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The Lion, the Fox, And the President: Machiavelli\u27s foreign policy and Barack Obama
Get PDFThis undergraduate thesis is a culmination of a senior seminar course focused on the works of Florentine politician and statesman Niccol. Machiavelli. Infamous for his common caricature as an amoral shoulder devil for authoritarians, Machiavelli’s works have been interpreted in countless fashions. While The Prince and the Discourses, his two most significant writings, mainly focus on domestic politics, they give some attention to international affairs. This thesis serves to identify Machiavelli’s foreign policy philosophy within these works and reconcile the differences between their varied interpretations. Then, it will turn toward a modern-day prince, President Barack Obama, to determine his level of foreign policy Machiavellianism. I define Machiavelli’s foreign policy to be defined by an even combination of “the fox” and “the lion,” two beasts that embody the cunning, intelligence, strength, and courage necessary for political success. President Obama’s administration was able to adequately employ force internationally, but I find his use of “the fox” to be lacking. Thus, Machiavelli would recognize some successes of President Obama’s foreign policy but would ultimately withhold his designation as a truly prudent prince and diplomat
Biopiracy: Using New Laws and Databases to Protect Indigenous Communities
Get PDFIndigenous people have a historical link to those who inhabited a country or region at the time when people of different cultures or origins arrived. Traditionally, indigenous people have a special relationship with their ancestral environments. But their way of living has long been under threat. The land that indigenous people live on is home to over 80% of our planet’s biodiversity, but it continues to be appropriated and plundered due to bioprospecting or, as some call it, biopiracy. Bioprospecting is defined as “the exploration and information gathering of genetic and biochemical material to develop commercial products.” While innovation is welcomed in our society, bioprospecting often involves fundamental issues of injustice and unfairness. The injustice and unfairness present during bioprospecting led to the creation of the term “biopiracy,” which is when corporations, researchers, and scientists use sources from nature and traditional knowledge without consent and exploit the indigenous cultures from which they have obtained their information. When the term biopiracy was first coined in 1993 by Pat Mooney, president of the Rural Advancement Foundation International, he defined it as: [T]he use of intellectual property systems to legitimize the exclusive ownership and control of biological resources and knowledge, without recognition, compensation or protection for contributions from indigenous and rural communities . . .
[Abstract for] Excel Functions for Option Prices and Greeks without VBA
Get PDFThe =LAMBDA function within Excel provides a powerful new tool for investors and analysts. In this treatment, we demonstrate =LAMBDA functions that calculate an option’s intrinsic value, price, and Greeks based on the Black-Scholes model. We additionally construct an =ALLGREEKS function within Excel’s built-in =MAKEARRAY function that quickly produces option prices and Greeks given six parameters: the underlying spot price (S), strike price (X), annual return volatility (V), days to maturity (DTM), days in a year (DIY), and the annual risk-free rate (RF). In addition to writing this guide on how to create these useful functions, we provide a downloadable file.
KEY TAKEAWAYS: We create Excel =LAMBDA functions for Black-Scholes call and put pricing with associated Greeks with and without a cost of carry. Incorporating the =MAKEARRAY function allows for a single Excel function (=ALLGREEKS or =ALLGREEKSQ) to produce option prices and Greeks based on six parameters (seven parameters when including a cost of carry (Q)). The Excel file is downloadable. Simply copying the function from the downloaded spreadsheet to a new spreadsheet makes the function and all associated nested functions available in the new spreadsheet
