Italian Vowels - Pronunciation Examples

Italian vowels ( le vocali a i u e o The approximate English equivalents are as follows: a is like a in the English word ah! Italian / Englishcasa  Ã‚  houseantipasto  Ã‚  appetizerama  Ã‚  lovesbanana  Ã‚  bananasala  Ã‚  hallPapa  Ã‚  Popefama  Ã‚  famepasta  Ã‚  pasta; dough; pastry e is sometimes like e in the English word they (without the final i glide). Italian / Englishe  Ã‚  andbeve  Ã‚  drinksme  Ã‚  mefede  Ã‚  faithvede  Ã‚  seesmele  Ã‚  applessete  Ã‚  thirstpepe  Ã‚  pepper e is sometimes like e in the word met. This is the open e. Italian / Englishà ¨Ã‚  Ã‚  islento  Ã‚  slowbene  Ã‚  wellfesta  Ã‚  party; holidaysedia  Ã‚  chairpresto  Ã‚  soonvento  Ã‚  windtà ¨Ã‚  Ã‚  tea i is like i in machine. Italian / Englishlibri  Ã‚  booksbimbi  Ã‚  childrenvini  Ã‚  winesviolini  Ã‚  violinstini  Ã‚  vatspini  Ã‚  pines o is sometimes like o in the English word oh!. Italian / Englisho  Ã‚  ordono  Ã‚  giftnome  Ã‚  namesolo  Ã‚  aloneposto  Ã‚  placetondo  Ã‚  roundvolo  Ã‚  flightmondo  Ã‚  world o is sometimes like o in or. This is the open o. Italian / Englishmoda  Ã‚  fashiontoga  Ã‚  togano  Ã‚  nooro  Ã‚  goldposta  Ã‚  mailbrodo  Ã‚  brothcosa  Ã‚  thingtrono  Ã‚  thronerosa  Ã‚  roseolio  Ã‚  oil u is like u in rule. Italian / Englishluna  Ã‚  moonfungo  Ã‚  mushroomuno  Ã‚  onelungo  Ã‚  longfuga  Ã‚  fuguemulo  Ã‚  muleuso  Ã‚  usetubo  Ã‚  tube

The Impact Of Tax Havens On The Economy Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 12 Words: 3587 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Economics Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? The offshore economy is a consequence of the globalization. Its emergence is known as a new economic environment where tax and regulations are relatively lax. As countries are getting closer and borders are blurred, the flow in and out of capital and money, mostly as Foreign Direct Investment, has caused critical changes to the contemporary economy. This essay will examine the impact of the tax havens, which are one of the most important aspects of the offshore economy (beside Offshore finance, Export processing Zones and E- Commerce) including their evolution, the successes and failures in their operation and their impact upon the global economy. Haven is defined as a place of sanctuary, a place of safety and thus implies that it is an area within which someone or something is protected from an enemy. For many in business the enemy is government taxes, which have a direct impact on profits and the financial structures of a business. Thus, tax havens are a geog raphical area within which a business can find sanctuary from taxes or enjoy lower levels of taxation than in other parts of the world. Because of the attraction to investors of lower taxes the areas become somewhere that can offer a competitive environment to attract investment away from other countries and into their own. This is spread across both personal and corporate tax environments. However, it should be noted that tax havens are designed for people or businesses to avoid tax in their own country and are a serious risks to the income of governments. For example, the Trade Union Congress researchers found that Tax avoidance by wealthy UK residents through tax havens costs UK tax payers at least  £4 billion a year (TUC 2009), while the IMF in 2000 found that assets of $4.6 trillion are passing through the balance sheets of tax havens (Offshore Financial Centers, International Monetary Fund background paper, June 23, 2000). The TUC went on in a later report to criticise the U K government review of tax havens (the Foot review) and declare that The PM and Chancellor have made it clear that they want to outlaw tax havens and the evasion and avoidance they promote. But this progress report suggests that this leisurely review is more focused on helping tax havens through their current financial difficulty than addressing the serious threat they pose to the global economyÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ The Treasury needs to get a grip of this Review and decide whether it is flowing with or against the grain of world opinion which has turned so decisively against tax havens since the G20(Interim report of Foot review of tax havens is deeply disappointing, says TUC, TUC 2009). The fact that tax haven have seriously harmed the ability of governments to collect tax revenues means that in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis the role and future of tax havens has become a central problem in the global economy. This essay will now look at how tax havens ha ve developed. Ronen Palen (1992) identifies tax havens as a means for small countries and states to compete with the developed states of the world economy and has routes through which money can be laundered, with a third of all multinational corporations Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) transactions carried out through tax havens. Palan notes how there are two principal geo-political poles. The first is centred on those areas with close links to the City of London, and the other is centred in Europe and consists of the Benelux countries. For Palan (1992) tax havens are those states