Analysis Of The Book Freakonomics By Steven D. Levitt

In the book Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, is made up of a series of scenarios in which an economist and a journalist apply basic principles of economics to demonstrate that information can often expose interesting truths about how the world operates. It uses the science of economics and specific data to challenge our assumptions about everything. In the book Freakonomics by Levitt Dubner, compares and contrasts two groups of people or things by using their informational data. This is called juxtaposition, which means the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect. Levitt and Dubner look at the world in a way that is both surprising, occasionally funny, and always enlightening. They do so by drawing unexpected connections between two greatly different but complementary aspects of sociology and economics, such as sumo wrestlers to school teachers, KKK members to the real estate agents, and lastly, crack gangs to McDonalds. In chapter one of Freakonomics, the comparison between school teachers and sumo wrestlers is a juxtaposition that was introduced in this book. The Chicago Public School System is an example of how teachers were willing to cheat, thus manipulating their students test results in order to obtain money compensations and prestige. The possibility of promotion or higher pay, provoked teachers to inflate their student s test scores. Whether through writing the answers to Standardized tests on theShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Book Freakonomics By Steven D. Levitt1639 Words   |  7 PagesFreakonomics written by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. Copyright, 2005 by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. A non-fiction book about the intertwining discourses of pop culture and economics. Steven David Levitt is an American economist who is well known for his work that specifically focuses on crime, and the connection between legalized abortion and the effect it has on crime rates. Mr. Levitt is currently the â€Å"William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor of Economics† at theRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Freakonomics By Steven D. Levitt750 Words   |  3 PagesThe last section in chapter two of Freakonomics, written by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, attempts to answer the following questions; â€Å"How forthright (and honest) are people when it comes to sharing their personal information,† and â€Å"what kind of information in personal ads is considered the most (and least) desirable† (74)? Throughout this section the authors provide statistical data from an online dating site, which encompassed more than 20,000 users. This data showed that not only areRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Freakonomics By Steven D. Levitt895 Words   |  4 Pages In the book Freakonomics, written by economist Steven D. Levitt and journalist Stephen J. Dubne, the authors go through different parts of modern life to show how economics describes why people act a certain way as well as the way specific outcomes occur. They look into different aspects of society and view them with different perspectives. With the use of specific data and the fundamentals of economics, the very obscure comparisons and the different chapters in the book show correlation betweenRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Freakonomics By Steven D. Levitt Essay1502 Words   |  7 PagesFreakonomics, written by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J, Dubner, is divided into six main sections that all show the similarities between a variety of completely different things. By utilizing statistics and history, the authors are able to create a book that shows that everything is correlated together and that everything is influenced by these statistics. Throughout the book, the authors compare totally different statistics together and show how these totally different statistics, can be linkedRead MoreA Rogue Economist Explores The Hidden Side Of Everything By Steven Levitt Essay1537 Words   |  7 PagesAfter reading Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, it opened my eyes to the most interesting approach to the world. The book name in itself is an odd and unique title. It defines Steven Levitt’s irregular approach to the world of economics and makes you â€Å"forget your image of an economist as a crusty professor worried about fluctuating interest rates†, says Publishers Weekly. Steven Levitt focuses his attention on relevantRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Freakonomics 1027 Words   |  5 PagesAP English Language and Composition 3 August 2016 Freakonomics 1. Give the title, author, genre, and date of original publication. Freakonomics is the title of this nonfiction book; it was written by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. On April 12, 2005, by HarperCollins. 