Friday, September 20, 2019

Causes of the Development of Pakistans Banking Sector

Causes of the Development of Pakistans Banking Sector ABSTRACT The objective of this paper is to examine the determinants of development of banking sector from the perspective of Real GDP, Discount rate, Trade openness and Financial Liberalization by using annual data from 1970 to 2007. In this study, Liquid Liabilities, Private sector credit and Domestic credit are used as indicator of banking sector development. The finding of this research shows negative relationship between Trade openness and development of banking sector development. Discount rate is having a significant impact on banking sector development when Private sector credit and Domestic credit is used as the indicator while Real GDP is found significant when Liquid Liabilities and Domestic credit is used as indicator of Banking sector Development. Generalized form of data has been used in this study. Keywords: Banking Sector development, Real GDP, Trade openness, Discount Rate, Financial Liberalization INTRODUCTION The financial sector of Pakistan has shown a substantial growth in past few years, however there is still need for continuous development. The financial sector of Pakistan consists of a variety of specialized financial institutions à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" commercial banks, DFIs, NBFCs, micro finance banks, Islamic banks, Modarbas, Stock Exchange and Insurance companies. Thus the whole financial sector of Pakistan offers a wide range of products and services to its customers. (Zaidi, 2005) states that growth of financial sector is significantly related with economic growth therefore, country needs well developed financial sector in order to fully utilize the financial resources. Banking system has a significant importance in financial market. Banking Sector of Pakistan is an important financial intermediary and responsible for the economic growth in the country. In 1990, Denationalization of Government owned banks have changed the overall scenario of the banking sector of Pakistan. After the amendments in banking companiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ ordinance, Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB) and Allied bank Limited (ABL) were denationalized in 1991 and 1993 respectively. The process of denationalization remains suspended for numbers of years and was restarted in early 2000s, when United Bank Limited (UBL) was privatized. In 2004, Habib Bank Limited (HBL) was also denationalized and due to which, the asset share of public sector banks was reduced to 25% at that time. In the last decade, state bank of Pakistan has made several efforts in promoting the Islamic modes of financing. In 2002, the first Islamic bank was established under the name of Meezan bank. Since then, the number of Islamic banks has been opened. Various traditional ban ks are now opening Islamic specialized branches. At the end of 2009, total assets of the Islamic banking have reached to 366.3 billions and the deposits in Islamic banks have reached to 282.6 billions  [1]  . At the end of calendar year 2009, there are 9522 total branches of banks in Pakistan which shows an increase of 376 branches in banking sector from the 3rd quarter of 2009. Moreover, the asset base of banking sector has shown a growth of 7 percent over the last quarter. (Yasmin, Jehan, Chaudhary, 2006) explains that after independence in 1947, Pakistan avoided trade openness because of weak industrial structure. In 1960à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s, industrial base was laid and manufacturing industry expanded widely in Pakistan. However, industrial expansion face setback in 1970à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s due to nationalization of industries. In 1980à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s, IMF and World Bank provided facilities to the Pakistan in order to initiate the financial restructuring in country. A loan of $150 million and $200 Million was provided for this purpose under à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Financial sector adjustment loanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? in 1989 and 1997 respectively. Another project named as financial sector deepening and Intermediation project was initiated in 1995. The estimated worth of that project was $216 million. (Hanif, 2002) Despite of the remarkable performance since last two decades, the banking sector of Pakistan is less developed and remains small in relation to the economy, when it is compared to the other banking sectors of the world. This shows that a number of financial and banking needs are still ignored and that much of the economic potential of Pakistan is not achieved yet. LITERATURE REVIEW (Christopoulos Tsionas, 2004) states there is no one opinion of economist on the issue of financial development and growth of economy. (Pagano, 1993) describes that savings are mobilized towards the productive investment due to financial deepening which helps in improving corporate governance. (Khan Qayyum, 2007) says there are three major channels through which financial development can affect economic growth (i) marginal productivity of capital can be increased (ii) savings are directed towards the investment (iii) level of private saving rate can be increased. The relationship of economic growth and financial development was first discussed by (Goldsmith, 