Battle of Churubusco - Mexican-American War - Winfield Scott

Battle of Churubusco - Mexican-American War - Winfield Scott Battle of Churubusco - Conflict Date: The Battle of Churubusco was fought August 20, 1847, during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). Armies Commanders United States Major General Winfield ScottMajor General William J. Worth8,497 Mexico General Manuel RinconGeneral Pedro Anaya3,800 Battle of Churubusco - Background: With the beginning of the Mexican-American War in May 1946, Brigadier General Zachary Taylor won quick victories in Texas at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. Pausing to reinforce, he later invaded northern Mexico and captured the city of Monterrey. Though pleased with Taylors success, President James K. Polk was increasingly concerned about the generals political aspirations. As a result of this, and reports that an advance on Mexico City from Monterrey would be difficult, he began stripping Taylors army of men to form a new command for Major General Winfield Scott. This new army was tasked with capturing the port of Veracruz before moving inland against the Mexican capital. Polks approach nearly brought disaster when a badly outnumbered Taylor was attacked at Buena Vista in February 1847. In desperate fighting, he was able to hold off the Mexicans. Landing at Veracruz in March 1847, Scott captured the city after a twenty-day siege. Concerned about yellow fever along the coast, he quickly began marching inland and was soon confronted by a Mexican army led by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Attacking the Mexicans at Cerro Gordo on April 18, he routed the enemy before advancing to capture Puebla. Resuming the campaign in early August, Scott elected to approach Mexico City from the south rather than force the enemy defenses at El Peà ±Ãƒ ³n. Rounding Lakes Chalco and Xochimilco his men arrived at San Augustin on August 18. Having anticipated an American advance from the east, Santa Anna began redeploying his army to the south and assumed a line along the Churubusco River (Map). Battle of Churubusco - Situation Before Contreras: To defend the southern approaches to the city, Santa Anna deployed troops under General Francisco Perez at Coyoacan with forces led by General Nicholas Bravo to the east at Churubusco. In the west, the Mexican right was held General Gabriel Valencias Army of the North at San Angel. Having established his new position, Santa Anna was separated from the Americans by a vast lava field known as the Pedregal. On August 18 Scott directed Major General William J. Worth to take his division along the direct road to Mexico City. Marching along the east edge of the Pedregal, the division and accompanying dragoons came under heavy fire at San Antonio, just south of Churubusco. Unable to flank the enemy due to the Pedregal to the west and water to the east, Worth elected to halt. In the west, Valencia, a political rival of Santa Anna, elected to advance his men five miles south to a position near the villages of Contreras and Padierna. Seeking to break the deadlock, Scott sent one of his engineers, Major Robert E. Lee, to find a path through the Pedregal to the west. Successful, Lee began leading American troops from Major Generals David Twiggs and Gideon Pillows divisions across the rough terrain on August 19. In the course of this movement, an artillery duel commenced with Valencia. As this continued, American troops moved unnoticed to the north and west and took positions around San Geronimo before nightfall. Battle of Churubusco - The Mexican Withdrawal: Attacking around dawn, American forces shattered Valencias command at the Battle of Contreras. Realizing that the triumph had unhinged the Mexican defenses in the area, Scott issued a series of orders following Valencias defeat. Among these were orders which countermanded earlier directives for Worths and Major General John Quitmans divisions to move west. Instead, these were ordered north towards San Antonio. Sending troops west into the Pedregal, Worth quickly outflanked the Mexican position and sent them reeling north. With his position south of the Churubusco River collapsing, Santa Anna made the decision to begin pulling back towards Mexico City. To do so, it was critical that his forces hold the bridge at Churubusco. Command of the Mexican forces at Churubusco fell to General Manuel Rincon who directed his troops to occupy fortifications near the bridge as well as the San Mateo Convent