that can write/modify its own laws with the aim of making specific offers on the tax/financial aspects to attract/encourage/pave the way for target clients to invest money in the countries. The definition of tax havens is quite general and covers a number of methods that help persons and corporations to avoid tax. At present there are over 70 tax havens in the world; and many of these are weak or small countries (microstates). Hines (Which countries become tax havens, 2006), noted that in general the havens are small countries with a population of less than one million and are using low tax policies as a part of their developmental strategy. Palan (1992) draws a distinction between a Preferential tax regime and a tax haven. For example, the UK and US are two countries considered as tax havens by many countries because they apply a no taxation strategy on some specific sources of income. However, tax havens are not their key strategy, and the policies are limited means of taxation reduction aimed at attracting more foreign capital. The history of tax havens can be traced back to Ancient Greece, but their main role has developed as the industrial revolution and the modern economy has developed. Their main emergence came in the late 19th C to 1930s. Tax havens were established gradually. As Palan (1992) noted, tax havens were born from the three main centres of financi al development of the global economy; the US, UK and Switzerland. In the late of 19th Century, the two large states of the US New Jersey and Delaware, were desperately in need of new funds. Thus, the states established new financial structures to encourage the attraction of finance and issued policies establishing benefits to attract companies such as offshore company status that could be activated in less than a day since its establishment. The aim of the states was to attract companies and funds through low taxation and liberal incorporation laws, which were still rare and restricted in main economic regions of Germany and England. For those reasons, New Jersey had successfully encouraged a number of headquarters/ businesses to switch to the states. Today, New Jersey and Delaware are not seen as the tax havens in the general definition, but are recognised as the birthplace of tax havens. A second creator of tax havens is the British Courts. While the US states were know for the liberal financial laws, the British Courts should be credited with the technique of virtual residencies. By creating the ability of companies to have a financial identity but not actually be situated in the UK, the corporations could avoid paying tax on much of their income (Palan, 1992). In 1929, it formally established the rule that if companied registered in Britain but it doesnt conduct any trading then it wouldnt be claimed against for tax. Thus, companies are encouraged to incorporate in Britain with free taxation. Last but not least, the Swiss bank was a significant factor in the creation of tax havens. The Swiss bank system has been famous for its secrecy. The Bank Act in 1934 demonstrated that it had: absolute silence in respect to a professional secret, and this strengthened the idea that Swiss Banks were a place where companies could deposit funds and finances without tax authorities having access to the financial details of the transactions. Any companies, bus inesses, investors, even secret groups had the right to be protected perfectly from anyone trying to access information. Once they have protection of the Swiss banks, no one, including governments could violate that privacy. The main point of this is that companies and individuals could hide their finances within the Swiss Banking system and prevent tax authorities from gaining the financial information they need to request tax payments on those profits (Palan, 1992). These are seen as the inventors of tax havens. That they were trying to deliberately set up tax havens is in question, but the reality is that the policies they established brought about the financial conditions for tax havens to exist. The development of tax havens from WWI to early 1960s saw them become vital elements in the growth of the global economy. These are some of the countries who considered themselves as the first formal tax havens in the space of 1920s, 1930s. Once tax havens were established and certain states could attract vital funds from the global financial world it was inevitable that others would copy the system and create conditions that competed with existing tax havens (Baker, 2005, Henry, 2003). Liechtenstein- situated between Austria and Switzerland enacted its own Civil Code in 1924 and established new tax conditions that offered favourable benefits to investors and corporations. Luxembourg on 31st July 1929, applied a new law in which holding companies were exempt from income tax. The idea that a state could attract large sums of investment and finances through the manipulation of tax structures in a state was now formally established as a way to profit from the global economy (Palan 1992) From the 1960s to 1990s the global economy saw the heyday of tax havens. New laws of the Bank of England, which were established in 1957, declared that transactions that took place in the