2. What is author’s purpose for writing the book? Write a paragraph summarizing the main argument or purpose. In this unique book, economist Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, an award-winning author and journalistRead MoreApplication of Freakonomics to Project Management1806 Words   |  8 PagesA Book Review of Freakonomics and Application to Project Management November 2010 Project Management Summary The idea to write Freakonomics began in 2003 when journalist and award winning author Stephen Dubner wrote a profile of economist Steven Levitt for the New York Times Magazine. At the time, Levitt, an Economics professor at the University of Chicago, was focusing his research efforts on answering unique and sometimes controversial questions concerning topics such as crime,Read MoreAn Analysis of Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt1585 Words   |  7 Pagesthe best way of describing the unconventional method preferred by economist, Steven D. Levitt. While most economists measure social situations and present the data as numbers and graphs Levitt takes anomalies within the data to reveal truths obscured. It’s Levitt’s sociological take on economics that has set him apart from his peers with his heavy focus on incentives, choices, and the consequences they have. Freakonomics mirrors Levitt’s method since it’s a collection of stories he has uncovered orR ead MoreThesis Of Freakonomics1352 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Book Title: Freakonomics Author name: Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner The author Steven Levitt studied economics at Harvard University and MIT. He is primarily known for his work in the field of crime. The title Freakonomics means a study of economics based on the principles of incentives. The title is related to the book since he emphasizes how incentives drive and affect people’s actions. Although this book does not have a single theme, the main focus of the book is a new way ofRead MoreThe Book Freakonomics By Steven D. Levitt2418 Words   |  10 Pages The book Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner consists of a series of essays in which a journalist and an economist work collectively to find, by applying everyday economic principles, how the world truly works, which reveals some fascinating truths about the world. Some background history of the authors, Steven D. Levitt interviewed Stephen J. Dubner for New York Times Magazine and this is where they initially met and became good friends. With them having similar ideals abo ut

Utopia By Thomas More And The Condition Of The Working Class

How Our Society Today Relates to Societies Hundreds of Years Ago The books, Utopia by Thomas More and the Condition of the Working Class by Friedrich Engels criticize societies hundreds of years ago, and upon reading these books, I have realized that our society today, shares many of the qualities of societies mentioned in these books. Utopia and the Condition of the Working Class brought to light the wealth gap and inequality within societies and how the conditions we are brought up in affects our future. The authors of these books also point out the insecurity of people, as well as poverty and self-interest. Society has changed since the early days, but there are quite a few never-ending issues that still affect our societies today. Grouping people into classes has been an everlasting issue, and it will continue to be an issue as long as people exist. Giving people a class they fall under is a result of the gap between the rich and poor. Friedrich Engels wrote, â€Å"The town itself is peculiarly built, so that a person may live in it for years, and go in and out daily without coming into contact with a working-people s quarter or even with workers, that is, so long as he confines himself to his business or to pleasure walks. This arises chiefly from the fact, that by unconscious tacit agreement, as well as with outspoken conscious determination, the working-people s quarters are sharply separated from the sections of the city reserved for the middle-class; or, if this doesShow MoreRelatedThe Paradox Of Thomas Mores Utopia As An Adjective?1441 Words   |  6 PagesWhen Thomas More penned Utopia in 1535, he not only created a new genre in fiction, he also created a new adjective.   Miriam-Webster defines Utop ia as: a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions. An alternate definition given by the same dictionary is: an impractical scheme for social improvement.(Miriam-Webster) For the purpose of this essay we will be focusing on the latter; Utopia as an adjective. The paradox of the paradigm of Mores Utopia is that allRead More Utopia Essay1183 Words   |  5 PagesUtopia The text Utopia was written by Sir Thomas Moore in 1516, just before the outbreak of the Reformation. More’s life flourished through the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, which were influential years in the Renaissance, a flowering of art and thought that began in Italy and flooded through Europe and England. Humanists often stressed the dignity of man and the power of reason while remaining deeply committed to Christianity. Their thought and writings helped to break theRead More The Political Structure of More’s Utopia Essay2634 Words   |  11 PagesOver the past few centuries the word utopia has developed a variety of meanings: a perfect state, paradise, heaven on earth, but the original definition of the word means something quite different. Utopia, coined by Saint Thomas