1969), (McKinnon, 1973) and (Shaw, 1973). Their study shows that there is a positive relationship between financial development and the level of output i.e. when the financial market will increase the credit level, the investment will increase thus, showing that real income and real interest rate is a positive function of financial development. (Yu Gan, 2010) study shows that due to positive real interest rate, the mobilization of savings of banks increases and it also increases the growth with the increase in volume and productivity of capital. (Yanikkaya, 2003) argues that trade openness has a significant impact on the GDP share. In developing countries, trade openness creates new opportunities to increase the growth process and hence the unemployment level decrease. (Jin, 2000) states that trade openness facilitates in establishing the development process. Moreover, local technology and production process can be improved through trade liberalization. One school of thoughts is of view that the financial liberalization is also a major contributor towards the financial development in developing countries. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Financial liberalization means the deregulation of domestic financial markets and liberalization of the capital account.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Attaullah, Cockerill, Le, 2004) empirically shows that the effectiveness of banking sector is improved following the financial liberalization. (Bekaert, Harvey, Lundblad, 2005) Suggests that there is a significant relationship between financial liberalization and economic growth. However, (Stiglitz, 2000) argues that increase in financial liberalization enhances the macro economic vulnerability of nations and chances of crises becomes significant. The study of (Gong, Lee, Chen, 2004) supported the fact that increase in financial liberalization can cause crisis. (Wyplosz, 2001) suggested that financial liberalization is effective if the objective is to increase the competition and d ecrease the monopoly powers. However, financial liberalization is quite risky for developing countries. Many developing countries in Asia and Europe have grown faster even with strong financial restraints. MODEL SPECIFICATION Based on the above literature, we can propose that in Pakistan, banking sector development is a function of real Gross Domestic Products (RGDP), Discount date (DR) and Trade openness (TO) and Financial Liberalization (FL). This can also be shown as BSD Pak = f (RGDP, RI, TO, FL) Where, BSD Pak = Banking Sector Development of Pakistan In this study, we have used following models which are estimated by using least square techniques. In model 1, we will use Liquid liabilities as the indicator of banking sector development. In model 2, Private Sector Credit will be used as the indicator of banking sector development where as in model 3, domestic credit will be used as the indicator of banking sector development. (Yu Gan, 2010) ln LL= ÃŽÂ ²o+ÃŽÂ ²1ln RGDP+ ÃŽÂ ²2 DR + ÃŽÂ ²3TO+ ÃŽÂ ²4FL + e ln PRI= ÃŽÂ ²o+ ÃŽÂ ²1ln RGDP+ ÃŽÂ ²2 DR + ÃŽÂ ²3 TO+ ÃŽÂ ²4FL+ e ln DC= ÃŽÂ ²o+ÃŽÂ ²1ln RGDP+ ÃŽÂ ²2 DR + ÃŽÂ ²3 TO+ ÃŽÂ ²4FL+ e where, ln LL= Natural logarithm of liquid liabilities ln PRI= Natural logarithm of Private sector Credit ln DC= Natural logarithm of Domestic Credit Data source: We have used annual data from 1970 to 2007 in this study. The data is obtained from the World Bank database and international financial statistics. However, Financial Liberalization Index of Pakistan, constructed by (Waliullah, 2010) is used in this study. Real GDP (RGDP) is calculated by using following formula EMPIRICAL METHODOLOGY In this study, Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique has been used. In order to run the OLS model, order of integration of every variable is determined. There are two methods to examine the order of integration i.e. Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test and Phillps-Perron test. In this study, we will use ADF test for examining weather the data is stationary or non-stationary. We will run co-integration test when all variables becomes stationary at same level. The generalized form of data has been used in this study. In model 1, liquid liabilities have been used as an indicator of banking sector development. Table 1 show that Real GDP, Financial Liberalization and Trade openness are statistically significant and Discount rate is not statistically significant to the development of banking sector in Pakistan. However, Trade openness is inversely related with liquid liabilities which means that increase in trade openness will eventually affects the development of banking sector. While, Real GDP and Financial liberalization have a significant impact on the banking sector development i.e. higher Real GDP and Financial Liberalization in Pakistan will leads towards development of banking sector. R square is (.99) which shows substantial explanation of independent variables in dependent variables. Table 2. OLS Results of Model 2 (Private Sector Credit) Dependent Variable: PRI Method: Least Squares Date: 01/24/11 Time: 16:16 Sample: 1970 2007 Included observations: 38 Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob. RGDP -7.684614 5.715274 -1.344575 0.1879 TO -7.525119 3.603842 -2.088082 0.0446 DR 25.87713 9.222809 2.805775 0.0084 FL -0.204028 1.108112 -0.184122 0.8550 C 0.033118 0.090551 0.365739 0.7169 R-squared 0.343149 Mean dependent