If a bank does not have enough own reserves, it can borrow excessive reserves from another bank as a temporary short-term loan. The federal funds rate is the price of this loan, represented by the short-term interest rate. However, in economics, all processes are interconnected, and such federal funds rates have an impact on other interest rates. Thus, an increase or decrease in this rate also affects the borrowing cost for businesses and households (Mankiw, 2020). If federal funds rates go down, then borrowing becomes cheaper, which results in buying more goods, and the business can hire more workers and buy equipment. This aspect has a direct positive impact on unemployment rates as there are more jobs. Accordingly, with an increase in federal funds rates, borrowing becomes more expensive, which reduces the purchase of goods and services, as well as the number of jobs.
It is also important that changes in federal funds rates impact the inflation rate due to the same processes. With a decrease in federal funds rates, as already noted, borrowing becomes cheaper. Accordingly, the dispute on goods and services increases because people begin to buy more in comparison with the past. Increased demand can accordingly create a certain shortage of goods and services, which leads to higher wages and other production costs. This process, in turn, affects inflation rates, significantly increasing them. The Federal Reserve may raise federal funds rates so that interest rates for businesses and households also rise. This action increases the cost of borrowing and reduces the demand for goods and services, which reduces inflation. Accordingly, if inflation is low, the Federal Reserve may lower the federal funds rate, reducing interest rates and stimulating economic and inflation growth.
Reference
Mankiw, G. N. (2020). Principles of economics (9th ed.). Cengage Learning.
The Opioid Crisis: Reasons, Consequences, And Coping Strategies
Drug abuse results in annihilating consequences such as substance abuse overdose, death, and children born to addicted parents experiencing psychological and emotional problems. “Drug use has been common since ancient times and has been common in almost every society” (Barkan, 2020). Statistics show that legal and illegal drugs contribute to 520 000 deaths annually in America (Barkan, 2020). The influensing factors that attract people into addiction include ease of obtaining drugs, gender, education, and ethnicity. Strategies to help mitigate opioid use include improving awareness of the risks of drug abuse to the patients and their families and prescription drug monitoring programs. Therefore, this paper must accentuate the main reasons and consequences of the opioid crisis and, most importantly, highlight the central coping strategies.
The ease of obtaining drugs and the role of gender in this process contribute to the high addiction rate among the abusers. When drugs such as opioids are readily available within one’s local area, non-users are likely to be drawn by others into using illegal substances. “Males are more likely than females to commit the more serious forms of crime and deviance, such as homicide, robbery, and burglary. This pattern generally holds for drug use of various types” (Barkan 2020:333). Females abuse prescription drugs more than males for nonmedical reasons, and this is attributed to females having easier accesss to medical drugs.
People with a increased level of education have a higher probability of consuming alcohol and a low one of abusing tobacco. In contrast, people without college degrees have a greater prospect of using tobacco (Barkan, 2020). Despite the common belief that African Americans form the greater populace of illegal drug abuse, research shows that Native Americans have a high rate of illicit and legal drugs abuse (Barkan, 2020)
As available solutions to individuals who are struggling with addiction there are many scesial prrehabilitaion programms that have people with the same problems. Improving awareness among the patients and sharing resources on the risk of prescription drug abuse and the related costs incurred can help mitigate their usage. Families with individuals addicted to drug abuse incur many expenses when seeking medication, rendering them bankrupt. When opioids use and overdose lead to death, some families are left with the burden of rearing their grandchildren (Libetti and Beasley, 2017). In addition, the children grow up being deprived of parental love and care.
Enacting state prescription drug laws and drug monitoring programs gives the opioids abusers a chance to reform failure; they face the law and are subject to a jail term. These programs provide an opportunity for opioids abusers for giving back to society when they engage in community programs. Moreover, the programs help substance abusers to abstain from drugs. The laws enacted avert individuals from further consuming opioids since they want to gain their freedom.
A symbolic interactionism paradigm is well portrayed in the documentary “American Epidemic: A Nation’s Struggle with the Opioid Crisis” (Libetti and Beasley, 2017). The film clearly shows the social problems evident resulting from the interaction of individuals, a key principle of the paradigm. Joel, an opioid addict, makes his family bankrupt as he always requests money from his mother. Furthermore, his parents would always accompany him to ensure he attended his outpatient meetings. Mikaya’s parents are seen taking up paternity roles for her children after she passes away due to an opioid overdose until a new family adopts the children. Similarly, Ben, who was adopted as a young child, was born addicted to heroin and showed painful withdrawal symptoms (Libetti and Beasley 2017). Constant exposure to witnessing his dad abuse drugs made Ben wish for better physical conditions as he thought it was enjoyable.
References
Barkan, Steven E. 2020. Social problems: Continuity and change. Boston: Flat World Knowledge, Incorporated.
Libetti, Robert, and Adya Beasley. 2017. ‘American Epidemic’. WSJDigitalNetwork, YouTube.
Rocks Categories And Geology Of Florida
Rocks are defined as a solid mass consisting of one or more minerals. Their importance in human life is undoubtful: minerals and rocks are as integral a part of nature as plants and animals. The study of stones, minerals, and their cycles are interesting, and it also promotes observation and attention. The analysis of this topic is essential to understand Florida geology and all-natural processes in their totality. Without knowledge in this area, it is impossible to approach the study of this issue in detail.
Rocks are in a constant process of formation and change. Early in the Earth’s geologic history, igneous rocks were the first to form, and as the planet cooled, they formed the Earth’s solid crust. The rocks changed their state many times until, at last, they developed stable granite massifs, the continents. As the temperature of the Earth’s surface cooled, water pools appeared on it. The land surface was exposed to rain and winds, and the resulting rivers carried debris into the sea, where sedimentary rocks began to form (Broward College, 2021). The collision of the continents was accompanied by folding, thus creating mountain ranges. Any stones subjected to solid compressive forces and high temperatures will go into a metamorphic state.
The primary rock formation cycles are weathering, the phosphorus cycle, and the carbon cycle; they play a significant role in Florida geology. Weathering is the breakdown of rocks over time by physical and chemical factors; it includes mechanical weathering and chemical weathering (Broward College, 2021). Phosphorus is vital as a nutrient necessary for plant and animal growth and as an essential element. It is found in rocks and is released through weathering and erosion. The two economically important mining processes in Florida are limestone and phosphate (Upchurch et al., 2018). Phosphate is abundant in Florida, and Florida is one of the leaders in limestone mining.
Rocks have played a key role in human life since the beginning of their appearance on planet Earth. Humankind still actively uses them in everyday life: they make bricks and tiles, mine sand and limestone to make glass and cement, and smelt metals; coal, oil, and gas are also rocks. Without a detailed study of this issue, both locally and globally, one cannot use resources intelligently and develop a mining plan.
References
Broward College. (2021). Rocks, the hard stuff [PDF document]. Web.
Upchurch, S., Scott, T. M., ALFIERI, M., Fratesi, B., & Dobecki, T. L. (2018). The Karst Systems of Florida: Understanding Karst in a Geologically Young Terrain. Springer.