to the southwest. Among the defenders were members of the San Patricio Battalion which consisted of Irish deserters from the American army. With the two wings of his army converging on Churubusco, Scott immediately ordered Worth and Pillow to attack the bridge while Twiggs division assaulted the convent. In an uncharacteristic move, Scott had not scouted either of these positions and was unaware of their strength. While these attacks moved forward, the brigades of Brigadier Generals James Shields and Franklin Pierce were to move north over the bridge at Coyoacan before turning east for Portales. Had Scott reconnoitered Churubusco, he most likely would have sent the bulk of his men along Shields route. Battle of Churubusco - A Bloody Victory: Moving forward, the initial assaults against the bridge failed as Mexican forces held. They were aided by the timely arrival of militia reinforcements. Renewing the assault, the brigades of Brigadier Generals Newman S. Clarke and George Cadwalader finally carried the position after a determined attack. To the north, Shields successfully crossed the river before meeting a superior Mexican force at Portales. Under pressure, he was reinforced by the Mounted Rifles and a company of dragoons which were stripped from Twiggs division. With the bridge taken, American forces were able to reduce the convent. Charging forward, Captain Edmund B. Alexander led the 3rd Infantry in storming its walls. The convent quickly fell and many of the surviving San Patricios were captured. At Portales, Shields began to gain the upper hand and the enemy began to retreat as Worths division was seen advancing from bridge to the south. Battle of Churubusco - Aftermath: Uniting, the Americans mounted an ineffective pursuit of the Mexicans as they fled towards Mexico city. Their efforts were hampered by the narrow causeways which traversed swampy terrain. The fighting at Churubusco cost Scott 139 killed, 865 wounded, and 40 missing. Mexican losses numbered 263 killed, 460 wounded, 1,261 captured, and 20 missing. A disastrous day for Santa Anna, August 20 saw his forces defeated at Contreras and Churubusco and his entire defensive line south of the city shattered. In an effort to buy time to reorganize, Santa Anna requested short truce which Scott granted. It was Scotts hope that peace could be negotiated without his army having to storm the city. This truce quickly failed and Scott resumed operations in early September. These saw him win a costly victory at Molino del Rey before successfully taking Mexico City on September 13 after the Battle of Chapultepec. Selected Sources PBS: Battle of ChurubuscoSon of the South: Battle of Churubusco Aztec Club: Battle of Churubusco - Map

Film review on Toy Story showing the journeys involved

Film review on Toy Story showing the journeys involved Disneys No.1 box office smash hit and the recipient of a special Academy Award Toy Story!Toy Story is the groundbreaking 1995 motion picture developed by Disney and Pixar and directed by John Lasseter. Combined with visual wizardry, uproarious laughs and the coolest characters ever assembled transform the worlds first computer-animated feature into an incomparable movie experience of fun and adventure.On the front cover of the movie, there is a shot of Buzz flying into the air with Woody holding on to his arm. Below on Andys bed are the less important characters. The camera shows a high angle shot with a close up of Buzz and Woody and is also looking down on the other characters in the distance. The concept of journey is emphasised by showing Buzz and Woody closer at a high angle shot and flying into the air to an unknown destination.The back cover of the movie also shows a few scenes of their journey.Buzz LightyearOne shows Buzz and Woody on a racing car trying to escape from a dog that is chasing them. The look of fear on their faces, the background of cars and the road rushing behind them suggests a fast paced movement.Toy Story is a film which represents journey through many different aspects. There are two physical journeys shown in this film. One of the journeys is of a young boy named Andy having to move to a new home, the other is of two action figures by the name of Buzz Lightyear and Woody, the pull-string cowboy, having to get back to their owner, Andy.In the opening scene, the protagonist, Woody is introduced when playing with Andy. Majestic music is being played in the background; this highlights the importance of the character to Andy and...

