Recent orders
policy for an independent contractor
Policy for an independent contractor
A person who is engaged by the company to offer services could be regarded as an independent contractor. The contractor is subject to control or direction of the company only with regard to the result and not as to the means used to achieve that end result. Determination of the status of the person as an independent contractor is to be established prior to that individual’s execution of the service. Departments are to seek authentication of the status of the independent contractor from disbursement services prior to initiating any service commitment or drafting any payment request form(s). Independent contractors will be issued with a Federal tax Form 1099-MISC in the first month the year prior to their services if they are paid at least $1000 in the previous calendar year. In some cases, the independent contractor payment might be subjected to tax withholding.
For an individual to be determined as an independent contractor, the employer/employee relationship must be deemed not to exist in reference to the Internal Revenue Service guiding principles. They outline three main categories of behavioral and financial management and the correlation of the parties:
Financial control: Facts that provide the degree of direction or control on how the trading attributes of the worker’s activities are conducted (major investment, unreimbursed costs such as rent and utilities, marketing, wages of assistants, licensing, insurance, supplies, etc.)
Behavioral control: Facts that provide the degree of direction or control on how the worker executes the precise task for which he/she is employed (providing directions or guidance.)
Relationship of parties: Facts that provide how the parties perceive their relationship (employee’s benefits, objectives of the parties, written agreements, permanency, discharge)
The effect of raising or lowering the federal funds rates
Phase 3 Individual Project
Institution
Name
In the US, federal funds rate refers to the interest rate used by depository institutions in trading balances that are held by the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is known s federal funds. Institutions with surplus balances lend those institutions with balance deficits. This paper discusses the issues around federal fund rate adjustments. The effect from the adjustments of the federal funds rate influences the economy’s money supply.
The effect of raising or lowering the federal funds rates has effects on other short-term interest rates, foreign exchange rates, long-term interest rates, employment, amount of money or credit in the system, the employment rate in the economy, the output, the price level, and the economy’s investment rate. The Fed determines the direction of short-term interest but has no direct effect on the long-term interest rates (Jordà, 2005). The effect comes to the investors of bonds in the bond market first, who then cause effect to the economy and its fluctuations as well as on inflations.
When interest rates in the economy are increased, borrowing becomes expensive while saving becomes attractive. Investors find it hard to borrow funds to boost the level of investment in the economy. The result of this is that the output goes down and ends up pushing most of the labor out of the system. The level of employment goes down. (Jordà, 2005) Since people’s incomes freezes as the level of employment and investment goes down, the aggregate demand decreases as well. Since people have to cut down their consumption levels, the effect of this action is a push of the suppliers to cut down the prices for their products and services to restore the market equilibrium.
When the rates of interest are lowered, the opposite happens to the economy. Decreasing the federal funds interest creates an environment whereby borrowing is cheap and saving is undesirable due to t the insignificant returns obtained. Borrowing becomes cheap and now investors can borrow as many funds as they can in order to invest. The initial effect is an increased money supply since people have reduced their saving but instead turned to borrowing. An effect of cheap borrowing is increased investment that further increases money circulation in the economy. The high investment level in the economy creates employment (Garg, 2008). At this point, people have a lot of money to spend against the lower supply. This aspect leads to an increased aggregate demand. Since the aggregate supply, in the economy, is lower than the aggregate demand, producer or suppliers have to adjust their prices to restore the market to equilibrium. This is done by increasing the price level in the economy. The increased prices for goods and services motivate producer to increase their output level. The increase price level in the economy is what is referred to as inflation.
In the stock market and the bond market, investors are found to variety of options concerning investment opportunities. Investors always chose investments that yield highest rate returns. The effect of the federal funds rate influences the way investors invest their money in that increased interest rates makes consumers and businesses cut back their spending causes a fall in earnings and a drop in stock prices (Garg, 2008). A fall in the interest rates increases consumption and business spending causing stock prices to rise. Bond prices increase when the rates of interest are low and decrease when interest rates are high (Garg, 2008).
Graphically the Fed influence on money supply can be established as follows:
The graph shows that money supply is high when the federal funds rates are high. Federal funds rate influence influences money supply in that when the rates are high, people hardly borrow often but saves more to earn higher returns through interest rates. This makes the money supply curve to be lowest were the rates of interest are high (Garg, 2008). The graph has the federal funds rate as the influencing variable and money supply as the dependent variable.
