The Global Financial Crisis Essay - 3569 Words

1. Introduction 1.1. Background The Financial crisis was triggered in 2006 when US housing market began to crumble as the housing price reached their highest point after years of speculative price increase; many house owners defaulted on their loans, particularly subprime mortgagers (Archarya et al., 2009). Starting in mid-2007, the outburst of US housing bubble in the subprime mortgage leads to the global financial crisis that has been often so called ‘Great Recession’ (Verick and Islam, 2010). Archarya et al. (2009) states that it is widely agreed that the fundamental cause of this global financial crisis was the credit boom and the housing bubble. While Poole (2010) argued that it is a mistake to only take subprime mortgage issue†¦show more content†¦2. Impact of Recession on Customer Behaviour The financial crisis and economic recession of 2008 unevenly affected economic aspect of countries, industries and extended into social aspects, which include how the public responded to the recessionary circumstances surrounding it (Gangl et al., 2012). This chapter focus to understand how the current economic depression shapes the customers behaviour. Earlier research by Desvaux et al. (2009) found that the recession had led to lower consumer confidence, lower income due to high unemployment rate, higher living cost because of inflation, lower wealth due to shrinking in household wealth and restricted consumer credit as bank cut lending to consumer. The above five factors have shaped consumer behaviour in responding to the recession as follows (Desvaux et al., 2009): †¢ Control spending: this is the most common reaction during recession; people would have their own budgets to reduce their overall spending such as eating out and travel plans. †¢ Replace only when needed: consumers were willing to delay their new purchases of cars or electronics and extend the lifetime of the current assets. †¢ Shop smarter: people have begun to look out for promotions and special bargains, or use internet to find better or lower price. In addition to the above behaviours in responding to theShow MoreRelatedThe Global Financial Crisis And The Crisis Essay1244 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction The Global Financial Crisis, also known as The Great Recession, broke out in the United States of America in the middle of 2007 and continued on until 2008. There were many factors that contributed to the cause of The Global Financial Crisis and many effects that emerged, because the impact it had on the financial system. The Global Financial Crisis started because of house market crash in 2007. There were many factors that contributed to the housing market crash in 2007. These factorsRead MoreFinancial Crisis : A Global Crisis Essay1729 Words   |  7 PagesOverview: The 2008 financial crisis is notably one of the worst financial disasters in American history. It began with a large financial bubble, in which many investment, real estate, and insurance companies made millions. When the bubble burst, stock markets fell, these companies collapsed, and economies of supposedly strong nations were brought to their knees. Not only did the financial crisis severely affect the economy of the United States, but the international markets as well. At the timeRead MoreGlobal Financial Crisis : Crisis1213 Words   |  5 PagesGlobal Financial Crisis In July of 2007, the global financial crisis was initiated from the property market in the United States. The crisis was criticized regarding to a security called sub-prime mortgages. Sub-prime mortgage is an idea created by the financial institutions to gain more profit by easily giving loans to lower income borrowers or low credit rating borrowers. When the borrowers default the loan, the bank then have the right to take away the ownership of the property and sell it forRead MoreThe Global Financial