Tài liệu Afghanistan - State and Society, Great Power Politics, and the Way Ahead docx

... London: Sage Publications, 1992.86 Afghanistan: State and Society, Great Power Politics, and the Way Ahead Belasco, Amy, e Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations ... Afghanistan: State and Society, Great Power Politics, and the Way Ahead. ” is two-day event, held in Copenhagen, was attended by more than 100 politicians, scholars, academ-ics, officers, and ... charitable contributionSupport RAND4 Afghanistan: State and Society, Great Power Politics, and the Way Ahead to the preservation of an acceptable balance of power, be it global or regional....

... khăn, vượt qua cơn suy thoái. Bởi đây không phải là một “cơn gió” tài chính thông thường, mà là một “cơn bão” khủng hoảng tài chính có một không hai trong lịch sử, làm đảo lộn trật tự kinh ... tức, ví dụ như các nhà cung cấp không duy trì việc giao hàng thường xuyên, giá cả các loại nguyên liệu biến động, doanh thu giảm, hàng tồn kho tăng Nguy cơ thua lỗ ngày càng tăng, giá cổ phiểu ... giám đốc không nhờ cậy). Nếu câu trả lời là “không”, hội đồng quản trị cần trả lời câu hỏi tiếp theo: “Ai có đủ năng lực để đảm nhận công việc điều hành công ty và người đó có cải thiện được...

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... của bạn có thể bao gồm cả hình ảnh, âm thanh, văn bản tài liệu - thậm chí cả video - nhìn chung là bất cứ thứ gì thích hợp với những dữ liệu bạn cung cấp. Bạn chỉ gửi đường link dẫn tới trang ... bài viết, tài liệu quý và bổ ích, một trong những cách thức hiệu quả để thu thập địa chỉ e-mail là yêu cầu các khách ghé thăm trang web sẽ phải đăng ký nếu họ muốn tải về toàn văn tài liệu đó. ... thập nhanh chóng một lượng lớn địa chỉ e-mail cá nhân khi sử dụng chiến lược này. Nếu bạn không có chuyên môn trong việc viết lách, hoặc văn bản tài liệu hay hoạt động kinh doanh của bạn không...

... Get the other side of the story. Go and check the facts. And then the rumour turns out to be a non-story. The facts are watertight and above-board. But, heck, let’s ignore those facts, and ... at the intersection of the local and the global. On the one hand, the influence of ‘supranational forces’ (Alexander 2006: 37) on the formation of identity has been marked; on the other hand, ... study of the emergence of new hybrid forms on the one hand and a study of the continuity of structural impediments mitigating against them on the other, the study of journalism and the media...

