The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood Essay - 2490 Words

â€Å"There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from,† (Atwood 24). The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, is a novel set in the near future where societal roles have severely changed. The most notable change is that concerning women. Whereas, in the past, women have been gaining rights and earning more â€Å"freedom to’s†, the women in the society of The Handmaid’s Tale have â€Å"freedom froms†. They have the freedom from being abused and having sexist phrases yelled at them by strangers. While this may seem like a safer society, all of the â€Å"safeness† comes at a drastic cost. Atwood depicts a dystopia in The Handmaid’s Tale†¦show more content†¦The main character, Offred, is a woman who lives in the Republic of Gilead. The Republic of Gilead overthrew the original United States governme nt and quickly began to take away women’s rights. As a result, Offred was forced to become a Handmaid, a fertile woman whose job is to bear children for a Commander who has an infertile Wife. The story follows Offred through her ordeals as a Handmaid with virtually no rights. She hopes that she will become pregnant so that she will not be sent away with the sterile Unwoman, who are exiled to the Colonies to clean up deadly pollution. Offred misses what the country used to be and struggles to survive in the dystopia that has erupted. A totalitarian regime is a very large piece of what is typically required for a dystopia, and it is certainly present in The Handmaid’s Tale. A totalitarian regime is a political system where the state has complete control and authority over the society. One way that the Republic of Gilead controls its citizens is through surveillance. However, the surveillance is not equal in who is monitored. In the critical essay â€Å"Sexual Surveillan ce And Medical Authority in Two Versions Of The Handmaid’s Tale†, Pamela Cooper states that â€Å"The Handmaid’s Tale thus brings together pre-Christian notions of absolute patriarchal authority—the omniscient, avenging God—with postmodernist theories of the objectifying and possessive maleShow MoreRelatedThe Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood954 Words   |  4 PagesImagine growing up in a society where all women are useful for is to reproduce. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is an excellent novel of what could potentially be the fate of the future one day. The main character, Offred, moves into a new home where she is there to perform â€Å"rituals† with the Commander, head of the house, so she can hopefully reproduce herself. Basically, she is a sex slave and birthing a healthy child is all she is wanted for. Also if she does have a child then she will beRead More The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood583 Words   |à ‚  2 PagesMargaret Atwoods novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, satirizes the movement of religious conservatives that was occurring during its time of publication in the 1980’s. The beliefs expressed by these conservatives are taken to the extreme in the book when a totalitarian government creates a new society that reverses all advancements of women. Through these reversals and formed hierarchies, Atwood creatively makes a statement about the unfair molds in real life that both genders try to break free from. Read MoreSurrogacy In The Handmaids Tale By Margaret Atwood746 Words   |  3 Pages Throughout The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood there begins to become a clear difference in the personal attitudes the Handmaids have towards surrogacy compared to attitudes of modern day surrogates. In modern day society, Americans are very proud of the free will they have, giving them the ability to choose endless possibilities of who and what they want to be. Becoming a surrogate is a choice made 100% by women, offering their wombs to couples who may be experiencing fertility complicationsRead MoreAn Analysis Of Margaret Atwood And The Handmaids Tale843 Words   |  4 Pagessituation, they may be effective in avoiding possible plights. Likewise, the Xinjiang region of China and the plot of â€Å"The Handmaid’s Tale† by Margaret Atwood, explores this dilemma as both government systems employ regulations, which may seem excessive to some but considered as necessary to the governments present in Xinjiang and the republic of Gilead in â€Å"The Handmaid’s Tale †. Moreover, the conflict occurring in Xinjiang is similar to the governmental system in Gilead because of the abundance ofRead MoreCultural Criticism In The Handmaids Tale By Margaret Atwood1011 Words   |  5 Pagesrange of topics to analyze literature. Cultural criticism considers a variety of perspectives and branches of knowledge to discover the compilation of beliefs and customs that characterize a group of people. For a cultural reading of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, a cultural critic would consider the historical background paired