Discuss how the engineering design process works for a mechanical Essay

Discuss how the engineering design process works for a mechanical component (in this case a lifting device) in an industrial set - Essay Example The process steps in some instances appear sequential, although, in some cases with light of changing design models the steps may be reverse or parallel to one another. Every design situation has unique set of demands and criteria, thus, choosing a design process will be dependent on the specific needs of the project (Lumsdaine et al 1999). The design process would normally entail an entire business or enterprise from product idea to the maintenance of the product, and all the stages that are in between. An engineering designs, thus characterizes the aspect of both the process and the product. The process being the series of continuous actions ending in a precise result and the product being the thing produced as an end result of the process. Graphics would normally be employed to help in visualization of possible solutions and for documentation of the design for purposes of communication (Ertas & Jones, 1996). In an open-ended design setting, engineers would use their math and scien ce knowledge to investigate all options that are possible and do a comparison of many ideas of design. In this case, at the starting point of problem-solving, the engineer or designer does not know precisely the solution to meet the requirements. The designer employs prototypes or early versions of the design and selects the best fit that best uses the resources available and best meets the requirements (Ertas & Jones, 1996). Lifting devices are essential in industrial jobs that require specialized equipment. There are numerous types of lifting equipment used industrially that are available in the market today. Their use is commonly in major hazards sites to remove or install large plant items. (Kemp, 2008)These kinds of lifts require large lifting equipment such as mobile and tower cranes. Plant operations involving lifting of the lifting of mobile equipment and spares for purposes of maintenance, drums of chemicals, will make use of equipment such as travelling cranes, lifting tru cks, lifting chains and hoists. Trained plant operators are the ones who normally carry out these smaller routine lifts while specialists undertake the larger lifts (Bulala, 1998). Without lifting devices, operations in industries would be impossible. Industries such as mining, transport, construction, gas and oil, and steel rely on lifting equipment to move heavy items. Lifting devices are critical in carrying out activities of transportation of weighty materials from one place to another. It is, therefore, important to design equipment that will provide these essential services and ensure the smooth running of activities in industries. While coming up with the design of the equipment, the designing engineer and their design team factor in mind the general principles regarding use of the equipment, the major hazards related to the use of the device, and the code of practice relating to lifting procedures (Kemp, 2008). In this essay, we are going to look at an engineering design pro cess that would work for a lifting device. The engineering design process The steps that would be essential in the design process would begin from first recognizing the problem or need, the user/ users, and the insight, or the importance of solving the problem. The design process leads to asking the question of whether customers have need for the product. There is evidently need for lifting devices such as cranes in

Moral Dilemma Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Moral Dilemma - Research Paper Example This essay implements both of these theorists’ perspectives, in characterizing the moral development of am eleven-year-old child named Jeremy. Jeremy is an eleven-year-old child who has been faced with a moral dilemma surrounding his actions on a test. The specific scenario is that Jeremy, who has struggled in math, has been promised an increase in weekly allowance if he improves in math by one letter grade. During a math exam, he decided to look on a couple of his peers’ papers and change his answers accordingly. He ended up getting a perfect score, raising his grade by a letter grade, and receiving an increase in allowance. While Jeremy has been successful in his pursuit of a higher grade, it’s clear that his actions constitute moral impropriety. As established, Jeremy’s actions in cheating on his text represent morally improper actions. Still, the question remains whether such immorality is an aberration or is an age appropriate indication of Jeremy’s stage of moral and cognitive development. These concerns have been examined by both Piaget and Kohlberg. Both of these theorists implement a developmental model with stages of the individual passes through (Douglas 1993). Kohlberg’s theory of moral development functions within the overarching context of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development (Douglas 1993). In considering Kohlberg’s theory of moral development within the context of Jeremy’s situation, it’s clear that Jeremy is acting at an age appropriate level. Perhaps the prominent consideration in terms of Jeremy’s development is what Kohlberg terms the pre-conventional stage of development. For individuals at Jeremy’s age, the age appropriate level is the se cond stage of the pre-operational stage. According to Kohlberg & Lickona (1976) this stage is characteristic of acting in ways that directly benefit the self without disregard for larger moral concerns. It’s clear that

Comparison of AWS and Rackspace SLAs