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... “Financiallinkagesamongfirms and marketscouldheightenthisrisk.Derivativesclearlyhaveexpanded the financiallinkagesamong the institutionsthatusethem and the marketsinwhichtheytrade.Variousstudiesof the October1987marketcrashshowedlinkagesbetweenmarketsforequities and theirderivatives.Accordingtothosestudies,pricesin the stock,options, and futuresmarketswererelated,sothatdisruptionsinonewereassociatedwithdisruptionsin the others.”6. ... The federalgovernmentwouldnotnecessarilyintervenejusttokeepamajorOTCderivativesdealerfromfailing,buttoavertacrisis, the FederalReservemayberequiredtoserveaslenderoflastresorttoanymajorU.S.OTCderivativesdealer,whetherregulatedorunregulated.”Inresponseto the GAO’s1994warningsabove, the financialindustry’sresponsewasbothaudible and caustic.MajorWallStreetfirmspushedbackwithconcertedlobbyingeffortstoblockanyregulatorychangesat the pass,while“ChickenLittle”accusationswereleveledat the authors,Congressionalrequestersof the study, and anyindependentfirm,suchasWeissResearch,thatmadeforecastsbasedonitsconclusions.7 The industry’sprimaryargumentindefenseofderivativeswasthattheyhelpedtoreduceriskthroughhedging, and thateachderivativespositionwasgenerallybalancedagainstoffsettingpositions.However,manylargefinancialinstitutions—suchasBearStearns,LehmanBrothers,MerrillLynch and the AmericanInsuranceGroup(AIG)—wentfarbeyondhedging,transformingtheirderivativesdivisionsintomajorprofitcentersbasedonspeculativetrading.Moreover,theydidnotadequatelyprotectthemselvesagainstdefaultsbytheirtradingpartnersoranticipate the severityof the systemriskstressedby the GAO.Subsequently,asdetailedin the GAO’sfollow‐upreport,FinancialDerivatives:ActionsTakenorProposedSinceMay1994,8some,mostlycosmetic,changesweremade.Buttheydidnothingtoslow the meteoricgrowthof the veryinstruments and practicesthat the GAOidentifiedasposing the greatestthreatstofinancialinstitutions and the financialsystem.Specifically, ... inaworst‐casescenario, the contagioncouldshutdown the entirebankingsystem.Thisfearisnottotallyunjustified.Banking and relatedpanicshaveoccurredbefore—notonlyinpriorerasbutalsoinmorerecenttimes.InJanuary1991,forexample,duetoafloodofwithdrawalsbypanickeddepositors,RhodeIslandGovernorBruceSundlundeclaredabankingemergency and shutdownall45 state charteredsavingsbanks and creditunionsinhis state. Shortlythereafter,wewitnessedasimilarsituationinMaryland. The lessonwasthatpanic and contagionwasnotstrictlyaphenomenonthatendedin the 1930s.AnInstructiveCaseStudy: The RoleofRegulatorsinaMajorDisintermediationCrisisAmongLifeInsurersEvenmorepertinentlessonscanbelearnedfrom the disintermediationthatstruckseverallargeU.S.life and healthinsurersin the early1990s.Theirproblemscanbetracedto the early1980swhenmanyinsurershadguaranteedtopayhigh,fixedyieldstoinvestors,butfoundthemselvesunabletomeetthosepromisesasinterestratesdeclined.Tobridge the gap,severalreachedouttolowerrated,higher‐yieldingsecurities,includingjunkbonds and unratedbonds.Untilthisjuncture,higherriskbondportfoliosin the industrycouldbeexplainedasastopgapsolutiontofallinginterestrates.Butafewinsurers—especiallyExecutiveLifeofCalifornia,FidelityBankersLife, and FirstCapitalLife—saw the potentialofhigh‐riskbondportfoliosasamajorbusinessopportunity.Thesecompaniesweren’tsimplyreluctantbuyersofjunk and unratedbondstofulfillpriorcommitments.Theirentirebusinessplanwaslargelypredicatedon the conceptofjunkbondsfrom the outset. The keywastokeep the junkbondaspectlargelyhiddenfrompublicview,whileexploiting the faith the publicstillhadin the inherentsafetyofinsurance.Tomake the modelasuccess,however,theyneededtwoadditionalelements: the cooperationof the WallStreetratingsagencies and the blessingof the state insurancecommissioners. The cooperationof the ratingagencieswasrelativelyeasy.Formanyyears, the standardoperatingprocedureof the leadinginsurancecompanyratingagency,A.M.Best&Co.,wastoworkcloselywith the insurers:If the companydidnotlike the rating and requesteditnotbepublished,Bestcomplied.If the companywassatisfiedwith the rating,Bestwouldcharge the companytoprintitsratingreports,whichcouldbeusedby the insurer’ssalesforcetomarketitsproducts.25Threenewerentrantsto the businessofratinginsurancecompanies—Moody’s,S&P, and Duff&Phelps(nowFitch)—offeredessentially the sameservice.Butinsteadofearningtheirmoneyfromreprintsofratingsreports,theycharged the insurancecompaniesaflatfeeforeachrating,rangingfrom$10,000to$50,000perinsurancecompanysubsidiary,peryear.Later,A.M.Bestdecidedtochangeitspricestructuretomatch the otherthree,charging the ratedcompaniessimilarup‐frontfees.Asawhole, the ratingsprocesswasstackedinfavorof the companiesfromstarttofinish. The companieswereempoweredtodecideif and when and bywhomtheyweretoberated.Theyweregivenapreviewoftheirratingbeforeitwasrevealedto the public.Theyhad the righttoappealanadverserating and delayitspublication. And, asmentionedabove,iftheywerestillunhappywith the rating,mostof the ratingagenciesallowedthemtosuppressitspublication.Notsurprisingly, the ratingagenciesgaveoutgoodgradeslikecandy.AtA.M.Best, the