with theories such as Marxism and feminism to make assumptions about what culture engendered the creation of this novel. (104 words) Cultural criticism is oftentimesRead MorePower Struggle In The Handmaids Tale By Margaret Atwood1373 Words   |  6 PagesRenowned playwright William Shakespeare, and contemporary novelist Margaret Atwood both explore power struggle from a feminist perspective. Shakespeare in ‘King Lear’ and Atwood in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ explore varying power struggles and their correlation to gender through their respective texts. Shakespeare and Atwood use the genders of their central characters to focus on power in historical and dystopian settings. Both authors explore religious frameworks, the types of power in a patriarchalRead MoreTotalitarian Society In The Handmaids Tale By Margaret Atwood934 Words   |  4 PagesIn the book The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood, the story’s setting takes place in a totalitarian city, in which the government forces their will upon on the citizens and chooses what they will do in the future, especially for wome n. The decreasing birth rates causes the formation of this civilization, but the reader soon learn that the way the government tries to fix this problem is wrong, as it leads to more problems such as trust issues, and the inability to see others as equal. The charactersRead More Society in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood Essay2519 Words   |  11 PagesThe novel, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, by Margaret Atwood focuses on the choices made by those controlling the society of Gilead in which increasing the population and preservation of mankind is the main objective, instead of freedom or happiness. The society has undergone many physical changes that have extreme psychological consequences. I believe Atwood sees Gilead as the result of attitudes and events in the early 1980s, which have spiralled out of control. ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ reflects Atwood’sRead MoreCompare And Contrast The Handmaids Tale And Margaret Atwood1659 Words   |  7 PagesA dystopia is a common genre among many novels and all novels are able to capture the problems within the current society. These problems can vary and each different setting has different problems than the other. Margaret Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale in an effort to capture problems going on in real life: abortion and women’s rights. Another author that captures a similar essence to Atwood’s is Suzanne Young in her novel series The Program. Although both authors emphasize different problems thatRead MoreSociety And Government In The Handmaids Tale By Margaret Atwood1411 Words   |  6 PagesAs we examine today’s society and government, there are different aspects that may lead people to agree with or be against society and government. When compared to the Republic of Gilead in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood , civilians had little to no freedoms and abided by extremely strict regulations. The Republic of Gilead divided individuals and forced them into completing tasks and working without giving them any choice. The handmaids were forced to have sex in order to bear children, while

Piaget, Bandura, Bowbly and Vygotsky - 1850 Words

Piaget, Bandura, Bowbly and Vygotsky Development is about the customary way that a child acts (Bruce Meggit, 2006). Child development is multidisciplinary. Several researches have put forward theories on the way children developed. These can be divided into the psychoanalytical theories, the learning theories, and the cognitive development theories. In this assignment, I will explain a number of these theories by showing what the theorists had developed. Jean Piaget: (Cognitive-development theory) Jean Piaget was a psychologist and was best known for his work on the development of intelligence in children. His studies have had a major impact on he fields of child psychology and education. One of the most important theories in†¦show more content†¦Egocentrism is lost. As physical experience accumulates, accommodation is increased. The child begins to think abstractly and conceptualize, creating logical structures that explain his or her physical experiences. 4th Stage: Formal operational period (11years and up) Cognition reaches its final form. By this stage, the person no longer requires concrete objects to make rational judgements. He or she is capable of deductive and hypothetical reasoning. His or her ability for abstract thinking is very similar to an adult. Albert Bandura Albert Bandura is most known for his work on the Social Learning Theory were he affirmed that learning does not occur only be reinforcement but also by observation and modelling. Bandura’ s Theory states that social behaviour is learned. He argues that learning does not always require direct reinforcement. His theory emphasises that young children learn by imitating and watching other people. Children will imitate both positive and negative behaviour. The people children imitate are considered by them as being people of status; people that hold power (Bruce Meggit, 2006). The Social Learning Theory of Bandura emphasises the importance of observing and modelling the behaviours, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. Bandura (1977) stated that â€Å"Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not tom mention hazardous, if people had

