It was 5:00 o'clock in Ankara in February of this year, I was making my way to Esenboga Airport. Driving trough Dikmen and Asagi Ayranci, relatively well­ to do segments of Ankara, I witnessed something which became the subject matter of this article; the bread lines.
'Apparently, all over Turkey now, such scenes are a part of daily life and this disheartening scene on my part has been a major topic of discussion in the media for an extensive period of time. There doesn't pass a day in Turkey that a news item related to, bread lines is not printed; some sad, some curious; from articles on the newly emerging, more affordable, "stale bread" ("bayat ekmek") market, to articles stating: "con­sumption of bread, despite con­sumer subsidies fell from a daily 12M to 8M in Istanbul" respec­tively.
Further self induced study and self provoked thought brought out two results: One, 1 was sad to see Turkey swallowed so far deep into this black hole called subsidies, currently with no hope of a propelling action to spin itself out of this endless cycle and two, to see that this monster of subsides being a global disease especially in underdeveloped and the so called developing countries.
Along the lines, there is good news and bad news on the matter of subsidies and the breadlines in Turkey.
Good news #1: TURKEY IS NOT ALONE: Turkey is not the only country where such re employed, Turkey is not the first country where lines of sorts are a part of daily scene. As a matter of fact, the reason the lines of people in the US for instance are invisible is because the supporting bureaucratic system and the related work force are ‘’ efficient’’ enough to do the job through means other than actual lines of people on the streets.
Established in 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln for instance such a work, force. in this country, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) has become one of the largest agencies in the Federal government with more than 120,000 employees. For every four full time farmers in the US there is one USDA bureaucrat on the payroll.
Good news #2 THERE MAYBE , GOOD SUBSIDIES: An analyses of subsidy policies for industrial and developing countries in four sectors: energy, road transport, water and agriculture may show that not all subsidies are "bad" and indeed, that there may be "good" subsidies. In fact, what makes the subsidy issue so complicated is that the difference between benefi­cial and harmful subsidies may well lie in the details.
A definition of a subsidy is that it is a payment of money or another form of an aid that the government gives to a person, organization or businesses. It’s purpose is to encourage some needed activity by furnishing funds, free land, tax relief, or legal rights that might otherwise be lacking. And the subsidies come into two shapes and forms: Consumer subsidies and production subsidies.
When governments grant production subsidies, what is mind is to provide a leveled playing ground for domestic businesses who may need to compete with foreign competitors, or to encourage private sector contribution to national economy. In the 1800’s for instance, the United States government gave large tracts of land to the railroads on the condition that they would build lines across the continent. Altogether, the rail­roads received about 160,000.000 acres (64,700.000 hectares) of land in this way. The government also granted subsidies to telegraph and cable companies. In the 1920s, it granted subsidies to ship companies. It gave them generous mail-carrying contracts and allowed them to buy government ­owned ships at a fraction of their actual cost. Government airmail contracts have also aided the air­lines since the 1920’s. Taxes on goods imported into the United States are also indirect subsidies to US manufacturers who produce the same kind of goods.
Governments can also impose a guaranteed minimum price above market level. In this case, government policy also subsidizes production.
A consumer subsidy on the other hand- which results in such things as bread lines , is directly lowering market price of commodity to help the poor for instance and it can be more sensitive when examining its final effects on an economy such as that of Turkey.
In the case of the first type of subsidy - production subsidies-, producers have an incentive to expand supply, sometimes unnecessarily. A production subsidy may encourage producers to accelerate resource deletion and leads to higher production, and it may also potentially create surpluses which can be sometimes most visibly damaging to an economy. In a country such as Turkey when rampant corruption has had its termite-like effect on the whole economy, the idea of some gov­ernment subsidies going to some producers who not only may not increase the production. but may even be producing "imaginary products", can be enough to make the idea of a subsidy raise the hairs on the back of one's neck.
Concerning the sec­ond case, a consumer subsidy: economic theory teaches us that in efficient markets private welfare is maximized when prices equal marginal private costs. Any devia­tion from this optimal level will lead to inefficiencies. As this type of subsidy is sometimes improper­ly awarded in Turkey to gain the political support of those receiving the aid, such decisions can end up hurting some other segments of the public economically by creating excessive domestic demand. If the consumption is not constrained, a decrease foreign exchange revenues and a drain on the government budget the economy are experienced.
