid this was a free country. In the book, "When I Was a Kid, This Was a Free Country," by G.Gordon Liddy, Liddy tells the reader how America has made a drastic change from the 1930's. Using reflections from his childhood, Liddy compares life styles of today's time period to life styles during the time period of his childhood. According to Liddy, his generation is the last generation to remember what the country was like when it was free. Through his years of radio programming, Liddy says "... ...d have the mental stability to take on the world. My thoughts on this book vary. I think that Liddy's expectations of the world is ridiculous. It may be my Democratic beliefs kicking in, but to compare the world to then and now isn't logically to me. Liddy should not be shocked to see such changes in the world. Things change. The world is more advanced now. You can't do things you could do in the 30's. Technology is more advanced, Children are being forced to grow up quicker, educational systems have now raised their standards, and views on life aren't seen eye to eye anymore. To me, For Liddy to even compare the world to his childhood is like comparing a child to its behavior when it's one, to the behavior of the child when it's 18. I presume that the purpose of Liddy's book was to inform the readers how America may seem is not how she once was. He wanted to adv Essay -- There was once a point in time when people fought for the right to do what people in this day and age would an everyday ritual. They had to live with the day to day struggle of having to sneak to pray to their God. The ability to express your thoughts and concerns verbally could cost you your life. Decisions were made without the input of citizens. Like a child, citizens were to be seen and not heard. Independence and freedom was craved so badly, it drove people to leave the place they once called home. Men gathered together collaborating ideas on what would soon be our Constitution. July 4, 1776, life was no longer as some new it. American people were as happy as a child on Christmas. Freedom is something many of us take for granted. To them, freedom was more than just a right. It was the privilege to your opinion out loud. It was the privilege to walk in the building to worship God. It was the privilege to have the ability to make decisions that could impact your country. People lo nged for that right and it was appreciated. America was now a place where people could live freely. There were no strict rules that bounded you from life. Now, according to G.Gordon Liddy, America is no longer this way. According to him and his novel, when he was a kid this was a free country. In the book, "When I Was a Kid, This Was a Free Country," by G.Gordon Liddy, Liddy tells the reader how America has made a drastic change from the 1930's. Using reflections from his childhood, Liddy compares life styles of today's time period to life styles during the time period of his childhood. According to Liddy, his generation is the last generation to remember what the country was like when it was free. Through his years of radio programming, Liddy says "... ...d have the mental stability to take on the world. My thoughts on this book vary. I think that Liddy's expectations of the world is ridiculous. It may be my Democratic beliefs kicking in, but to compare the world to then and now isn't logically to me. Liddy should not be shocked to see such changes in the world. Things change. The world is more advanced now. You can't do things you could do in the 30's. Technology is more advanced, Children are being forced to grow up quicker, educational systems have now raised their standards, and views on life aren't seen eye to eye anymore. To me, For Liddy to even compare the world to his childhood is like comparing a child to its behavior when it's one, to the behavior of the child when it's 18. I presume that the purpose of Liddy's book was to inform the readers how America may seem is not how she once was. He wanted to adv

The Future of America :: Free Essay Writer

The Future of America A hungry boy stole food from a market, was caught, and his right hand was chopped off. The next week the same boy, stole fruit from an orchard, again was spotted, and his left hand was chopped off. A few weeks later, leaving the back door to a bakery open, his mouth full and eyes no less vibrant, the boy was caught once again. The men of the town were stumped, what was to be chopped off next? The men of the town did not know what to do, until someone offered giving the boy a job. The boy never stole again. As difficult as it may be to remain open-minded when addressing a situation, sometimes the alternative solutions are better than that of the extreme. Throughout American history, there is evidence of over-coming close mindedness. This evidence is seen in women's voting rights and African American's freedom. With the increasing youth violence present in America, we are once again given a task. This task, like that of Women's Suffrage and Civil Rights, is not going to have a simpl e solution. If the men in the story above had not come up with an alternative solution, what would be chopped off next? Arms? Feet? After reading about this topic and all its perspectives, I believe that severe punishment will always fail to deter youth crime. Rehabilitation and prevention, as difficult as they may be to accept, deserve attention. Arguments have resulted from examining the increase of convicted youth criminals and the severity of crimes committed. The youth crime rate has reached a twenty year high, says Patricia Cohen in her article entitled, "Punishment." Equally staggering she says, is the fact that "from 1988-1991 the youth murder-arrest rate climbed 80 percent(518)." Terrible crimes committed by