More in his famous work Utopia, written during the English Renaissance, literally means nowhere. It is ironic that a word meaning nowhere has become a catchall phrase for paradise. Mo re’s work is popular because of its wit, its use of metaphor, and its proposals forRead MoreUtopia is defined as a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social1000 Words   |  4 PagesUtopia is defined as a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions, (merriam-webster.com). Utopia is a mindset that people are conditioned to believe is achievable, when in actuality it isn’t. In a utopian society when people believe that they have reached idealized perfection, there will still be things or people that make the society imperfect. â€Å"Every utopia faces the same problem: What do you do with the people who dont fit in?† (Margaret Atwood, a novelistRead More Comparing Nineteen Eighty-Four and Utopia1994 Words   |  8 PagesParallels in Nineteen Eighty-Four and Utopia   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Literature is a mirror of life. In order to reflect their views on the problems in society, many authors of fiction, including Sir Thomas More of Utopia and George Orwell of Nineteen Eighty-Four, use parallels in character, setting, government, and society to link their works to the real world. Characters are the appendages of a literary work, without well rounded characters, a novel is not complete. 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That may be a theory of what communism should be like but in practice the government cared little for the working class citizens and only wanted to preserve their own power. In a communist government it is the state that controls the government, the production of goods, and the distribution of goods. Communism can also be defined as a concept or system of societyRead MoreKey Attempts For Improve Workers Housing1421 Words   |  6 Pagesparticular design features were considered important to raise living standards? Due to the factors Britain faced during the early 1900’s, one being a massive rise in population between 1800-1900, from 180 million to 400 million people. Housing became more expensive and general living standards decreased with the fall of industrialisation and urbanisation. In this essay I will try to highlight the key attempts made to improve workers housing in Britain between the years of 1850-1910. IndustrialisationRead MoreThemes Of Utopian Literature2013 Words   |  9 Pagespaper will explore three Utopian texts, Thomas More’s Utopia, Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis, and Hendrik Smeeks’ Koningryke Krinke Kesmes, and find some key commonalities and differences between the texts over the course of two centuries of Utopian literature Thomas More’s Utopia (1515) consists of two books, the first book is an introduction to what the second book has to tell the reader. The first book sets the scene in which we can envision the world that More brings to us in the second book. TheRead More Socialism and Thomas Mores Utopia Essay2345 Words   |  10 PagesSocialism and Thomas Mores Utopia      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Socialist ideals have recurred throughout the history of literature; from Plato to Marx the elusive goal of a perfect state has occupied some of the best minds in political thought manifesting itself in literature. In the midst of this historic tradition is the Utopia of More, a work which links the utopias of the ancient with the utopias of the modern. Hythlodays fantasy island draws heavily on the Greek Republic and yet it influenced the revolutionary

The Great Gatsby and Jazz Age Values Free Essays

string(65) " the eyes of a â€Å"dead God† looking onto a â€Å"dead society†\." From Rags to Riches: The American Dream in US American Literature The Great Gatsby: Jazz Age Values and Their Reflection Upon the American Dream Table of Contents Introduction 3 Revolution Music 3 Culture4 Technology6 Excess 7 Disillusionment9 Conclusion 10 Works Cited 11 Introduction The Great Gatsby has been acclaimed as one of the most important novels of the 20th century, and has become an American, and even world, classic. Fitzgerald has not only been heralded for his literary genius in the writing of this novel, but also for his impeccably accurate portrayal of the Jazz Age within The Great Gatsby.Fitzgerald has furthermore been accredited with coining the term â€Å"Jazz Age. We will write a custom essay sample on The Great Gatsby and Jazz Age Values or any similar topic only for you Order Now † It has come to mean â€Å"[a] new era of ‘relaxation’. † This age further takes its name from â€Å"popular music, which saw a tremendous surge in popularity† (Boland). Among the prominent concerns and trends of the period were â€Å"the public embrace of technological developments typically seen as progress—cars, air travel, and the telephone—as well as new modernist trends in social behavior, the arts, and culture† (Boland). The Great Gatsby fulfills its role of portraying the Jazz Age accurately, illustrating many of the values of this time period, key among them revolution, innocence, excess, and disillusionment. These values have in turn played a very detrimental role upon the idea of