UK, even though its holders were not residing in the UK, could be recorded/credite d for tax reductions. Thus, those activities could be considered as offshore transactions and benefit from the tax haven status. Those advantages lead to the development of London as a major financial centre of the world attracting funds from across the globe and later developing its expansion into the Euromarket (Palan, 1992). In 1964, British Banks successfully established a cooperative relationship with three of the Worlds largest Banks City Bank, Chase Manhattan, and the Bank of American. Thus, Britain through the manipulation of the global tax system and the creation of London as a tax haven managed to raise its development to new heights and compete on equal terms with the largest banks in the world (Palan, 1992). It was inevitable that other states would follow the example of the US, Swiss and UK and numerous areas now became tax havens. In the Cayman Islands tax policies encouraging financial actors around the world to base themselves there soon made it the fourth lar gest financial centre in the world. Singapore became the fastest growing private sector in the world and attraction of investment through beneficial tax conditions quickly became a central policy for many states to attract new finances and keep them through increasingly more favourable tax incentives (Baker 2005, Henry, 2003). However, the multitude of new tax havens brought problems as well as benefits to the global economy. For example, in the Norfolk Islands, which was the first Pacific tax haven, the Australian government tried to block its development as it was seen as only benefiting international business and did little for national citizens. Despite the problems by 1990, there were nearly 100 tax havens in the world, both self-defined and internationally recognized and became the main stream of international lending. Almost one third of FDI was routed through Tax havens and recognised as the main route for carrying out international business whilst avoiding the payment of tax. It is undeniable that tax avoidance through tax havens has greatly influenced and modified the way the world economy has developed. It created a new environment that challenged most of the traditional rules. The major economic powers such as the US, UK and France gradually saw their control of the tax havens reduced and, ironically, while they were the largest and most active players in creating tax havens and their expansion, they also found themselves heading the international reaction to control them (Baker 2005, Henry, 2003). By the end of 1990s, it was recognized that tax havens had as many negative impacts on the global economy as they had positive ones. International organisations designed to help develop the global economy, such as the OECD, now declared that tax havens were the centre of a harmful tax competition that threatened the development of free trade and open markets. The European Union and the US now also became centres of influence on the global eco nomy to find ways to control and limit the impact of tax havens. However, how genuine this call for control of tax havens by the US is has to be questioned as the administrations of both Clinton and Bush did little to effectively control their growth. While Bush and Clinton seemed to be against the out of control development of tax havens, Obama in the other hand has some interest in it. At same time there is growing pressure on tax haven issues and the debate on them is deepening and spreading. The G20 summit in London suggests a number of proposals to re write / rebuild/ re structure tax havens regulations (Shah, 2009). It is clear that tax havens have now become a major player in the economic world. They have grown rapidly and there are about 70 formally recognized tax havens in the world. Although OECD is doing its best to re regulate tax havens, there are still many difficulties remaining. The financial crisis last 2008 weakened the big financial centers like UK, Western EU and US. However, the centres in Hong Kong, Singapore and China seemed to still be thriving. Thus, the tension in tax havens debates is likely to continue. In the age of global capital, offshore investment has become a normal way of international business. It helps areas attract a large number of international banks, businesses and investors. On the other hand, it has also attracted harsh criticism, mainly on its ability to protect and encourage those carrying out illegitimate activities, for example such criminal trades as drugs, arms trafficking and terrorism, where the tax havens offer a means to illegally launder money and financially support their activities. However, many would claim that tax havens still bring more benefits to state and society, than negative impacts. Thus, the question here is whether the legitimacy of the offshore investment tax havens should still exist and if yes, what should be its boundaries and limitations (Shah, 2009)? There are many elements of the offshore investment world, from E- commerce (online markets, casinos, etc), to flags of convenience (special offers on those who register their ships with particular countries), Export processing zones, offshore financers