Why Has The Concept of Sovereignty Proved Such a Powerful Political Concept - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2330 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Politics Essay Type Argumentative essay Level High school Did you like this example? Why has the concept of Sovereignty proved such a powerful political concept? Introduction That the concept of sovereignty still is a powerful concept can be seen with regard to European integration. The gradual transfer of core powers from EU member states to supranational institutions is a case in point, which consistently reveals the crucial importance of the concept of sovereignty: In the 2009 German Constitutional Court ruling on the Lisbon treaty, the court held that German state sovereignty cannot be transferred to a supranational level as it is ‘simply another name for German democracy’ (Koskenniemi 2010, 241, cf. Grimm 2009). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Why Has The Concept of Sovereignty Proved Such a Powerful Political Concept" essay for you Create order Hence, the question emerges as to why the concept of sovereignty has been able to exert this long-lasting impact. I will argue that this is enabled by its becoming inextricably linked to notions of self-determination and democratic accountability. I will look at this argument from different perspectives, carving out a view on sovereignty as a concept which is fundamentally political, and which is powerful because it provides space for interpretation. My argument will operate against the backdrop of sovereignty conceived of as ‘supreme authority within a territory’ (Philpott 2014, n.p.). Throughout modernity sovereignty has been associated with the state, namely as a conditio sine qua non of the latter. This prevalence of the state is undergoing profound transformations since the second half of the twentieth century. Based on this observation I will explore how linking sovereignty to self-determination and democratic accountability is more relevant for explaining i ts success than to examine its link with the state. The first part thus analyses the historicity of the concept within the paradigm of state sovereignty, the second looks at its contemporary applicability beyond the state. I. Sovereignty and modernity According to Robert Jackson (2007), since the emergence of modernity in the early sixteenth century the concept of sovereignty became tied up to the notion of the supreme and independent state, which marks its connotation as a fundamentally ‘politicallegal term’ (Jackson 2007, 20). Sovereignty became a constitutive part of the state, closely related to its authority. Moreover, this association of sovereignty with the modern state enabled a shift in the ‘locus of sovereignty’ in the course of the following centuries up to the present day, ‘from rulers and dynasties to parliaments and estates or social classes, and then to the nation or people as a whole’ (Jackson 2007, 22). Jackson’s historical account asserts that while the locus of sovereignty changes over time, the basic tenets of political life remained stable: [T]he land surface of the planet is partitioned into a number of separate bordered territories, †¦ a certain de terminate authority is supreme over all other authorities in each territory, and †¦ those supreme authorities are independent of all foreign authorities. (Jackson 2007, 22) For the present argument, however, what is crucial is the locus of sovereignty: the trajectory from absolutist rulers enthroned by the will of all, as stipulated in Hobbes or Bodin (cf. Hobbes 2008; Bodin 1962), to the notion of ‘popular sovereignty’ (cf. Jackson 2007, 78ff.), in which â€Å"the people† hold sovereignty. It is evident in the answer given to the question for who is entitled to sovereignty: in the notion of popular sovereignty, ‘the authority of the final word resides in the political will or consent of the people of an independent state’ (Jackson 2007, 78). This shift in the understanding of self-determination – from a theoretical self-determination as can be found in Hobbes, where people surrender their sovereignty to the Leviathan voluntarily in order to overcome the primordial state of nature and war of all against all, to the factual self-determination of a nation – is of prime importance for the lasting influence of the concept of sovereignty. But how can this change in conceiving the locus of sovereignty be conceptualised? The shift sheds light on the ‘polemical’ dimension of sovereignty, which surfaces in its its deployment not as a ‘marker of an entity’s sociological thickness but of the needs of present politics’ (Koskenniemi 2010, 232). From this follows a concept of sovereignty operating on two different levels, namely as a term which ‘simultaneously invokes the registers of both description and prescription’ (Kalmo and Skinner 