Management of change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Management of change - Essay Example The rationale for this study, as well as the summary of the literature findings shall also be set forth. The change proposal shall then be laid out and the steps in the implementation process shall also be explained based on the change management framework developed by Lewin. Based on the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC, 2008), a nurse is obligated to deliver the best and the highest standard of care at all times. More specifically, they are called on to deliver care, according to the best available evidence and best practice; and they must also ensure that the advice they are giving to their patient, in terms of healthcare products and services, is based on evidence (NMC, 2008). There are numerous evidences which are often made available to nurses for use in their practice. For which reason, it is important for nurses to be knowledgeable and skilled in the critical evaluation of evidence and ensure that the evidence they would choose to support and apply in their practice would b e the best (Spector, 2007, p. 1). For the purpose of this essay, the definition of evidence-based practice by Sackett, Straus, Richardson, Rosenberg, and Haynes shall be adapted. They define the practice as â€Å"the integration of best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values† (Sackett, Straus, Richardson, Rosenberg, and Haynes, 2000, p. 71). ... based practice therefore considers the role of the patient in the planning and conceptualisation of their care (Pipe, Wellik, Buchda, Hansen, and Martin, 2005). The nurses have to include and consider patient preferences in relation to the best evidence available and apply such to the planning process. Critics like Mullen and Streiner, however, are not supportive of EBP, contending that it prevents the application of the most effective treatment for the patient. They point out that EBP does not â€Å"fit the realities of individualised, contextualized practice, especially nonmedical practice wherein problems are less well defined (Mullen and Streiner, 2004, p. 133). They also emphasised that there are often many limitations in the methods of research in the systematic reviews and meta-analysis. Moreover, concern has been expressed on how evidence-based research can be conceptualised when competing elements like public opinion and resource limitations affect policy-making (Mullen and Streiner, 2004, p. 133). On the other hand, health practitioners are quick to point out that EBP is about being guided by the best available evidence. This means that absent available randomised controlled trials without design flaws, trials which have limitations can be used instead (Mullen and Streiner, 2004, p. 133). In effect, health practitioners and users of health services must be cautious about the risks and benefits when the evidence for decisions are made apparent, even if this would mean that there is not much evidence supporting the different choices (Mullen and Streiner, 2004, p. 133). Proponents of EBP also point out that even as the realities of practice may be far removed from the behaviour and practical aspects of the clinical practice, there is merit in considering the

Dell Computers Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Dell Computers - Case Study Example According to Technical Business Research (TBR) Quarter 2, 2007 Corporate IT Buying Behavior & Customer Satisfaction Study: x86-based Servers, Dell rank first in customer satisfaction for standards based servers, beating even HP and IBM. According to TBR, "Dell's overall weighted score improved 1.1 percent sequentially, while HP and IBM declined by 1.5 and 0.8 percent, respectively. Dell was the only systems provider to show an improvement in TBR's latest study, with customer satisfaction scores increasing in eight of the nine attributes measured, including server management, phone support, delivery time, value and ease of doing business." (Dell Named No. 1 in Server Customer Satisfaction 2007). Literature Review Customer contentment and Dell: Customers are the ultimate judges and creators of success or failure of a company. They are the veritable force behind flourishing enterprises. In the area of selling computer and related products, they exert importance in areas of quality and service of product lines. Dell is a company which produces good quality products for millions of customers all over the world. In the words of the founder of Dell, Michael Dell - "Our business is about technology, yes. But it's also about operations and customer relationships." (Michael Dell quotes 2009). From the beginning he had a bright view about the customers' needs. He kept the price of the products to an affordable range and started giving choices to select the product parts of their interest. Customer contentment is always related to the quality of the product and the affordability. In case of consumer electronic goods, especially in computer and related products, support and after-sales service is of huge importance. It is indeed a challenging... This paper describes the history of creating the Dell computer and the use of it in UK. First and foremost, â€Å"Dell was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell on a simple concept: by selling computer systems directly to customers, we could best understand their needs and efficiently provide the most effective computing solutions to meet those needs.† Michael started his company when he was a student in University of Texas at Austin with a capital of $1,000. At that time he named his Company as PC’s Limited. He dropped out of school in order to concentrate fulltime on his business. During 1985, his company developed a personal computer with its own design. It was termed as Turbo PC and it was sold for less than $800.The company started providing custom assembled ordered units on the customers’ selection with lower prices than of the other branded PCs. Dell, Inc. has a strong market share in UK.. All the ranges of their products are sold in the UK market. Main products sold in UK are PCs, Laptops, Servers, Network Equipments and other peripheral devices. From the starting of Dell in UK, it gave wide publicity to its products in media. Affordability is the leading aspect it implements in marketing. All the customers are well educated and hence, the technical details are mentioned in the classifieds. As UK is a developed country, the customers have special interests in high end technology and design. As the time goes, the customers’ attention goes more towards the quality and performance, rather than its price.