the American Dream, leading to the definitive failure of this idealized world. Revolution First, one of the largest themes of the Jazz Age is revolution. Some of the most predominant forms of revolution illustrated within The Great Gatsby were in music, culture, and technology. Musical Revolution Prior to the 1920s, mainstream American music mostly consisted of folk tunes. The emphasis was on everyday people learning to play for themselves and their families and friends at home. By the twenties, the humble tradition of the Mississippi Delta bluesmen had begun to filter through the â€Å"hot towns† of Chicago and New York City producing a potent music not everyone could play (Kersh). The relatively new phonograph and radio allowed previously regional music like the blues to be heard nationwide, creating the first Jazz Age stars (Kersh). Indeed this changing nature of music is what fueled not only Gatsby’s numerous parties but also the general feel of the novel. These parties defied tradition, consisting of â€Å"a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos, and low and high drums† (Fitzgerald, 26). The music had a certain effect on the guests; it hypnotised them, and they let their bodies flow as if on thin air. As the music started, they reacted to it and began to dance; they were â€Å"holding each other tortuously, fashionably†¦and a great number of single girls dancing individualistically† (Fitzgerald, 31). They were temporarily in another world and were free to dance however they felt like.This new music scene allowed for self-expression and individualism, especially among the women. It ultimately aided a different type of woman to emerge. Cultural Revolution The Jazz Age also saw the surfacing of the â€Å"New Woman†: the flapper. The flapper was â€Å"smart, witty, brash, and eloquent. These women†¦drank and partied just as hard as the men† (Boland). The flapper dress also detoured significantly from traditional feminine attire of modesty and conservatism: the dress exposed enough skin (in just the right places) to attract the attention of the right boys.It added allure to the woman’s body—her gorgeous dress, bobbed hair, sparkling jewelry, and toned limbs moving together to the rhythm of the music, Jazz (Boland). Expression, individuality, and personal freedom were the most important ideals to the flapper woman, another reason for the immediate hit of Jazz music. Jordan Baker epitomized the flapper to a higher better degree than did Daisy within The Great Gatsby. Jordan represents the â€Å"new woman† of the 1920s: cynical, boyish, and self-centered. Jordan is beautiful, but also dishonest; she cheated in order to win her first gold tournament and continually bended the truth to get her way.Though Daisy also physically embodies the flapper in her beauty and charm, she is also too â€Å"fickle, bored, shallow, and sardonic† to be a true flapper woman (SparkNotes). Further, Gatsby himself can be seen as a defiance of tradition. He is a self-made man, starting as a very lowly apprentice to a sea captain, then going on to become a very wealthy entrepreneur. â€Å"His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people—his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all. The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself† (Fitzgerald, 63). His methods of achieving success are also a rebellion against the norm; he uses any means necessary including betting and smuggling alcohol during the Prohibition. Society’s view on these methods of attaining riches was drastically different than traditional ones, further alluding to a cultural revolution: â€Å"Real-life personalities were highly esteemed for their alleged bootlegging under Prohibition†¦ At the onset of Prohibition, a bootlegging industry flourished from the start, and drinking became more in vogue than ever.Upper-class citizens gained prestige by offering outlawed alcohol to their house guests and by taking friends to popular speakeasies† (Moss, 151). The moral rights and ethics of good were overshadowed by the need to become rich and successful. This time period is also the first era to mass question the existence of God. In The Great Gatsby, God is simplified to be the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckelburg: â€Å"[they] are blue and gigantic—their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose†¦His eyes brood on over the solemn dumping ground† (Fitzgerald, 16). These eyes stare out from the Valley of Ashes, which exemplifies the decay of American society. The people of the Jazz Age were striving for material and economic wealth, completely forgetting about any spiritual aspect to life, and in this struggle, they gave up their souls in exchange for that wealth. The eyes can in turn be seen as the eyes of a â€Å"dead God† looking onto a â€Å"dead society†. You read "The Great Gatsby and Jazz Age Values" in category "Papers" There are further brief references to God within The Great Gatsby, but all allude to the same idea: the lack or helplessness of God. Man also has even drifted so much away from previous conservatively religious ideals that he himself is more worshipped that God. Nick Carraway is even surprised at this newfound idea; that â€Å"one man could start to play with