2010, 8). It can be employed both in order to analyse a certain status quo and to express a normative dimension, a desire for a certain outcome. It thus points to the present and the past as well as to the future. Therefore, i t is invested with a fundamentally political dimension, which makes it subject to interpretation. The space opened up by this contestability can be seen as a crucial factor for the longevity of the concept: appealing to sovereignty can serve both to repress and justify absolutist rule and to demand emancipation. It is crucially related to the idea of agency, to the question of who de facto holds and exerts sovereignty, and who is seen to be actually entitled to it. In the course of the twentieth century, for instance, the appeal to self-determination served colonised peoples to demand an end to European imperialism (cf. Jackson 2007, 76). While ‘[i]n the mid-twentieth century the â€Å"self† in self-determination was juridical and territory-focused more often that [sic] it was sociological and people-focused’ (Jackson 2007, 106), the national liberation movements of the second half of the century were built on the right to assert a certain, i.e. national , self-determination. At this juncture, another crucial aspect of sovereignty surfaces, namely the issue of accountability. It manifests itself in the notion of consent expressed by the governed towards those governing. In a representative democracy, consent is volatile and can be both confirmed and withdrawn in the course of elections. This process is to guarantee that the government consistently takes into account the public will – a relation which in the parts of the world colonised by European states was obviously not given (cf. Jackson 2007, 76). Accordingly, the appeal both to self-determination and to the requirement of consent by the governed – democratic accountability – form part of the discourse on sovereignty. This discursive dynamic with which the concept of sovereignty is invested provides a clear view on why it has proved to be as long-lasting. II. Sovereignty beyond the state From those considerations one can deduct a notion of sovereignty as a discursive instrument serving different causes in the hands of different actors. The profoundly political character of appealing to sovereignty can be considered a strong explanation of the powerful role the concept of sovereignty still plays. This can be further explored with reference to the approach developed by Cynthia Weber in Simulating Sovereignty (1995). The work is conceived against the backdrop of the perceived ignorance on behalf of most of International Relations scholars as regards the concept’s historicity (cf. Weber 1995, 2) – a critique in which resonates Rousseau’s dictum that ‘the Sovereign, by the mere fact that it is, is always everything it ought to be’ (Rousseau 1997, 52). I would argue that the critique launched by Weber emerges precisely from the political dimension of sovereignty, a dimension she sees obscured in the mainstream discourse which begs the question as to how a community is constituted (cf. Weber 1995, 8). This again touches on the problematic regarding the notion of â€Å"the people†: how is this abstract entity, which by no means corresponds to the empirical population (cf. Kalmo and Skinner 2010, 11), to be conceived? For Weber, who crucially draws on the work of Baudrillard, especially his Symbolic Exchange and Death (1988), considering this question must take into account the profound change from a ‘logic of representation’ to a ‘logic of simulation’ (Weber 1995, 127), which occurs during the second half of the twentieth century. While the first logic implies the production of an original truth which sovereignty can refer to and which enables political representation (cf. Weber 1995, 123f.), the second logic prevails once the credibility of traditional referents such as â€Å"god† or â€Å"the people† has vanished. Truth is not produced anymore, but †™seduced’ (Weber 1995, 125). Weber examines the logic of representation for the relation between sovereignty and several twentieth century military interventions, that is, actual violations of sovereignty. Through the very violation of sovereignty in a specific case, however, the concept itself is reproduced. The conceptual pair sovereignty/intervention creates a boundary which ‘produces, represents, or writes the state’ (Weber 1995, 125). In a logic of simulation, in contrast, the sovereignty/intervention boundary collapses and is replaced by an interchangeability of both, giving way to the emergence of a new term Weber calls â€Å"sovereigntyintervention† (Weber 1995, 127). This shift creates the need for the ‘simulation’ of this boundary, in order to keep up the concept of the state and sovereignty itself. Weber illuminates this with regard to the US intervention in Panama, which essentially