The History of the United States Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The History of the United States - Research Paper Example The civil war arose when the US people fought over power, land. (Burke 12). The Southerners felt threatened since they were thriving well in the slave trade. They feared the north might interfere with the growth of the trade which was booming at that time. It might be said with conviction that it is indeed slave trade that leads to the division of America into two, but there are other reasons. At that time, the Southerners whose daily lifestyle relied much on plantation farming and could, therefore, not do without slaves and the slave trade. They wished that it could grow and even spread in the west. In the contrary, the northerners who were politically and economically doing well posed a threat to the Southerners. So for the survival of the union of the American state, it was necessary that the slave trade was not tempered with, but left to grow (Burke 27). However, in 1860 when Abraham Lincoln became president, the union of American states came to a point where enough is enough. Wh en he publicly made his intentions clear to stop growth of the slave trade but not slavery, he compelled South Carolina followed by six other American southern states to withdraw from the union. This lead to the Civil war that lasted for four years after the seven states united and named Jefferson Davis there president. On15th of April 1861 due to break up of the states there followed a lot of fights and states of unrest battles with the first reported incidence being on July 21st 1861. At this point nothing, much could be done to stop the war anticipated. President Lincoln gave a decree that soldiers be reinforced around Fort Caswell and Fort Johnson but was all in vain due to luck of cooperation from some of the states like Missouri, North Carolina and Tennessee (Finney 33). There was some response to the president’s order from some companies from Pennsylvania who offered and provided soldiers on the 18th of April 1861. Between 18th and 19 of April soldiers managed a little to destroy points where weapons were kept in Virginia. At this juncture, President Lincoln pronounced the closer of states belonging to the Confederate. When the soldiers of the Union dared to pass through the Confederate states, Baltimore soldiers went on a rampage as a retaliate gesture. This made Lincoln add more closure by including Virginia and North Carolina in the list of sates closed. On the 20th of April 1861, there was an attempt by the Federal soldiers to Attack Virginia among other states. However, there was help by the Confederates who happened to save a lot of valuable staffs making the Federal soldiers retreat. On the seventh 25th of April the same year there was more reinforcement in Washington DC. On 29th, an election was held (Keifer 46). The governor was given the power to select commissioners by the Legislative body at Tennessee so the commissioners can be in accordance with the Confederacy. Voters who were supporting the re-evaluation of the conditions leading to the breakup of the United States Where joined hand in hand by The North Carolina legislative body. In May 17th North Carolina and Confederacy join hands. The voting was only restricted among the legislative body, and the citizens were not allowed to participate (Long 77). Conclusion A lot of activities was done at the legislative level most of which were being decided by the power of the ballot box. In the war, many civilian lost their lives; the national government became stronger

Necessary evil Essay Example for Free

Necessary evil Essay The book Walden, by Henry David Thoreau, is a book he wrote about the two years and a half years he lived in Walden’s Pond. He went to the area to do some deep thinking and to try to figure out what he wanted from his life. He lived in the middle of a large patch of land. He took the bare necessities with him and using his hands and a few tools, built himself a small cabin. He loved to walk all over the place and watch the people. He was friendly with the people of the town but did not really socialize with them. One of the things he wrote a lot about in the book was how people became slaves to their desires. He existed on very little and back stocked nothing. He would gather food or do odd jobs and then do nothing until he needed food again. He thought that if people were much less materialistic, they would not need to work as hard to get what they thought would make them happy. He noted that most of tine people worked and worked to get material things and then had to work even harder to get more and it became a vicious circle. He thought a trade was closer to slavery because you never got out of the loop of working and gathering and working some more. He scoffed at the idea of slave owners being free because they worked harder than anyone to keep what they had. Thoreau believed that the simple life was the best and that anyone who wanted true happiness needed to take stock of their possessions and