and Tax havens. However, the tax haven is a major concern. The offshore economy is known for its systemic lack of rules and regulations, with the advantages of tax reductions and tax avoidance. On the surface the tax havens themselves are important means for businesses and banks to conduct their trade, but it is also clear that their greatest advantages lies in actions that are very dangerously near to criminal claims of money laundering and tax evasion. Tax havens are countries with very clear tax and investment benefits such as little or no income or corporate tax, strong bank secrecy laws, good telecommunication links with global markets and public presentation as a tax haven. In a similar vein, tax havens have constructed their national legislation to clearly give incentives for big business to move from highly taxed countries to the tax havens. For example, Monaco has retained its low taxation environment since the last century to purely attract foreign investment, while small states in Caribbean have used low taxation as the major key to their developmental strategy. However, there are still many different characteristics of tax havens. Most tax havens normally modify their rules and law in order to encourage and attract foreign investors. They concentrate on reducing barriers to new businesses, offering strict privacy in regard to their business conduct and ensuring that the tax haven is both a low tax environment and a place to legally restrict the financial information that outside countries, governments and organizations can request access to. Tax havens also prevent its investors/clients from avoiding double taxation problems and confidently carry out their international business without paying large amounts of tax. Th e Bahamas Investment Authority demonstrated why the tax haven is necessary and legitimate as it declared them a paradise for many reasons: no personal, corporate or income tax, provide easy access to great world markets and are highly secure (Financial times, cited by Ronen) Tax havens are small financial resorts which are basically the booking centers for the huge financial systems in London, Tokyo and New York. They have the ability to write their own laws in relation to tax and financial issues in order to attract investors and large businesses from all over the world. In some views, tax havens are also known as the parking lot or transit lounge for those companies using this kind of service. Critics claim that Tax havens countries demonstrate a complete lack of interest or concern about the nature of companies and investors who register in their territory. Their only concern is the parking fee they receive for their services and it is this lack of concern for the consequen ces of allowing financial actors a free reign to conduct their business in the haven that troubles many people. In addition, the tax havens further harm their reputation by offering the companies who register in territory an unprecedented level of secrecy in both their tax and business matters. This is in itself a situation that now threatens the security of the globe in the age of the war of terrorism where tax havens guarantee terrorism organisations a base from which they can safeguard their financial dealings (ATO talks tough on tax havens. Australasian Business Intelligence | January 6, 2003. Tax havens are the right developmental strategy for the small and weak states. However, it is claimed that the goal of these countries is to draw rent surpluses from the income that otherwise would accrue to larger states(Hampton 1996, cited by Palan) Tax havens are seen as an abuse of rules and codes of sovereignty (Palan 1998) and at the same time encourages tax evasion and money l aundering (Hines and Rice 1994, cited by Palan) Palan argues that: The conditions that gave rise to the commercial use of sovereignty as perfected by tax havens cannot be dismissed either as legitimate responses to an unreasonable sure in taxation and regulation in the post war era. On the contrary, they go to the heart of the continuing process of state formation in a period of intensified capital mobility. Palan (1992) categorized tax havens into four types: Countries who dont charge income tax and only require license fees to foreign businesses. (Bermuda) Countries with low taxation policies (Jersey) Countries who levy tax on internal taxable activities only. (Hong Kong) Countries who provide special tax offer to specific types of businesses (Channel islands) Although the calculation of money through tax havens are various, some assume half of the world stock passes through tax havens, others believe that one fifth of private wealth is invested offshore (Cassard 1994, cited by Palan). One main reason leading to this growth of tax havens is the imposition of increased regulation in industrialized countries. (Financial Stability Forum 2000,11 cited by Palan) Banking, insurance and ship registrations are the most three important factors in offshore business, thus they are also the target subjects of heavy tax regulation. In regard to this situation, many states then offer the low tax or even zero taxation to attract foreign businesses to their countries. The most serious attack against tax