Crisis642 Words   |  3 PagesThe Global Financial Crisis has had a huge impact on the global economy. The American housing market collapses, the house price drops significantly and the bank is losing lots of money, however, people are not pursued in court for money or declared bankruptcy. People tend to spend less on the due to their houses worth less than the bank has loaned originally and some of them are still committed to clearing off their mortgages. This causes less activity in housing market and sales market, hence moreRead MoreThe Global Financial Crisis1580 Words   |  7 PagesIn the following essay, I will briefly summarize some of the main events leading up to the global financial crisis. Following this, I will discuss the effect this had on the banks and ergo the credit supply, then examine how this contributed to t he corporate failure. I will also pay some attention to how the market imperfection can affect firms real decisions. Finally, I will sum up the main points of the essay. The banking panic of the fall of 2008 set economies around the world into a severeRead MoreGlobal Financial Crisis1408 Words   |  6 Pagesis explained the occurrence of the global financial crisis in 2008. It has shown that lots of companies have bankrupted and millions of people lose their jobs and homes around the world. Such as United States, Iceland, England, France, Singapore and China. There is a sentence in this film has make me impressed, which is â€Å" the poorest always pay the most.† The director has separated this film into five parts, which are How we get there, The Bubbles, The Crisis, Accountability and Where we are nowRead MoreThe Global Financial Crisis711 Words   |  3 PagesThere is no smoke without fire. The global financial crisis caused from hundreds of thousands of decisions and changes from different areas. The America government, Wall Street and the Rating Agencies put on this world-shaking show together. And to be more specific, the top officials in politics and finance pull strings behind the senses. Applying Mintzberg’s ten management roles model as a frame, the America government, Wall Street and the Rating Agencies are correspondingly divided into three categoriesRead MoreThe Global Financial Crisis1474 Words   |  6 PagesThe global financial crisis has raised many concerns for the need to restructure the approach of risk and regulation in the financial sector (KPMG 2011). Figure. 4 has shown the structures of Basel III. It aims to increase the capital and liquidity of banks and therefore maintaining the stability in banking sector with full effect in 2019 (Banks For International Settlements 2011). EUROPE - Preparedness On 26 June of 2013, Capital requirement regulation (CRR) and directive(CRD) has been adoptedRead MoreGlobal Financial Crisis 1067 Words   |  5 PagesThe best evidence so far for the existence of an American empire, despite denials to the contrary, is the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). The persistent removal of restrictions and oversights on the domestic financial system of the US, combined with the decisions of individual firms, other governments and foreign financial organisations, culminated in the singe largest depreciation of assets and currency valuations in history, surpassing even the Great Depression in its extents. The United StatesRead MoreThe Global Financial Crisis2317 Words   |  10 PagesDuring the run-up to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) 2008 there were numerous contributing factors. One can observe the start of the crisis as a cascading timeline starting possibly decades earlier with the change to a deregulatory culture. The prevailing political environment in the lead up to the financial crisis was one of de-regulation with a focus to economic expansion. This political imperative towards deregulation started under President Reagan in the US and culminated at the turn of the