figure out what they really needed and what they just wanted instead. I agree with Thoreau that most people are much too materialistic and should slow down. We live in a world where technology is racing ahead faster than ever and whatever you buy is the old model as soon as you get it. It is easy to get caught up in the wanting of better things and I can see why he thought that we can become slaves to our own material wants rather in our actual needs. It is too easy to go along with fashion and trends in order to popular only to find out we are working more than we are doing anything just to keep getting these things. Thoreau believed that a lot of crime was related to some people being rich and others being poor. I am sure this has always been a part of why people turn to crime but I don’t agree that it is the main reason. There are plenty of honest poor people and even more dishonest rich people. Some poor steal to survive and they are not proud of it but it is a necessary evil. Some poor refuse to commit crimes regardless of the circumstances. There are rich people who will cheat and steal simply to amuse themselves. Some wealthy people commit crimes to further their wealth. I think it is the character of the person that decides whether or not they will lead a life of crime and not always their background. I do agree that we should slow down and enjoy life rather than race through it and that if you lead a good life then anything you have done was well worth the effort even if you never get rich.

Impact of the financial crisis globally and in Mauritius

Impact of the financial crisis globally and in Mauritius Like almost all economies worldwide, the Mauritian economy has not been spared form the effect of the global financial crisis and subsequently to the recent European crisis. The former is considered to be the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. This was mainly due to the falling home prices in the United State which consequently spread to all other major economies and those which are dependent on the US economy. The Global Financial Crisis has led to the crisis of public debt in the Eurozone starting with Greece at the end of 2009. Due to the linkage of member countries in the Eurozone and the use of a single currency, the crisis faced by Greece started to spread to other member countries and this became known as the Eurozone crisis. It is obvious that although the measures that would be analyzed have had great effectiveness on mitigating the impact of the two crises, it has not been inevitable to prevent them from affecting the key sectors of the Mauritia n economy. One reason is because of its openness and financial integration to the world economy and the other being the fact that Mauritius has longed been and is still very Eurocentric. The Global Financial Crisis (2007-2009) Its Origin and Impact on the World Economy The Global Financial Crisis started when home prices began to fall dramatically in the US Real Estate market at the end of 2006. One of the reasons for the falling prices is because of the housing bubble which peaked in approximately 2005-2006. As a result people who have taken home loans started to default on their repayments as they find it cheaper to buy a house rather than to continue paying for the home loan. Due to the financial linkage and the globalization process, the declining home prices started to spread to other countries. More and more foreclosures and defaults led to banks financial position to deteriorate rapidly around the world. Investors worldwide started to lose confidence in the US economy and other major economies of the Eurozone. As such stock markets were deeply affected leading to huge loses for investors. Consumption, which is the main component of aggregate demand for many countries and US, started to decline which resulted in many quarters of negative grow th in the US and other major economies. The financial crisis led to a prolonged worldwide recession in 2008. Governments and Central Banks were forced to take necessary actions to fix the crisis. Capital injection and interest rate cuts were common to help borrowers to repay their loans. The low consumer confidence and investors confidence in the world economy resulted in many firms and financial institutions filed for bankruptcy such as the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Stimulus packages were implemented in many countries to help boosting economic activity. These stimulus packages helped companies which employ thousands of workers not to file for bankruptcy so as not to increase unemployment, for example, the US government agreed to help giant car companies Ford and Crysler in order to prevent them from closing down and laying down workers. The Global Financial Crisis did not only affected rich countries but also emerging economies and developing countries. Countries like Brazil, Russia, India, China (BRIC) and many other emerging economies experienced significantly high economic growth prior to the crisis but with the global economic downturn they had seen a slowdown