havens is the possibility that they undermine democracy. Shah (2009, p.1) notes that companies also pour lots of money into shaping a global system that they will hope to benefit from. If the right balance cant be achieved, not only will attempts to evade taxation and other measures undermine capitalism (which they claim they support) they will also undermine democracy (for even responsible governments may find it hard to meet the needs of their popul ation). Shah continues in explaining that tax is the lifeblood of a countries economy and without it the consequences are extremely dangerous, for example, a government without an efficient revenue system cannot hope to successfully govern the country. Shah explains that developing countries lose $160 billion a year through tax evasion in 2008, which was over three times the figure for 2000, demonstrating a rapidly growing problem. Even these figures are suspect as the core base for this is tax avoidance and being able to calculate actually how much tax is secretly avoided is extremely difficult, so figures are only seen as conservative estimates (Shah, 2009, p.2). Shah points to even more graphic evidence of the damage that tax havens cause as he cites evidence from Christian Aid which says illegal, trade related tax evasion alone will be responsible for some 5.6 millions deaths of young children in the developing world between 2000 and 2015. Half are already dead. Shah (2009, p.3) is clear in his reasons for protesting against tax havens as he finds they: ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¢ Secret bank accounts and offshore trusts encourage wealthy individuals and companies to escape paying taxes ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¢ The ability of transnational corporations to structure their trade and investment flows through paper subsidiaries in tax havens provides them with a significant tax advantage over their nationally based competitors. ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¢ Banking secrecy and trust services provided by global financial institutions operating offshore provide a secure cover for laundering the proceeds of political corruption, fraud, embezzlement, illicit arms trading, and the global drug trade. ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¢ The offshore economy has contributed to the rising incidence of financial market instability that can destroy livelihoods in poor countries. Thus, tax havens are purely constructed to allow multinationa l companies, rich individuals, corrupt leaders, criminals and terrorists to keep their wealth away from the prying eyes of national tax authorities. In the words of one tax expert, I have never come across any reason for people to set up an offshore trust [in a tax haven] other than to avoid tax (Shah, 2009. P.4). Basically then, tax havens cannot be justified as legitimate aspects of the global economy. They are based on giving financial actors unfair advantages and in a world moving towards open and free markets they offer many barriers to competitors who play the game and pay all their required taxes. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Impact Of Tax Havens On The Economy Finance Essay" essay for you Create order

The Outbreak of Natural Philosophy from Religion Essay

The Outbreak of Natural philosophy from Religion Science was not as prominent as it is now before, some people rejected science and all it had to offer for a long time. This was primarily because of the fact that people did not want to change their belief, not only theirs but their previous generations had believed in this also. This religious dogma they had believed in all their life, it was not until about the scientific revolution in the 16th century that science was widely accepted by all. Thales and his students although wrong were the ones who directed speculative thoughts and also started the process that brought physics, chemistry and other sciences. They were part of the first set of philosophers who started to†¦show more content†¦These ideas although they were wrong are what made the human mind break out from its one sided thinking in the belief of a divine body that was the cause of everything that happened in the natural world. The method they adopted was close study through the use of experiments and all other research methods to fully understand a situation. Religion is the belief or faith without reason of a divine body that governs the natural order of the world. In the past it was believed that the divine body was the cause of everything that happened in the natural world, like diseases, natural disasters the rain and every other thing that happened in the world. The two most renowned religions are Christianity and Islam, Christianity was one of the first major religions of the world and at a point it played a major part in the politics of the world. There were a few battles that went on between the Christianity and Islam, these battles were caused by territorial battles, differences in belief and conversion of pagans to a particular religion. Christianity dominated as the major religion for a long time in the past, old rulers used to kill pagans or followers of other religions. 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Beowulf Journal Entry free essay sample