Comparison of AWS and Rackspace SLAs Name: Amulya Gajanan Dudhal Introduction: Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Rackspace are the two-leading public cloud service providers of the 21st century. The service level agreement laid down by these companies describes the level of service that can be expected by the user from the cloud service provider. The intention of a service level agreement is to let know the user what he/she will receive from the cloud service provider. The service level agreement is aimed at providing the cloud providers transparency in customer service. There are certain differences in the service level agreements of Rackspace and AWS. The most important factor a user considers when selecting a public cloud service provider is the uptime or the availability guarantee of the cloud service provider. Rackspace claims to have an uptime of 100% while AWS claims to have an availability guarantee of 99.95%. AWSs approach to this is more realistic which provides them with the right to have a downtime of 4.3 hours anytime in a year. In case of network failures, the user always wants to know the MTTR (Mean time to resolve) claimed by the cloud service provider. While AWS decides to not specify the MTTR, Rackspace claims to resolve issues in the time span of 1 hour. If Rackspace fails to resolve the issues in the time period specified, they owe the user credits for network usage as a penalty.   This is something that Amazon should include in their SLA. If AWS or Rackspace violates any clause specified by them in the SLA, the user/customer gets the right to notify the companies about the same. After notifying the company the customer must request for the credit from the companies. Amazon has to pay the customer a credit of 10% period while Rackspace owes the customer 100% credit if it vindicated. Also, if the storage service provided by the companies goes down for some time AWS offers 25% credit to the customer while Rackspace again owes the customer 100% credit. Both the companies might want to think about an automated credit function in events of downtime in their service. Also, Rackspace and AWS both provide recommendations to the customer on how the services offered by AWS and Rackspace best suit the customers case. Rackspace also has a flat rate across the multiple availability zones except for UK. Amazon on the other hand does not provide a flat rate across all the availability zones and has slightly higher rates in the UK, just like Rackspace. The foundation of cloud servers is built on shared resources. So, in the case of Rackspace the customer with the bigger Flavor (instance) is given top pri ority in a rack. But in the case of Amazon Web services, the customer gets the services he/she pays for. Variable performance is offered by Rackspace, while dedicated performance is the key feature of AWS. When it comes to storage Rackspace charges a customer with 10 cents/GB of storage, while AWS charges 14 cents/GB up to 1 TB of data storage. Outgoing bandwidth being an important factor, plays a key role in deciding the public cloud service provider for the customer. Rackspace charges the customer with 18 cents/GB. On the other hand, AWS does not charge the customer with a single penny for the first GB of outgoing bandwidth. But, later after the first GB, AWS charges the customer 12 cents/GB up to 1 TB. AWS, clearly is a win-win situation when it comes to outgoing bandwidth. Also, there AWS has key features of spot instances and reserved instances. Rackspace does not have any such feature to offer which can help the user reserve instances for future use with guaranteed performance . Rackspace is ideal for customers looking at services such as uptime, architectural guidance and managed services. But, AWS is more suited for customers looking for commodity capabilities at lowest costs. Amazon also has a separate storage service called as S3. It allows blob storage and retrieval for data from 1 B to 5 TB. Storage SLA of AWS thus covers blob storage and retrieval. Remote disks called as elastic blob store are reserved for EC2 instances. Rackspace on the other hand do not offer any separate storage service SLA. Bibliography: Spada, Stefano. Exploring Cloud Slas: Amazon Vs Rackspace Web Host Industry Review. Web Host Industry Review. N.p., 2017. Web. 11 Mar. 2017.

Edgar Allen Poe :: essays research papers

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) Written and Contributed by SUGABUGA456 Edgar Allan Poe was one of America’s famous poets, fiction short-story writers, and literary critics. He is known as the first master of short story form especially in tales of horror, and mystery. The work he produced was considered to be some of the most influential literary criticism of his time. His poems made him one of the most famous figures in American literary history. His influence on literature is seen in all literature books in schools everywhere. Some of his famous writings is that of "Annabel Lee"; his detective story, "The Murders in Rue Morgue"; "The Pit and the Pendulum" and "The Tell-Tale Heart" are the best among his horror stories; and The Raven one of his best poems which among all these, made him very famous in 1845. "The Fall of the House of Usher", and "The Masque of the Red Death", made him a forerunner of symbolism, and impres sionism. Poe antagonized many people with a scathing campaign against an American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow for supposed plagiarism. Later that year Poe admitted to being drunk, which further separated him from the public. Poe’s later years were full of economic hardship and ill health. Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809. He was orphaned at the early age of two, his father deserted the family and his mother died all before he was three in 1811, then Poe became a ward and was raised as a foster child by John Allan, a wealthy merchant of tobacco, and his wife Frances in Richmond, VA but they never legally adopted him. Taken by the Allan family to England at the age of six, Poe was placed in a private school. In 1826 Poe enrolled at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. where he acquired gambling debts that John Allan refused to pay. Eventually, Poe was forced to withdraw from the university, and Allan prevented his return to the university and broke off Poe’s engagement to Sarah Elmira Royster, his Richmond sweetheart. His relationship with Allan was declined and he moved from his foster father and enlisted in the army. Also in 1827, he went to Boston where he wrote his fist book "Tamerlane and other poems" that he sold for $.12 a copy but it didn’t sell. He served a two year term while waiting for an appointment to the US Military Academy.