in their level of economic activity. The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on the Mauritian Economy With the impact of the Global Financial Crisis on the world economy and the deterioration of banks financial position, investors in Mauritius started to react in September 2008 by massively selling their shares. Not surprisingly, companies whose prices declined the most were those in the banking and financial sector such as the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) and the State Bank of Mauritius (SBM). As a result, the SEMDEX, the share price index of shares quoted on the Official Market of the Stock Exchange of Mauritius, started to decline to its lowest level. This indicated the level of pessimism among investors in the Mauritian economy. The Global Financial Crisis affected all key sectors of the Mauritian economy, such as the textile industry, the tourism industry, the sugar industry, the financial services sector, and the construction industry. This was mainly due to the trade liberalization of Mauritius to the world economy. As such, even though Mauritius is not related to the origin of the financial crisis, the effects of the crisis crossed the Mauritian border uninvited. This is the danger of globalization on small states like Mauritius. Among all the sectors of the Mauritian economy, the textile and tourism was most affected. Many firms closed down. Low level of tourist arrivals, due to the increasing level of unemployment in key markets, affected the tourism industry deeply. The construction industry experienced a slowdown in its economic activity. Foreign Direct Investment fell significantly during the crisis. Finally, during the same period the sugar industry had to undertake reforms because of the end of the European Union Sugar Protocol in 2006. Rising unemployment was not inevitable and the economic growth rate was declining. However, it should be noted that Mauritius did not register negative output growth during the global economic downturn. Measures by the government and the Bank of Mauritius successfully prevented the Mauritian economy from entering into a recession. Policy measures taken to mitigate the Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on the Mauritian Economy. Since the beginning of the Global Financial Crisis and its impact on the Mauritian economy there has been huge policy coordination between the government and the Bank of Mauritius (BOM). Keynesianism was on the rise and expansionary monetary policies were followed. The government adopted expansionary fiscal policies to boost productivity. The BOM followed the same policy actions as other Central Banks worldwide, easing monetary policies. In the last quarter of 2008, through its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the BOM decided to slash the Key Repo rate by 150 basis points and the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) was brought down from 6 percent to 5 percent, thus freeing some Rs2.5 Billion for commercial banks to be able to increase loans to the private sector and in turn increasing the level of economic activity. On the government side, although the economic growth projection was still positive at 5.5 percent for the year ending 2008, expansionary fiscal policies were adopted. The budget deficit was increased but for the benefit of increased productivity. Like the BOM, the government also followed the same course of actions taken by other countries to fight the global financial crisis. An Additional Stimulus Package (ASP) equivalent to 3.8 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or Rs6 Billion was put in place. The ASP was aimed at expanding the airport of Mauritius and to create six funds that would make Mauritius more resilient and thus limiting the impact of the Global Financial Crisis on the Mauritian Economy. These Funds include: The Maurice Ile Durable (MID) Fund. Food Security Fund. The Human Resource, Knowledge, and Arts Development Fund. The Local Infrastructure Fund. The Social Housing Development Fund. The Manufacturing Adjustment and SME Development Fund. The Implementation of the Additional Stimulus Package in its effort to fight the Global Financial Crisis. The six funds created under the ASP are detailed below: The MID Fund would include a solar water heater scheme, energy saving lamps, replacing street lighting lamps, mobilize foreign expertise for sustainable development support for a wind farm project, and financing the Waste Energy Project. All these schemes would help in building the vision of a Green Mauritius and protect the Mauritian Economy from high price volatility for non-renewable energy. Under the Food Security Fund land would be prepared and provided with irrigation facilities for small farmers. The land resource mobilization would result in the production of some 5000 tons of additional food commodities between 2009 and 2011. The aim of this fund is to increase the food supply for the population and reduce the dependence on imported food supplies. The Human Resource, Knowledge, and Arts Development