After reading Beowulf and comparing it to my observations, I have concluded that Beowulf possesses some traits of a small child. Beowulf is characterized as a medieval Geatish warrior willing to take on any challenge in order to make a name for himself and is faster than a sea monster, stronger than a demon, more powerful than a dragon. Even with all of these heroic traits, he still acts like a child in many ways. Throughout the story Beowulf is very possessive and takes a prize from every battle. For example, when he is fighting Grendel’s mother he takes a sword as the prize, from Grendel he takes his arm, and from the dragon he wants to take its treasure â€Å"And this dragon’s treasure, his gold and everything hidden in that tower, will be mine or war will sweep me to a bitter death! †. Because the story of Beowulf was written down (presumably) by a monk, you can tell that God has been inserted forcefully and does not necessarily fit into the story â€Å"Now he discovered-once the afflictor of men, tormenter of their days-what it meant to feud with almighty God: Grendel saw that his strength was deserting him, his claws bound fast, Higlac’s brave follower tearing at his hands. †. Even though Beowulf is read from the point of view of a Christian narrator telling a Pagan tale, insight as to what the characters are thinking and their backgrounds is also given. The setting of the story is around 500 A. D. in Denmark and Geatland (today’s southern Sweden), but the narrator still tells us of events that happened in the past. Beowulf is set in a time of danger and violence ruled by just men. The poem is centered on three major conflicts which are Beowulf’s fight with Grendel, Beowulfs fight with Grendel’s mother and his fight with the dragon which ended up being the death of him. The theme of the story is that Beowulf, having already proven himself a hero and making an identity for himself at home, he wants to do the same abroad to become even more famous. Hearing of Hrothgar’s problem with Grendel and his most famous of mead halls, Beowulf seeing an opportunity to spread his fame and prove his strength to a distant land travels to Herot and boasts to the Hrothgar the king, of his past courageous acts and of his plans to defeat Grendel or be killed trying. When describing the great battles between Beowulf and his adversaries, the narrator tells them with great enthusiasm, but they are also told with a sense of uncertainty as to whether Beowulf will emerge as the victor, â€Å"Then she carried him, armor and sword and all, to her home; he struggled to free his weapon, and failed†. The poem Beowulf is riddled with symbolism as are most ancient works of literature. The banquet in Beowulfs honor before he goes to fight Grendel represents the restoration of order and harmony to the Danish people and the rebirth of the community. The speeches and giving of present and treasures add to the feeling of rebirth. The poem states that Beowulf was praised and glorified by Hrothgar who also gave him advice on how to be king and was said to be the best of kings. Even though this is stated in the poem, based on my observations of his behavior i believe that he would have made a terrible king and possibly even brought about the downfall of his great nation. I believe this because of his inability to put others before his own pride and honor, his constant pushing to do everything alone and his arrogance that he is the best, strongest, most skillful person alive. He further says that he is unbeatable which shows that throughout his whole life he does not outgrow childish behavior and character traits. Women have almost no significant role throughout the entire story of Beowulf. The only woman in the whole story is Wealhtheow, Hrothgar’s wife who recites a speech to Beowulf during the banquet and exhibits her gratitude to Beowulf for helping to restore her husband’s greatest mead-hall on Herot. The epic poem Beowulf is about the greatest of warriors, Beowulf who travels to Denmark to help rid its people of a powerful monster who has taken over a mead-hall and is massacring its people and soldiers and to prove to his allies that he is indeed the greatest of warriors. The contents of the poem are very well written and spectacular however, the title by itself appears meaningless. The Anglo-Saxons payed little attention to minor things like author and title because the purpose of their stories was to entertain people and to immortalize great people and warriors through words. Through reading this story readers can not only be entertained, but also learn about the Anglo-Saxon writing styles, their traditional values such as honor, the meaning of boasting to them, pride and death; and internal conflicts of that time period such as the struggle between Christianity and Paganism . As seen in this story, Beowulf despite his heroism and good will is still partially a child at heart even as an old man. However Beowulf is not the only hero who acts possesses childish traits. As I read other epics and books, I see that most heroes also possess these traits so Beowulf is not exceptional in exhibiting childish behavior and character traits.