Development in Moroccan Economy Essay Example for Free

Development in Moroccan Economy Essay Economic Environment Development of the Moroccan Economy The Moroccan economy is known for its macroeconomic stability. Inflation rates have always been relatively low, mainly due to the country’s restrictive currency regime. Morocco has been characterised by moderate to high growth rates. The country has benefited from its low labour cost and strategic location near the European mainland. Morocco has experienced a stronger growth than usual since the year 2000, caused by improved weather conditions, a strong export growth and various liberalizing policies. These liberalizing policies have been introduced by King Mohammed VI in 2003. He came up with a number of economic reforms resulting in a growth of the small modern manufacturing sector and the development of the tourism industry. He has put his main focus on the European Union since the Free Trade Agreement in the year 2000. Morocco’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has steadily gone up since 2002. According to statistics of â€Å"Datamonitor 360† the GDP in 2002 was about 40 billion dollar, in 2010 the GDP had grown to approximately 60 billion dollar. That is a rise of 50% in only eight years time. The World Factbook from the CIA mentions that in 2010 Morocco ranked number 58 in the world when it comes to the GDP. The real GDP growth rate has not been negative since 2002. In 2010 Morocco ranked number 77 in the world of real GDP growth. The lowest growth rate was about 2,5% in 2005 and 2007 and peeked with 7,5% in 2006. This could have possibly been caused by the Free Trade Agreement with the United States of America, which was introduced in 2006. I will further explain the results of the Free Trade Agreement with the EU and the USA later on in this chapter. The three main sectors: industry, service and agriculture, all grew steadily the past ten years. In 2009 the service sector was the biggest sector and contributed 49,4% to the GDP, the industry sector came second with 31,3% followed by the agriculture with 19,2%. Morocco has a profitable industry sector, mainly because of its large amounts of phosphate. Tourism plays a big role in the service sector. The tourism industry has remained vibrant despite the Casablanca bombings in 2003 and 2007. Morocco’s external trade has also been increasing steadily, with only a slight decrease in 2009. However, the total external trade still grew from 25,7 billion dollars in 2002 to 77,6 billion dollars in 2009. This is a growth of 51,9 billion dollars, which is a growth percentage of approximately 202%. Even though Morocco’s economy has been doing well the past decade, the unemployment rate is still relatively high. During the period from 2002 to 2008 the unemployment rate was at least 11%. In 2007 a small decrease of unemployment of 300 thousand took place, still leaving 1,1 million people unemployed. By the end of 2008 the unemployment rate was 9,6%. In 2009 a total of 93,000 new jobs got created resulting in a decrease to 9,1% by the end of 2009. We can conclude that the overall Moroccan economy has shown a fairly good development, but there is still a lot more to improve. The government has been working on new reforms that should lead to better business conditions in the country. International Financial Crisis Morocco together with Algeria and Tunisia has been one of the least affected countries by the international financial crisis. The international financial crisis started with the credit crunch in the US. Morocco has not been affected by this so-called credit crunch, because Morocco does not have the kind of credit that caused the American credit crunch. Besides this Morocco had minimal exposure to foreign assets. Morocco did however get affected by the international financial crisis as soon as it hit Europe. The Western European crisis resulted in diminishing growth rates. The crisis in Europe did not only slow down Moroccan export rates, but also the tourism industry. As European unemployment rates increased, many Moroccans working abroad lost their jobs, causing a decline in remittances. Morocco has been able to keep the negative effects of the international financial crisis to a minimum due to its good macroeconomic policy, an open economy, clear trade policies and several investment opportunities with emerging countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa. Because of the effects the financial crisis has had in Europe and the US, Gulf investors are expected to invest in African countries and the Middle East. At the end of 2008 Gulf investors announced a 1,7 billion US dollar investment in real estate in Morocco. These investments and planned reforms will make sure the Moroccan economy will continue to grow in the future. Effects FTA US and EU Morocco’s economy has largely benefited from the free trade agreements it has made with the European Union and the United States. In 1996 Morocco signed an association agreement with the European Union. The association became effective on March 1, 2000. The free trade agreement with the EU is mainly applied on industrial products and hardly any agricultural products. The objective is to have completely free trade between Morocco and the EU by 2012. In 2010 the EU proposed a new trade deal with Morocco to include duty-free trade in agricultural, food and fisheries products. On June 15, 2004 Morocco also signed a free trade agreement with the USA, which became effective on January 1, 2006. For America this was the second Arab-US free trade agreement and the first African-US free trade agreement. During a video of the ‘Moroccan American Trade and Investment Council’ the counsellor to King Mohammed VI for financial and economic affairs says about the FTA with the US: â€Å"We want to put Morocco as a platform for business with Europe, with the US, with Asia, China, Africa, Middle East. It was part of a global vision of Morocco. † Mr. Hassan, the president of the Moroccan Business Association says during the same video â€Å"The Morocco – US free trade agreement is a great opportunity for the Moroccan economy. † Due to the free trade agreements many American and European businesses have opened establishments in Morocco. These businesses have employed thousands of Moroccans causing a decline in the unemployment rate of the country. Both free trade agreements have been a huge step in the right direction for Morocco. The country still has a lot of poverty and unemployment; much more is needed to solve the country’s issues. However, the country is one of the most stable African and Arab nations. Current Economic System Morocco has a relatively liberal market economy regulated by supply and demand. From 1993 onwards there has been a policy of privatization. The heritage foundation, a research and educational institution, has come up with an index of economic freedom. This index makes it possible to measure the economic freedom in countries around the world. The world average score on the index of 2011 is 59. 7 out of 100 points. Morocco’s overall score is 59. 6, only a tenth point under the world average. Morocco is the 93rd country on the 2011 world rank of economic freedom. The regional average of the Middle East and North Africa is 60. 6, which makes Morocco the 10th country on the list of 17 regional countries. The overall score is determined by ten economic freedoms. In figure below the ranking of all ten separate economic freedoms of Morocco compared to the world average is shown. The most important economic freedom for this specific country report is business freedom. The business freedom represents the procedures for setting up and registering a private enterprise and the possibilities of private investment and production. In figure you can clearly see the Moroccan business freedom compared to the Dutch business freedom. King Mohammed VI has come up with many economic and non-economic reforms over the years. The two largest current reforms are the â€Å"Plan Maroc Vert† (Green Plan) and the â€Å"Plan Emergence†.