Fund would make provisions for scholarships to needy students. A Student Loan Guarantee Scheme and the construction of new campuses for tertiary education are also financed under this fund. The aim of this fund is to provide education for all children and help in eradicating poverty and also to widen the circle of opportunities. The Local Infrastructure Fund would provide resources in a wide range of areas including multi-purpose complexes, fish landing stations, market fairs, waterfront, crematorium, and tartan track. The aim of this fund is to improve areas where people visit regularly and increase security for the people. The Social Housing Development Fund would include the rehabilitation of NHDC estates and infrastructures for social housing and support for affordable housing to bring down the cost of mortgage. This fund would help more people to own a home. The Manufacturing Adjustment and SME Development Fund would facilitate the work undertaken by the Enterprise Mauritius, SEHDA, and the National Women Entrepreneur Council. Another important scheme that was created under the ASP was the Mechanism for Transitional Support to the Private Sector (MTSP). This mechanism makes provision for a Financial Rescue Package (FRP) to help enterprises in financial difficulties. The MTSP covered all sizes of enterprises whether small, medium, or large. The facilities favored enterprises which have used all available financial tools provided by banks and other financial institutions and still cannot overcome their financial distress. It also applies to those where banks and other financial institutions do not agree to help them. The 2009 budget also aimed at making provision for a range of actions in light of the global economic crisis. The National Empowerment Foundation (NEF) was created from this budget. Its main aim was to fight the remnants of poverty in Mauritius and the eradication of poverty. The NEF also put an obligation on large companies to give at least 2 percent of their operating profit as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The NEF enhanced its efforts on re-skilling, retraining, and returning retrenched workers to productive employment. The Euro Crisis (2010) Its Origin and Impact on the Eurozone economies. The Global Financial Crisis of 2007-2009 forced many countries to seek help to restructure their economies, especially the Eurozone economies. After the financial crisis another problem was emerged, the public debt or sovereign debt crisis which later became known as the Eurozone Crisis. It started with Greece at the end of 2009 and then spread to other Eurozone member countries such as Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Germany. A sovereign debt arises when a country issue government bonds denominated in its own currencies but sold to investors abroad. The problem with Greece was that the cost of financing the debt became so large that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB) agreed on a à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬110 Billion loan for Greece. Soon after other countries started to have the same problem as Greece and bail outs was necessary. Ireland has also been bailed out with à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬85 Billion. However, these loans are conditional on the implementatio n of harsh austerity measures. Austerity measures being cuts in government spending and increased taxes. One of the main impact of the Euro Crisis was the depreciation of the Euro vis-à  -vis other currencies. There was high financial instability in Eurozone economies which consequently led to uncertainty and falling investors confidence. On 9 May 2010 the 27 member states of the European Union agreed to create the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), a legal instrument aiming at preserving financial stability in Europe by providing financial assistance to Eurozone states in difficulty. The Impact of the Eurozone Crisis on the Mauritian Economy. Mauritius is highly dependent on the Eurozone and it is obvious that a depreciating Euro would have serious consequences on the economy. The crisis impacted on all key sectors of the Mauritian economy including export, financial services industry, domestic oriented industries, and other emerging sectors. Most of our exports are billed in Euro while most imports are in US dollars term. Since the beginning of 2010, the Euro has depreciated by around 8 percent while the US dollar has appreciated by around 3 percent against the rupee. Therefore, it is clear that exports revenues are declining while costs are rising for local firms. This is very crucial for domestic firms and this present a threat for their survival and consequently employment. The Central Statistical Office (CSO) downgraded the real GDP forecast for 2010 from 4.6 percent to 4.2 percent after the unfolding of the Euro Crisis. Furthermore, the CSO predicted an unemployment rate of 7.5 percent in 2010 from 7.3 percent in 2009. On the other hand, the inflation rate was declining. Analysts expect the austerity