obliterated the difference between sov ereignty and intervention. With Baudrillard, Weber argues that an ‘abili [sic, read: alibi] function’ is deployed, a function which is based on self-referentiality and the closed circulation of interchangeable signifiers (Weber 1995, 128). In a vain ‘to rescue the â€Å"reality principle†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Weber 1995, 128, cf. Baudrillard 1988, 2), in this case, the reality of sovereignty, intervention is appealed to. Weber describes the resulting circular relation as follows: For intervention to be meaningful, sovereignty must exist because intervention implies a violation of sovereignty. To speak of intervention, then, is to suggest that sovereignty does exist. In Baudrillard’s terms, intervention or transgression proves sovereignty or the law. (Weber 1995, 128f.) From this Baudrillardian perspective the persistence of the concept of sovereignty can be explained as an attempt to perpetuate first referents in a time in which those referents have l ost their foundation. Against the backdrop of the non-existence of â€Å"the people†, the appeal to sovereignty can only remain credible if it occurs within a network of other concepts. However, each of those other concepts in itself depends on being embedded in a network of signifiers, thus creating the above mentioned self-referentiality: there is nothing beyond the sign, it is pure simulation: a network of simulacra. From this Weber concludes that ‘[i]nvestigating state sovereignty †¦ requires investigating how states are simulated’ (Weber 1995, 129). Those displacements of the discursive use of the concept of sovereignty reflect its prolonged attraction. In other words, returning to the above mentioned ambiguity as regards its use (it can be employed to describe as well as to prescribe), sovereignty’s very texture has been characterised as ‘sponge-concept’ (Bartelson 1995, 237), from which derives an ‘uncertainty about what sovereignty is’ (Walker 1995, 27). Therefore, Kalmo and Skinner hold that if sovereignty is conceived of ‘as an argument, as a claim to authority, than there is no sense at all in which it can be â€Å"reduced† (Kalmo and Skinner 2010, 7). This brings us back to my argument as to the importance of the factors of self-determination and democratic accountability. First, precisely because self-determination has no empirical referent, but depends on invoking an abstract â€Å"people†, this people’s sovereignty can never be achieved, and therefore has to be appealed to persistently. In the hands of different actors it takes different shapes and refers to different aims, but it always has a prescriptive dimension. The same holds, second, for democratic accountability. Consent is never fixed, because â€Å"the people† who articulates this consent are not. Accordingly, democratic accountability is instable, too, as the governing have to take into account the possibility of the popular consent being withdrawn. The appeal to sovereignty by the multitude, Hardt and Negri (2000), for instance, hold, is floating, and per definition as ‘inconclusive [a] constitutive relation’ as the multitude itself (Hardt and Negri 2000, 103). One answer to the question for the ongoing impact of the concept of sovereignty therefore is that it is an ‘argumentative resource’ (Kalmo and Skinner 2010, 24), while the credibility of its functioning as an analytical tool erodes. Conclusion The Baudrillardian theoretical construct is geared to devaluate all â€Å"traditional† ways of conceptualising sovereignty, as here it is subsumed under a theoretical framework in which simulation has substituted all â€Å"reality†. Yet it provides an enriching perspective on the discursive character of the concept of sovereignty, and therefore helps understanding the persistence of its use. The very intangibility of the concepts sovereignty refers to, be it â€Å"the people† or â€Å"consent†, leaves open a gap which contestation can pierce into. My argument showed that those referents of sovereignty, however, are mediated through the factors self-determination and democratic accountability, which therefore provide the essential link through which the discourse on sovereignty proceeds. Accordingly, while the Baudrillardian perspective developed by Weber mainly looks at the appeals to sovereignty by states themselves, it can also serve emancipatory movements for articulating political demands. What can be said in conclusion, then, is that the very ambiguity of the concept of sovereignty as expressed in the demand for self-determination, for instance, is what made and makes it successful. Bibliography Bartelson J 1995, A Genealogy of Sovereignty, Cambridge, New York: Cambridge UP. Baudrillard J 1988, ‘Symbolic Exchange and Death’, in: idem., Poster M (ed. and intr.), Selected Writings, pp. 119-148, Stanford: Stanford UP. Bodin