var 0.041883 Adjusted R-squared 0.263531 S.D. dependent var 0.648747 S.E. of regression 0.556741 Akaike info criterion 1.788644 Sum squared resid 10.22868 Schwarz criterion 2.004116 Log likelihood -28.98424 F-statistic 4.309923 Durbin-Watson stat 1.880175 Prob(F-statistic) 0.006483 In model 2, we have used Private sector credit as an indicator of development of banking sector in Pakistan. Results of table 2 indicate that discount rate and trade openness have significant impact on the development of banking sector. However, Trade openness is inversely related to the banking sector development. Financial liberalization and Real GDP are not found statistically significant. R square of model 2 is (.34) which shows that independent variables are explaining 34 % of the dependent variable. OLS Results of Model 3 (Domestic Credit) Dependent Variable: DC Method: Least Squares Date: 01/24/11 Time: 16:20 Sample: 1970 2007 Included observations: 38 Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob. RGDP 0.289400 0.002316 124.9755 0.0000 TO -0.007190 0.001983 -3.626526 0.0010 DR 0.014020 0.005240 2.675496 0.0115 FL 0.001211 0.000307 3.938439 0.0004 C -6.23E-06 4.61E-06 -1.351692 0.1857 R-squared 0.999939 Mean dependent var -1.15E-05 Adjusted R-squared 0.999931 S.D. dependent var 0.003380 S.E. of regression 2.80E-05 Akaike info criterion -18.00387 Sum squared resid 2.59E-08 Schwarz criterion -17.78840 Log likelihood 347.0735 F-statistic 134392.7 Durbin-Watson stat 1.559156 Prob(F-statistic) 0.000000 In model 3, we have used domestic credit as an indicator of banking sector development. Results of table 3 indicate that all variables are statistically significant to the development of banking sector of Pakistan. R square of model 3 is (.99) which shows that independent variables have a significant impact on the dependent variable. (Goldsmith, 1969) As mentioned above, generalized form of data has been used in this study and numbers of tests have been applied on these three models and there is no serial correlation, heteroscedasticity. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION The results of this study shows that Trade openness is inversely related to the development of banking sector in Pakistan in all three models which validates the findings of (Siddiqui Iqbal, 2005) that Trade openness negatively affects the economic growth of a country. However these results are not according to the findings of (Miller Upadhyay, 2000) which states that trade openness leads to the development of financial sector. Moreover this study also does not support the findings of (Yu Gan, 2010) which states that trade openness have no impact on the development of banking sector. In case of Liquid liabilities as indicator of banking sector development, it is clear that Real GDP and Financial liberalization have the significant impact on the development of banking sector of Pakistan. This result is according to the findings of (Yu Gan, 2010) and (Attaullah et al, 2004) which show that Real GDP and Financial Liberalization significantly impact the banking sector development. It means that increase in Real GDP and Financial Liberalization will lead the banking sector of Pakistan towards prosperity. In case of Private sector credit as the indicator of banking sector development, it is found that discount rate is statistically significant to the banking sector development. It means that increase in discount rate will lead towards increase in private sector credit which will eventually results in financial sector development. However, financial liberalization was found inversely related to the banking sector development and Real GDP was not found significant which is against the findings of (Yu Gan, 2010) which identifies that Real GDP has a significant impact on the development of financial sector of Pakistan when Private sector credit is taken as indicator of banking sector development. In case of Domestic credit as indicator of development of banking sector, results shows that all four variables are statistically significant to the financial sector development which are according to the findings of (Rajan Zingales, 1998), (Cetorelli Gambera, 2001) which states that Financial Liberalization and Real GDP significantly impact the development of financial sector. PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATIONS FOR BANKING SECTOR On the basis of the findings of this study, we can conclude that trade openness is having inverse relationship with the banking sector development. As a result of Trade openness, the less developed banking sector of Pakistan faces tough competition from the developed financial sector of other countries. Moreover, increase in trade openness increases the countryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s exposure to international shocks i.e. if any economy faces will suffer a crisis, there will be more chance of transferring crisis in Pakistan. Discount rate is also found significant in this study when Private sector credit and Domestic credit was used as an indicator of banking sector development. When the discount rate will be high, financial institutions will be encouraged to get loan from state bank of Pakistan. Banks usually uses discount rate as benchmark interest rate when they further lend the money to borrowers. So increasing the discount rate will eventually lead the banking sector to development.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