Essay on Capital Punishment - 2824 Words

In my opinion the Retributivist approach to Capital Punishment is the more appropriate view. The Retributivist believes that evil done with a vengeance should be repaid with punishment in-kind. In order to protect society and prevent crime, the death penalty has to be the most severe form of punishment with the biggest impact on society. Persons who commit murder should suffer and be punished for their inexcusable action(s). The principles of retributivism suggest that a convicted murderer should be executed because they â€Å"deserve† and â€Å"have earned† the death sentence. The right of retaliation can only be made equal by balancing of the crime with the punishment even if it is the death penalty. Those opposed to the death penalty argue that†¦show more content†¦If punishment can be shown to promote effectively in the interest of society it is justifiable, otherwise it is not. Utilitariannbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Retributivist Maximize social benefit (maximize the benefit, minimize the harms)nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The offender should experience the exact injustice inflicted Focuses upon the goal of punishment in each individual casenbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Offender deserves to experience the suffering or suffering inflicted by the criminal act Punishment is morally best which produces the maximum deterrence of criminal harm with the minimum amount of harm to the offendernbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Emphasis on the Goal of punishment rather than on an abstract reason Individual cases of punishment are justified if they are in accord with the rules of the justified Punishment systemnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;No equality between the crime of murder and the retaliation except by judicial system executing the criminal Punish only persons who have actually committed crimes, reduction murder ratenbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Make offender â€Å"take responsibility† for action, By re-paying the debt to society Number of lives saved , must be exceeded by the number of lives executednbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Punish the bad because they deserve it Punishment must effectively promotes the interests of societynbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Punishment mustShow MoreRelated Capital Punishment1099 Words   |  5 Pages Capital Punishment Murder, a common occurrence in American society, is thought of as a horrible, reprehensible atrocity. Why then, is it thought of differently when the state government arranges and executes a human being, the very definition of premeditated murder? Capital punishment has been reviewed and studied for many years, exposing several inequities and weaknesses, showing the need for the death penalty to be abolished. Upon examination, one finds capital punishment to be economically weakRead MoreCapital Punishment1137 Words   |  5 Pagescorresponding punishments. Among all penalties, capital punishment is considered to be the most severe and cruelest one which takes away criminal’s most valuable right in the world, that is, right to live. It is a heated debate for centuries whether capital punishment should be completely abolished world widely. The world seems to have mixed opinion regarding this issue. According to Amnesty International (2010), currently, 97 countries in the world have already abolished capital punishment while onlyRead MoreCapital Punishment1786 Words   |  8 PagesCapital Punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the toughest form of punishment enforced today in the United States. According to the online Webster dictionary, capital punishment is defined as â€Å"the judicially ordered execution of a prisoner as a punishment for a serious crime, often called a capital offence or a capital crime† (1). In those jurisdictions that practice capital punishment, its use is usually restricted to a small number of criminal offences, principallyRead MoreCapital Punishment1276 Words   |  6 Pagesbroken to get the death penalty, increased murder rates and wrongful accusations. There are many different views of the death penalty. Many different religions have their own views of the death penalty. In Hinduism, if the king does not inflict punishment on those worthy to be punished the stronger would roast the weaker like fish on a spit. In the religion of Jainism, mostly all of their followers are abolitionists of the death penalty which means that they oppose of it. Infact, this religionRead More Capital Punishment1898 Words   |  8 PagesCapital Punishment Imagine your heart suddenly beginning to race as you hear a judge give you a death sentence and then you’re quickly carried away in chains as your family sobs as they realize that they will no longer be able to see you. As you sit in your cell you begin to look back at your life and try to see where you went wrong to end up in jail waiting to carry out a death sentence, and at the same time know that you are an innocent waiting to be heard. This same scenario repeatsRead More Capital Punishment Essay: Retain Capital Punishment?696 Words   |  3 PagesCapital Punishment - Retain or Not?      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This essay tangles with the question of whether or not we should retain the death penalty within the American code of penal law.    There is a feeling of frustration and horror that we experience at the senseless and brutal crimes that too frequently disrupt the harmony of society. There is pain which accompanies the heartfelt sympathy that we extend to the victims families who, in their time of suffering, are in need of the support and compassionRead MoreCapital Punishment2506 Words   |  11 PagesCapital Punishment and the Death Penalty Capital punishment exist in today’s society as citizens of the United States should we have the right to take an individual life. As illustrated throughout numerous of studies the death penalty is an unfair process seven out of ten deaths handed down by the state courts from 1973 to 1995 were overturned when appeal and the seven percent were later found to be innocent. Such as the Dobie Williams case which took place July 8, 1984. DobieRead MoreCapital Punishment Is A Legal Punishment1116 Words   |  5 Pageswhat the big deal about Capital Punishment is? According to free dictionary, Capital Punishment is to put to death as a legal punishment (Farlax). Capital Punishment is used worldwide, and is guaranteed to prevent future crime. Capital Punishment is a large controversy in the U.S. but before a personal opinion can be formed, some facts need to be known, such as what it is, where it is used and why it could be good or bad. Well, what is Capital Punishment? Capital Punishment is where a person is executedRead MoreCapital Punishment Is The Ultimate Punishment1704 Words   |  7 Pageswhat would you want from the government if he had killed someone you know? He should receive the capital punishment. The capital punishment is the ultimate punishment given to the precarious crimes. It is the last stage of capital punishment. There are different methods of like hanging, electric chair, lethal injection, firing squad, gas chamber. Murderers and rapist should be given extreme punishment, and they have to pay for their wrongdoing. We can observe crime rates are accelerating day-by-dayRead MoreCapital Punishment And Juvenile Punishment1631 Words   |  7 Pages Capital punishment is the term used when an individual is put to death by the state or government for the commission of a crime. Until recently, juveniles were not exempt from this punishment, however they would generally need to commit a more serious offense compared to their adult counterpart. Then there was the decision ruling the execution of mentally handicapped individuals was unconstitutional, using the 8th amendment as their authority, while taking into account the diminished capacity of