J 1962, The Six Bookes of a Commonweale ,McRae K D (ed.), Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP. Grimm , D 2009, Souverà ¤nità ¤t. Herkunft und Zukunft eines Schlà ¼sselbegriffs , Berlin: Berlin UP.Hobbes T 2008, Leviathan, Gaskin J C A (ed.), Oxford: Oxford UP. Hardt M and Negri A 2000, Empire, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP. Jackson R 2007, Sovereignty: The Evolution of an Idea, Cambridge, Malden, Mass.: Polity. Kalmo H and Skinner Q 2010, ‘Introduction: a concept in fragments’, in: idem., Sovereignty in fragments: the past, present and future of a contested concept, pp. 1-25, Cambridge, New York: Cambridge UP. Koskenniemi M 2010, ‘Conclusion. vocabularies of sovereignty – powers of a paradox’, in: Kalmo H and Skinner Q (eds.), Sovereignty in fragments: the past, present and future of a contested concept, pp. 222-242, Cambridge, New York: Cambridge UP. Philpott D 2014, ‘Sovereignty’, in: Zalta E N (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2014 Edition), URL https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2014/entries/sovereignty, accessed 08 Feb. 15. Rousseau J J 1997, The social contract and other later political writings, Gourevitch V (ed.), Cambridge, New York: Cambridge UP. Walker R B J 1995, ‘From International Relations to World Politics’ in: Camilleri J A, Jarvis A P and Pasolini A J (eds.), The State in Transition: Reimagining Political Space, pp. 21–38, Boulder, Colo.: L. Rienner. Weber, C 1995, Simulating Sovereignty, Cambridge, New York: Cambridge UP.

How Do Dolphins Go to Sleep

Dolphins cant breathe underwater, so every time a dolphin needs to breathe, it has to make the decision to come to the water surface to breathe and supply its lungs with oxygen. Yet a dolphin might only be able to hold its breath for about 15 to 17 minutes. So how do they sleep? Half of Their Brain At a Time Dolphins sleep by resting half of their brain at a time. This is called unihemispheric sleep. The brain waves of captive dolphins that are sleeping show that one side of the dolphins brain is awake while the other is in a deep sleep, called slow-wave sleep. Also, during this time, the eye opposite the sleeping half of the brain is open while the other eye is closed. Unihemispheric sleep was thought to have evolved due to the dolphins need to breathe at the surface, but may also be necessary for protection against predators, the need for toothed whales to stay within their tightly-knit pods, and for regulation of their internal body temperature. Dolphin Mothers and Calves Get Little Sleep Unihemispheric sleep is advantageous to mother dolphins and their calves. Dolphin calves are especially vulnerable to predators such as sharks  and also need to be near their mothers to nurse, so it would be dangerous for dolphin mothers and calves to fall into a full deep sleep like humans do. A 2005 study on captive bottlenose dolphin and orca mothers and calves showed that, at least when  at the surface, both mom and calf appeared awake 24 hours a day during the first month of the calfs life. Also during this lengthy time period, both eyes of the mom and calf were open, indicating that they werent even sleeping dolphin-style. Gradually, as the calf grew, sleep would increase in both the mom and calf. This study was questioned later, as it involved pairs that were only observed at the surface. A 2007 study, though, showed a complete disappearance of rest at the surface for a minimum of 2 months after the calf was born, although occasionally the mother or calf were observed with an eye closed. This may mean that dolphin mothers and calves engage in deep sleep in the early months after birth, but it is for only brief periods. So it appears that early in the dolphins life, neither mothers nor calves get much sleep. Parents: sound familiar? Dolphins Can Stay Alert for at Least 15 Days As mentioned above, unihemispheric sleep also allows dolphins to monitor their environment constantly. A study published in 2012 by Brian Branstetter and colleagues showed that ​dolphins can remain alert for up to 15 days. This study initially involved two dolphins, a female named Say and a male named Nay, who were taught to echolocate to find targets in a pen. When they identified the target correctly, they were rewarded. Once trained, the dolphins were asked to identify targets over longer periods of time. During one study, they performed the tasks for 5 days straight with extraordinary accuracy. The female dolphin was more accurate than the male—the researchers commented in their paper that, subjectively, they thought this was personality-related, as Say seemed more eager to participate in the study. Say was subsequently used for a longer study, which was planned for 30 days but was cut off due to an impending storm. Before the study was concluded, however, Say accurately identified