20th century music :: essays research papers

By the turn of the century and for the next few decades, artists of all nationalities were searching for exciting and different modes of expression. Composers such as Arnold Schoenberg explored unusual and unorthodox harmonies and tonal schemes. French composer Claude Debussy was fascinated by Eastern music and the whole-tone scale, and created a style of music named after the movement in French painting called Impressionism. Hungarian composer Bà ©la Bartà ³k continued in the traditions of the still strong Nationalist movement and fused the music of Hungarian peasants with twentieth century forms. Avant-garde composers such as Edgard Varà ¨se explored the manipulation of rhythms rather than the usual melodic/harmonic schemes. The tried and true genre of the symphony, albeit somewhat modified by this time, attracted such masters as Gustav Mahler and Dmitri Shostakovich, while Igor Stravinsky gave full rein to his manipulation of kaleidoscopic rhythms and instrumental colors throughout his extremely long and varied career. While many composers throughout the twentieth-century experimented in new ways With traditional instruments such as the "prepared piano" used by American composer John Cage, many of the twentieth-century's greatest composers, such as Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini and the Russian pianist/composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, remained true to the traditional forms of music history. In addition to new and eclectic styles of musical trends, the twentieth century boasts numerous composers whose harmonic and melodic styles an average listener can still easily appreciate and enjoy. The advance of technology has also had an enormous impact on the evolution of music in this century, with some composers using, for instance, the cassette player as a compositional tool or electronically generated sounds alongside classical instruments, the use of computers to compose music, and so on.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

My Decision to Teach :: College Admissions Essays

My Decision to Teach There are many reasons people decide to enter the teaching field. Some enter because they enjoy working with people or children, others because they like being off during the summer months, and still others because of their love for a particular subject. Although all these reasons are valid, I feel my reasons are much simpler. The bottom line is that I love kids and enjoy working with them. My desire to make learning a more positive experience for them has only increased with time. I knew very early in life that I enjoyed working with children; I am drawn to their eagerness to learn, their trusting nature, and their inquisitive minds. It has always been a joy for me to be around children, who are eager to learn. Children are thrilled when an adult takes time to read to them. After hearing a story only a couple of times, they are like a tape recorder set on replay. Their thirst for knowledge is overwhelming. At the elementary level, children also tend to have a very trusting nature. They rely heavily on their elders for guidance. Most children are very honest with their feelings and don't try to hide them. This is a crucial time in a child's life; it is a time when teachers and parents should be molding them for the future. It seems their minds are always working on something which makes them extremely inquisitive. Their curiosities seem never to be satisfied. Children are always asking "why?" even when they know the answer. The inquisitive child wan ts to know the how's, when's, and where's of everything. Because of my early interest in children, I developed a strong desire to teach; consequently, I sought out jobs that allowed me varied experiences with children. My first experience was baby-sitting. Here I quickly learned that children must be told precisely what to do. For example, "Go wash your hands with soap and dry them right now." Or, "You must take your shoes off and then you may get into the bathtub." From the many baby-sitting jobs I had, I soon discovered that if I did not have a plan the day would be total chaos. As early as thirteen I became familiar with the need for structure and creativity when dealing with younger children and found myself loving every minute of it.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Restorative Justice Essay

