Alan Greenspan essays

Alan Greenspan essays Bob Woodwards book, Maestro, is sort of a mini-political biography of Alan Greenspan. The book doesnt get into Greenspans personal life at all, rather it sticks to the discussion of Greenspans work as an economist for the U.S. government. There is very little criticism of Greenspan in this book. Woodward himself just tells Greenspans story. He doesnt make any criticisms or offer any analysis. The only criticism at all, comes from some of Greenspans fellow Federal Reserve members, on the Board of Governors, and from some of the other members of the Federal Open Market Committee. But even this criticism is weak. There are fifteen chapters to this book, much of it explaining how the Federal Reserve Board works. The board meets once every six weeks with twelve voting members and seven Federal governors plus five of the twelve Presidents from the Federal Reserve district banks around the country. The Federal Reserve headquarters is located on Constitution Avenue in Downtown Washington D. C. This board is called the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which Alan Greenspan is Chairman. Woodward explains that the main concern of the Federal Reserve Board is to keep control of the interest rate that the Fed controls and the short-term fed funds rate, the interest rate the regular banks charge each other for over night loans. Greenspan understood that controlling the fed funds rate was the key to the power over the economy. The Federal Reserve also had power in the bond market, to ease credit by having a trading desk in the New York Stock Exchange to buy U. S. Treasury Bonds. This pumps money into the banking system and eventually into the economy, giving the fed and ultimitly Greenspan himself, a lot of power over the economy. Much of the book covers these Federal Reserve Board meetings and how Alan Greenspan maneuvered his people on the board to go along with whether to ra ...

Why It’s Okay To Use “Um” and “Like” When You Talkâ€Really

Why It’s Okay To Use â€Å"Um† and â€Å"Like† When You Talk- Really Yes, you should never use filler words like â€Å"um† and â€Å"like† in your writing. But sometimes, in conversation, you might find you need to buy yourself a bit of time to gather your thoughts and figure out what it is you’re trying to say. It’s true that most job interview advice blogs will tell you to avoid using them at all costs, because they  can make you sound unintelligent or unprepared. But filler words are a natural part of the way people speak these days, so if you can utilize them economically and well in your conversation, you just might be able to get the best of both worlds. You’ll have the time to formulate your sentences and keep your speech clean and less muddled, but you won’t get carried away with your constant â€Å"umm†ing and â€Å"like†-ing.Filler words are used for the following reasons.They Show That You’re ThinkingIf you need another few seconds to formulate your sentence, you can throw in an â€Å"errr† or a â€Å"basically†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ and then continue on from there. It helps you not be interrupted. And helps you say precisely what you’d like to say once you say it.They  Soften What You’re Going to SayIf you’re going to say something a little harsh,   temper it with a few conversational filler words to keep it casual. Just to make sure your friend or colleague doesn’t think you’re being cold or cruel. i.e. â€Å"You have a little, like, something in your teeth?†They Can Strengthen or  Weaken What You’re SayingFiller words can change the tone of a sentence, either to qualify your statement and make it weaker, or to add extra emphasis and authority. Depending on the word, you can make what you’re saying sound like a stab in the dark, or a definitive conclusion.They Help You StallYou grabbed the mic; it’s your turn to talk and you have something super important to say. The stakes are high. T rouble is, you haven’t quite figured out what that is yet. A few ummms and weeeellls†¦. might just give you the time you need to strategize.They Make Your Listener Feel IncludedThrowing in a little â€Å"you know?† at the end of what you’re saying doesn’t have to make you sound like a Valley girl. It could just be a friendly way of making sure whomever you’re talking to is still with you and feels included.So you see, filler words, when used in moderation, can actually be a conversational asset. Just don’t get too carried away and you can feel free to use these natural bits of speech as you see fit.