An admitted call girl once said that prostitution is a profitable business if you market it correctly and properly screen your clients. The U.S. Department of Commerce claims that the underground economy (especially illegal gambling and prostitution) represents between 3 and 40 percent beyond the legal economy. Fifi defends the right to sell sex between consenting adults and argues that a person has the right to use his or her body in any way that maximizes income. “We allow people to box professionally. So why do we allow people to beat the heck out of each other for a living, but prohibit people from being nice to each other (via sexual acts)?” From the perspective of prostitutes, such as Fifi, “It’s not the government’s business. Should sex between consenting adults be a concern of the government at all? We allow prostitution in Nevada and in many other countries, so we’re inconsistent as well. You mean to tell me that all those places are immoral? We do the same thing that a legal massage parlor does, only we do it on different parts of the body.” However, many former prostitutes say that most were drug addicts and many were molested as children or as young girls or boys. “When I first did it, I felt a tremendous sense of power,” said Bula, “but that feeling quickly faded. Feelings of powerlessness, shame, and drug addiction ultimately followed, knowing that my prostitution was a continuing form of abuse, even though I made good money.”
• Evaluate the moral permissibility of Fifi’s decision to be a prostitute.
• Evaluate the moral permissibility of Bula’s decision to be a prostitute
In: Psychology
For those interested let's change up the problem a little and look at the initial value method.
Accounts Payable $50, Accounts Receivable $40, Additional Paid in Capital $50, Building (4 year remaining life, net) $120, Cash $60, Common Stock $250, Equipment (5 year remaining life, net) $200, Inventory $90, Land $80, Long-term liabilities (mature end of Year 4) $150, Retained earnings (Beg Year 1) $100, and Supplies $10
During year 1, Company B reported net income of $80 and paid dividends of $10. During Year 2, reported net income of $110, and paid dividends of $30.
Company A again acquired all common stock of Company B for $500 cash. Fair value of Equipment $220, long-term Liabilities $120 at the date of acquisition. Company A uses the initial value method, what are the consolidation worksheet entries for the end of the first year, and the end of the second year?
In: Accounting
What impact did the U.S. presidential election have on the U.S. dollar and the currency markets/exchange rates and why?
In: Economics
General Mills Inc., beset by stagnant sales of cereal and yogurt, is paying around $8 billion for a pet-food business to help it generate revenue growth in the U.S.
The Minneapolis-based food conglomerate, which hasn't sold pet food since the 1960s, said Friday it plans to buy Blue Buffalo Pet Products Inc. as it looks for a piece of the rapidly expanding natural pet-food market.
General Mills Chief Executive Jeff Harmening said the deal accelerates his plan to diversify its business by buying faster-growing brands and offloading some lackluster ones. Last fiscal year, General Mills' sales fell 5.6% to $15.6 billion, as brands in its lineup like Yoplait yogurt and Betty Crocker lost the attention of American consumers.
"The Blue Buffalo acquisition brings back the growth in the U.S. and growth on a consistent basis," Mr. Harmening said in an interview Friday.
The pet-food company was founded by Bill Bishop, its chief executive, and his family in 2002, inspired by their dog Blue, which died of cancer.
Blue Buffalo, now the top natural pet-food brand in the U.S., has been growing faster than rivals in the $30 billion U.S. pet-food segment, Mr. Harmening said. Its annual sales have grown on average by 12% over three years to $1.3 billion in its latest fiscal year.
Mr. Harmening, who became CEO of General Mills in June, said he and Mr. Bishop signed the deal Thursday night over beer and chicken wings at a restaurant in Blue Buffalo's hometown of Wilton, Conn.
Under terms of the agreement, General Mills would pay $40 a share for Blue Buffalo, a premium of more than 17% to its closing price Thursday and double its offering price when the company went public in 2015. Blue Buffalo's majority shareholders have already approved the deal, which is expected to be completed by May. Shares in Blue Buffalo jumped 17% Friday, while General Mills shares dropped 4%.
Jefferies analyst Akshay Jagdale said the deal makes sense strategically, but "the price is steep, and General Mills will have to work to extract value from the deal."
Pet food and pet-care products have been a bright spot in grocery stores. Mainstay canned and packaged foods are struggling as Americans buy more natural food and high-end treats for their pets, just as they are for themselves.
"The humanization and premium-ization is what's driving the pet-food marketplace," said Mr. Bishop, who will retain the chief executive position after the deal.
The fancier products come with higher price tags, making them more profitable for the companies that sell them.