youth are sometimes as serious as those of their adult counterparts. As a result, the term ‘youth' is no longer synonymous with innocence. With this sudden "madness," as coined by Males and Docuyanan in "Crackdown on Kids: Giving Up on the Young," juveniles are being deferred into court at lower and lower ages(519). This can be seen in Wisconsin where ten-year-old children can be tried as adults for murder(519). Does imprisonment deter youth crime? Some people believe it is the only way to go, others disagree. Males and Docuyanan are among those who disagree, bringing up the point that, "If more prisons a nd surer sentences were the solutions to crime and delinquency, California should be a haven where citizens leave doors unlocked and stroll midnight streets unmenaced(521). The Future of America :: Free Essay Writer The Future of America A hungry boy stole food from a market, was caught, and his right hand was chopped off. The next week the same boy, stole fruit from an orchard, again was spotted, and his left hand was chopped off. A few weeks later, leaving the back door to a bakery open, his mouth full and eyes no less vibrant, the boy was caught once again. The men of the town were stumped, what was to be chopped off next? The men of the town did not know what to do, until someone offered giving the boy a job. The boy never stole again. As difficult as it may be to remain open-minded when addressing a situation, sometimes the alternative solutions are better than that of the extreme. Throughout American history, there is evidence of over-coming close mindedness. This evidence is seen in women's voting rights and African American's freedom. With the increasing youth violence present in America, we are once again given a task. This task, like that of Women's Suffrage and Civil Rights, is not going to have a simpl e solution. If the men in the story above had not come up with an alternative solution, what would be chopped off next? Arms? Feet? After reading about this topic and all its perspectives, I believe that severe punishment will always fail to deter youth crime. Rehabilitation and prevention, as difficult as they may be to accept, deserve attention. Arguments have resulted from examining the increase of convicted youth criminals and the severity of crimes committed. The youth crime rate has reached a twenty year high, says Patricia Cohen in her article entitled, "Punishment." Equally staggering she says, is the fact that "from 1988-1991 the youth murder-arrest rate climbed 80 percent(518)." Terrible crimes committed by youth are sometimes as serious as those of their adult counterparts. As a result, the term ‘youth' is no longer synonymous with innocence. With this sudden "madness," as coined by Males and Docuyanan in "Crackdown on Kids: Giving Up on the Young," juveniles are being deferred into court at lower and lower ages(519). This can be seen in Wisconsin where ten-year-old children can be tried as adults for murder(519). Does imprisonment deter youth crime? Some people believe it is the only way to go, others disagree. Males and Docuyanan are among those who disagree, bringing up the point that, "If more prisons a nd surer sentences were the solutions to crime and delinquency, California should be a haven where citizens leave doors unlocked and stroll midnight streets unmenaced(521).

Film Critique: “American Gangster”

Film critique is the overall analysis and review of the cast, the performance, the direction, the acting, the overall gesture, shooting set and stage settings, production, dialogues, lyrics, music and everything which is involved in making a movie; starting right from the casting of performers to the launching of the melodrama or the movie which is presented to the public. In short, film critique is the final analysis of a movie which is written in such a good way that makes it publishable in the writing and reading commodity.It is not mandatory that a film critique should always be in the favor of the movie. It could be written against the movie or its makers because of any reason; this reason could be the platform, the story, the casting, the performance, the topic of the movie, anything! In this document, we would present the film critique and review of the movie â€Å"American Gangster† which was made in the year 2007. American Gangster: The Movie: There are several and hu ndreds of movies which are launched and then thrown into the basket without anybody’s notice.But at times, the box office and the audience are hit by a masterpiece. The American Gangster is one masterpiece on which its director, Ridley Scott should be very proud of. Ridley Scott is the ideal pioneer of the melodrama and he has succeeded in keeping his pace in this movie as well. He is the person behind the direction of the fabulous movies such as, the old Roman movie â€Å"The Gladiator†, the science fictional â€Å"Alien† and the â€Å"Blade Runner†; and makes the best of the project while keeping an eye on the whole story and background of the story and moral of the movie.The American Gangster is a melodrama by the king of melodramas and with the finest performance from the performers and actors in this movie (Mondello 2007). It is observed that the movie follows the line of the crime films such as â€Å"The Departed† and possess the variety of O scar award winning actors in the casting. Presented in the year 2007 by the Universal pictures, the usual reviews from all international media sides were very kind to this movie and the audience found it tempting and catchy enough to come and watch the movie but their overall expression is not so captivating as far as the whole impression is concerned.The whole story of the movie is based on a true story and revolves around the rise and fall scenario of 1970’s most powerful