Political Econ Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Political Econ - Essay Example The government debt to GDP ratio also stood at 27.7 percent in 2014. It is also worth noting that the Australian economy is heavily reliant on natural resources thus less vulnerable. The other country in the top ten is Canada. According to Blaine, the Canadian economy is a mirror of the United States of America economy since it has a very big automotive sector (3). Over the last couple of years, there has been exponential growth of technology companies in Vancouver and Toronto. It remains the largest supplier to the US exporting oil, natural gas, hydroelectric power and uranium. About three quarter of Canada’s exports end up in the US. In 2008-2009, its automotive industry was hit very badly by the economic slump. The Canadian banks and the oil sector were able to weather the storm. The recent upsurge in oil prices and other exports have boosted the economy thus giving it a very good credit rating. The third nation is Denmark. The country’s finances are in solid shape even after the 2008-2009 recession as well as the Eurozone crisis. It has an AAA rating with the government debt being 59 percent of the GDP. Some of the nation’s strengths include the vibrant maritime sector and the stable pharmaceutical industry. Blaine points out that unemployment rates still remain high at 6.6 percent (par 4). Denmark is followed closely by Finland. Finland became an economic powerhouse in the 1990s due to the rapid telecommunication and technology growth. Nokia contributed to about 23 percent of the corporate taxes paid between 1998 and 2007. The Eurozone crisis did hurt the economy very much. In addition to this, the decline of Nokia has had a very detrimental effect on Finland’s economy. It has an unemployment rate of 8.0 percent. The fifth nation is Germany which experienced a GDP growth of 0.9 percent in 2012. The last few years have not been easy for the country due to the struggles of the Eurozone

Two-Way Bilingualism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Two-Way Bilingualism - Essay Example Emerging results of studies of two-way bilingual programs point to their effectiveness in educating nonnative-English-speaking students, their promise of expanding our nations language resources by conserving the native language skills of minority students and developing second language skills in English-speaking students, and their hope of improving relationships between majority and minority groups by enhancing cross-cultural understanding and appreciation†. (Donna Christian, 1994) Most Two-way bilingual programs do not segregate language minority and language majority students. They also provide instructions in, and through, the two chosen languages. One of it is obviously the native language of the student from the minority community, and the other one is inevitably English. The former is also called as the target language. The programs attempt to teach students regular subjects while also developing their understanding of languages. To reap full rewards from this system of education, â€Å"students from the two language backgrounds are in each class, and they are integrated for most or all of their content instruction†. These programs are also beneficial in that they create an atmosphere that promotes favorable attitudes toward both languages and their respective cultures. The program is framed in such a way that the students achieve expertise in both their native language and English. There are other merits to two-way bilingual programs. Firstly, they help address several serious issues facing the present state of education. They also help in creating an intuitive and easy-to-learn approach to educate the increasing number of nonnative-English-speaking students registering in American schools. This is done in an â€Å"additive bilingual environment† that not only encourages development of native language and English, but also ensures general academic progress. Furthermore, â€Å"They promise to expand