1. Does the government backing of pension programs create a “moral hazard” What is a moral hazard anyhow?
2. Since Social Security will not be fully funded in the future and company pensions maybe in doubt, what should you do to prepare for retirement? Is this aunion–management issue that is easily resolved, does it has socioeconomic implications?
Please use the information provided below :
PENSION PLANS UNDER ATTACK
The U.S. airline industry has never recovered from 9/11. Since the terrorist attacks, the industry has been in a free fall. Record fuel costs, the lowest fares since the early 1990s, and stiff competition have caused the air carriers to lose billions of dollars. The industry as a whole has lost $30 billion. To keep the carriers from economic collapse, labor unions have agreed to millions of dollars in concessions and wage cutbacks.
Hardest hit is United Airlines, which has lost $10 billion by itself. But even the labor concessions were not enough to keep United out of bankruptcy court. Looming large in the equation are the pension obligations to retiring flight attendants, mechanics, and pilots. When it faced the bankruptcy judge in 2002, United had pension obligations of $9.8 billion. This staggering sum was owed to present and future retirees under the terms of their contracts.
United argued that it was financially unable to pay these benefits, and the bankruptcy court agreed. The airline walked away from the pension obligation, the equivalent of taking $267,000 from each pilot, flight attendant, and mechanic.
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), the government agency created in 1975 to bail out domestic companies that default on pension obligations, will pick up the tab for United’s pension plans. The PBGC is funded through an employer premium that is essentially a tax on employers to fund pension plans. PBGC believes that U.S. pension plans are underfunded by more than $450 billion, with companies in financial trouble liable for nearly $100 billion of this amount. The PBGC collects roughly $560 million a year from the private sector, far short of the amount needed to pay the pensions of companies that have fallen on hard times. The agency’s resources will be exhausted within a few years.
Because of the United pension fiasco, some members of Congress warned that taxpayers may someday have to bail out the deficit-riddled government pension agency. “Taxpayers had better buckle up, because we will be in for a bumpy ride of bailout after bailout, as more and more corporations dump their pension plan obligations on the PBGC,” said U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky. The PBGC is already operating at a deficit of more than $23 billion.
While preserving some of United’s pension benefits, the bankruptcy settlement hit workers and retirees hard. Federal regulations limit the amount of pension payments the PBGC can make to a maximum of about $45,000 a year. The highest-paid United workers, such as pilots, face pension cuts of up to 50%. The pilots also face a catch-22: Under one federal law, they are not allowed to work after age 60; under another, the proportion of their pension guaranteed by the PBGC is sharply reduced if they retire before age 65.
The former United pension plan covers 120,000 current and retired United workers. Bankruptcy Judge Eugene Wedoff approved the pension plan over the objections of several unions. He called it “the least bad” of the available choices, since it gives unprofitable United the best chance to keep functioning. United’s CFO, Jake Brace, said the verdict was important but that it “was not a joyous day” for the airline.
Employees and retirees are bitter about what they perceive as an inequity of sacrifice. While workers take huge cuts in pension benefits, United CEO Glen Tilton has a $4.5 million annual pension guaranteed by his employment contract with the company.[i]

 
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Locate a news story or press release about an ethical violation(s) resulting from actions of employees in the criminal justice system.

Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper in which you include the following:

• In what component of the criminal justice system does the criminal justice agency or individuals in question belong?
• What is the reasoning for the criminal justice agency’s involvement and the timing of the news story or press release?
• What is the role of the media and public opinion in the news story or press release?
• What are the primary ethical styles or perspectives of the involved agency, along with the reported concerns or ethical violations identified in the report or release?
• Key interest groups in relation to the ethical violation
• Identify if the release was informative or persuasive, and whether or not it outlines the importance of ethics in the criminal justice system.
• Discuss if there are obvious ways the ethical violation(s) could have been avoided.

 

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Review the “Precision Machines” document and spreadsheet. (Attached below is are links titled “Precision Machines FInancial Statement” and “Precision Machine Assignment”)

Prepare a cash budget for Precision Machines in Microsoft^® Excel^®. (Please include “step-by-step” calculations on how you go about finding the answers using formulas or excel notations).

Create a 1,225-word strategic analysis and include the following:

• Introduction
• Recommend cash management strategy for company to minimize financing cost
• Recommend cash management strategy to increase the cash flows for the company
• Explain two economic forces impacting financial plan of this company
• Explain two market forces impacting financial plan of this company.
• Conclusion

Format your documents consistent with APA guidelines, including citations. For references, please use peer-reviewed web links of where information was found for document.

 

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A 13-year-old boy living in urban poverty with his mother and six younger siblings is currently getting in trouble at school. He has never been in trouble before. But the teachers say he is becoming belligerent toward authority figures, sloppy in his schoolwork and ignoring friends he has had since kindergarten. He also is beginning to come to school with eyes glassy, bloodshot, half shut, a grin on his face, and loads of snacks. He used to be athletic but now he sits around and does not appear motivated to complete normal tasks he enjoyed last year. His mother has found small amounts of marijuana in the pockets of his jeans.

Assignment Guidelines

• In 5–7 paragraphs, address the following:
  • What do you think might be motivating this 13 year old boy to use marijuana? Provide two different possible reasons.
    • Would the reasons influence the type of drug he may be using? Explain.
  • How do you feel about illegal recreational drug use? Explain.
  • How do you feel about legal recreational drug use, such as alcohol or tobacco? Explain.
  • Do you think abuse of legal drugs is as dangerous as abuse of illegal drugs? Why or why not?
  • Are there any valid reasons for recreational drug use? Why or why not?
  • 3-4 references

 

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What is a SWOT analysis?

A SWOT analysis is a tool for evaluating the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (or SWOT) associated with something—usually a company, organization, or project, but can be applied to analyze an idea, an argument, or, as we are doing in this assignment, a person.  

We separate the ideas of strengths and weaknesses as internal factors (personal strengths and weaknesses), from the ideas of opportunities and threats as external factors (outside opportunities and threats to learning). These factors are usually presented in a chart with bullet-points followed by a brief narrative about each factor. 

Internal Factors	Strengths	SWOT Analysis	Opportunities	External Factors
Weaknesses	Threats

The first step in completing a SWOT analysis is to identify the specific areas being analyzed.  For the purposes of this assignment, you are asked to analyze the skills you acquired throughout your general education so far.  The categories we will analyze are defined as:

1. Communication skills;
2. Critical thinking skills;
3. Respect for diversity;
4. Professional, social, and ethical responsibility; and
5. Lifelong learning practices

(see “University Learning Outcomes” as defined in the Grantham University Catalog).

Assignment Criteria:
Complete a personal SWOT analysis evaluating your understanding and skills in the five following categories:

1. Communication skills;
2. Critical thinking skills;
3. Respect for diversity;
4. Professional, social, and ethical responsibility; and
5. Lifelong learning practices

Your assignment should include:

1. A SWOT graph with bullet-points defining your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as they relate to the five university learning objectives.
2. A brief narrative describing each defined trait.

There is no page-length requirement for this assignment, however; you should make every effort to provide a complete and accurate personal analysis. Utilizing the SWOT Template (linked below) should help you structure and address every element in the assignment. Pay close attention to detail, including grammar, usage, design, and depth.  

SWOT Template 

 

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