Introduction: The two thing that most victims of a crime have in common is that they want to know who committed the crime and why. In addition many victims may desire to meet and confront the offender to get some closure or justice. In some cases this is made possible via restorative justice process. This process is all about bringing the victim and the offender together. Restorative justice process: Restorative justice process is a process where the victim of a crime and the criminal are brought together to share their thoughts and feeling. The purpose of this is to help each side understand the pain that was caused by the crime. The three main processes most often identified with restorative justice is Restorative Circles, Restorative Conferencing and Victim-offender mediation. Restorative Circles is a facilitated community meetings attended by offenders, victims, their friends and families, interested members of the community, and (usually) representatives of the justice system. The facilitator is a community member (called a â€Å"keeper†) whose role is primarily to keep the process orderly and periodically to summarize for the benefit of the circle. Conferencing brings the victim and offender to a face-to-face meeting to discuss the crime and its impact. This brings support people for both the victim and offender in the discussions. A criminal justice representative may be present in the conference. A trained facilitator, who does not have a role in the substantive discussions leads  and guides the Participants. Victim Offender Mediation brings victims and offenders together with a trained facilitator to discuss the crime and develop an agreement for how to make things right. This process focuses on creating a safe, comfortable environment in which restorative dialogue can take place. Effects of the crime: The effects of this crime were far reaching. Obviously it affected Mildred in several ways. She lost her valuables and now she is afraid to stay at home. In addition it also effected Mildred’s daughter, Betty. Betty now had to provide a place for her to stay for a while and now she was worried about her safety. This crime also had an effect on the communities’ sense of security as well as the offenders family. Differences between restorative justice process and contemporary criminal justice: Restorative justice is a process where all members volunteer to participate, which in return ensure buy in from all parties. This is essential in ensuring rehabilitation of the offender and closure for the victim. In addition the penalty for the offense is less severe therefore it give the offender a chance to make amends and get back on track. No conviction charges are applied. The contemporary criminal justice process is formal and requires a judge, lawyers and a possible jury. This process is all about proving guilt and holding offenders accountable. It may not be the most effective way to give closure to the victim or rehabilitating the offender. Restorative justice process benefits: David was given a second chance to make amends for his offense with him receiving a conviction . He was given an opportunity to see how his action affected the victim and other s around her, In return he was able to get back onto the right path. Mildred was given closure and she received some of her property back and she gained confidence in her community. The community gained confidence in their overall security. Conclusion: At the end of the day the restorative justice process is more productive and effective as long as all side are willing participants. Buy in on a solution to a problem is always more effective then forcing the solution via conviction. References www.rjcity.org (copyright 2007 Prison Fellowship International).

Monday, September 16, 2019

Lex Cost of Capital

Lex Service PLC— Cost of Capital In 1928 Lex Garages Limited, at the time of public incorporation, had single garage in London. After 60 years, Lex Service PLC became a leading company in automotive distribution and leasing in the United Kingdom. In late 1950, Lex obtained from Volvo Car Corporation the exclusive franchise to import and distribute Volvo cars in the United Kingdom that ended in1992 four years before the scheduled termination date. This news dropped the share price of Lexto 30%.In 1970s, Lex started to expand its business into other services like transportation andleasing and for temporarily in hotel management business. By the end of 1983, Lex was structured around two principal groups ¶ i-e Lex Automotive and Lex Electronics Worldwide. From 1991 to 1993, Lex sold its major electronic business to Arrow Electronics, Inc. With theseries of acquisitions by Lex, finally it entered in the profitable business by acquiring acontrolling interest in the U.K importersh ip, Hyundai Car (U. K) in September 1993. Thisacquisition gave Lex management control of a three year rolling contract that Hyundai Car heldwith Hyundai Motor Company of Korea. In this case study, board meeting was scheduled in 1993 to review its cost of capital proceduresand to determine whether Lex Service PLC should use different hurdle rates for differentdivisions or should use cost of capital for the whole company.Lex Service PLC was concerned about its cost of capital in 1993 because from 1991 to 1993 Lexhad gone through many acquisitions and sales of assets that changed its capital structure in ahuge way. That change of capital structure included the sale of whole electronic division toArrow Electronice, Inc and acquisition of Hyundai Car (U. K). Moreover, they had cash toreinvest so Lex wanted to properly estimate its Cost of equity. Once new cost of capital is computed that will enable the firm to estimate its required rate of return on its investments.Ingeneral companies m ake use of CoC through discounted cash flow or share pricing method. To calculate cost of capital (equity), risk free rate and value of risk premium, calculations are asfollows:If Lex had no debt in its capital structure then the relationship between its levered equity betaand asset beta can be like: ? (asset) = E/V * ? (equity) And it also implies that interest and principal payments on the debt are fairly safe that makes the beta of debt to zero. If there is no debt then cost of capital will become the cost of equity.Moreover if Lex adds moderate amount of debt in its capital structure that means equity will become more risky and cost of equity will increase and so will the cost of capital. In order to fully evaluate future investment opportunities, Lex should single discount rate if the project is enough to represent the whole firm e-g in acquiring the very similar company. But Lexshould use multiple discount rates in evaluating the projects that replicates one of its divisions e -g investment in the automotive division should use the cost of capital of automotive division andsame goes for other divisions