the targets for 15 days, demonstrating that she could perform this activity for a long period of time without interruption. This was thought to be due to her ability to get rest through unihemispheric sleep while still remaining focused on the task she needed to perform. The researchers suggested that a similar experiment should be done while also recording the dolphins brain activity while the tasks are being performed to see if they engage in sleep. Unihemispheric Sleep in Other Animals Unihemispheric sleep has also been observed in other cetaceans (e.g., baleen whales), plus manatees, some pinnipeds, and birds. This type of sleep may offer hope for humans  who have sleep difficulties. This sleep behavior seems amazing to us, who are used to — and usually need to — fall into an unconscious state for several hours each day to recover our brains and bodies. But, as it was stated in the study by Branstetter and colleagues: If dolphins sleep like terrestrial animals, they might drown. If dolphins fail to maintain vigilance, they become susceptible to predation. As a result, the apparent extreme capabilities these animals possess are likely to be quite normal, unspectacular and necessary for survival from the dolphins perspective. Have a good nights sleep! Sources and Further Reading Ballie, R. 2001. Animal Sleep Studies Offer Hope for Humans. Monitor on Psychology, October 2001, Vol 32, No. 9.  Ã¯ » ¿Branstetter, B.K., Finneran, J.J., Fletcher, E.A., Weisman, B.C. and S.H. Ridgway. 2012. Dolphins Can Maintain Vigilant Behavior through Echolocation for 15 Days Without Interruption or Cognitive Impairment. PLOS One.  Hager, E. 2005. Baby Dolphins Dont Sleep. UCLA Brain Research Institute.  Lyamin O, Pryaslova J, Kosenko P, Siegel J. 2007. Behavioral Aspects of Sleep in Bottlenose Dolphin Mothers and Their Calves. National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.

King Lear Character Analysis - 796 Words

In the play King Lear by william Shakespeare, Lear decides to give up his throne and retire because of his age. Lear decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters because he has no heir to the throne. Before splitting the country up, Lear asks his daughters to tell him how much they love him and only then will the receive their part of the kingdom. His eldest daughters, Goneril and Regan, shower their father in insincere flattery trying to show their affection. In contrast his youngest and most beloved daughter,Cordelia, gives him a short simple answer, not indulging in his game of who loves me most.Which angers lear Lear and results in him disowning Cordelia. Now that his kingdom is divided into two, Lear is under the care†¦show more content†¦Seeking the throne, Edmund has a man go and kill Cordelia and Lear. But this murder was later intercepted by a knight sent by ALbany, after Edmund, who was stabbed by Edgard, confesses his wrong doing on his deathbed. The servant reveals that Regan and has also died, being poisoned by Goneril, who took her own life. When Lear carries Cordelia’s dead body he thinks he sees her take a breath before he lays down and dies. Major characters: King Lear: The former king of Britain and the protagonist of the play who values appearance of love over actual love and wishes to have the power of a king without the responsibility. Cordelia:Lears youngest daughter who loves and stays loyal to Lear despite him treating her wrongly. Goneril: Lear’s eldest daughter who is amoral and will do anything for power even if it means betraying a family member. Regan: Regan is Lear’s middle daughter who is virtually undisguisable in personality from Goneril. Gloucester - A nobleman loyal to Lear who misjudges which of his children to trust and blames all is problems on the gods. Edgar:Edgar - Gloucester’s older, legitimate son who in the beginning is gullible but later shows his bravery cunningness. 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My Thoughts On My Future - 1222 Words

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My new self today, sucked in numerous amounts of life lessons that contradict the person I was in sixth grade. Sixth grade was all about fitting in for me. I just wanted to be part of a crowd and be known. I didn’t care about my academics at the moment. However, I was lucky enough to be educationally talented and not getRead MoreWhy I Should Start Over The Family Crisis1107 Words   |  5 Pagesremember mine as if it were yesterday. The day when my father decided to finally pay me a visit. It was just another hot and humid summer day in Vietnam. The day when my conversation with f ather got me leaving my past behind and came to the decision that I should start over again in America. On that day, I realized how proud my family was of me before the family crisis, how the crisis has haunted me, and how the conversation with my dad along with my family’s support got me back up to face the reality