Looking at Eyewitness TEstimony :: essays research papers

Assignment #2 Article #17 Looking Askance at Eyewitness Testimony   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The use of eyewitnesses has been a constant in of criminal justice system since its very beginning. Unfortunately, people do not make the best witnesses to a crime. The person may not have seen the actual criminal, but someone that looks similar to them. The witness may lie about what he or she may have scene. Also the witness can be influenced by the police as to who or what they saw at the time of the crime. The witness or victims memory of the person may have faded so that they don’t remember exactly what had seen, which could be disastrous for the accused.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With all these possible flaws in the testimony of witnesses and victims why do they continue to use them as primary evidence in criminal cases? The answer is simple; until recently there was no other way to prove whether or not a person was actually at the scene of a crime unless someone saw them or they left some finger prints behind that the police were able to link back to someone, which may have not been left on the victim but in the general vicinity. Until recently, with the recent breakthrough in DNA testing which allows police and investigators to gain an exact match as to who committed the crime.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I personally feel that this is a much more reliable and accurate than relying on the testimony of witnesses. I believe through the use of science we as a society can now make sure that the guilty are caught and punished while the innocent are protected from wrongful prosecution. However the eyewitness should not be completely left out of the case against the possible offender. After it is determined through scientific evidence, in this case DNA, that the physically involved in the crime then witnesses can be brought in to give testimony that the offender was present at the crime scene or the victim can be sure that the accused was truly the one involved in the actual crime.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Also the procedures for recording eyewitnesses testimony have to be revised.