gradeinflationwassoseverethatindustryinsiderswidelyrecognizedthata“good”Bestratingwasactuallybad.Ithadtobe“excellent”toreallybegood.Thus,inthisfriendlyratingsenvironment,itwasnotdifficultfor the insurerswithlargejunkbondportfoliostogetexcellentgradesfrommostof the ratingagencies.Gettingsimilarcooperationfrom the insuranceregulatorswasnotquiteaseasy.Infact, state insurancecommissionersweregettingsoconcernedabout the industry’sbulginginvestmentsinjunk and unratedbonds,theydecidedtosetupaspecialofficeinNewYork— the SecuritiesValuationOffice—tomonitor the situation.Akeyquestionhotlydebatedbetween the industry and regulatorswas:What’sajunkbond? The standardWallStreetanswerwasundisputed:anybondwitharatingfromS&PorMoody’sofdouble‐Borlower.However,insurerswithsubstantialholdingsofjunkbondswerenotsatisfiedwiththatdefinition.Theyknewitwouldexpose the truesizeoftheirjunkbondholdingsto the public.Sotheylobbied the insurancecommissionerstoredefine the definitionofajunkbond. The commissionersinitiallystruggledwiththisrequest,buttheyultimatelyobliged.Insteadof the standardWallStreetdefinitionofjunk, the SecuritiesValuationOfficeestablished the followingfourbondclasses“yes,”“no*,”“no**,” and “no.” The firstcategorywasconsideredinvestmentgrade,while the three“no”categorieswereconsideredjunkbonds.However, the “yes”categoryactuallyincludedbillionsofdollarsofbondsratedBBorlower (the standarddefinitionofjunk)by the leadingratingagencies.Thiscontinuedforseveralyears.Finally,however,afterprotestsfromindustrywatchdogs, the insurancecommissionersrealizedthisamountedtoajunkbondcover‐up and made the decisiontoend the charade,adopting the standarddouble‐Bdefinition, and reclassifyingover$30billionin“secure”bondsasjunkbonds.Basedon the faultydefinitionofjunkbondsuseduntil1989, the insurancecommissionershadreportedthatFirstCapitalLifehad$842million,or20.2percentofitsinvestedassetsinjunkbondsatyear‐end1989.However,basedon the correct,standarddefinitionofjunkbonds,which the commissionersfinallybeganusingin1990,itturnedoutthatFirstCapitalactuallyhad$1.6billioninjunkbonds,or40.7percentofitsinvestedassets.FidelityBankersLife’sjunkbondholdings,previouslyreportedat$639million,or18.3percentofinvestedassets,jumpedto$1.5billion,or37.6percentofinvestedassets.Alltold, the industry’sjunkbond26holdingsreportedby the regulatorssurgedfrom$51billiononDecember31,1988to$84billiononDecember31,1990,withvirtually the entireincreaseattributableto the changeindefinition.20Large,institutionalinvestorsholdingguaranteedinvestmentcontracts(GICs)were the firsttorushfor the exits,creatingasilentrunon the companies’assets; and inresponse,company and state officialsdeclaredthattheywere“safe.”But the presspublicized the newofficialjunkbonddata,triggeringmasswithdrawalsby the public.Tostem the tideofdisintermediation,allfourweretakenoverby the state insurancecommissioners. And thisaction,inturn,was the preludetoanevenlargerfailure—MutualBenefitLifeofNewJersey,whichfellunder the weightoflossesinspeculativerealestate.Meanwhile, the state guaranteemechanismalsofailed.Mostinsurancepolicyholdershadbeengiven the impressionthat,in the eventofafailure,their state guaranteeassociationswouldpromptlyreimbursethem,muchlike the FDICdoesfordepositorsinfailedbanks.However,asarule, the insuranceguaranteefundshadlittleornofunds;theirstandardoperatingprocedurewastoraise the moneywithnewpremiumassessmentsafter the fact.Thatapproachtendstoworkefficientlywhenjustafewsmallcompaniesfail.Butwhen the failuresarelarge,thereisinsufficienttime and resourcestoraise the neededpremiumsfrom the survivinginsurers,mostofwhicharesmallerthan the largefailedcompanies.Asaresult,inadditiontotakingover the operationsof the failedinsurers, the state insurancecommissionershadnochoicebuttodeclarealong‐termblanketmoratoriumonallcashwithdrawalsbypolicyholders.Wereviewed the statutoryfilingsofeachof the failedinsurers and determinedthattheyhad5.95millionindividual and grouppolicyholders,amongwhich1.9millionheldfixedannuities and otherpolicieswithcashvalue.Consumersinthislattergroupweredeniedaccesstotheirfundsformanymonths.Moreover,asadevicetolegallyavoidinvoking the state guaranteemechanism,ratherthandeclaring the companiesbankrupt,theypronounced the firms“financiallyimpaired,”or“inrehabilitation.”Aftermanymonths, the authoritiesthencreatednewcompanieswithnew,reformedannuitiesyieldingfarlessthan the originalpolicies,whilegivingpolicyholderstwochoices.Either...

... the Na channel gene and in the first intron of the Ig-bgene. Furthermore, the acetylation status of H3 and H4 histones was examined [15]. In the present study,10 DT40-specific DHSs found in the ... channel gene and Ig-b promoter were deleted;therefore, these DHSs are prerequisite for transcription of the Ig-b genebut not required for the maintenance of active chromatin state in the Ig-blocus. ... the remaining DHSs in the deleted cellswere examined to determine the roles of these DHSson the transcription of Ig-b gene and on the mainten-ance of the active chromatin state. ResultsGeneration...

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