The Good Friday Agreement

The conflict about Northern Ireland The importance of the Good Friday Agreement Introduction: The Irish Island has for centuries been characterized by a conflict between the British and the Irish, and has political, economical and religious roots. After Ireland became independent in the early 19th century, the battles continued in Northern Ireland, who was left under British rules. Irish Catholics in Northern Ireland who had been discriminated for a long time by British Protestants started using weapons and violence exploded.In the years between 1969 and 1998, more known as â€Å"the Troubles†, were over 3600 people killed in the conflict, among them nearly 2000 civilians. Since 1998 a peace agreement is signed between the parties called the Good Friday Agreement, but Northern Ireland is by some means still a segregated county with Catholics and Protestants living apart from each other (Pettersson T, and Simmons, D. 2010). The power struggle on the Irish Island has been a stru ggle between Catholics who wished to see a unified Ireland, and by Protestants who opposed for Northern Ireland to remain under British Rule.The Good Friday agreement was signed in 1998 and can be seen as the turning point in the conflict about Northern Ireland. In 1921 the Anglo-Irish treaty was signed, and after centuries of British rule, 26 of 32 counties of Ireland gained independence. The 6 remaining counties formed Northern Ireland, which continued to be governed within the United Kingdom. A majority of the population in Northern Ireland were Protestants and did not want to be a part of Ireland (leonidassthlm 2009).From the period 1921 to 1972 the developed government in Northern Ireland operated with autonomy from London, and power remained exclusively to the Unionist party which had support from the Protestant majority community that favoured to be a union with Britain. The Catholic minority in the country supported the Nationalist party, and they were not allowed to have a role in government, and were discriminated in many areas such as employment, voting rights and housing (dfa. ie 2 June 2012). In the 1960s, a civil rights movement was formed with both Catholics and Protestants; it discussed the unfair conditions for Catholics inNorthern Ireland. The movement protested against the unfair conditions, and was sometimes met with police brutality. Every summer Protestants celebrated a former king’s battle, in which he had won over his Catholic enemy (leonidassthlm 2009). In 1969 non-violent campaigners for civil rights protested against the celebration they thought represented discrimination of Catholics (leonidassthlm 2009). They were met with an inhibitory and hostile response from the authorities, pushing Northern Ireland in a sustained period of political crisis.The years that followed was a turbulent and violent time in Northern Ireland, and many people lost their lives in the conflict, including many civilians (www. bbc. co. uk 2 June 2012) . The Catholic Army IRA (Irish Republic Army) had been inactive up until the late 1960s, but after â€Å"the Troubles† started in 1969 they became more and more active in what they believed in. IRA fought for Catholic civil rights and a unified Ireland (leonidassthlm 2009). IRA was not the only group that fought for what they believed in.Protestant loyal groups grew stronger with tens of thousands of members that fought for Northern Ireland to still belong to Britain. Violence escalated and it became harder for the British army, who was there to support the Protestant parties, to control the violence. Both sides used violence and weapons against each other to reach their goals. One Sunday in 1972 during a non-violent demonstration for human rights were 13 people killed by British soldiers. This Sunday was later called the â€Å"Bloody Sunday† (Pettersson, T and Simmons, D. 010). The support for IRA grew after the Bloody Sunday, and more British troops were placed in No rthern Ireland to prevent the violence. However, it can be questioned how much the British troops really did to prevent the violence, because it is a matter of fact that they were British soldiers, and that Britain did not want to let go of Northern Ireland to make it a unified Ireland (www. landguiden. se 2 June 2012). Both sides were guilty of violence and massacres and one of the worst attacks after the Bloody Sunday was the Bloody Friday.IRA blasted 20 car bombs in Belfast and 9 people died in the attack. About 500 people died in the year of 1972 caused by terror attacks. Civilians in Northern Ireland were getting tired of the violence that had escalated a long time ago, and wished for a change to come. They had seen family and friends getting killed in demonstrations and wanted an end to the violence that had been going on for centuries (leonidassthlm 2009). From 1974 to 1994 were numerous attempts made to try and solve the conflict in Northern Ireland.All attempts were made fr om London, and even though many people were tired of the violence and the conflict; was it still hard to gain support for a solution that would mean sharing of power between Catholics and Protestants. But there was some progress in the attempt of solving the conflict between Catholics and Protestants. The British Parliament