Oprah Winfrey Commencement Speech Essay

Oprah’s audience was very receptive of her mainly because she is a respected icon known all over America. The audience was a group of diverse faculty, staff, graduates, family and friends. When Oprah started her speech welcoming the audience, she gave them an icebreaker saying she wanted to let them in on a secret to personalize her speech. She lets the audience know that her god daughter Kirby attends Stanford and she is very proud of her. Oprah uses humor throughout her speech as she says the name â€Å"Stanford† engaging the audience as she speaks. She gives personal experience in her speech to show her audience that she too had experiences throughout college that could have hindered her from being the icon she is today. Oprah uses great eye contact throughout her speech. She did not read word for word what was on her paper because most of her speech was based off her experience as a student in the past at the beginning of the speech. She gave quotes of her father and B.B. King about learning that is beautiful. She lets the graduates know that your education had just started. Her speech lead on to elaborate on how the world has so many lessons to teach. She lets the audience know that earth is like a school and our lives are the classrooms. Life will have detours and road block but the secret to learn to be open to the lessons. Self improvement will help evolve as human beings. Oprah speaks with an inviting tone keeping her audience engaged. Even though the speech is lengthy, Oprah was not repetitive. She explained a few life lessons of her own journey but still gave humor as she spoke about the main lessons of her speech. The audience was still engaged throughout her speech. Oprah was very familiar with her speech content. She spoke as if she was graduating herself and speaking like she would want to be spoken to as a graduate. Oprah’s posture was appropriate and the gestures she uses with her hands and tone of her voice made the speech stand out more towards her audience. The overall tone of the message was exciting, funny and receptive. Oprah’s speech was spoken to relate to those who were not graduates also. She wants  the audience to understand that a degree is important and you can not allow yourself or others to defer you of a goal or dream. The speech Oprah gave was ethical. She realized the majority of her audience was of the white race and she included her own racial experiences in her speech with the stories she shared. Her own experiences made up the entire speech. The graduates seemed like they were listening and understanding the speech based off the feedback they gave after she spoke. There were interactions from the audience when Oprah spoke about how she made it as the icon talk show host. Oprah conveys to her audience to learn that life is more than just making money. You have to earn it and making money has to have meaning. If you do not have meaning in making your money and making a difference to the world then money doesn’t matter. Oprah shows much inspiration in her speech that should make the audience aspire to be like her or even more. Overall, Oprah did a great job catering to the diverse audience with her speech. It did not seem rehearsed, she gave eye contact and her audience seemed engaged in her speech for the 30 minutes I analyzed it. She did a great job and kept me engaged myself.

Censorship - A Clash of Wills and Morals Essay - 4147 Words

Censorship - A Clash of Wills and Morals A list of the greatest literature of the English language could be compiled almost solely by using a chart of the works most often censored by schools and libraries. Some people believe that the books most frequently banned consist only of trashy paperbacks and frivolous â€Å"beach-reading.† However, usually in censorship cases, there is a clash of wills and morals between the teacher or librarian who finds a work worthy of students’ and community members’ time and the parent or citizen who sees little literary value in the work of choice. Seldom is the teacher or librarian alone in thinking a work justified for reflection. More often than not, the controversial work has†¦show more content†¦The reason a book is banned and the reason a book is lauded are inextricably linked. Controversial works are usually challenged on the basis of religious, sexual, political, and social issues. However, it is interesting to note that most works are actually censored not for the four reasons above, but for the ambiguous charge of â€Å"obscenity.† In Lee Burress’s chart listing the most common reasons for book censorship, the obscenity charge heads the list (Burress, 42). This charge usually remains relatively unexplained and is based on a few choice swear words taken from the challenged text. Censors usually cling to the obscenity charge because they believe it will gather public support as the basis for removing books†¦If there is substantial support for providing a wide range of materials then charges restricting the intellectual content of a book, its racial, religious, or political ideas, are less likely to receive much public support, and so the frequency of [those] charges diminishes. (Burress, 41-44) More often than not the charge of â€Å"obscenity† is merely a cover for other motives the censor may not feel comfortable making known. 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