the faith of fifty million people† (Fitzgerald, 47) is something that only God should have been able to do. Gatsby further goes on to compare his mind to that of God. Referring to kissing Daisy he says, â€Å"his mind would never romp again like the mind of God† (Fitzgerald, 71). George Wilson’s statement â€Å"God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing.You may fool me, but you can’t fool God. † (Fitzgerald, 102) seems like a mockery on God. He is the only character that makes a reference to God’s omnipotence and ends up committing a huge act of sin: suicide. Technological Revolution The twenties were a time of radical transformation caused by the many changes in technology through new advancements, discoveries, and inventions. Possibly the most significant innovations during this time were the automobile and the radio. The mass production of the automobile started by Henry Ford in the 1920s. By 1927 he had manufactured and sold some 15 million Model-Ts (Cheek).This technological revolution is emphasized in The Great Gatsby numerously. I conducted my own side experiment and counted the number of times the words ‘car,’ ‘automobile,’ or ‘auto’ were mentioned within the text and the result was rather interesting: there were 66 mentions of this new technology. The newest cars were seen as status symbols, so of course the upper class had to have the most recent cars. Gatsby takes a lot of pride in his car, and tries to use it as a tool to win over the woman of his dreams, Daisy. Gatsby’s owns both a Rolls Royce and a ellow station wagon, and they are personified as â€Å"splendid† and â€Å"gorgeous,† showing how much importance was placed on physical appearances of wealth. I find it rather interesting that this ultimate symbol of wealth, the car, was the ultimate force of destruction within the novel. Once Myrtle was run over by Gatsby’s car, each character ended up also destructing. The other important revolutionary catalyst was the radio. In an age without television, radio was the center of entertainment and news. Radio provided a cheap and convenient way of conveying information and ideas. The first broadcasts were primarily news and world affairs; later in the decade, radios were used to broadcast everything from concerts and sermons and everything in between (Cheek). Radio was the main form of media that helped spread other revolutionary ideas, such as the new music of Jazz and advertisements for the newest cars. Excess The theme of excess in The Great Gatsby also goes hand in hand with the materialism and superficiality of the time, and as excesses go, the Jazz Age was definitely marked by a huge increase in consumerism.Some of the aforementioned ideas of revolution of the Jazz Age also evidence the excess of this society, especially the cars, the dress, the â€Å"achieve through any way possible† mentality, and the mansions. Leading the way was the increasing popularity of the automobile, a product that stimulated the U. S. economy more than any other industry. At the turn of the 20th century, there had been only 8,000 automobiles registered in the United States. By 1920, there were 8 million and by the close of the decade, 23 million (Cheek). Gatsby’s car thus not only symbolizes the technology of the decade, but also this widespread excess. Gatsby’s car was one that â€Å"everybody had seen,† a â€Å"rich cream color, bright with nickel, swollen here and there in its monstrous length with triumphant hat-boxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes, and terraced with a labyrinth of windshields that mirrored a dozen suns† (Fitzgerald, 41). Further, Gatsby’s second car, â€Å"the death car,† is a bright yellow color, dramatically contrasting the standardized black color of most cars of the time. The mansions are anther very visible form of excess. â€Å"[The Buchanans’] house was more elaborate than [Nick] expected, a cheerful red-and-white Gregorian colonial mansion, overlooking the bay.The lawn started at the beach and ran towards the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sundials and brick walls and burning gardens—finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though from the momentum of its run. The front was broken by a line of French windows, glowing now with reflected gold and wide open to the warm windy afternoon†¦. † (Fitzgerald, 6) Though they are only one couple with a small daughter, this huge mansion is something that they, in their eyes, need to represent their success and wealth. This additionally stresses the value of excess and materialism during this time.Another central idea was to achieve as much material success as possible, and then flaunt it. Fitzgerald summed this idea up well in The Great Gatsby by saying, â€Å"Americans, while occasionally willing to be serfs, have always been obstinate about being peasantry† (57). Even if one didn’t have the means to have the best of everything, it was still expected of them. Myrtle was enraged when she found out her husband didn’t wear his own suit to his wedding. â€Å"He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in†¦and the man came after it one day when he was out†¦I gave it to him and then I lay down and cried†¦all afternoon† (Fitzgerald, 24). Daisy also displays the