made a deal with the independent Ireland in 1985, the deal meant that Ireland would be asked in questions that had anything to do with Northern Ireland. The deal had positive effects and a close cooperation between Ireland and England arose.Ireland accepted Northern Ireland as being part of Britain as long as a majority of the people wanted it (Pelling, J. 18th May 2008). After many years of violence a peace process were finally starting to take place. In 1994, IRA and its Protestant enemies called for a cease-fire. After numerous failed attempts to start the talks of a peace agreement, IRA broke the cease-fire after 17 months when they blasted a car bomb in Lond on that killed two people and hurt 39. It took 18 months after this attack until a new cease-fire was agreed (Pettersson, T and Simmons, D. 010). At last, after years of hope, crushed expectations and new terror attacks, a peace agreement was finally signed. The Good Friday Agreement was signed on 10 April 1998 and was aimed to form the lasting settlement following the cease-fire in Northern Ireland (bbc. co. uk 2004). The Agreement is seen as a turning point in the conflict about Northern Ireland and when the agreement was presented to the public, a majority of people allowed to vote supported the proposition (Pettersson, T and Simmons, D. 2010).The breakthrough the agreement represented was that, for the very first time in Northern Ireland’s history, it brought all the main political parties represented in Northern Ireland- those groups linked to paramilitary as well as those who were committed to constitutional means into the same negotiation forum and obtained a new set o f arrangements for democratic governance. The purpose of the agreement was to end the violent conflict and to find a political compromise that would accord for â€Å"parity of esteem† to both the nationalist and unionist political views in Northern Ireland (Fahey, T. 007). At the heart of the Good Friday Agreement lies the statement that it was made for the people of Ireland alone: â€Å"By agreement between the two parts respectively, and without external impediment, to exercise their right of self-determination on the basis of consent, freely and concurrently given, North & South, to bring about a united Ireland, if that is their wish, accepting that this right must be achieved & exercised subject to the agreement and consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland† (Fraser, T,G. 1999 p. 83).The Good Friday Agreement has provided the divided society in Northern Ireland to settle its differences, and a model of governance based on the â€Å"parity of esteemâ €  has replaced the old system with majority rules. Unionists and nationalists have both agreed on proportional inclusion of each group in the government, and this is the first time such an agreement have been accepted by both parties. The voting system now works to ensure that either unionists or nationalists can vote against each other’s group interests. (www. bbc. co. uk 2 June 2012).The Agreement respects both parties’ goals to join the Irish Republic or to remain being a part of the United Kingdom. The agreement is divided into three strands: strand one is dealing with institutional arrangements in Northern Ireland, strand two deals with the relationship between Ireland and Northern Ireland and strand three deals with the relationships between the United Kingdom, Ireland and Northern Ireland. As mentioned before, the agreement focus mainly on the people of Ireland, and equality and rights lies at the centre of the Good Friday Agreement.The agreement protects hu man rights in Northern Ireland, as well as equality, mutual respect and partnership. The human rights commission and the equality commission are the two institutions in Northern Ireland responsible for ensuring that political, social, civil and cultural rights of every civilian are respected (www. bbc. co. uk 2 June 2012). The Good Friday agreement is such an important part in the history of Northern Ireland, and it is very interesting to see that it took so many years for it to be formed, and also that when it was settled the majority of the population voted yes to the proposition of the agreement.This proves that the majority of the population were at this time exhausted by the violent conflicts, and both Catholics and Protestants actually wanted it to end. Many years of bloody violence have left a deeply segregated society in Northern Ireland. The Good Friday agreement appreciates the importance of talking about the victims of the conflict that suffered and still are suffering fr om it. The agreement is committed to nurture a culture of tolerance to the discriminated community through promotion of mixed housing, integrated education and the support of integrated employment in companies (bbc. o. uk 2 June 2012). Northern Ireland was ruled from London until the peace agreement was signed, and by 1998 the peace process had come so far that it was possible to create a Northern Ireland government with both nationalists and unionist groups that would have equal rights in the community. The first years after the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement were shaky for the new government and the British sometimes went in and took over the governmental