Nine Stories Free Essays

string(92) " and it parallels the dead Easter chick \(death=death of innocence/hope\) in the last line\." Analysis: Nine Stories by JD Salinger For those like me who couldn’t find any insightful analyses about this collection on the Internet: You’re welcome. I have finally figured out what this is about (I think). So the fancy book club met a couple weeks ago to discuss Nine Stories by JD Salinger. We will write a custom essay sample on Nine Stories or any similar topic only for you Order Now Much despair was had because of our varied and confused insights into Salinger’s stories. Was Seymour a pedophile? What’s up with the random last line in â€Å"Just Before the War with the Eskimos? † How should we interpret Nine Stories? And although I haven’t answered most of these questions, I can at least answer the last. So for those of who don’t know how to absorb the collection, here’s a little solace: All of these short stories are about the loss of innocence and the attempt to gain it back. The characters are stuck between innocence and adulthood. And, interestingly, nearly all of the stories feature an interaction between a child and an adult, the child generally being an ideal or a tool for the adult to regain innocence – but not always. In some, even the child is struggling with the loss of ideals. Seymour Glass is the main character in â€Å"A Perfect Day for Bananafish,† and he’s recently returned from the war with mental wounds serious enough to require psychiatric help. The first half of the story shows a telephone conversation between his new wife, Muriel, and her mother. Their discussion revolves around Seymour’s problems, and – when compared to our firsthand experience with those problems – we realize how little they grasp and how little either of them has invested in his well-being. In the second part of â€Å"Bananafish† Seymour speaks with a young girl named Sybil about catching (mythical) bananafish – a fish whose quest for food leads to its a demise. The encounter is a bit disturbing – sexual language abound – and we get a feel for Seymour’s anguish, although specifics are murky. Salinger uses every word to his advantage – in a very subtle way – and, needless to say, the encounter is quite unsettling. We have that distress confirmed when, at the end of the story, Seymour retires to the hotel room – where his wife is sleeping – sits next to her, and shoots himself. The significance of the bananafish is, of course, Seymour’s alignment with it. The fish’s quest for food translates to Seymour’s quest for innocence. His quest, like the fish’s, ends in death. Sybil represents Seymour’s ultimate goal, which is why their interaction is so unnerving. It seems, on the outside, like he’s preying on her (like the bananafish does its food), but he’s actually after what she represents: innocence. He gets his fill and bloats so that he can’t fit back into a world where people like his wife and mother-in-law rule. They are Sybil’s antithesis, and Seymour is caught between the two different existences. It’s in this limbo where Seymour – and many of Salinger’s protagonists in Nine Stories – perish. Eloise and Mary Jane are former college roommates who reconnect in â€Å"Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut† (my personal fave). Mary Jane visits Eloise at her house, and thus ensues a night of drunken revelations. Immediately, Eloise appears unhappy to the point of severity, and Mary Jane takes a back seat to Eloise’s readily apparent issues. We learn that Eloise lost the love of her life in the war (a common villain in Nine Stories) and has resigned herself to a lackluster, unwanted marriage. She’s so unsatisfied with her life and her past that she takes it out on everyone, especially her daughter Ramona who has an imaginary friend – symbolic of dreamy innocence and also indicative of a void she’s trying to fill (the lack of compassion from her mother). In one poignant scene in â€Å"Uncle Wiggily,† Eloise berates Ramona with incredible rage. In the end – after a LOT of alcohol – Eloise admits her weakness: transposing her anger onto others. She resents the loss of her first love, resents her loss of innocence, and resents the people who still have it. It’s really an agonizing story about lost hope, the recognition of no longer having hope, and the desperation to – if nothing else – remember what it’s like to have hope. She’s trapped in a sort of external realm, watching herself, aware of her circumstance, and yet not being capable of moving forward. â€Å"Just Before the War