Effects of Western global expansion after 1500 C.E Essay

Effects of Western global expansion after 1500 C.E - Essay Example This is too harsh. While negative things certainly happened during this time, wonderful things happened too. New cultures were introduced to one another. Although this process started unequally, it was the beginning of globalization, a process that has brought great prosperity to all parts of the world. It is now seventeen years since I came to serve these princes with the Enterprise of the Indies. They made me pass eight of them in discussion, and at the end rejected it as a thing of jest. Nevertheless, I persisted therein... Over there I have placed under their sovereignty more land than there is in Africa and Europe, and more than 1,700 islands... In seven years I, by the divine will, made that conquest (Morison, 576) One man could conquer all of this territory and bring back to Spain all the riches of these islands. It is an extraordinary story. However, Spain was not the only country involved: its efforts were mostly limited to the Caribbean (Paine, xvi). It was driven in large part by the changes Europe was undergoing. First, came discovery, and then came exploitation. Mercantilism developed in Europe in the 18th century (Duiker, et al, 320). This was one of the dominant economic doctrines of the time. It led European powers to seek out new markets across the world. These were often less developed countries that had some sort of resource the Europeans could exploit. The wealth generated from these conquests allowed Europeans to build massive public works such as the French palace at Versailles (326). While this was clearly a form of greed at the time, these buildings were truly beautiful. It is easy to argue that this period in world history was filled only with calumny and misery. However, much of the economic activity at the time laid the groundwork for the current global economy, which provides so much prosperity to us all. Certain countries needed to become rich so

Airports and ground handling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Airports and ground handling - Essay Example Various studies suggest that privately owned firms can realize higher levels of operating efficiency compared to state owned firms (Megginson et al., 2004). In the UK, there are various ownership structures of airports which include complete private ownership, local government ownership and public-private ownership. While there are several airports which are individually owned, there are also many airport operator groups in the UK. The privatisation of the UK airports is not an isolated case since the move has been embraced by other governments globally. For instance, Austria commercialised and privatised the Vienna International Airport; Australia privatised Melbourne or Tullamarine (Baird, 1996) while New Zealand privatised the ports of Wellington and Auckland international airports. Ideally, many governments globally have leased out their airports on a long-term basis to private entities to operate them to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness (Assaf, Gillen, & Barros, 2012). It is also crucial to note that this kind of arrangement has been extended to the management of sea ports and terminals across the world to enhance efficiency by easing congestion in the port facilities. A good example was the privatisation of nine UK ports in 1983 that formed the Associated British Ports (Haarmeyer, &Yorke, 1993). The privatization enabled the ports to increase capital investment, diversify assets and adopt effic ient practices (Haarmeyer, &Yorke, 1993). Thus, it is evident that privatisation of government owned entities is crucial in improving their operational efficiency and effectiveness. It is important, however, to note that privatisation of airports has not taken place in all parts of the UK and the world. Some airports such those in the Islands of Scotland, which are not busy or desirable are usually funded by the state to facilitate the movement of people