Haribo History free essay sample

The gummy bear made in Germany which is called gummibarchen in German, started in Germany in 1920. It was made by Hans Riegel in Germany. Hans Riegel, was born in 1893 in Friesdorf, He was the son of Peter and Agnes Riegel . After WWI, Hans was working in Heinen in Bonn-Kessenich but then was changed into the name of Heinen and Riegel. In 1920 Hans began working with a company of his own, he lived In a house in Bergstrasse in Kessenich.In 1945, Hans senior died, upon returning to Bonn from being prisoned in war camps , Hans junior and his younger brother, Paul, resolved to revive and expand the family business. They changed the recipe of their gummy bear sweets to make them colored and fruit-flavored. Paul took charge of production and technical matters, while Hans, who had been studying economics at the University of Bonn, handled sales and marketing.Hans Riegel was the oldest son. We will write a custom essay sample on Haribo History or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He graduated from the Jesuit boarding school. He did his doctrine in 1951 at Bonn with his thesis The development of the world sugar industry during and after the Second World War. In fact, the name of the company, Haribo, comes from the first two letters of his name and where he was from (HANS RIEGEL BONN).[Haribo was recognized early on in the sixties. In 1962, the first TV advertisement for Haribo was broadcast in Germany. In the middle of the sixties, the advertising slogan Haribo macht Kinder frohwhich meant â€Å"haribo makes children happy† was made by the addition und Erwachsene ebenso which meant â€Å"and adults too†. These slogans expanded further on. The great success of the Goldbears encouraged Haribo to have an official birth certificate issued.You may not be aware of this but gummy bears taste different in certain countries. Also in some countries they have different flavors than others. The gummies were considerably different in color, texture, and flavor. Color was the first noticed in difference. The American ones, made with artificial colors, were more realistic than the German ones, which are made with natural colors. Texture-wise, the American ones are much softer and easier to chew than the German ones which are tougher. The German gummy bears had more flavor that was closer to real fruit than the American ones.

Star Struck free essay sample

Morning – high school students with glazed eyes stand under a streetlight; one stands apart, gazing at the stars. I am that dreamer. Every morning, I look toward the heavens, basking in the glow of the Greek and Roman gods. Orion watches as I get on the bus, Venus waves me off to a new day, and the moon looks on contentedly. I wasn’t always a student of the stars. I was once part of that group with glazed eyes and complete ignorance of the world above me. To me, the stars were just dots in the sky – twinkling lights with no personality and no story. The celestial world was as alien to me as I was to it. Knowledge changed this – astronomy was the medium. My baptism in astronomy came freshman year in Science Olympiad. Wright Stuff, Fermi Questions, and Practical Data Gathering were my events. Much to my dismay, my coach placed me in Astronomy. We will write a custom essay sample on Star Struck or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I responded at once with a torrent of e-mails demanding the reason for this dastardly act. She simply replied, â€Å"Try something new. Even if you don’t like it, you’ll learn something.† I had no time for this clichA ©d explanation. I was a man of science who needed focus, not another distraction. Still, quitting was not an option, and so I grudgingly studied stellar evolution, spectroscopic analysis, and light curves. After months of struggle and frustration, I saw the result of my work: two shiny medals on my shelf and the value of understanding. As I willed myself through the formidable stack of resources, I began to understand there is more to the stars than a galactic connect-the-dots puzzle. There are stories, hidden secrets, and invisible mischief. Galaxies collide, forming a mass of chaotic matter. A white dwarf pilfers gas from its larger neighbor until it takes too much and explodes in a brilliant supernova. Neither star survives. Newborn stars bathe in gaseous nebulas, preparing for their celestial debut. This drama of the heavens teaches me that knowledge unleashes the extraordinary in the ordinary. The dark void of space is no longer an empty field but a template for the growth of the psyche. I take a step of the mind, and the gods materialize from the darkness. With a leap, the universe becomes my canvas – imagination is my paint. This art is a self-discovered one, and I withdraw into myself. Here, isolated within my mind, I find myself among the gods.