with the Eskimos† is about a frugal young girl, Ginnie, who comes into her friend, Selena’s home to collect a cab fare and encounters her brother, Franklin, a grubby Holden Caulfield-type of character. â€Å"Eskimos† really eludes any obvious meaning, but it’s in there †¦ somewhere. Okay, here goes †¦. he larger theme is war. It’s the backbone of most of Nine Stories. Franklin was not drafted, because he has a bad heart, and he and Ginnie talk about this briefly, but long enough for Ginnie to connect it with what they are subconsciously discussing: rejection. From the get-go â€⠀œ with her demanding to be reimbursed for the cab fare – Ginnie appears to be a girl who takes things for granted; she gets everything she wants. Ginnie’s not deliberately mean, but she doesn’t accept things as they are, but rather demands that they be how she wants them and easily dismisses things/people she doesn’t care for. She wants to throw the furniture in Selena’s home out the window, for example. Then, in walks Franklin, who is boldly himself. Their conversation begins with his rejection from the draft, then moves to his rejection by Ginnie’s sister, then Ginnie’s rejection of the sandwich he offers her. Ginnie is connecting with a person who has been rejected his whole life by people like her and the types of institutions that she represents. Unconsciously, Ginnie links her behavior with the behavior of war, and in the end, decides to keep the sandwich – a growth in character. The sandwich is sort of symbolic of the rejection Franklin has experienced in the past(his loss of innocence), and it parallels the dead Easter chick (death=death of innocence/hope) in the last line. You read "Nine Stories" in category "Essay examples" I may be stretching it, but the story is so tightly wound that it’s hard to unravel. Ginnie is undoubtedly changed for the better because of her interaction with Franklin. Her taking the sandwich may have given him hope for future acceptance, and he gave Ginnie forgiveness and a little child-like compassion. Eh? â€Å"The Laughing Man† – Yeesh. This story is a mind-squeeze if I ever saw one, but I think I’ve got it figured out. The premise is that a college-aged guy takes a bunch of young boys on little â€Å"field trips† – to the baseball diamond, for example (What are his motives? Where are these boys’ parents and how do they feel? I don’t know, but alas †¦ ) During these outings, The Chief – as he’s called – narrates a fable about The Laughing Man, a sort of creepy-roguish-Robin Hood character with a deformed face, a sense of adventure, and an Inspector Clouseau type-of-character after him. â€Å"The Laughing Man† may or may not be narrated by Buddy Glass, a member of Salinger’s Glass family. The boys-only outine comes to a halt when The Chief’s girlfriend, Mary Hudson, starts tagging along, presumably because of dentists’ appointments she has in the city. With the entrance of Mary, the Laughing Man’s fate takes a turn for the worse. The narrator notices frustration between Mary and The Chief, and in the end, the Lau ghing Man meets his maker and the boys never see Mary Hudson again. â€Å"The Laughing Man† is primarily a story about lost innocence. The Chief, a college student, spends his afternoons with relatively young boys – questionable, but without a doubt, an attempt to sustain his youth. Immediately, with the entrance of Mary Hudson, the narrator senses stress between her and the Chief. The Laughing Man symbolizes boyhood and innocence, and when Mary Hudson arrives, the Laughing Man’s fate becomes less certain. Thanks to Wikipedia, a plausible explanation would be that Mary Hudson is pregnant and is actually coming into the city for doctor’s visits, not dentist appointments. (Who has frequent dentist appointments? ) This is most likely the case, but it’s irrelevant. The moral of the story – and what the Chief is teaching the boys through the Laughing Man’s story – is that boyhood ends. Innocence ends. Kind of depressing, but there it is, consistent with the rest of Nine Stories. â€Å"Down at the Dinghy† opens with two house servants discussing Lionel, the son of Boo Boo Glass (their employer). (Another Glass appearance – woohoo! ) We gather from their conversation that Lionel has a penchant for running away. One of them is also concerned that Lionel will repeat something she said (apparently, he has a penchant for that as well). Thus, after Boo Boo arrives at the house, speaks with the women for a moment, and goes down to the pier to see Lionel, he’s trying to sail away. Where the Wild Things Are? anyone? The rest of the story is devoted to Boo Boo’s attempt to entice Lionel back to shore, as it were. She tries to go with him, tries to find out why he’s leaving (one of the house servants called his dad a kike), and then finally challenges him to a race back to the house. (Lionel wins. ) â€Å"Down at the Dinghy† is so understated that it seems like a â€Å"day-in-the-life. † But Salinger isn’t a â€Å"day-in-the-life† kinda guy. Soooooooooo †¦. I’m gonna squeeze this