Five Techniques to Turn Your Best Friend Into Your Girlfriend Free Essays

Good afternoon, my fellow friends. I believe at our age, most of us are looking for a suitable life partner and often, we fall for our friends. To be honest, falling for a friend is completely normal; you do not have to condemn yourself for feeling that way. We will write a custom essay sample on Five Techniques to Turn Your Best Friend Into Your Girlfriend or any similar topic only for you Order Now Instead of feeling down and miserable about this sudden ‘curse’ established to you, try to be a little optimistic now, for a change. Today, I would like to talk about the five techniques on how to turn your best friend into your girlfriend. First, stop acting as â€Å"just a friend†. You need to deliver the message loud and clear through your actions and body language. Make her feel that you want to be more than just friends without confessing your feelings just yet. You can try to be a bit more flirty, possessive and protective of her. Tell her she’s pretty and special, be a bit romantic and be a gentleman around her. I’m sure that she will definitely start to see you in a different light. Second, don’t be too available 24/7. If you used to talk to her or text her very often, you can now disappear for a while. Don’t ask her out, don’t return her calls; tell her you’re busy or do whatever it takes to make her wonder what you’re up to. Give her some alone time and make her miss you! From there, she’ll be thinking more of you, and it’s one of the best ways to make her fall all over for you without too much of an effort on your side. She might also take the first step and text you first, like â€Å"Hey, what are you up to? Why haven’t you text me lately? † If she does text you first, that means the trick works. Congratulations, she missed you! Third, get her off guard then flatter her out of the blue. I can tell you that most of the women tend to love a bit of a surprise every once in a while. Hold her hand, hold her close, tell her you’re falling for her on the time when she least expects it. Don’t be scared, just give in to your impulses and be spontaneous. Fourth, send her something nice. Who doesn’t love receiving gifts? Sending a girl something nice is the best way to make her happy. Don’t just stick to the basic like roses and chocolates. Try something new. But before that, you have to know the things she likes and get the idea from there. Make a little twist with it and show your side of being creative, something that she will definitely like and remind her of you. If she oesn’t seem to get your message or can’t tell you’re actually flirting, then use this last trick. Look her in the eye and hold her hand. You don’t have to do it for long, three seconds will do. That’s enough to ride her nuts and a great chance to make her fall for you. I’m sure by now you already know how to turn your best friend into your girlfriend. Let us go through this again. There are five techniques to turn your best friend into your girlfriend. First, stop acting â€Å"just as friend†. Second, don’t be too available 24/7. Third, flatter her out of the blue. Fourth, send her something nice and lastly, try holding her hand. How to cite Five Techniques to Turn Your Best Friend Into Your Girlfriend, Papers

Risk Management and Present Value of Investment

Question: 1. Write a short essay each of the following questions. For each question, illustrate with an appropriate example in your answer.a. Risk aversion implies that corporate managers will only invest in low risk investments. Critically evaluate this statement (indicate whether you agree or disagree in your answer).b. Is it possible for an ordinary annuity to have the same present value as perpetuity if the cash flows and discount rates are identical? Explain. Answer: 1.a) The Investment process has a degree of inherited risks that cannot be avoided. Risk is defined in terms of variability of return from a given investments. It is also defined as the probability that the expected return will differ from the actual return. The greater risk implies a greater variability of outcomes whereas lesser risk implies a lesser variability of returns (DeFusco et al., 2015). The risks that are faced by corporate managers can be classified into specific risks and systematic risks. The risk associated with an individual investment can be termed as specific risk and it can be eliminated through proper diversifications. There is always a risk that secured investments can also lose value and this type of risk is called systematic risks (Nakano et al., 2014). The understanding of the relationship between risk and return is very important for investment and they are: If the investor were willing to take more risk then, the investor would expect higher