measures to impact negatively on the growth performance of Eurozone economies. This can result in a drop in demand for our exports and lower tourist arrivals. Moreover, some analysts believe that the Eurozone crisis will last for 5 to 7 years. Policy Response to the Eurozone Crisis and to limit its impact on the Mauritian Economy. The Mauritian economy is faced with a depreciating Euro which is having serious consequences in terms of low tourist arrivals and low demand for our exports. Furthermore, the Euro crisis is expected to last for 5 to 7 years. There is therefore a compelling need to restructure the Mauritian economy and to diversify from the Eurozone countries to other emerging countries such as the BRIC. Below is an extract from Facing the Eurozone Crisis and Restructuring for Long Term Resilience which was presented by the Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Pravind Jugnauth in 2010. Thus, The seven pillars of our response to the euro crisis and to the larger challenge of global economic rebalancing are: Industry and enterprise restructuring Deleveraging Supporting the creation of new financing instrument Fast re-skilling and re-employment of retrenched workers, with a focus on retrenched women workers Acceleration of public infrastructure Protecting consumers Modernizing regulations to improve competitiveness In order to implement all of the seven policies response mentioned above, many measures was taken, these includes: The implementation of an Economic Restructuring and Competitiveness Programme (ERCP). This will support firms in the export sectors, especially the textile and clothing industry to help them overcome their financial difficulties. Support for the SMEs to help them better manages their finance and thus being resilient to external shocks. Supporting small planters in the sugar industry which are squeezed between reform into the sugar industry and a depreciating Euro. Help to restructure the tourism sector in diversifying into non-euro based markets. Help the retrenched workers by providing them support and ensuring their re-employment. Ensuring that consumers can benefit in the depreciating Euro. Restructuring the public sector enterprises. Accelerate public infrastructure projects that are vital to the economic restructuring. Improving competitiveness by reviewing the regulatory framework. Setting up a committee to endure the proper implementation of the policy response package and ensure its effectiveness. Mobilizing the necessary resources to finance the package. The Mechanism for Transitional Support to the Private sector (MTSP) which was put in place to help firms in difficulties during the Global Financial Crisis was replaced by the ERCP. The ERCP is much more than a financial rescue package. The main features and process of the ERCP is outlined in the next section. The Economic Restructuring and Competitiveness Package The main processes of the ERCP are as follows: A diagnosis will be carried on the company applying for support under the ERCP to determine its viability. If the company is found viable, it will be granted all support under the ERCP provided that it takes a serious commitment to restructure and deleverage. An Independent Financial Analyst will be drawn to prepare a restructuring plan for the company. The restructuring plan will include market diversification, product improvement, efficiency, and productivity. If the restructuring process requires the laying off of workers, a retrenchment plan should be submitted to the ERCP and the Support Unit for Re-employment of Employees (SURE) for approval. The deleverage plan will define actions the company needs to take to bring down its gearing ratio to the benchmark established by the ERCP committee. Inefficient, poorly managed, highly geared companies will not be granted support under the ERCP. Measures were also taken by the BOM to manage the euro/rupee exchange rate. The Key Repo rate was cut by 100 basis points to 4.75 percent on the 27th September 2010. Conclusion Up to now the Mauritian economy has demonstrated a considerable degree of resilience to external shocks. The Global Financial Crisis of 2007-2009 was the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s and it has dampened the world economy significantly. Mauritius being a small emerging economy was also hit by Global Financial Crisis due to its openness n financial integration to the world economy. However, policy coordination by the government and the Bank of Mauritius in adopting expansionary fiscal and monetary policies has prevented the Global Financial Crisis from damaging the economy further. The effects of the Eurozone crisis on the Mauritian economy were also very high. These were inevitable since Mauritius has always had high dependence of its exports such as tourism, textile and sugar on markets in Europe but the policy response such as reducing the Key Repo rate to 4.75 percent by the BOM and the implementation of the ERCP by the government will ensure that the Mauritian economy has a long term resilience to external shocks