baby open. Two instances in this story are noticeably darker than the rest: the housekeeper calling Lionel’s father a kike and Lionel wearing Seymour’s goggles. Seymour was Boo Boo’s brother). Now, Lionel’s problem isn’t as shallow as â€Å"a boy with a penchant for running away. † These two instances are more significant than the anatomy of â€Å"Down at the Dinghy† would lead you to believe. This young boy has recently (I’m assuming) lost his uncle, and additionally, he believes that other people think poorly of his father. It’s a double-blow, and Lionel reacts by running away. What seems like a story about a kid just being a kid, read from this perspective, transforms into a story about a person grappling with the loss of ideals. Lionel is realizing that the world is not as it seems; there’s more going on. I believe he feels blindsided. Lionel throwing Seymour’s goggles into the water is so significant, because he’s disposing of distractions from the truth. Finally, Boo Boo coaxes him back into being a kid, distracts him from his disillusionment. So there is Lionel, another of Salinger’s characters who is straddling the line between innocence and adulthood. â€Å"For Esme – with Love and Squalor† is one of Salinger’s more obvious stories. During the war, Sergeant X recollects his brief but impressionable meeting with Esme, a young girl in a restaurant before the war. Esme† is totally simple, thus it doesn’t need to be dissected; I don’t even need to give you a rundown of their interaction. Basically, Esme represents innocence for Sergeant X during the war, a time of â€Å"squalor† and adult concerns. Innocence and squalor both constit ute the sergeant’s existence. â€Å"Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes† relates a phone call between Lee and Arthur. Arthur believes his wife, Joanie, is having an affair, while we’re led to believe that the woman with Lee is in fact Joanie. Arthur’s life appears to be in shambles (lost a court case, wife cheating on him, etc. , but soon after the two men hang up, Arthur calls Lee back and makes up a story about Joanie coming back home even though she’s still with Lee. Arthur is, for all intents and purposes, a man who prides himself on having a trophy job and a trophy wife, two naive ideals. When those ideals are torn down – in a sheer act of childish pride – Arthur pretends they still exist. This would generally go unnoticed, but is readily apparent to Lee and Joanie, hence why Salinger chose to tell the story through their points of view. De Daumier-Smith’s Blue Period† is about a pretentious young man (De Daumier) who fak es his way into a professorship at an art school. Once there, he reviews his pupils’ work and struck by a religious painting by a nun. That’s basically it. De Daumier-Smith is a wayfarer, devoid of spirituality and ideals, extremely pretentious and this piece of art forces him to question his convictions. â€Å"Blue Period† is about a man who pretends to be a complex â€Å"adult† but is stripped of his pretensions through an artist who evokes spirituality and idealism. Teddy† is a boy genius/profit who has an existential conversation aboard a ship with Nicholson, a curious grad student. Teddy believes in past lives and karma, and – from what I know about Salinger – represents his spirituality du jour. Salinger, in every one of his Nine Stories, is painting innocence the protagonist and adulthood the villain but is concerned with those characters torn between the two. â€Å"Teddy† rounds out the collection nicely, because its mai n character lives and dies by his ideals. Teddy is the martyr of Nine Stories and he’s meant to be the example for its characters, readers, and even its author. More analysis: Moon By Chaim Potok How to cite Nine Stories, Essay examples

Supply and Demand for Coal

Question: Discuss about theSupply and Demand for Coal. Answer: Introduction References to demand and supply are a commonplace among economists. In definition, demand and supply refer to the ability/willingness of consumers and sellers to buy/sell a particular product. The market always settles at a point where supply and demand are in balance (no shortage, no surplus). A fall in demand leads to a drop in price, while a rise of the same results to an increase in price, ceteris paribus (Bade Parkin, 2011). Unlike demand, supply and price move in the opposite direction. An increase (decrease) in supply leads to a decrease (increase) in price, holding all the other factors constant. A good example of forces of demand and supply in play is the recent reduction in coal prices. Reasons for the Falling Coal Prices The decline can be attributed to the slowdown in global buying from China, India, and the USA, which have, until recently, been strong pillars of demand. We have seen the inventories of thermal coal (the type of coal used to power plants) reach a record high, leading to a soar in domestic production in a period of slowing demand. For instance, in 2015, the global supply of coal exceeded global demand by 30 million