The Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009

The Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009 An act is a law enacted as legislation. The Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009 was first presented to States Congress (Senate and House of Representatives) in the United States for discussion in July 8 2009. The act covers any financial product or service to be used by a consumer for personal, family, or household purposes.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009 specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More According to Postner (2009), the Agency has authority over financial products and services ensuring consumers have adequate information on financial products and services so as to make rational decisions. The agency should also be responsible for designing standard products. The agency’s decree is to seek to espouse intelligibility, straightforwardness, justice, answerability, and access in the market for (consumer) financial products or services. Its objective s according to Govtrack (n.d.) include; ensuring that all consumers especially the marginalized have access to financial services, protecting consumers from any form of exploitation and ensure equality in treatment of all consumers, ensuring easy access and use of any information that may help consumers make good decisions in regard to financial products and services, and ensuring smooth running of the financial products and services and bringing out ideas that may bring about growth and development in the markets. Wright and Zywicki (2009) highlight the major setbacks of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency as; It uses high bureaucracy levels which may lead to increased expenses and wastage of time in carrying out the procedures, It has been seen as a major cause of financial crisis as many people result in borrowing to buy houses they could not afford and hence being unable to pay their mortgages and It may reduce competition and availability of credits to consumers and may a lso limit customer choice. Evans and Wright (2010) observe the effects of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency to be; Increased interest rates paid by consumers, reduced borrowing capacity of consumers hence reducing consumer spending and low rate of new jobs created in the economy. Conclusion Although the Consumer Financial Protection Agency has been viewed to have many negative aspects, here are some of the positives aspects I have realized; it ensures that the financial products are of high quality and beneficial to consumers by adhering to set standards. It allows for fair competition and outlaws prepayment penalties and protects consumers against malicious lenders.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Recommendations There should be no stiff regulations on borrowers. Regulation should ensure that lenders deal with informed borrowers hence avoiding deception Co nsumers should be given adequate information on changes on rates that may arise during payments of loans There should be penalties on lenders who deceive consumers by taking advantage of their ignorance on financial products and services. Way forward Implementation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act will affect providers and consumers of financial products and services in some ways; it will lead to sweeping of consumer financial protection. The act will lead to formation of Consumer Financial Protection Agency which will ensure that other existing financial protection laws are executed in a proper manner. It will also control consumer financial products, authorize disclosures, and necessitate businesses to offer consumers plain vanilla products to ascertain quality and standard and strictly enforce penalties against any malpractices. The agency will also prohibit adjustable-rate mortgages since consumers usually don’t put into consideration the possibility of fut ure increase in interest rates and ban pre-payment penalties on mortgages. Reference List Evans, D.S. and Wright, J.D. (2010). The Effect of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009 on Consumer Credit. George Mason Law Economics Research Paper No. 09-50; Loyola Consumer Law Review, Vol. 22, No. 3, 2010, pp. 277-335. Govtrack (n.d). Text of H.R. 3126: Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009.  Retrieved from https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/111/hr3126/textAdvertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009 specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Postner, A.R (2009). Treating Financial Consumers as Consenting Adults. Wall Street journal, New York: Dow Jones Company. Wright, J D. and Zywicki, T. J. (2009). Three Problematic Truths about the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009. Lombard Street, Vol. 1, No. 12, September 14, 2009; George Mason Law Econ omics Research Paper No. 09-48.