drug dealing king of the New York City. The casting consists of two major superstars Denzel Washington (playing the role of the drug lord, Frank Lucas) and Russell Crowe (a responsible cop who is on the hunt to catch the drug lord). Frank is a reliable and worker/friend of Bumpy Johnson since 15 years and decides to take charge of the drug lord position after Bumpy’s death. Frank Lucas becomes the drug lord of underground crime-world who has risen up from the Harlem.He has earned this position by de livering up uncut heroin directly from the Southeast Asian region during the Vietnam War era. His proceedings were determined by the incorruptible and honorable federal investigator Richie Roberts. The film basically focuses on Frank Locus. The script written by Steven Zailliant travels in parallel ways by focusing on two major roles of the two people belonging from entirely contrast fields; one from being the gang lord and other belonging to the law enforcement. This contrast has been set very neatly by the script writer and the director.Frank demolishes the in-way barriers and competitors and becomes the drug lord by bringing drugs from Thailand to U. S via military planes and then flooding the whole city with his uncut drug products, which ultimately makes him the king of the drug world with the huge profits of his drug sales. Previously, Frank Lucas has been a pimp-style flash who prefers to live with a normal style and maintain a low-profile by dressing himself in conventional and old-fashioned style, having breakfast alone in the morning in a local nearby bar and personally does not take interest in involving with his business around.But when he advances, he becomes bold enough to punish the accused person and shoot him in front of everyone on the streets of New York City in the day time. On the other side, detective Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is an honest responsible cop who has been assigned the task to administer the task force and bring down Frank Lucas to his end. The whole movie seems to confuse the viewer as how to judge Frank, because it is not really being seen whether to take him as a villain in the movie or as a main title hero character. He does something good; he is capable of doing bad things more and does so.He has a strong positive gesture towards his family and city and it shows that he loves both of them very much; but on the contrary he also makes efforts on vital basis to spread drugs in the city and play major role in the deaths, destruction and drug addiction in the entire city. His role is a mixture of villain, evil character as well as portraits himself as a loving person too. Same is the case with the character of Russell Crowe as he has been portrait as a sweaty honest cop who does brilliant job in the police department but his actual home and love life is a complete failure.He is popular to complete his tasks on time with high performance and do whatever he thinks is right; but at home, he hardly manages to give proper time to his only son and barely communicates with his ex-wife. Both the stars are brilliant characters in their own field. The whole movie shots two men in parallel and we do not manage to see both the stars together till the end, until they finally meet in the last scenes of the movie. The Review:The movie â€Å"American Gangster† doesn’t really starts with a slow pace and we do not seem to see any thrilling actions in the first thirty minutes of the movie and nothing rea lly happens in the story which could change the situation of the movie. Both characters of Denzel Washington and that of Russell Crowe busy in their own circle of life. Denzel Washington being busy in working his heads off; and Russell Crowe being busy with his studies and trying to complete his law degree from the law college. The story of the two men continues to serve as particularly individual narrative stand which later on becomes closer tightly together.As a viewer, most of the people do not find the movie very interesting especially in the beginning and also the ending. The best part is in the middle of the movie. Most of the people find the opening and ending part of the movie boring whereas they like the middle part of the movie quite interesting. (Dargis 2007) There are some flaws or long tails in the movie as well which makes it boring for the viewers. These parts raise questions in minds such as; how come a movie would portrait the life of woman who is ex-wife of a cop w ith so many details and what is the use of focusing on the life of a woman in the story of a criminal drug lord?How many crime concerned movies get the details of a dirty cop who enjoys making other people’s lives miserable? There are at times so many similarities I found with other crime based movies while watching this film that I almost forgot that this movie was actually based on a true movie. There are many shots which are similar with other crime based movies and do not play a distinctive movie as a whole. What the viewers would be interested to know how the drug dealer Denzel Washington dealt with his emotional feelings and nature after becoming the drug lord and how he took it on is psychology.People would be more interested in knowing how Denzel Washington dealt with his subordinates and become the drug lord in detail. This all could have been portrait in better form rather than portraying more on the emotional irrelevant details of Russell Crowe’s wife suffer ings and life. (Dargis 2007) Whatever the movie takes, Denzel Washington is the best actor when it comes to act seriously. He can take the movie and the viewers to their edge if he gets to act and so has he done in this movie as well.As Frank Lucas, Denzel Washington wears traditional old fashioned clothes with a gun tacked up