Sunday, September 15, 2019

What Are the Most Important Tools and Technologies for Safeguarding Information Resources?

3. What are the components of an organizational framework for security and control? Firms need to establish a good set of both general and application controls for their information systems. A risk assessment evaluates information assets, identifies control points and control weaknesses, and determines the most cost-effective set of controls. Firms must also develop a coherent corporate security policy and plans for continuing business operations in the event of disaster or disruption.The security policy includes polices for acceptable use and identity management. Comprehensive and systematic MIS auditing helps organizations determine the effectiveness of security and controls for their information systems. 4. What are the most important tools and technologies for safeguarding information resources? Firewalls prevent unauthorized users from accessing a private network when it is linked to the Internet. Intrusion detection systems monitor private networks from suspicious network traff ic and attempts to access corporate systems.Passwords, tokens, smart cards, and biometric authentication are used to authenticate systems users. Antivirus software checks computer systems for infections by viruses and worms and often eliminates the malicious software, while antispyware software combats intrusive and harmful spyware programs. Encryption, the coding and scrambling of messages, is a widely used technology for securing electronic transmissions over unprotected networks.Digital certificates combined with public key encryption provide further protection of electronic transactions by authenticating a user’s identity. Companies can use fault-tolerant computer systems or create high-availability computing environments to make sure that their information systems are always available. Use of software metrics and rigorous software testing help improve software quality and reliability.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Analysis of Hollow Men by T.S. Eloit

Analysis T. S. Eliot’s â€Å"The Hollow Men† to me represents several interpretations of death or â€Å"the end†. The poem is split into five parts, each part presenting a different point of view or idea of death. There are several â€Å"kingdoms† of death presented in the various parts, intertwining  within eachother throughout. I view each part as representing a different member of the hollow men looking at the different â€Å"kingdoms† of death.Part I’s  presents a dank, dark cellar and is associated with violence and darkness â€Å"Violent souls, but not only†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (16). Part II’s  presents death’s â€Å"dream kingdom† and shows a more beautiful side of death, comparing souls to fading stars. Part III  presents â€Å"dead land† â€Å"cactus land†. We imagine a desert setting, dying of thirst, praying for life. â€Å"The supplication of a dead man’s hand/Under the twinkle of a fad ing star. †(43-44). Part IV takes place within death’s twilight kingdom that is talked about in part II.The speaker talks of eyes or the lack thereof in a valley of once again, dying stars. â€Å"There are no eyes here/In this valley of dying stars/In this hollow valley/This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms† (53-56). Part V is presents a more broad view of the end, not just for one, but for all. It describes several emotions and actions that everyone takes within their life, inbetween each â€Å"falls the shadow†. One could view this as the shadow of death, ever looming closer in everything you do.The poem ends with â€Å"This is the way the world ends/This is the way the world ends/This is the way the world ends/ Not with a bang but with a whimper. â€Å"(75-78). Death is something that has always been around me in my life. I have had several family members die around me but this particular poem doesn’t really make me feel anything about them. It makes me think more about what will happen when I die, when everyone dies. The poem provides a bleak view of death but also has a strange beauty about it.I like the idea of death as various landscapes, something about that sounds strangely appealing despite the apparent lonliness of the hollow men. No one seems to be in pain or very sad, they are just†¦there. That is similar to how I have always viewed death, not neccessarily as a big experience, you just cease to be. This is exemplified in the final lines of the poem â€Å"This is the way the world ends/Not with a whimper but with a bang. † I don’t believe we are nearly as significant as we believe, when it all ends, it will simply be that. The end.