work.But the peace process were going the right way and in 2005 it had a breakthrough when IRA choose to give up their weapons and volunteers were instructed to form political and democratic agendas with only peaceful means. (www. dn. se October 14th 2002). In 2007 were the power of government divided between Protest ants and Catholics, but although the power is shared between the two is Northern Ireland still segregated in some parts (Pelling, J. 18th May 2008).Sharing of power have been important for the peace agreement to last, but there are a number of people that disagree with this solution and violence have occurred even after the peace agreement was signed. However, Northern Ireland is a good example where people have become so tired of conflicts that they step by step is building the ground for a lasting peace. Conclusion: It is truly amazing that a conflict that lasted for so long and was so deeply rooted in people’s hearts and minds, came to a solution because of the Good Friday Agreement.As discussed before in the essay, everything was not easy after the implementation of the agreement and some issues were still there. But the facts remain that the Good Friday Agreement provided Northern Ireland with something it had never experienced before: equality rights for everyone indepe ndent on religion, mutual respect and human rights. For me that have grown up in a community with different religions and nationalities it is hard to understand how it must have been for (mainly) Catholics before the agreement.Before the Good Friday Agreement Catholics were discriminated in many areas and today there is no change of being stopped by the police, army or someone else because of someone’s religion. I believe that the main aim of the peace agreement was to divide the power equally between Catholics and Protestants as well as eliminate discrimination. This essay have focused on the importance of the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland in particular, but I believe it is a good example that a conflict that are centuries old, can end on good terms for all the parties involved.I am thinking of younger conflicts around the word that can look at the Good Friday Agreement for inspiration and hope of a better future. References books: Fahey, T. (2007) Conflict and C onsensus: A Study of Values and Attitudes in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Boston: Brill Academic Publishers. Fraser, T, G. (1999) Ireland in Conflict 1922-1998. Chapter 9, p. 83. Florence, KY, USA: Routledge. Internet Sources: BBC. (2012) The Good Friday Agreement [online] BBC. Available from: http://www. bbc. co. uk/northernireland/schools/agreement/. [Accessed 2 June 2012]Department of foreign affairs and trade. (2011) March 25. The Good Friday Agreement [online]. Ireland: Department of foreign affairs and trade. Available from: http://www. dfa. ie/home/index. aspx? id=335. [Accessed 2 June 2012] Landguiden (2011) Northern Ireland [online]. Stockholm: Landguiden. Available from: http://www. landguiden. se/Konflikter/Nordirland Pelling, J. (2008) May 18. Nordirland fortfarande delat (Northern Ireland is still divided). [online]. Available from: http://www. svd. se/nyheter/utrikes/nordirland-fortfarande-delat_1263273. svd [Accessed 2 June 2012]Pettersson, T and Simm ons, D. (2010) August 17. Northern Ireland [online]. Uppsala: Sakerhetspolitik. Available from: http://www. sakerhetspolitik. se/Konflikter/Nordirland/Fordjupning/. [Accessed 1 June 2012] TT-Reuters (2002) October 14. Storbritannien tog over styret av Nordirland (Great Britain takes over governmental work in Northern Ireland). [online]. Available from: http://www. dn. se/nyheter/varlden/storbritannien-tog-over-styret-av-nordirland [Accessed 2 June 2012] Reference videos: BBC (2012). Importance of the Good Friday Agreement [Online video]. Available from: < http://www. bbc. co. k/learningzone/clips/importance-of-the-good-friday-agreement-1998/11507. html> [accessed 3 June 2012] Youtube/Leonidassthlm (2009). Varldens Konflikter: Nordirland del 1 [Online video]. Available from: [accessed 2 June 2012] Youtube/Leonidassthlm (2009). Varldens Konflikter: Nordirland del 2 [Online video]. Available from: [accessed 2 June 2012] Youtube/Leonidassthlm (2009). Varldens Konflikter: Nordirland de l 3 [Online video]. Available from: [accessed 2 June 2012]

Monetary Policy and Its Impact on the Recession

Running head: MONETARY POLICY/MACROECONOMIC IMPACT PAPER Monetary Policy/Macroeconomic Impact Paper Heather Robinson University of Phoenix MMPBL 501 04/25/2010 Introduction The Federal Reserve Board (FED) utilizes tools to control or manipulate the money supply, these tools affect macroeconomic factors such as inflation, unemployment and interest rates, which ultimately determine a country’s GDP. To recommend the best monetary policy combination I will discuss the tools used by the feds, explain how money is created and also illustrate the effect of the money supply on the economy. It is the money supply which determines the rate of inflation, unemployment and economic growth. Tools Used by The Federal Reserve To Control Money Supply. The Fed has three main tools for controlling the money supply these are their Open Market Operations, The Discount Rate, and The Reserve