If money supply were the independent variable, the effect of money supply on interest rates would cause a situation whereby increased money supply lowers interest rates. The effect of money supply goes on to a point any increase in money supply has no effect on the interest rates. This brings about the issue of liquidity trap whereby even if the money supply is increased passed a given point, the effect on interest rates in the economy is zero or insignificant. A liquidity trap come in when the short-term nominal interest rates are equal to zero which may be happening the US economy (Jordà, 2005). The economy of the United States could therefore be in a liquidity trap given the fact that application of monetary policy has little or no effect on the economy. The US economy is in its maturity with small economic growth rate. Stimulating the economy may not call for the use of monetary policies. The Fiscal policies could be the best whereby the Fed could use various fiscal policy tools to stimulate its growth. One of the tools that could be used in stimulating the US economy is lowering interest rates to attract borrowing for investment and hence increase employment, output, and aggregate demand (Jordà, 2005). The government could also increase its spending to stimulate aggregate demand. The Fed can as well purchase bonds to provide investment funds to investors thereby stimulating its economic growth.
References
Garg, K. (2008). The Effect of Changes in the Federal Funds Rate on Stock Markets: A Sector-wise Analysis. Undergraduate Economic Review, Vol. 4, Is. No.1 , 1-36.
Jordà, Ò. (2005, May 20). Can Monetary Policy Influence Long-term Interest Rates? Retrieved March 8, 2013, from FRBSF Economic Letter: http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2005/el2005-09.html
Zaman, E. W. (2012, December 10). Where Would the Federal Funds Rate Be, If It Could Be Negative? Retrieved March 8, 2013, from Economic Commentary: http://www.clevelandfed.org/research/Commentary/2012/2012-15.cfm
The Effect Of Imagebility And Cognitive Load On Word Recall Memory
Ability of a person’s mind to recall events varies on the conveyance method which could be word of mouth or images. Studies have shown that images leave a much more permanent memory compared to other forms of instructions. This is termed as imageability which compared to cognitive load, gives higher frequency (Madan, Glaholt, and Caplan, 2010). As has been proved, the cognitive load and imageability play significant roles in affecting the memory of individuals. The level however, varies. This paper is aimed at analyzing the reasons behind the significant disparities between the two variables. It is important to know what factors affect their variance and their relationship to the memory of a person. This is also an analysis of the different types of responses and their variables, such as the cue and free recall. Psychologists have shown that understanding how the human brain works explains why matters that seem to have disappeared from the memory can be revived using signals/cues, thus explaining the cue recall as well (Madan, Glaholt, and Caplan, 2010).
It is worth noting the effects of cognitive load on an individual’s ability to retrieve information. It has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that individual’s memory is highly dependent on cognitive load. Thus, the question of the actual effects of this variable on the response arises. According to Pendry, and Macrae, (1999), “… perceptions of group variability are also assumed to moderate the susceptibility of stereotypes to change or alteration.” With the knowledge of cognitive load being the weight on memory when getting instructions, it is clear that the view of the instructor or general group affect the reception of the information. For clarity and ease in capturing of any valid information, the person responsible must be psychologically ready for the information which is created by the acceptance of the surrounding. Lack of appreciation of the tutor for instance is evidently a large contributor to the findings, which agree with the relationship between cognitive load and memory. With a positive perspective, it is possible to get more positive response when recalled. Further, the unity among possible group members affected the memory of people as per the research (Pendry, and Macrae, 1999). This shows the effects of perception from a different angle in terms of comfort. Comfort is necessary for the acceptance as well. It gives morale to the subject in question which enhances the possibility of remembrance.
Images, just like verbal instruction will leave a message in an individual’s brain. However the ability to recall the information from the memory is different in different people. It is an undisputable argument that the image ability will have a longer lasting effect on a human’s brain. However, the reasoning behind the impact is quite challenging. As discussed earlier, the perception of the person to the associates when receiving the information is a determinant (Pendry, and Macrae, 1999). Nonetheless, the relationship and effects of the item property on the memory depends on the detailed study of the human mind. According to Dewhurst, and Conway, (1994), “Pictures are more likely than words to be recognized on the basis of conscious recollective experience.” The effect of imageability on minds is relatively apparent. Pictures create a visual image of the subject matter in the brain. The observer is able to connect it with the topic and make conclusions without much instruction unless necessary. This individual analysis explains the fester recall that is experienced on picture communication. Cues are also not necessary for recalling with pictures since they act as a cue already. No specific order is needed where a person has to remember a picture/image because of the in depth analysis already present in the person’s mind.