Family Tree of Harry Potter Author, JK Rowling

Family Tree of Harry Potter Author, JK Rowling Joanne (J.K.) Rowling was born in Chipping Sodbury near Bristol, England, on 31 July 1965. This is also the birthday of her famous wizard character Harry Potter. She attended school in Gloucestershire until the age of 9 when her family moved to Chepstow, South Wales. From an early age, J.K. Rowling aspired to be a writer. She studied at the University of Exeter before moving to London to work for Amnesty International. While in London, J.K. Rowling began her first novel. Her long road to the publication of the first Harry Potter book, however, was shadowed by the loss of her mother in 1990 and over a year of rejections by various agents and publishers. J. K. Rowling has since written seven books in the Harry Potter series and was named the greatest living British writer by The Book Magazine in June 2006 and Person of the Year in 2007. Her books have sold hundreds of millions of copies around the world. J.K. Rowling Joanne (J.K.) Rowling was born on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England. She first married television journalist Jorge Arantes in Portugal on 16 October 1992. The couple had one child, Jessica Rowling Arantes, born in 1993 and the couple divorced a few months later. J.K. Rowling later married again, to Dr. Neil Murray (b. 30 June 1971) on 26 December 2001 in their home in Perthshire, Scotland. The couple has had two children: David Gordon Rowling Murray, born in Edinburgh, Scotland on 23 March 2003 and Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray, born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 23 January 2005. J.K. Rowling's Parents Peter John Rowling was born in 1945. Anne Volant was born on 6 Feb 1945 in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. She died from complications of multiple sclerosis on 30 Dec 1990. Peter James Rowling married Anne Volant on 14 Mar 1965 in All Saints Parish Church, London, England. The couple had the following children: Joanne (J.K.) Rowling.Dianne (Di) Rowling, who was born on 28 Jun 1967 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England. Rowling's Grandparents Ernest Arthur Rowling was born on 9 July 1916 in Walthamstow, Essex, England and died about 1980 in Newport, Wales. Kathleen Ada Bulgen was born on 12 January 1923 in Enfield, Middlesex, England and died on 1 Mar 1972. Ernest Rowling and Kathleen Ada Bulgen were married on 25 Dec 1943 in Enfield, Middlesex, England. The couple had the following children: Jeffrey Ernest Rowling, born on 2 Oct 1943 in Enfield, Middlesex, England and died of bladder cancer on 20 Jul 1998 in Juno Beach, Palm Becah County, Florida.Peter John Rowling. Stanley George Volant was born on 23 June 1909 in St. Marylebone, London, England. Louisa Caroline Watts (Freda) Smith was born on 6 May 1916 in Islington, Middlesex, England. According to a 2005 article Plot twist shows Rowling is true Scot in the London Times, based on research by genealogist Anthony Adolph, Louisa Caroline Watts Smith is thought to have been the daughter of Dr. Dugald Campbell, who is said to have had an affair with a young bookkeeper named Mary Smith. According to the article, Mary Smith disappeared soon after giving birth, and the girl was raised by the Watts family who owned the nursing home where the girl was born. She was called Freda and told only that her father was a Dr. Campbell. The birth certificate for Louisa Caroline Watts Smith lists no father and identifies the mother only as Mary Smith, bookkeeper of 42 Belleville Rd. The birth took place at 6 Fairmead Road, which is confirmed in the London Directory of 1915 to be the residence of Mrs. Louisa Watts, midwife. Mrs. Louisa C. Watts later appears as a witness to Fredas marriage to Stanley Volant in 1938. Louisa Caroline Watts (Freda) Smith died about April 1997 in Hendon, Middlesex, England. Stanley George Volant and Louisa Caroline Watts (Freda) Smith were married on 12 March 1938 in All Saints Church, London, England. The couple had the following children: Anne Volant.Marian Volant.

