Sunday, February 23, 2020

There is a real danger of a house price bubble in London. Discuss Essay - 5

There is a real danger of a house price bubble in London. Discuss - Essay Example This gives possibility to assume that the house price bubble already exists in London and threatens the local real estate market. To understand how dangerous a house price bubble is it is necessary to clarify its definition. A house price bubble is a type of economic bubble – â€Å"trading in high volumes at prices that are considerably at variance with intrinsic values† – on the real estate market. (King R. et al, 1993). Housing market bubbles are more critical than stock market bubbles. While equity price busts occur on average every 13 years, last for about 2,5 years, and result in nearly 4 percent GDP loss, the housing price busts are less frequent, however they last almost twice longer and lead to twice larger output losses (IMF World Economic Outlook, 2003). Real estate markets involve longer boom and bust periods, according to the recent research (Ikhomov N., Yavas A., 2012, 508-535). It is reported that â€Å"house prices in London have fallen for the first time in nearly four years, and will continue to do so, according to a leading property market barometer.† (White A., 2014). The longest period of positive sentiment was recorded yet in January 2011 by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and since then a drop in values in the capital was finally reported. In October 2014, the 12 month report predicted house price rise: 2,1 pc for the UK regions and 1pc for the capital. (White A., 2014). â€Å"A chorus built for rate rises and special intervention in the mortgage market. Now the alarm calls are fading. A foreign capital flood has receded in London, home-loan approvals are down and house price inflation is easing. Bubble fears were premature. The talk of danger was spurred by fast annual house price rises – especially in London, where the annual increase in prices was 20.7 percent in the third quarter, based on data from mortgage lender Halifax. The national picture was less frothy, with an annual gain of 9.6 percent.†

Friday, February 7, 2020

Gender Differences in Academic Underachievement Research Paper

Gender Differences in Academic Underachievement - Research Paper Example Methods 10 Participants 10 Design and procedure 10 Data analysis 10 Summary 11 References 12 1. Introduction Background Secondary and high school students in US, UK and other countries have been witnessing an increasing drop in educational achievement of boys when compared to girls. In some of the school settings, research has found that girls outperformed boys in English more than in other subjects (Bush, 2005). While there may be many reasons for underachievement of both, it is more prevalent with performance of boys rather than that of girls. More boys who underachieve in GCSE test in the UK are found to fail or underachieve in the elementary too. It is likely that boys are four times prone to underachieve than girls of the same age. There is an ‘anti-education culture’ (Paton, 2007) gaining acceptance among ‘the lads’, particularly in the working class boys who develop a ‘counter-school culture’ in terms of ‘hegemonic masculinityâ€⠄¢ in which the teachers are also found to be accomplices to an extent (Abraham, 2008). Patterns of interaction among underachieving boys and girls are also similar as boys tend to develop anti-education culture more prominent in the early years while girls develop similar behavioural traits at later stages (Myhill, 2002). A study by AUT University in Auckland reveals that more teenage boys, as high as 72 percent, are underachieving and are over-represented in suspension and stand down rates than girls. Also, 10 percent more of girls are entering university when compared to boys (Boys underachieving in school and overrepresented in suspensions, 2009). Although, there has been a general disparity between girls and boys attending primary education in many countries across the globe, over the last three decades, the intervention of Commonwealth has ensured equality in education and gender parity. This has led to increased participation among girls on par with boys. However, underachiev ement in education by boys is a serious concern faced by almost all countries and is inevitably compared with participation and performance of girls (Jha and Kelleher, 2006). Need for the Study Motivation techniques for underachieving students, which section, is dominated by boys are to be identified to tackle the problem of underachievement in education by boys. It may be that the issue of underachievement is blown out of proportion by a section of the organization or media but the problem remains. Several researchers have tried to understand the reasons behind the anti-education culture exhibited by boys but somewhere down the line, there is a lack of clarity on the nature of problem and the necessary remedies that need to be included in addressing the issue on hand. Statement of the Problem The purpose of this study is to understand the reasons behind underachievement in education by boys. It is to be understood at what stage, boys who underachieve start to show behavioural or pe rformance symptoms. Gender differences and their influencing factors will also have to be related to understand the anti-education culture that boys are found to exhibit. It is also important to understand what solutions can be obtained in this regard and to what extent are they measureable. Limitations This study is limited in scope as it focuses on understanding gender differences and differences in educational performance in the different levels or forms. Although reasons for