Ratio. These tools can be used to alter the reserve ratios of the commercial banks which in turn determine the money supply. â€Å"The money supply consists of currency (Federal Reserve Notes and coins) and checkable deposits. The U. S. Burea of Engraving creates Federal Reserve notes and the U. S. Mint creates the coins. †(McConnell & Brue 2004) â€Å"By purchasing government bonds, (securities) the Fed increases the reserves of the banking system which then increase the lending ability of the commercial bank,†(McConnell & Brue 2004) and the money supply available. Selling bonds will also achieve the opposite results namely reduce the money supply by reducing the reserves of the bank. The central bank desires to be a lender of last resort. When the commercial bank borrows it gives the Fed a promissory note drawn against itself and secured by acceptable collateral. The Fed charges interest on the loans which is called the discount rate. The new reserve obtained by borrowing from the Fed immediately becomes excess reserves as no required reserve needs to be kept for loans received from the Fed. Thus by reducing the discount rate, commercial banks can be encouraged to borrow from the Fed which directly increases their excess reserves and their ability to lend, so the money supply is increased. The opposite can also be done to reduce the money supply. The Fed can also manipulate the reserve ratio as a means of affecting the ability of commercial banks to lend. If the Fed increases the reserve ratio the commercial bank is forced to reduce its checkable deposits in order to increase its reserves to the new minimum requirement. It might also be forced to sell some bonds in order to increase its required reserves, and both scenarios would result in a reduction of the money supply. By lowering the reserve ratio the commercial banks reserve is transformed into excess reserve which increases the banks capability of lending, which increases the money supply. â€Å"Interest rates in general rise and fall with the federal funds rate. The prime interest rate is the benchmark rate that banks use as a reference point for a wide range of interest rates on loans to business and individuals. † (McConnell & Brue 2004) Therefore when the Fed changes the discount rate it also changes the prime interest rate. A lower discount rate is passed on to consumers who then are able to obtain lower interest rates for mortgages and credit cards which increases their disposable income. This higher disposable income then results in more demand for goods and services which causes an increase in the supply of these goods to meet the increasing demand. Also an increase in the money supply and more money to lend by the banks result in more credit for businesses who are then able to purchase more materials to produce more or invest into the expansion of their businesses. The end result is that more goods and services are being produced as a result of the increase in money supply, which is beneficial to the country’s GDP. â€Å"In brief, the impact of changing interest rates is mainly on investment (and, through that, on aggregate demand, output, employment and the price level). Moreover investment spending varies inversely with the interest rate. †(McConnell & Brue 2004) The Creation of Money Money creation occurs in two main ways, the creation of base money, mostly currency notes created by the Federal Reserve. The second process involves checking account or deposit money created by commercial banks, which makes up most of the money supply. Base money is created when the Fed performs open market operations. The Fed injects money when it purchases Government securities, by creating it. Almost all money we come by has its basis in money that the Fed invented Once this money has been created approximately ten times as much can be created by banks in checking accounts and deposits. They accomplish this by granting loans to the public, a corresponding amount of checking account money is created with each new loan. So money is created when the money supply is increased. Using expansionary monetary policy, decreasing the reserve ratio and discount rates, or buying bonds and securities result in money being created. State of the Economy With regards to the U. S. conomy, it has â€Å"contracted further since the beginning of the recession, and the labor market worsened over the first half of 2009†. according to the published monetary policy report to the congress. (MPRC July 2009) Economic activity decreased sharply and strains in financial markets and pressures on financial institutions overall intensified. (MRPC July 2009. ) However the negative activity appears t o be abating, unemployment has continued to increase but at a slower pace, while inflation has been minimal. To date the credit conditions continue to be restrictive and it is still difficult for businesses and households to receive credit. The U. S. real gross domestic product (GDP) was less than the first quarter of 2009, though it seems that the† contraction of overall output looks to have moderated somewhat of late. â€Å"(MPRC July 2009). Consumer spending was increased due to the tax cuts and increases in various benefit payments received as part of a stimulus package, which increased disposable