These two types of subsidy policy interventions may even exist simultaneously and create a non-transparent web of various distortions and a huge fiscal drain. Both producer and consumer subsidies, either through overproduction or over consumption, may also cause the environment to degrade or cause other external effects.
Regardless of the cause and the effects of subsidies, in order for subsidies to be afforded or endured by an economy, one or more of the following must happen:
1. The economy is simply strong enough to disregard the laws of supply and demand and endure the bleeding: Is the Turkish economy that?
2. The loss of revenues from the subsidized product must be over­come by cross-subsidies ( as in telephone industry, charging resi­dential customers low. rates while making op for the losses by charg­ing the, businesses more): As any­thing else let's say that this is somewhat doable in Turkey, but is it a smart policy to artificially and unfairly shift this additional bur­den from one segment of society to another? If any type of an investment -may it be by the gov­ernment or by the private industries impeded by an unnecessary bur­den such as this on businesses, and this impediment disregards the principles of "trickle down eco­nomics" ( businesses with more resources, invest they contribute to the reduction of unemployment=: employed people with money have more purchasing power = with their purchases they cause the economy to grow even larger), which idea gained popularity and proved to be a successful policy in this country since the Reagan years, why shoot yourself in the foot and kill the bird that can lay golden eggs? The same bird, the private industry in Turkey, whose extraordinary strive single-hand­edly is responsible for any eco­nomical accomplishments of Turkey in the last two decades!
3. Levying additional taxes across the board to recover the loses; How realistic is that for Turkey?
Subsidies are often not the right policies: they give the wrong signals and may even be counterproductive. Subsidies tend to waste resources, they do not produce the intended results and they wind up in the pockets of the wrong people. Each year, hundreds of millions of dollars are wasted on subsidies, harming the economy, the environment, equity and trade; these squandered public resources can be used in a much more effective way.
Once the consumer subsidies are in place, it is very difficult to wean people from them, especially if political considerations were the underlying initial consideration , and reducing them is certain to cause wide protest just as the ones in Egypt in early 80’s when the bread subsidies were discontinued and the public reaction was so hard that they were reinstated immediately in fear of nationwide major unrest to even destabilize the regime.
Having this in mind, the E Rejuvenation team created an original, innovative and natural system, the E Rejuvenation program, based on insights energy medicine and the thousands of years old Traditional Chinese Medicine provided.
Using a combination of their own, specific expertise plus natural energy to regenerate every cell in your body, the E Rejuvenation program gives rise to deep and striking changes.
They are exposed to high levels of stress and they want a simple, efficient and natural way to get positive results.
Burnout is caused by stress due to excessive working, which is characterized by fatigue, irritability and apathy. The Anti-Stress program is designed for people who want to protect their health and establish a stable psycho-physical balance.
The E Rejuvenation corporate programs are directly aimed at company development. Healthy and creative employees are innovative and create added value.
A combination of new expertise and ancient techniques has led to a unique spine treatment. It combines general body revitalization with the goal of targeted activation of an energy exchange and the elimination of blockages which are often the root cause of pain in body parts and along the spine.
A long period of stress response results in the depletion of vital energy of our body. For this reason, the body benefits from a treatment that will boost the state opposite to the stress response, in other words, the reaction of relaxation.
One of the surprising things was that there were these results that I wasn’t expecting. We are more coherent as a team, people are more understanding and focused on what they need to achieve as individuals, and I think that helps in every regard.
The best sales conference ever! these are the words by which our female and male colleagues described the conference organised at the E Rejuvenation Centre.
The ER program was introduced into our firm with the view of promoting health and well-being of our employees.
Stress prevention - a unique concept for the insurance market. Croatia Osiguranje (Health Insurance Company) included innovative 'anti-stress treatments' in its insurance policies.
Better reaction to stress, better concentration and communication and an increased working capacity are the direct positive effects on the physical and mental balance that the majority of the E Rejuvenation program users felt as early as after the third treatment.
