Assess the importance of foreign capital and overseas emigration for Essay

Assess the importance of foreign capital and overseas emigration for the economic development of Germany in the 19th century - Essay Example Following the political and economic restructurings experienced in Germany during the mid-1860s, Berlin developed as Germany’s financial center (Stone 1999, 788). Transfer of commodities, people, capital as well as ideas characterized globalization in 19th century across continents. Germany was well known to be an important financial center after the Deutsche Reich, which was founded in 1871 following the war between Germans and the French. A territory was then established and defined persistently until 1914. Despite the political unification of Germany after the war, most areas of economic life were harmonized afterwards (Clark 2003, 176). In 1873, gold standard was introduced in Germany and a year later followed by creation of central bank, the Reichs bank. The period between 1870 until 1914 was characterized by a great economic expansion in nearly all sectors with a further shift from an agricultural to an industrial economy along with concentration of powers, enterprises and capital. This rapid expansion in economy was primarily the cause and consequence of the fast growing population and with the evolution to an industrialized economy leading to increased urbanization rates. Germany experienced net migration outflows until the mid 1890s when it turned into inflows until 1908. In 1883-1913, Germany invested roughly six hundred and eighty million capitals in British pounds in foreign securities that translated to an average of twenty two million pounds per year. This capital was predominantly invested into European countries but also other regions obtained considerable amounts of capital. In the middle of 19th century, private banks were the main financial intermediaries for foreign securities, but were later displaced by the joint-stock banks. The large majority of foreign securities were bonds and the main issuers were governments and railroad companies to Germany’s neighboring

Prison Gangs in the United States Research Paper

Prison Gangs in the United States - Research Paper Example First, inmates are not to interfere with other inmates, a rule which places a premium on "minding your own business." Inmates are not to inform on one another and not to place a fellow inmate in a precarious situation. The second principle commands "don't lose your head." Inmates should control their emotions during their incarceration. Third, inmates should not exploit each other. The traditional inmate code forbids racketeering, welshing on bets, stealing from other inmates, or retracting promises. Inmates have an obligation to share any wealth which they may acquire. Fourth, inmates should not show weakness or they jeopardize their masculine image. It is very important for an inmate to maintain his masculinity. Any signs of fear or cowardice will greatly harm an inmate's reputation in the prison. Finally, "don't be a sucker," in other words, prisoners should not trust the administration. This final principle demands that inmates reject the values of society represented by prison o fficials. Guards are always considered to be wrong in any dispute with inmates. The administration must not be trusted for any reason (Sykes and Messinger, 1960, p. 7-8). Adherence to the inmate code varies greatly. While most inmates make strong verbal commitment to the code, the actual behaviors of inmates often deviate from it (Ross & Richards, 2002). The inmate code serves to lessen the pains of imprisonment by increasing solidarity among the inmates (Sykes and Messinger, 1960. p. 16). By uniting inmate society, the code lessens the sense of isolation inmates often face. An inmate follows the prescription to share wealth, he can alleviate animosity and hostility. By sharing the limited wealth offered by prison society, the potential for psychological harm can be decreased substantially (Sykes and Messinger, 1960, p. 16). The threat to an inmate's masculine self  ­image can be substantially alleviated by the requirement that inmates maintain their manhood through shows of stren gth and suppression of weakness (Sykes and Messinger, 1960. p. 17). When inmates arrive in prison they undergo prison procedures which have been likened to a series of status degradation ceremonies (Cloward, 1960; Sykes, 1958). These ceremonies convey two messages to the inmate. First, they involve the "ritual destruction of the individual's identity" (Cloward, 1960, p. 20). The individual's dignity is removed as his status is lowered. The lowering of status and stripping of dignity occurs through such procedures as strip searches, assignment of identification numbers instead of names, and the provision of uniforms, all of which create a homogenous inmate society. Second, the new identity provided to the inmate is of a lower status than their previous rank as a member of free society (Cloward, 1960, p. 20). Cloward (1960) argues that prison allows inmates to enhance their status through illegitimate means. Inmates may take on several roles in their efforts to gain status within pris on culture. They may become merchants or peddlers who specialize in providing material goods to other inmates. Politicians, or "big-shots," will control the spread of information among inmates (Cloward, 1960, p. 34). These inmates will seek positions, which grant them greater freedom of movement or greater access to prison officials, allowing them to gather information. Finally, an inmate may assume the role of "right