incomes. The housing market has experienced some stabilization in the demand for new houses after three years of persistent declines. Businesses however have continued to decrease their capital spending and liquidating of inventories due to reduced demand and excessive stocks. More recently foreign demand has also dropped for U. S. products which produced a reduction in U. S. exports and the U. S. demand for imports also fell. Concerns of the Federal Reserve and Directions of Recent Monetary Policy The Federal Reserve policy action has focused on facilitating economic recovery and encouraging the flow of credit, which brought the federal funds rate down to a historic low rate of zero to one quarter percent, and also purchased additional agency (MBS) mortgage backed securities. MPRC 2009) â€Å"Overall consumer price inflation which slowed sharply late last year remained subdued in the first half of this year, as the margin of slack in labor and product markets widened considerably further as prices of oil and other commodities retraced only a part of their earlier steep declines. †(MPRC2009)There is no effort to control inflation which seems to be under control so all emphasis is been placed on assisting the economy in recovering from the recession using monetary policies. In addition to reducing the federal funds rate and purchasing securities, the Fed continued to provide funding to financial institutions and markets using a variety of credit and liquidity facilities. Recent monetary policy actions include the decision of the Federal Open market Committee (FOMC), to expand its purchases of agency MBS and agency debt and to commence the purchasing of longer-term treasury securities to assist in improving the conditions in private credit markets. The fed also announced it will expand the eligible collateral under the TALF program, which is the recently launched Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility. In June 2009, at the FOMC meeting, the members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and presidents of the Federal Reserve Banks provided projections for economic growth, unemployment and inflation, these projections included the expectation of â€Å"real GDP to bottom out in the second half of this year, and then move onto a path of gradual recovery, bolstered by an accommodative monetary policy, government efforts to stabilize financial markets, and fiscal stimulus. † (MPRC2009) It was also projected that conditions in the labor market would continue to eteriorate, and then improve slowly over the next two years, and inflation would remain subdued in 2010 and 2011. Recommended Monetary policy When trying to recover from a recession and stimulating economic growth it is possible to increase inflation due to the increase in money supply if the expansionary policies are prolonged. There has to be a balance which will reduce unemployment, deter inflation and ye t promote economic growth. Monetary policy has been the best choice to manipulate the money supply as it is flexible, prompt and isolated from political pressure. McConnell & Brue 2004) The Fed can utilize open market operations, discount rate and the reserve ratio to achieve a balance between inflation, economic growth and unemployment. If the expansionary monetary policies result in too much spending and increased inflation, it can be curbed by selling securities, or increasing the discount rate and reserve ratios of the commercial banks. In the University of Phoenix simulation, the scenarios represented opportunities to utilize monetary policies to curb inflation, unemployment and increase GDP. The solution was the effective manipulation of the discount rate, reserve ratio, and open market operations. What was noticeable was that when the money supply increased so did inflation, and the unemployment rate is inversely related to the GDP. When the GDP increased unemployment fell. Conclusion The three tools of monetary policy which include, open market operations, the discount rate and the reserve ratio are quite effective in the application of expansionary or restrictive monetary policies to combat recessions or curb inflation. Whenever the Fed lowers the discount rate or the reserve ratio they increase commercial banks lending which stimulates aggregate demand and investment. The most effective tool seems to be the open market operation which is utilized more frequently, as the Government buys and sells securities often to manipulate the commercial bank’s reserves. Monetary policy is most effective due to speed and flexibility, it is free from political pressure and can be quickly utilized to respond to inflation and unemployment, and to create economic growth. References Bankers Research Institute, The Wizards of Money Part 1: How Money Is created. Retrieved April 26, 2010 from http://www. altruists. org/static/files McConnell, C. & Brue, S. (2004). Economics: Principles, Problems, and Policies, 6th ed. McGraw-Hill Irwin. Monetary Policy Report to the Congress, July 21, 2009. Retrieved April 26, 2010 from http://www. federalreserve. gov/monetarypolicy/mpr_20090721_part1. htm University of Phoenix. (2010). Simulations Monetary Policy [Computer Software]. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, Simulation MMPBL 501 website.