returns. If the investor is unwilling to take higher risks then the investor should accept lower returns. The relationship between the risk and return therefore provides that if an investment has more risk then, it should offer higher returns. Otherwise, it would be prudent to invest in risk free investment where it can get low return for low risks. The degree of risk that a corporation is willing to take depends on how risk averse is the investing manager of that corporation. There are certain individuals that undertake a higher degree of risk for generating a little extra return. The risk averse corporate managers on the other hand are not unwilling to take risks but they requires a higher return for risky investments. The risk averse corporate managers insist that there should be a premium or additional compensation for taking risks (Brealey et al., 2012). The statement provided in the question that risk averse corporate managers will only invest in low risk investment is not correct. As it can be seen from the discussion above that a risk averse corporate managers require a higher return for taking higher risk. In conclusion, it can be said that risk aversion therefore does not imply that no risky investment will be made. It only suggests that risky investment should be adequately compensated with higher returns to justify the higher risk. For example if there are two investment opportunity A and B. The beta of A being 1.2 is risky investment and beta of B 0.80 is low risk investment. Therefore, if the return from both the investment is same then a risk averse corporate manager will invest in B because it will receive same return with low risks. A risk averse corporate manager will only invest in A if it offers a higher return than B. 1. b) The present value represents the current monetary value of payments that is to be received in future. It describes the future sum of money that is worth today. This principal of present value can be applied to the finite series of annual payments that is annuity. It can also be applied theoretically to infinite number of future payments that is perpetuity (Kashyap, 2014). An annuity may be defined as the series of equal cash flows that is received at equal intervals for a finite number of periods. The Annuities are of two types depending on the timing of the payment ordinary annuities and annuity due. In case of ordinary annuities, payments are made at the end of the specific time period. For example if $1000.00 is to be received yearly in the form of annuity. Then in the case of ordinary annuity, this $1000.00 is to be received after one year and in case of annuity due this $1000.00 will be received at the beginning of the year. The annuities whether ordinary annuity or annuity due does not continue forever and they are for specific period. Perpetuity on the other hand does not have any specific period. Perpetuity can be explained as a series of equal payments that is to be received forever (Xingyun, 2015). The present value of an annuity is calculated by using the following formula: PV= (P/r) (1-(1+r) ^ -n) Here P stands for payment received each period, n stands for number of period and r stands for the interest rate or discounting factor. For example, if an annuity of $1500.00 is received annually for 10 years. If the rate of interest per annum is 3.5% then the Present value of the annuity will be: PV= (1500/0.035)(1-1.035^-10) = $127474.91 When the annual payment continues forever then the annuity becomes perpetuity (Wicksell, 2013). The present value of perpetuity is calculated by using the following formula: PV=P/r Here P stands for payment received at the end of each period and r is the discounting rate or interest rate. Continuing with the above example the present value of perpetuity for $1500.00 at 3.5% rate would be: PV= 1500/0.035 = $42857.14 Based on the above discussion and by the help of the example it can be concluded that present value of annuity and perpetuity cannot be identical even if the rate of interest and the cash flows are identical. Reference Brealey, R. A., Myers, S. C., Allen, F., Mohanty, P. (2012).Principles of corporate finance. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. DeFusco, R. A., McLeavey, D. W., Pinto, J. E., Anson, M. J., Runkle, D. E. (2015).Quantitative investment analysis. John Wiley Sons. Kashyap, A. (2014). Capital Allocating Decisions: Time Value of Money.Asian Journal of Management,5(1), 106-110. Nakano, M., Otsubo, F., Takasu, Y. (2014).Effects of Accounting Conservatism on Corporate Investment Levels, Risk Taking, and Shareholder Value(No. 14-E-10). Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan. Wicksell, K. (2013).Interest and prices: a study of the causes regulating the value of money. Read Books Ltd. Xingyun, P. E. N. G. (2015). Time Value of Money.World Scientific Book Chapters, 49-70.