tons, in comparison to 9 million tons in 2014. Chinas slowing demand for coal has been a predominant factor driving the global prices down. China is the worlds leading coal consumer and has been responsible for more than 80% growth in global coal usage since 2000. The fuel use in the country declined in 2014 and 2015, marking its first time drop in two consecutive years since 1982. In part, the shrinking demand can be attributed to the countrys plan and pledge to cut down green gas emissions by 2030, to which coal contributes significantly. The ruling party put measures to reduce coal consumption, including the decision to close down mega coal-fired stations across the country. China has in decades, experienced slowest economic growth, translating to less demand for raw materials and other essential commodities such as coal. The state also enacted measures such as import reduction and quality restriction to protect domestic suppliers from the dropping coal prices. This, together with the countrys gradual shift from power hungry industries to service and consumption driven economy has put a pessimistic slant on the global coal demand and price predictions. The sharp decline in coal consumption in the US, the second largest coal consumer, has been attributed to legislations targeting carbon emission such as the Clean Power Plan in 2014, (Reuters India, 2016), as well as the decline in gas prices. Almost all the coal in the US is used to generate power. Hydraulic fracturing has made it possible for producers to access gas trapped in shale formations, resulting in a dramatic increase in gas supply, and a consequent reduction in gas prices (Forbes.com, 2016). Since natural gas and coal are substitutes in electrical generation, many utilities have now switched to the cheaper natural gas, and this has contributed to declining demand for coal. India, the worlds third-largest coal consumer, is implementing policies to increase domestic coal production and reduce coal importation. More than 67% of Indias total energy consumption comes from coal. After years of rising imports, Indias coal minister has pledged to make the country coal self-sufficient, and the plans are underway to cease all coal imports by 2017. India is also recognizing the benefits of phasing out the use of fossil fuels such as coal in favor for renewable (Reuters India, 2016), From the supply side, the problem witnessed in the coal industry is in part due to the unwillingness of few coal companies to cut down production, despite running losses due to intentions of bigger miners to force the smaller, weaker, and less efficient players to shut down. Some Aussie miners have been trying to make up for the price drop with higher export volumes. Export capacity in major coal exporting countries such as Indonesia and Australia has improved due to infrastructural development, and this has boosted coal supply in the global seaborne market. Economic Impact of Reduction in Coal Prices The falling prices have affected the economies of coal importers, exporters, and the countries with an enormous domestic production of coal but with a huge domestic demand of the commodity such as the US. For importing countries such as India and Japan, the recent slump in prices means that the consumers are spending less on coal and more on domestically produced commodities. India, as one of the most sensitive economies to energy prices, has its inflation- a long time problem- on a steady decline. Economists are of the view that, if the trend continues, the Reserve Bank of India may decide to cut the interest rates, which will help to boost other sectors such as manufacturing. The declining price has affected coal exporting countries in a variety of ways. Coal companies pay royalties to the government, which is typically either, a flat rate per ton or percentage of the market value. Along with economic input from jobs and projects, the budgets of state governments have been bolstered by royalties they receive from coal companies. The actual profitability of coal, together with other resource sectors affects the federal budget in a big way. During a boom, coal companies have higher earnings, and this translates to increased corporate taxes. There is also a multiplier effect as complementary sectors benefit from the boom, resulting in more federal taxes and increased employment levels (Jacobsen and Parker, 2013). Also, there are additional staffs that are on higher salaries, which contribute to more income revenues to the national budget and increased spending to the wider economy. The opposite is true during bust cycles. Coal is Australias second biggest export. It accounts for 10 percent of all exports (ABC Rural, 2016). The decline in coal prices has such consequences that it could end Australias more than 22- year stint of unbroken economic growth. As the value of this export takes a dive, we expect a fall in disposable income per person, a slump in terms of trade, and a consequent depreciation of the Australian dollar. The coal