Understanding Cities and Regions

Understanding Cities and Regions Understanding cities and regions is a significantly complicate and confusing task. This process enables individuals and government agencies to effectively plan for resource distribution and management of regions.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Understanding Cities and Regions specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More A city refers to an entity that occupies space or an element in a network of urban centres. On the other hand, a region entails an intermediary entity that occupies a position in the continuum of a country and a city (Frey 2007, p. 112). In this regard, the distinction of the two entities involves the analysis of spatial and temporal comparisons, structural change, design and the implementation of policies. Sometimes, disagreements arise regarding when the categorising of a city as a region and vice versa. Similarly, cities and regions share multiple traits. These include their representation of an open system w ith respect to trade, factor mobility, and government transfers (Short 1996, p. 424). Nevertheless, a detail analysis of the two economic entities will depict the fundamental difference that supersedes the mere analysis concerning the dimensions of the area or population. From the inception of the concept of urbanisation, several elements of an urban area have been considered in evaluating the components of a city. Classically, cities were considered urban areas that exhibited economical, social, and political influences on people. In this regard, various theories attempt to explain the origin and development of urban areas.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The theories that have clearly elicited how urban areas originated in the past include hydraulic, economic, military, and religious theories (Parr 2008, p. 3012). All these theories identify the need of populationsâ €™ confederation. The theories have similar primary characteristics concerning size, specialisation of labour, class-structured society and state organisation. Notably, the population, environment, technology, and social organisation influenced the emergence of urban areas. Overtime, the rating of the urban areas with the focus on industrial production underwent considerable transformations. At the same time, industrial capitalism input a crucial element in the industrial cities’ definition. During this transition period, the urban areas were segregated to accommodate the needs of all individuals as per their classes. Quartering such as luxury areas, gentrified city, suburban, tenement, and abandon cities existed. All these quarters catered for the needs of the mighty and the poor in the society. After the industrial period, the urban areas transformed to the postmodern cities. In this regard, the adoption of restructuring in the economic, social, and political segments w as necessary. The restructuring of the economic base in the urban areas involved a fundamental change in the organisation and technology of the industrial production.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Understanding Cities and Regions specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Consequently, it led to the formation of a global system of world cities through the spatial division of labour and specialisation (Clapp 1971, p. 128). Similarly, a change in social structure was witness because of the social fragmentation created by the wide gap between the rich and the poor. Nevertheless, there was an increase in the radical restructuring of the urban forms like megacity, metroplex, technoburb, technopolis, and exopolis to accommodate the change in the urban imagery. Historically, the imagery of the cities influenced the urban areas’ rating. In this regard, myths and ideologies were developed to describe the exact nature of urban areas (Hufschmidt 1969, p.88). The common anti-urban myths included unnatural, anonymous, sin, or treat cities. The pro-urban views included the civilized, soft, free, or radical cities. Progressively, urban ideologies emerged which help to characterise the nature of a city as a wannabee world, clean and green or ‘look! No more factories’ city. At that time, cities were categorised with regard to the cost of living, employment and crime rates, arts and climate. Evidently, multiple means of evaluating cities have been formulated. Additionally, presently, competition is no longer regional or national, but globally. Therefore, In this regard, it is crucial for any city to identify its market niche and create a favourable image. Apparently, the region definition has been the main area of interest in distinguishing between regions and cities. Analytically, regions cut across the various approaches of interest like economics, geography, planning, politics, and sociology. Thu s, regions focus on the economic, social, political, cultural, and ecological changes (Pike 2007, p. 1145). Evidently, regions exhibit contemporary controversies about space, place, and scale.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As a result, researchers have embarked on studies to establish the standards of analysis and evidence of regions. Notably, most researchers agree that regions should be categorised depending on the data specification, collection, and analysis in more open, unbound, and discontinuous spatial units other than the space, place, and scale. The role of governance, policy, and politics in the regional level is essential in the definition of a region. The emergent forms of governance regarding participatory and democratic leadership with new geographies of devolution and multi-layering clearly depicts the definition of a region. Similarly, the use of regions to shape, develop, and deliver policies determine their definition (Stiftel 2005, p. 220). Additionally, power relations are critical in evaluating regions’ interests and development. This implies that the initiative of contesting demands the collective provision and interpretation of governance of regional firm networks. Theref ore, it is crucial to realise that regions have more importance to contesters as they promote the emergence of spatial imaginaries at the city-region and local levels. Consequently, the main requirement of regional studies is to reflect on the need to articulate the normative content and intent of people’s work towards sustainable development at the local and regional levels. In defining regions, it is critical to adopt the Meyer’s classification of economies approach. This approach defines regions with respect to spatial differentiation. In this regard, there are the homogeneous, nodal, and programming regions (Salet 2003, p. 125). The homogeneous approach reflects on the regions that exhibit differentiating factors, but similar uniform terms of a certain criteria. This approach’s use has been significant with the analysis of economic activities. The nodal regions adopt the fact that there are nodes or market areas within the surrounding of the suburban areas t hat supply the nodes. Additionally, the government’s implementations of policies that create differentiating factors influence the programming regions. All these forms the influencing factors of a region explain the exact nature of a region. The process of contrasting regions and cities demands the analysis of regions space, scale, and social factors. Initially, the first contrast entails the definition of cities or regions with regard to the spatial-sectored factors, interaction between zones, external interaction or scale and change. The spatial-sectored structures refer the combination of the urban area (C zone) and the hinterland or surrounding regions (S zone). The interaction between zones entails how the C zone and S zone symbiotically relate with respect to their economic interdependence (Pacione 2005, p. 44). The external interactions depict how two different zones interact without losing their sight to the external economic relations. Similarly, scale and change por tray the extensiveness of an area and the frequency of changes in such regions. In this regard, adequate attention on the spatial structure and the change emerging due to evolution is vital. Another contrasting element of the types of regions is the polycentric urban region (PUR). This component entails the spatial structure, patterns of interaction and economic prospects of PUR. The spatial structure entails the grouping of urban areas that meet certain conditions such as the clustered distribution of urban areas, maximum and minimum spacing, lack of direct relationship between centres and any dominance, and the average level of interaction between centres. The patterns of interaction entail the labour-market interaction between centres. The economic prospects refer to the formation of a metropolitan area without its accompanying disadvantages. This fosters the efficient delivery of services and the adoption of appropriate system of governance. There are other ways of identifying P UR. These include the alternative interpretation of regions and polycentric megacity region (Stilwell 1992, p. 128). This enables the identification and distinction of cities and regions. References Clapp, J. A. (1971). New towns and urban policy; planning metropolitan growth. Dunellen: New York. Frey, H., Yaneske, P. (2007). Visions of sustainability: cities and regions. Taylor Francis: London. Hufschmidt, M. M. (1969). Regional planning; challenge and prospects. Praeger: New York. Pacione, M. (2005). 3. Urban geography : global perspective (pp. 22-57). Routledge: New York, NY. Parr, J. B. (2008). Cities and regions: problems and potentials. Environment and Planning, 40, 3009-3026. Pike, A. (2007). Editorial: Whither Regional Studies?. Centre for Urban and RegionalDevelopment Studies (CURDS), 41(9), 1143-1148. Salet, W. G. (2003). Metropolitan governance and spatial planning: comparative case studies of European city-regions. Spon Press: London. Short, J. R. (1996). 18. The urban order : an introduction to cities, culture, and power (pp. 414-438). Blackwell Publishers: Cambridge, Mass., USA. Stiftel, B., Watson, V. (2005). Dialogues in urban and regional planning. Routledge: London. Stilwell, F. J. (1992). Understanding cities regions: spatial political economy. Pluto Press Australia: Leichhardt, NSW.