Pendry, and Macrae, (1999) stated/argued that, “…perceptions of variability influence the extent to which people are prepared to generalize from single individuals…” this generally describes the findings that cognitive load influences the response and ability to recall. However, there is a deeper explanation as to why the effect is in existence. Individuals may have different perceptions of through what means they understand better and can easily recall without the aid of a cue. Before any instruction, the memory and the item property communicate where the person singly accepts the method or disapproves of it in his/her mind (Madan, Glaholt, and Caplan, 2010). This explains the effect of the reception. The means used will also affect the findings, thus the response from the subject. Therefore, disapproval of the item property disqualifies any significant chances by a person to recall. Teaching from the known to unknown is known to have much more positive instances where the individuals recall. This is because the brain is involved in less work regarding memorizing compared to how the case would be where the brain is unaware of the information.
Words can also have high or low image ability depending on the matter being described or the practicality of the person giving the description. From one of the experiments, the findings revealed that the higher the imageability of the picture, the higher the chances of its remembrance, where the opposite is also true (Dewhurst, and Conway, 1994). This further explains the relationship between the mind and effects of the item property on the recall ability of the person. Clearly, words that can enable the listener to create an image of the occurring events get a more permanent impact on the brain due to the analytical nature of images. The listener will be able to perceive the message in pictorial terms and recall them more easily where there is need. A situation with word with less ability to create an image, the difficulties observed in cognitive load will be present. Factors such as the perception and familiarity to the tutor or subject matter will determine the outcome. A greater load will be created where the familiarity is on the lower side, thus little recalling of the teaching. Similarly, clues given are necessary to assist in the remembrance of words.
The abilities to recall have been distinguished depending on the necessities that have t be applied for the person to remember. Different studies have shown that humans are forgetful and consistent repetition of issues goes a step forward in making them permanent. This is the case where expectation of a person to recall items in a specific order proves difficult and they are more likely to begin with the last since it is most recent in their mind (Pendry, and Macrae, 1999). It was earlier discussed that words tend to be forgotten quite quickly. This was proven using the free recall and remembrance was not as easy. This also shows the effect that consistency and time frame before reciting have on the memory of a person. In the study of the cue recall, the recitation of the details was, much easier that the first case. The reviewer therefore gets a wider understanding of the recovery of the memory. Some data stored in the memory of a person cannot be retrieved unless with the help of a clue pertaining the same. For instance, a forgotten neighborhood can be recalled by the mention of a single and significant characteristic that relates to it. However, longer periods without the recovery and no clues, can lead to total lapse of that specific information. This happens with the extension of the period, such that the longer the time, the less can be recalled.
From the above discussion, it is quite clear that the relationship between the mind and the item property is different. The item can either be visual or verbal where visual has the upper hand in making the information easy to recall. Despite the effects these variables have on the memory, they interact differently as well. Actually, this helps bring out the discussion on the effects wider since it reviews the role that each plays. Though they are all important, the cognitive load is more elaborate in explaining the concept of forgetfulness and how the memory works. It further shows how the level and ability to call depends more on the perception of the receiver of the information than the actual method used, which is word of mouth in this case. According to Madan, Glaholt, and Caplan, (2010), “…we replicated the finding pf a high correlation between the forward and backward cued recall accuracy…” this is among the most recent studies that showed the significance of the time in memory. Backward memory seemed to be more difficult that the actual way. This is because before the brain gets fond of something, it gets it exactly how it is before it can be internalized to mean different things. This is how the interaction with words is.
The concept is quite different in the case of images and picture. It is worth noticing that the image create din a mind happens to be harder to alter even with different ones introduced. This is mainly because human beings are a more visual than verbal creature. There is no particular sequence in which a picture can be introduced to a persons mind. Contrary to the word of mouth, internalizing an image is done by the recipient which is his/her own description, thus difficult to forget. The intense involvement of the brain in understanding it for the first time can enable a person further the analysis, with or without the picture at sight. Therefore, the interaction of image/picture with memory or ability to recall is different from that of cognition. It is more specific and requires less persistence.
The discussion above is intended to provide an insight of the functionality of the human mind. This is through the ability to recall the occurrences in our lives and the roles played by the different variables. It is also clear that the extent of their effect is different. However, it has also been established beyond reasonable doubt that in both cases, the recipient of the information plays a very significant role in effecting the purpose of the item property. Absence of concentration and need to recall the information will make it harder to recall than where there is anxiety and determination to recall. Refreshing the memory using cues has also been established to be sufficient in recalling of information presumed to be totally discarded.
References:
Dewhurst, S. A., & Conway, M. A. (1994). Pictures, Images, and Recollective Experience. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 20(5), 1088-1098.
Madan, C. R., Glaholt, M. G., & Caplan, J. B. (2010). The Influence of Item Properties on Association-Memory. Journal of Memory and Language, 63, 46-63.
Pendry, L. F., & Macrae, C. N. (1999). Cognitive Load and Person Memory: The Role of Perceived Group Variability. European Journal of Social Psychology, 29, 925-942.