industry in the US is also in shambles. According to the labor department, the industry has lost hundreds of thousands of workers since 2011. Large companies such as BP, Chevron, and Shell, have continued to lay a significant number of their employees. On the national level, the situation has been mitigated by increased investments in green energy. Affected Industries Industries affected by declining coal price include the coal industry, railroad, power generation, as well as steel and construction industries. The decline has knocked down the shares of many coal mining companies, and this has seen many financiers exit the sector. There have been cutbacks, though they have not been enough to mop out the rising supply. For instance, in December 2015, Glencore Plc, the worlds largest coal exporter halted production for three weeks in 13 mining operations in Australia. This took a toll on the companys revenues. Coal companies have been closing down at an alarming rate. More than 200 coal power plants have closed down in the US alone In January 2016, Arch Company, the second largest coal company in North America, became the first in 2016 to file for bankruptcy protection (International Banker, 2016). The situation is so much worse that during the past half-decade, public coal producers in the US alone lost 99 percent of their value. A decline in coal shipment has yielded a blow to the freight railroad industry. Railroads require steady investments to maintain their competitiveness and are very vulnerable to internal and external shocks. Given the earnings of railroad operators mainly come from coal, the recent reduction in price saw a decline in their profits. As a result, Union Pacific Corp (UNP), and Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC) reported a 10% reduction in their revenues (NASDAQ.com, 2015). While there may be some positive correlations between electricity prices and declining coal prices, this does not easily translate into an increasing demand for electricity. Power plants are increasingly switching to natural gas due to cost and efficiency issues because producers have to wade through multifaceted environmental limitations put in place to curb the use of coal. The decline in the international price of coking coal is expected to benefit steel producers. However, overproduction of steel in Asia has flooded the market with cheap stee (EUROFER: Chinese steel imports confuse buyers in Europe as Chinese steel producers exploit the export tax regime, 2015). There has also been an increased focus on using aluminum for automobiles due to stringent regulation pertaining emission and efficiency issues. Almost half of the worlds steel is utilized in the construction industry. Construction sector in China (the biggest in the world) is on the decline due to high debt, insufficient returns, and excess housing supply. All in all, the steel producers may benefit from falling coal prices in the short run, but the long-term demand is stacked against them. Conclusion The price of coal has substantially declined in recent years. It has reduced the company profits, increased unemployment, and has reduced the pace of growth in government revenue and household income among coal exporting countries such as Australia. This has restrained non-mining business investment. However, some coal importing economies such as India have benefited from the reduction in coal price, as well as some industries such as energy, steel, and construction. References ABC Rural. (2016). Low resource commodity prices factored into federal budget. [online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-29/low-commodity-prices-factored-into-budget/7362958. [Accessed 8 Sep. 2016]. Bade, R. and Parkin, M. (2011). Foundations of economics. Boston: Pearson Addison-Wesley. Eurofer: Chinese steel imports confuse buyers in Europe as Chinese steel producers exploit the export tax regime. (2015). Steel Construction, 8(1), pp.71-71. Forbes.com. (2016). Forbes Welcome. [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2013/04/23/4-reasons-coal-declines-even-as-natural-gas-prices-rise-eia/#5fe01df75b01 [Accessed 7 Sep. 2016]. International Banker. (2016). The Decline in the US Coal Industry. [online] Available at: https://internationalbanker.com/brokerage/decline-us-coal-indus. [Accessed 8 Sep. 2016]. Jacobsen, G. and Parker, D. (2013). The Economic Aftermath of Resource Booms: Evidence from Boomtowns in the American West*. [online] Economic Journal, forthcoming. Available at: https://pages.uoregon.edu/gdjaco/Booms.pdf [Accessed 8 Sep. 2016]. NASDAQ.com. (2015). Railroads: Low Coal Demand, Oil Price Slump Play Spoiler. [online] Available at: https://www.nasdaq.com/article/railroads-low-coal-demand-oil-price-slump-play-spoiler-cm556707#ixzz4JZwKk0mX. [Accessed 7 Sep. 2016]. Reuters India. (2016). Thermal Coal-Asian coal prices lifted by tightening markets in China, India. [online] Available at: https://in.reuters.com/article/markets-coal-physical-idINL3N0YP2XO20150603 [Accessed 7 Sep. 2016].