importance of material excess, also in dress, when looking at Gatsby’s clothes, â€Å"It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such—such beautiful shirts before† (Fitzgerald, 59). This concept of excess caused people to place the most importance and meaning on purely physical, material, and ultimately temporary effects. Disillusionment The excess materialism combined with a sense of ‘newness’ through the revolutionary technologies of the time left an overall feeling of disillusionment upon the upper class. Each character within The Great Gatsby is either himself disillusioned or is affected by disillusionment. Gatsby can probably be seen as the person suffering the most under this disillusionment because everything that he has strived for in life, all his wealth and material gain, was for a false hope and cause: Daisy. Though his life seemed completely full, from the huge boisterous parties during the week to the numerous people he surrounded himself with, he ended up alone in his purely material world. This is blatantly evident at his funeral; â€Å"The minister glanced several times at his watch so [Nick] took him aside and asked him to wait half an hour. But it wasn’t any use. Nobody came† (Fitzgerald,). Daisy and Tom were also both disillusioned, mainly in their relationship. Tom paraded around with mistresses and Daisy was toying with Gatsby’s heart; both were in their separate fantasy worlds, imagining a life they subconsciously knew they would never lead. That is ultimately why they remained together in the end, despite the adulterous way they treated their relationship. Nick himself was also disillusioned; â€Å"Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I has ever known† (Fitzgerald, 39), thus characterizing himself in opposition to the masses. He is â€Å"inclined to reserve all judgments† (Fitzgerald, 3), events in the novel do not attest to his self-characterization. Though he wants to take the moral high ground, his best friend ends up being probably one of the more morally corrupt characters, Gatsby. He also says about Jordan’s cheating during her tournament, â€Å"Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply—I was casually sorry, and then I forgot† (Fitzgerald, 38). His utter awe and wonder of this â€Å"new world† clouds his better judgments.In then end though, it seems that he as able to grasp a bit of the truth: when all the wonder, glamour, and sparkle finally fades away, the emptiness will settle in and they will finally sense that this pursuit of the American Dream was an illusion. Conclusion The Jazz Age was a very revolutionary movement within American history, and has left a rather large impact on American society. The values of revolution, excess, and disillusionment played a large role on the pursuit of the American Dream. In reality, the American Dream was based on nothing but these Jazz Age values.The revolutionary nature of this time period led to society’s value of excess and ultimate disillusionment. These false values made the American Dream seem something it is not. In the 1920s, the American Dream was nothing but an idea of materialistic wealth and objective pleasures. The reach for this rather unattainable Dream represented the demise of an America of hard work and good ethics and goals of wealth and a skewed successful life. Works Cited Boland, Jesse. â€Å"The Jazz Age in America. † 1920s Fashion and Music. Jesse Boland. 15. 04. 2010. Web/ 01 Sept. 2010. . Cheek, Jerry S. Inventions. † The Roaring Twenties. Kennesaw State University, 01. 08. 2005. Web. 01 Sept. 2010. . Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Woodsworth Edition. Ware, Hertfordshire: Woodsworth Editions, 1993. Print. Kersh, J. â€Å"The Great Gatsby: The Jazz Age. † ENotes. Penny Satoris. Seattle: Enotes. com, Oct. 2002. Web. 29 Aug. 2010. . Moss, Joyce. Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events That Influence Them. Vol. 3. Gale, 1997. Print. SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on the Great Gatsby. † SparkNotes. com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 01 Sept. 2010. How to cite The Great Gatsby and Jazz Age Values, Papers

Issues in Australian Construction Industries- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theIssues in Australian Construction Industries for GDP. Answer: Identification of Issues Australian construction industry is one of the core contributors to the GDP of the country, in fact, it contributes 8% to the GDP and is the third largest industry of the country only after mining and finance (Chou 2017). However, the recent scenario of the industry is undesirable because it is facing significant challenges recently. Some of the challenges have been discussed as follows (Fullford and Standing 2014): Price rise: One of the core challenges that the construction industry is facing is the rise of the rising prices due to increase in the cost of the metals, high-interest rates, continuous change in Australian currency value and even the price of oil. The deemed scenario is offering significant challenge to the constructors. Quality Control: Australia lacks a proper structured protocol for the quality control of construction works and is resulting in reduced productivity. Due to lack