Most studies in the pharmaceutical industry have been on aspects of marketing like promotion, perception and distribution intensity. None of the above studies focused on the influence of marketing mix on doctors, choice of prescription drugs, hence there exists a gap that this study sought to fill. The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which the marketing mix influences medical doctors* choice of prescription drugs. A descriptive survey was chosen because it would quantifiahly characterise the extent to which marketing mix variables affect prescription drug decisions The population of interest for this study consisted of all registered prescribing medical doctors practising in Nairobi. According to the Kenya medical directory of 2004-2005 Nairobi has a total of 520 registered prescribing medical doctors. A sample of 100 doctors was used in this study, which wits fairly representative of the doctors* population in Nairobi. Convenience sampling was used to select the sample from prescribing doctors practising in Nairobi's low, medium and high income hospitals. Primary datu was collected using structured questionnaires, which were administered by the researcher to the medical doctors using a drop-and-pick later method. The questionnaire was divided into sections A and II consisting of the doctor’s personal information and marketing mix elements which influence a doctor’s choice of prescription drugs respectively. Eighty eight doctors out of a target of one hundred responded and all questionnaires returned by respondents were usable for data analysis. This represented a response rate of 88%. Data was analysed using frequency distribution, percentages and correlation analysis methods and the results presented using tables. It was observed that marketing mix was an important aspect regarding influence on the doctor’s choice of prescription drags. The findings of the study showed that the most critical aspect in the choice decision is the product element followed by that of price. Majority of the doctors felt that the place element of the marketing mix had the least influence on their choice of prescription drags. Most doctors also felt that live supportive vii evidence of the efficacy of tl»e product and higher patient dosage compliance were very cnicinl product aspects to consider while making the prescription choice decision. They also felt that the most important aspect of the price attribute determining their choice is the patients* buying power. The marketing mix elements play a very important role in the prescription choice decision; however some elements arc more important than others. The product element is extremely important since the doctors need to be certain that the drugs they prescribe to their patients ore effective. Even if the doctor prescribed tlie most effective drug, unless the patient is willing and able to purchase the same, the whole treatment process would be an exercise in futility. For the patient to fully benefit from the treatment process, the right drug at the correct price must he available in the pharmacies which arc approved by insurers as well as in the hospital formularies. For the pharmaceutical companies to succeed in selling their prescription drugs, they need to understand the extent to which each of the marketing mix elements influence the prescription choice decision so that they can adopt strategies which allow them to position their drugs as the produeLs of choice in the market. The study was conducted in Nairobi and the influence of the marketing mix on Nairobi doctors’ choice of prescription drugs may differ from fhosc in lire rural areas. As a result of such differences, the results may not be generalized Future studies could he carried out on each element of the marketing mix to determine l!»c extent to w hich each of them influences the choice decision on its own. Research can also be carried out to determine whether there arc other factors which have an influence on the doctors’ choice of prescription drugs nnd their extent of influence in relation to the marketing mix elements.
The most common process is high temperature steam activation though it can also be manufactured with chemicals
The most common process is high temperature steam activation though it can also be manufactured with chemicals. Along with the raw material, the activation process has a very large influence on the characteristics and performance of activated carbon.
Our main line of granular activated carbons are produced by steam activation of selected grades of pulverized and then reaglommerated bituminous coal. Our powder activated carbon is mainly produced by pulverization of the final product.
A pore structure containing a good mix of both larger transport pores and smaller adsorption pores giving both high capacity and good kinetics. This results in excellent adsorption in a wide range of applications such as decolourisation and water treatment
The transport pores between the agglomerated particles allow the activation gases to penetrate much more within the structure of the activated carbon. The whole granule, not just the outside, is activated.
Combined with the high mechanical strength of the coal base, these transport pores also give the carbon excellent reactivation performance.
This process ensures the carbon can be rapidly wetted for easy application in liquid phase applications
By producing from a pulverized blend, the granules used in the activation process are more uniform resulting in consistent high quality products.
Prodcom uses the product codes specified on the Prodcom List, which contains about 4500 different types of manufactured products. Products are identified by an 8-digit code:
the first 4 digits are the classification of the producing enterprise given by the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community (NACE)