on his belt and makes his own reliable gang by calling off his relatives and inviting them and binding them together in his gang to make a team. This is how he manages to get the title of the drug lord by eliminating his competitors and getting competitive edge to all the criminals in the city. (Gleiberman 2007) Director Ridley Scott seems to like his villain too much, that is why we did not manage to judge who is the hero or who is being the villain in this movie.Ridley Scott has showcased the character of Denzel Washington with lots of positive points along with being the bad guy. He has tried to prove his point in this movie that hope and struggle should be implemented in lives and there is no such word as being a failure or hopeless. Every man has guts to be the best if he tries to. The best shot in the movie could be the one when Denzel Washington (Frank Lucas) shots a man in head on the streets on a daytime in the new York city, the camera moves backward with long focus view; this shot tells the sensitivity of life and territory consumption detail.Nonetheless, the best scene which we have found to be most interesting is the one in which Russell Crowe (Richie Robert) with his task force decides to take over and drag down an incoming military plane and immediately comes in action by putting off all the things and coffins apart. This scene contains all the concentration and emotions which are needed to hold the audience on their seats. The movie â€Å"American Gangster† is rated R which means that it is restricted for the children coming under the age of 17 years who are accompanied by either their parents or guardians because of the drug and violence reference used in the movie.The overall reaction which was perceived by the viewers was that Russell Crowe played the role of Richie Roberts very well better than Denzel Washington being Frank Lucas because he played a different role than he usually plays in other movies; whereas Denzel Washington played the same â€Å"angry man† role which he usually does all the time. However, keeping the same image of the angry man, Denzel Washington did a very good job and no matter what business the movie brought to the team involved in making, it touched the hearts of the viewers and is a movie which we could recommend others to watch to pass time with a normal fine mood.The Team: Directed by Ridley Scott; written by Steven Zaillian, based on the New York magazine article â€Å"The Return of Superfly,† by Mark Jacobson; director of photography, Harris Savides; edited by Pietro Scalia; music by Marc Streitenfeld; production designer, Arthur Max; produced b y Brian Grazer and Mr. Scott; released by Universal Pictures. Running time: 158 minutes. The Cast: WITH: Denzel Washington (Frank Lucas), Russell Crowe (Richie Roberts), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Huey Lucas), Cuba Gooding Jr.(Nicky Barnes), Josh Brolin (Detective Trupo), Ted Levine (Lou Toback), Armand Assante (Dominic Cattano), John Ortiz (Javier J. Rivera), John Hawkes (Freddie Spearman), RZA (Moses Jones), Lymari Nadal (Eva), Yul Vazquez (Alfonse Abruzzo), Ruby Dee (Mama Lucas), Idris Elba (Tango), Carla Gugino (Laurie Roberts), Joe Morton (Charlie Williams), Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Doc), Roger Guenveur Smith (Nate), Roger Bart (United States attorney), Chuck Cooper (private doctor) and Linda Powell (social worker).Works Cited Mondello,Bob; 2007, Movie Reviews – ‘American Gangster', NPR. org, Available online at: http://www. npr. org/templates/story/story. php? storyId=15885027 Owen Gleiberman, 2007, Movie Review – American Gangster (2007), Entertainment Weekly, Availa ble online at: http://www. ew. com/ew/article/0,,20155724,00. html MANOHLA DARGIS, 2007, Sweet, Bloody Smell of Success – Movie Review of the American Gangster, the New York Times.

Deaf Event Paper

Deaf Event Paper For my Deaf Event I decided to attend the Silent Dinner at Valley Ranch Barbeque this past Tuesday April 27th, 2010 with my fellow classmate a best friend, Amber Cullens. A few days leading up to the event I was completely nervous I didn’t know what to expect. With only being a beginning sign language one student I was afraid that I would freeze up or sign something that would be offensive or make me look stupid. When we got to Valley Ranch the dinner had already started so we got in line and ordered our food. We then took our seats in the separate banquet type room they put us in for the silent dinner. Everything was so overwhelming at first, everyone was signing so fast we couldn’t keep pace and didn’t want to be rude by asking for help. Thankfully we weren’t alone there were fellow other Lone Star Students there along with High School students. Even Leyel Hudson attended the event which made things even more comfortable for us having a teacher we know around to assist us if needed any help. I can’t believe I stressed so much beforehand about attending, the Houston Deaf Community was very welcoming and helpful when we would sign with them. They made sure to try and go slower for us and some even helped by writing things down on paper so we could keep up. My favorite thing about the event was not just meeting Deaf parents, but the children of Deaf Parents. I met a young 8 year old boy and his older sister who was 12. They have not only learned English but also Sign Language so they can communicate with their parents. They were truly a great inspiration to be around. Attending this Deaf Event has inspired me to attend more not just while I’m enrolled as a student at Lone Star but on my own time. Currently because of attending this event I’m making it my goal to bring Deaf Events to my job, McAlister’s Deli. Overall the experience was one I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.