of proper standards, another major challenge has arisen for the construction industry, and that is CORRUPTION. In the recent years multiple cases have been evident on corruption and malpractices in the construction industry. The government are attempting to control the scenario, however; no substantial results have been determined till date. Site safety: Another critical challenge that the Australian construction industry is facing is the safety of its workforce at the construction sites. The construction companies are adopting methods to ensure the workers by getting them insured, however, the attempt is getting backfired because it is affecting the project cost and in the process is affecting the productivity of the projects. Site safety is also giving birth to another challenge for the construction industry, and that is REDUCED WORKPLACE PRODUCTIVITY. Recent studies suggest that in the recent years more and more Australian labours are reducing their working hour and are becoming responsible for the reduced productivity of the sector. Cash flow issues: Australian construction industry has earned a bad reputation for itself when it comes to project planning which is creating issues. It has become difficult for the management to find financial support easily because of the threats associated with recovering their invested capital. The financial sectors (banks, market lenders and others) are also taking adequate care before investing their money in the construction industry of Australia which is creating pressing challenges for the subject. Evaluation of One of the Core Issue The section above has discussed some crucial issues that the Australian construction industry is facing today. However, one of the core issues that have not been discussed in the section above is the shortage of workforce for the industry (Zuo et al. 2017). To be more precise, the construction industry is facing a shortage of skilled labours. The reason for the shortage lays on the fact that the country has proved itself to be incapable of producing capable professionals who hold the capability and the knowledge to manage derive the construction projects to successful completion (Guthridge 2012). To cope up with the scenario, the owners are recruiting workforce from abroad which is also creating challenges for the managerial team. In the deemed scenario the challenges are associated with educating the foreign workforce in the working processes, tools and techniques of the Australian construction industry. The crucial factors that are responsible for the shortage of skilled labour in the Australian construction industry are training funding, immigration, increased age population of Australia and financial limitations. All of the factors are very crucial for the shortage of skills in the construction Industry. Training and its funding: The problems are associated with the changing tools technology and lack of formal education of the labour. It forces the construction project owners to invest in the training which affects the budget of the project, while is also time and effort consuming. Additionally, if the training is provided to the immigrants than the cultural and communicational barriers offers a significant challenge to the project owners. The remedy for the deemed solution would be to include the training plans within the project management plans; it would also enhance the productivity of the project. Additionally, the training responsibilities should be given to the team consisting of bilingual bicultural members of management. Immigration: One of the primary reasons that the construction industry of Australia is facing a skill crisis is because of the introduction of immigrants (Bahn, Barratt-Pugh and Yap 2012). The migrant workers are ready to work at a much lower price than the local labour and hence are more preferred by the construction owner. However, the owners ignore the fact that as the migrants are not from Australia, it limits their knowledge about the tools techniques used in Australia for construction. Additionally, their compatibility with the Australian construction techniques can also be questioned. The potential solution for the discussed scenario would be selection of the immigrants for the jobs in construction that demands little skills and more skill requiring jobs should be offered to those who are aware of the working patterns of the industry. Training can also be of assistance for minimising the deemed threat. Increased age of Australia: The deemed scenario is one of the very complicated scenarios because the recent years have witnessed an increase in the retirement of construction employee and a decrease in recruitment which is leading to skills shortage. To counter the deemed scenario, the project owners can increase the apprentice ratio and offer permanent jobs to the best of them after completion of their project. Financial limitations: It has been discussed in the section above that the construction industry is facing a capital shortage and it is influencing the hiring of skills, ultimately leading to shortage of skills in the project process. Resource utilisation planning is the potential solution for the deemed factor. 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