A Critical Evaluation of the Inside Job Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A Critical Evaluation of the Inside Job - Essay Example These people have commented on the reasons of the global economic crisis, their role in the crisis and about their reaction when the financial meltdown began. The Inside Job basically means that there are behind the door interactions among the banks, governments and the academia to a certain extent, which triggered the global financial crisis in 2008 (Bradshaw). The documentary shows how the concepts of keeping a balance in the economy for the safety and financial soundness of the nation were violated by the capitalists who destroyed the economic stability in the country with the help of various influential people (Bradshaw). These were government officials, who had once been bankers and were now making liberal policies in which bankers could make money, on the expense of risking the financial stability of the region. They used political appointees and people from academia who provided forged evidence of the advantages of excessive deregulation. Some people in the government, like Ba rney Frank, tried to regulate this process in order to prevent the economy from breaking down, but their efforts went in vain in face of the high influence of the supporters of deregulation. This process still exists and continues to prevail today, but at a slower pace (Bradshaw). The documentary has been first of its kind, highlighting the change in the banking system after the deregulation of banks in 1980’s. It clearly describes how the risk of the loans previously lived with the lender, which was the bank which made the bank responsible in granting the amount of loans. Gradually, the process of securitization started whereby, the high risk loans were bundled together and were offered to risk taking borrowers on high interest rates. The loans were securitized, and the banks no longer held the responsibility to collect the loan back. This subprime market offered high returns for the banks; therefore, the banks lent large sums of money without anticipating that they could de fault by providing such risky assets. On the other hand, securitization itself is not as harmful as shown in the documentary (Epstein). The securitization process allows the investors to diversify their portfolios by holding a large pool of credit card debt. In this way, investors are not exposed to a single debt risk. It is also a flexible process whereby, the securitizers customize the pools of debt according to the preferences of the investor (Lee). The risk of default lies on the assets on which the securities are formed (Epstein). If those assets are high risk subprime mortgages, there is a high risk of default, which is exactly what happened with the banks in the United States. After the deregulation, in the period from 1987 to 2006, the movie shows how banks and its employees enjoyed a favorable time. Bankers became drastically rich and thought of their richness as a result of their smartness. The perception prevailing among the bankers has been clearly portrayed in the movie , as the Bankers thought of themselves as clever providers of prosperity to the nation and that they deserved to be rich (Bradshaw). However, this led to the concentration of huge sums of money amongst a handful of CEO’s, economists and members from the government. One of the most excruciating realities of the financial world came to the forefront when Charles Fergusons’s documentary highlighted that not only banks and government officials were involved in the excessive deregulation of the banking system, but members from the academia had a vital role in promoting the liberalization process (Bradshaw). The greed of bankers and government o

Technical feasibility of using forest biomass for energy Term Paper - 1

Technical feasibility of using forest biomass for energy - Term Paper Example Woody feedstock can be utilized to generate power and useful heat energy. Wood pellets are considered as a renewable energy source as it has low moisture content and give a great amount of thermal energy by a controlled combustion. According to the article â€Å"Wood to Energy: Use of the Forest Biomass for Wood Pellets† (2009), the writer states â€Å"Harvesting debris  or logging residues such as tops, limbs, and roots, and forest understory are promising feedstock alternatives for wood pellets†. Forest’s raw wood and wood from the sustainably managed forests can be utilized to produce wood pellets, which can be burnt on a small or large scale to produce energy (TheBioenergySite.com 2009). In the article â€Å"Sustainable Forest Biomass: Promoting Renewable Energy and Forest Stewardship†, Caputo (2009) writes â€Å"In fact, improved markets for woody biomass have potential to reduce costs associated with hazardous fuels reduction, wildlife habitat man agement, ecosystem restoration, and other proactive stewardship activities† (Caputo 2009). Today the feedstock used for the production of pellets comes from pulpwood chips. Logging residues can be a feedstock for the wood pellets (TheBioenergySite.com 2009). Because the smaller size of a pellet, it can be burnt easily and the residue could be utilized as a fertilizer. The residue which is a charcoal is mixed with soil to increase the water holding capacity of the soil. The produced large amount of energy can be utilized generate large amount power. The main factor that is associated with the wood pallets is that the controlled combustion of the wood pellets costs less as compared to any other conversion. Wood pallets can be gasified to produce synthetic gas which can be a simple process. The wood pallets are heated at a certain temperature. The heating of the wood pallets gives wood gas that is highly combustible gas and is capable of replacing natural gas. The wood gas can be utilized to produce steam in the