Food makers have been investing in pet-food brands in recent years. Last year, Mars Inc. said it would pay $7.7 billion to buy veterinary and dog day-care company VCA Inc. J.M. Smucker Co. paid more than $3 billion in 2015 to buy Milk-Bone owner Big Heart, and Nestle bought the maker of Purina pet food for more than $10 billion in 2001.
Smucker said its pet-food business, led by the all-natural brands, has been a growth driver for the company, with sales up 2% in the latest quarter.
"Pet food and snacks have now become the largest center-of-the-store category in the U.S. food and beverage market," said Smucker Chief Mark Smucker at a conference this week, adding that Smucker could potentially acquire more.
Pet foods labeled all-natural and grain-free -- especially those that use simple, whole ingredients like chicken, blueberries and sweet potatoes -- are growing faster than mainstream varieties. And industry executives say there is still room for expansion.
Only 10% of American households buy natural pet food now, while 68% own pets, according to General Mills and the American Pet Products Association.
For consumers, the shift is motivated less by scientific evidence and more by a desire to treat their pets like family.
Blue Buffalo says its food uses higher-quality proteins, like chicken rather than poultry byproduct and that it doesn't "cut corners" by using corn like some of its competitors.
In 2014, rival Purina filed a legal complaint against Blue Buffalo, accusing it of making false advertising claims about what its products could do. Blue Buffalo countersued for defamation. The companies settled after two years, though the terms were confidential.
For General Mills, getting into pet food will be a return to its past. The company produced pet food as far back as the 1930s, when it sold dog food; it later added food for cats and birds.
The deal for Blue Buffalo is the first major takeover for Mr. Harmening as General Mills' chief. In previous roles at the company, he won acclaim for spearheading a shift toward natural foods, namely through the 2014 acquisition of Annie's Homegrown.
General Mills says it plans to expand Blue Buffalo by selling it in more places, including convenience stores and big-box retailers, a strategy it says helped make Annie's successful.
But competition is rising, especially as retailers seek to promote their own premium pet products under store brands, said Sikich Investment Banking director Thomas Davenport.
Questions:
In: Economics
You have been asked, as a member of a small Accounting firm, to review the 31 December year-end financial statements of a small (R2 million revenues) companyin East London. The company has applied for a long-term loan from the bank. You are interesed to note as you beign your review of the company's records that a principal stockholder is your former college roommate. You are preparing your report and wonder about the following items:
- The company decided during the last month of the year to change their method of accounting for depreciation for this year's financial statements. You do not believe that any adjustments were made to prior years' reported results because of this change.
- You have been working at the bookkeepers' desk while she was away on vacation. You pushed the desk blotter aside at one point and noticed undermeath it a bill to the company from a local florist for R55. The bill is dated December, but you do not see it recorded anywhere in the company's books. A number of other unopened envelopes are under the blotter, the contents of which can not be judged from the outside.
- You read in yesterday's newspaper that a local manufacturer is seriously comptemplating a move to Atlanta. You know from your audit that they are an important customer of the company you are reviewing.
Required:
Should these items be disclosed in your report? why or why not? If you disclose, how should your disclosure be phrased? Should you disclose any other facts to the company, to your employer, or in your report? Should the audit have been conducted differently? In your answers, try to keep in mind some of the funingdamental qualitative principles underlying financial reporting and cite the where relevant.
In: Accounting
In: Economics
How "democratic" is the U.S. democracy? What is "limited government" and how are the various levels of government in the U.S. limited? How is power "decentralized" in the U.S. political system? What is "credit claim"? How does "image" factor into politics? What do these concepts tell us about the state and health of our democracy?
In: Psychology
In: Operations Management
Manifest Destiny. Describe the emergence of "Manifest Destiny" in the U.S. -tell us what it is, how it emerged, and explain how it impacted Native peoples in the U.S. (the Cherokee, Plains Indians, Native Peoples of the West,...) in the 19th century. Then explain how the U.S. came to take half of Mexico. Then tell us how the Mexican-American and Native American populations that lived in the territories that the U.S. took from Mexico in 1848 (California, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas...) fared after1848. Explain each part with specific examples
In: History
QUESTION 20
We are interested in looking at the percentage of households that own dogs in the U.S. and England. We are given the following information:
| Number of people Surveyed | Number of people who own a dog | |
| U.S. | 700 | 294 |
| England | 850 | 391 |
The point estimate for the difference in proportions between people in the U.S. who own dogs and people in England who own dogs is:
What is the p-value for this test if we are interested in testing to see if there is simply a difference in the proportions of people who own dogs in the U.S. and England?
In: Statistics and Probability