The History of 7UP and Charles Leiper Grigg

The History of 7UP and Charles Leiper Grigg Charles Leiper Grigg was born in 1868 in Prices Branch, Missouri. As an adult, Grigg moved to St. Louis and started working in advertising and sales, where he was introduced to the carbonated beverage business. How Charles Leiper Grigg Developed 7UP By 1919, Grigg was working for a manufacturing company owned by Vess Jones. It was there that Grigg invented and marketed his first soft drink, an orange-flavored drink called Whistle for a firm owned by Vess Jones. After a dispute with management, Charles Leiper Grigg quit his job (giving away Whistle) and started working for the ​Warner Jenkinson Company, developing flavoring agents for soft drinks. Grigg then invented his second soft drink called Howdy. When he eventually moved on from ​Warner Jenkinson Co., he took his soft drink Howdy with him. Together with financier Edmund G. Ridgway, Grigg went on to form the Howdy Company. So far, Grigg had invented two orange-flavored soft drinks. But his soft drinks struggled against the king of all orange pop drinks, Orange Crush. But he couldnt compete  as Orange Crush grew to dominate the market for orange sodas. Charles Leiper Grigg decided to focus on lemon-lime flavors. By October of 1929, he had invented a new drink called, Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Sodas.  The name was quickly changed to 7Up Lithiated Lemon Soda and then again changed to just plain 7Up in 1936. Grigg died in 1940 at the age of 71 in St. Louis, Missouri, survived by his wife, Lucy E. Alexander Grigg. Lithium in 7UP The original formulation contained lithium citrate, which was used in various patent medicines at the times for improving moods. It has been used for many decades to treat manic-depression. It was popular to go to lithium-containing springs such as Lithia Springs, Georgia or Ashland, Oregon for this effect. Lithium is one of the elements with an atomic number of seven, which some have proposed as a theory for why 7UP has its name.  Grigg never explained the name, but he did promote 7UP as having effects on mood. Because it debuted at the time of the stock market crash of 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression, this was a selling point. The reference to lithia remained in the name until 1936.  Lithium citrate was removed from 7UP in 1948 when the government banned its use in soft drinks. Other problematic ingredients included calcium disodium EDTA which was removed in 2006, and at that time potassium citrate replaced sodium citrate to lower the sodium content. The company website notes that it contains no fruit juice. 7UP Goes on Westinghouse took over 7UP in 1969. It then was sold to Philip Morris in 1978, a marriage of soft drinks and tobacco. The investment firm Hicks Haas bought it in 1986. 7UP merged with Dr. Pepper  in 1988. Now a combined company, it was bought by Cadbury Schweppes in 1995, a more likely marriage of chocolates and soft drinks. That company spun off the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group in 2008.

AGM -an ineffective forum for shareholder democracy Essay

AGM -an ineffective forum for shareholder democracy - Essay Example Corporate governance - an awkward phrase with several definitions among which the simplest and effective is the one that describes corporate governance as a system by which companies are directed and controlled (Committee on the Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance, 1992)1. Corporate Governance supports businesses that are well managed, well directed, and well controlled. Indeed one of the functions of good corporate governance is to help ensure that good management is in place. Nevertheless, some of the most conspicuous failures in recent years have stemmed from a failure of the control function or from poor direction.All systems of corporate governance have to be considered against the social, economic, legal, and political background of the country in which they developed. A study of the relevant laws governing corporations does not reveal enough in any country unless they are understood on the basis of attitudes and patterns of behaviour to make sense of them. Examples are t hat of the company laws of Japan and the UK that are not too dissimilar in structure, but the results are poles apart. When we examine remuneration we find a marked difference in approach between the USA and Germany, where exorbitant share schemes have in the one become common and barely exist in the other. According to Charkham & Simpson (1999) "The impact upon competitiveness appears irrelevant, however other differences tell us that banks play a much larger part in Germany and Japan, not because of any deliberate policy, but because their economies happened to develop in ways in which this occurred and by the same token the stock market has a bigger role in the UK and USA"2 (Charkham & Simpson, 1999, p. 28). Reforms on both sides show that no system is immune to pressure for change, be it domestic or international. One purpose of good corporate governance is to reduce this accident rate, because unnecessary collapse is so damaging to all concerned; and where it occurs in a major company may be catastrophic. Another purpose is to encourage management to seize opportunities, and we can only speculate on how many have not been taken in the UK over the years. Corporate governance as a subject therefore is as broad as life itself, because it touches upon fundamental elements in the economy and society at large. The Role of AGM The reason for considering AGM ineffective might be the choice of a year as the period between company meetings appear a reflection of the world of nature and the tyranny of the seasons, rather than any particular logic dictated by the needs of any organisation that is not subject to them. Shareholders recognised this in the political world by having elections at various intervals and, even the UK has itself varied and to this day does not have a uniform period between elections for all levels of government. This means AGM does not support shareholders in terms of democratic elections and as far as companies are concerned, there is no particular reason, especially in these days of overflowing information, why the annual AGM cycle should be a year long. Sometimes it might be a half-year, or a quarter, for that matter eighteen months or two years, there is no particular timings for conducting regular elections. On the other hand taxation has a bearing on the choice of period and most governments raise taxes on an annual cycle but even this is not necessarily immutable and the accounting period does not have to be twelve months either; indeed