Is Locke's defence of toleration persuasive Essay - 1

Is Locke's defence of toleration persuasive - Essay Example Locke’s defence of toleration is persuasive and valuable not merely because he employs the principle of state of nature to justify toleration but also because he promotes a responsibility to tolerate others by encouraging a tradition of dialogue, cooperation, and liberality among members of the body politic. Basically, Locke defines toleration as â€Å"a right to care for one’s own civil and religious ends, free from the magistrate’s limited authority†. This essay thoroughly demonstrates that Locke’s defence of toleration is persuasive. Definitely, Locke would have viewed his defence of toleration as a component of a continuous discourse within the 17th-century Protestant fellowship about the nature of true belief. Obviously, viewing Locke’s defence of toleration as too abstract or too general will fail to capture the very essence of his arguments, and they should be understood within the perspective in which they were developed. Locke’s central argument is that the state and church should be independent or separated because they influence and engage in different domains of public and private life and, thus, they should not interfere with each other’s businesses. Locke does not promote, apparently, the benevolent 21st-century Church of England, which is supported by the state and does not oblige participation, but the forceful 17th-century Church of England, wherein everybody was obliged to take part in. The argument against this kind of active and insistent state involvement in religious issue s, Locke claims, can be justified: the state does not have a role in the salvation of souls; the attempts of the state to intervene in religious matters will be unsuccessful because it cannot oblige citizens to accept a faith truthfully; and, the state is incapable of assuring the deliverance of its members. It is the contention of this essay that these arguments are mostly persuasive. The three major