Economic crisis in France Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Economic crisis in France - Essay Example The ills of lowdown are being experienced by the citizens of France. The citizens of the country are facing hard times in order to pay off their loans. The financial crisis led to loss of job opportunities and therefore the citizens did not have enough money on their hands to serve the basic requirements. The citizens are getting inclined to secure loans and debt to serve their finances. France has not been capable enough to direct foreign direct institutions into the country and financial crisis did not excluded France from shedding the ill effects. Performance of the French economy It is noted that the country of France suffered from low productivity as well as employment losses in the phase of 2008. But the impact of the crisis has been relatively less on France as compared to other advanced countries. The recovery phase has been sluggish for France. The country partly excluded itself from the asset price shocks. The above figure shows the loss and the recovery for France. The oth er panel shows the loss in employment and recovery. The country has been less open over the decade or so, therefore it experienced steady loss of export compared with the European partners. The current account balance deteriorated steadily while the reduction in openness ratio was 9 percentage points in the decade of 2000 to 2010 (European Commission, 2009). The lower degree of openness cats as the constraint in limiting the capability of the economy to rebound itself in the short run. It also limits the progress of the economy in the medium term. Experts opine cyclical effects of the recent decline as the share of the capital income for the residents of France is far behind from that of the European partners. The figure below will act as the evidence regarding the performance of the macroeconomic indicators for France. (International Monetary Fund, 2012, pp. 1-5). The economy of France is showing no progress for the fourth consecutive year. The early part of 2012 showed a sign towa rds returning towards the path of growth. The tensions in the financial markets were eased by the effective monetary policies of the European Union. Growth process may get hindered by the weak trade prospects and further austerity measures. The economy is expected to remain flat in the recent future and recovery process will take place from 2014. The lack of domestic demand can be accounted to be the reason. The consumption of household and residential investment is held back by rise in the level of unemployment and reduction in real disposable income. The exports are expected to grow in 2013 but the conditions of the Euro area are not too good for the cause. The authority has announced an injection of 30 billion Euros and the rate of tax has been raised for the high income earners. The aim is to reduce the fiscal deficit from 4.5 to 3% of GDP. The growth rate assumed for 2013 is 0.8%. The lending towards the private sector will still remain flat. The unfolding of the events in the neighbouring countries will have severe effects on the prospects of the economy of France (National Institute Economic Review, 2012, p. 5). The President of France has promised in a reduction in forecasts in budget deficits to 3% of GDP. The growth forecast for 2012 was 0.5% while that of 2013 is 1.7%. According to some experts the deficit will slip to 5% in

The Representation of Mental Illness Within Film Dissertation

The Representation of Mental Illness Within Film - Dissertation Example The popular cinema happens to serve two important purposes that are projecting the salient mass perceptions towards some individuals or groups and on the other hand informing the target audience regarding the factual information pertaining to some sections of the society. In that context, when it comes to people suffering from mental illnesses, the cinema has certainly furnished the masses with the content associated with these two expectations. That is on the one side cinema has served an important role regarding informing the masses about the facts associated with mental illnesses and on the other hand cinema has also played a big role in ossifying the stereotypical notions pertaining to the individuals and groups suffering from mental illnesses (Wahl, 1995, p. 5). It goes without saying that the way mental illnesses get represented and reflected upon in films is an issue of paramount importance as it pertains to the well being and representation of a salient section of the human p opulation (Hinshaw, 2007, p. 202). In that context the role played by cinema in the representation of mental illnesses has been mixed and ambivalent. Mental Illnesses and Expectation from Cinema It is a fact that cinema does play a pivotal role in constructing and shaping the popular mass perceptions (Rafter, 2000, p. 62). Hence, before delving on the larger issue of the representation of mental illnesses in cinema or films, I will be more appropriate to delineate the ideal expectations that an informed individual could have when it comes to the representation of mental illnesses in films. It is a fact that there is a dire need to change and alter the public perceptions about people suffering from mental illnesses, if one goes by the general public attitude towards mentally ill people. Thereby, it is expected from cinema to give way to a salubrious climate in which not only the issues related to mental illnesses get openly discussed, but which also comes heavily on the generalized s tereotypes usually associated with people ailing from mental illnesses (Rogers & Pilgrim, 2005. P. 36). For the first appropriate step in this direction will be to enhance public knowledge regarding the mental illnesses. This is because people tend to garner the knowledge and information regarding the issue of mental illnesses from a wide range of sources that could be the first hand experience, news media and print literature and the characters suffering from mental illnesses as they are represented in films or stage presentations. It is also true that it gets really difficult for cinema to facilitate a factual portrayal of the characters suffering from mental illnesses, when the popular perception tends to be so replete with standardized stereotypes. Hence, many a types, the films are in a way pushed into perpetuating the negative stereotypes about mental illnesses, shaped to a large extent by the already existent popular stereotypes and the audience expectations about the way the y want to see mentally ill people being depicted in them (Paquette, 2003). Yet, it is also true that all the creative professionals actively associated with film making, are they directors, producers, actors, script writers or editors, could indeed play a positive and realistic role in reframing the way people think and perceive mental illnesses (Chinball & Petley, 2002). By doing so they will not only be setting the scores correct regarding an issue that is of immense public importance, but as have many films shown, the films could still accrue box office records by depicting the mentally ill