TOUR1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Employee Retention, Seven Deadly Sins, Customer Service Training

Argue either in favor or against the estate tax. Then, respond to at least two other students' posts in the following manner:

Support one student’s argument with additional information or examples.

Counter one student’s argument with information and/or examples.

Student 1 answer : Samantha

Samantha Caterina 5 posts

Re:Module 7 DQ 2

The estate tax is very tricky, it can be argued both ways, for and against. For arguments sake I would be in favor of the estate tax. Currently for 2017 the federal estate tax threshold is 5.49 million. This is only targeting the wealthiest of people. The estate tax will tax any amount of an estate above this. It makes up for a small portion of the total tax collected by the federal government but it is still a substantial amount. The estate tax can be different in each state therefore being taxed more if the threshold is smaller. It is argued that the successful decedent should not be penalized for being successful I would not agree this is true. They are no longer the owner of the estate and the money would just be passed to a beneficiary. The beneficiary then has the rights to do what they please with the money. This can cause the beneficiaries to become non-productive members of society. If the estate tax was taken out tax would have to be made up somewhere, therefore cause middle class taxpayers to pay more taxes. The estate tax does not target the average person only the wealthiest are affected by it. I do not think the estate tax needs to be taken out of order.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2014/10/06/guest-post-pros-and-cons-of-the-federal-estate-tax/#6e3c8eb975a6

Student answer Andrea:

Andrea Robinson-Parker 4 posts

Re:Module 7 DQ 2

The estate tax was once known as the death tax, there is a pun in there somewhere. Firstly, it is associated with the inheritance of a dead relative and secondly, it can be the death of small family businesses. I believe that this tax is essential for our country to survive. Bob Rywick, in his article, Pros and Cons of the Federal Estate Tax argues both sides of the coin. I agree with his pro stance and here is why:

Revenue from the estate tax will create around $200 billion revenue in the next several years. There has been a great increase in wealth in the recent past and this number may climb.

The estate tax will help to dilute the concentration of wealth. This concentration can be damaging to our free democratic society.

Many wealthy people donate large sums to charities each year to lower their tax bracket. If there was no estate tax, these donations would most likely drop off significantly.

Small business, (making less than $5,000,000) will not be affected. There are also rules set in place to protect farms regarding the valuation of farm land.

Less than 2/10 of 1% of the descendants dying each year will be affected by this tax, based on the current exemption amount.

Lastly, I personally believe that estate planning can alleviate some of these taxes. Estate taxes should not be confused with gift taxes. This is an option that can protect inheritances.

Student Answer

Lakisha Minniefield 3 posts

Re:Module 7 DQ 2

I am against “estate tax” and feel that when the property value goes up, it will increase my mortgage payment each year. I agree with Justin Haskins article regarding scrapping property taxes because as a property owner, charging fees for a specific service should be allowable. Also, property owners should be able to choose where the property taxes should be allocated especially when it comes down to our public education. I have two children who are autistic and in the past it was very difficult to find a school who had the staff to supply all of their educational special needs. Even though we live in the best neighbors that were very costly, the schools zone in the area had 2 out of 10 rating so I would have to transfer my children our of the district in order to get better services. Currently, my husband is getting ready for retirement out of the military and we have looked at all 50 states within the United States to see which state would give us the most exemptions when purchasing a home. The state we chose to move back to is Texas because of the no state property taxes. Property tax for the state of Texas brings in the most money of all taxes available to local government to pay for schools, roads, police and firemen, emergency response services, libraries, parks and other services provided by local government. The state also has a variety of partial or total (absolute) exemptions from appraised property values used to determine local property taxes. A partial exemption removes a percentage or a fixed dollar amount of a property's value from taxation. A total (absolute) exemption excludes the entire property from taxation. Since we will be on a fixed income, Texas property tax exemptions for disabled veterans was the best out of all 50 states. However, we will still have to look for a county with low property tax rate. Since I am already a disabled veteran, Texas has a property tax exempt chart for qualifying disabled veterans.

The exemption amount that a qualified disabled veteran receives depends on the veteran's disability rating from the branch of the armed service.

*The Texas Comptroller website lists all of the benefits for disabled veterans regarding property tax exemptions.

Even as a disabled veteran, I would still have to pay property tax but the exemption will only exempt the amount of the disability rating off the value of property. Disabled veterans who are 100% total and permanently disable will be exempt from paying all property taxes. Financially, my family will still have to find a home affordable in a safe neighborhood, public education is rated above 7 out of 10 and choose a county that property taxes are low.

Reference:

https://www.comptroller.texas.gov/taxes

Short Story
“The Bet” (or how your money finds its way to Wall Street)

Long Bets was seeded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and operates as a non-profit organization that administers just what you’d guess: long-term bets. To participate, “proposers” post a proposition at Longbets.org that will be proved right or wrong at a distant date. They then wait for a contrary-minded party to take the other side of the bet. When a “doubter” steps forward, each side names a charity that will be the beneficiary if its side wins; parks its wager with Long Bets; and posts a short essay defending its position on the Long Bets website. When the bet is concluded, Long Bets pays off the winning charity.

Here are examples of what you will find on Long Bets’ very interesting site:

In 2002, entrepreneur Mitch Kapor asserted that “By 2029 no computer – or ‘machine intelligence’ – will have passed the Turing Test,” which deals with whether a computer can successfully impersonate a human being. Inventor Ray Kurzweil took the opposing view. Each backed up his opinion with $10,000. I don’t know who will win this bet, but I will confidently wager that no computer will ever replicate Charlie.

That same year, Craig Mundie of Microsoft asserted that pilotless planes would routinely fly passengers by 2030, while Eric Schmidt of Google argued otherwise. The stakes were $1,000 each. To ease any heartburn Eric might be experiencing from his outsized exposure, I recently offered to take a piece of his action. He promptly laid off $500 with me. (I like his assumption that I’ll be around in 2030 to contribute my payment, should we lose.)

Now, to my bet and its history. In Berkshire’s 2005 annual report, I argued that active investment management by professionals – in aggregate – would over a period of years underperform the returns achieved by rank amateurs who simply sat still. I explained that the massive fees levied by a variety of “helpers” would leave their clients – again in aggregate – worse off than if the amateurs simply invested in an unmanaged low-cost index fund.

Subsequently, I publicly offered to wager $500,000 that no investment pro could select a set of at least five hedge funds – wildly-popular and high-fee investing vehicles – that would over an extended period match the performance of an unmanaged S&P-500 index fund charging only token fees. I suggested a ten-year bet and named a low-cost Vanguard S&P fund as my contender. I then sat back and waited expectantly for a parade of fund managers – who could include their own fund as one of the five – to come forth and defend their occupation. After all, these managers urged others to bet billions on their abilities. Why should they fear putting a little of their own money on the line?

If Group A (active investors) and Group B (do-nothing investors) comprise the total investing universe, and B is destined to achieve average results before costs, so, too, must A. Whichever group has the lower costs will win. (The academic in me requires me to mention that there is a very minor point – not worth detailing – that slightly modifies this formulation.) And if Group A has exorbitant costs, its shortfall will be substantial. There are, of course, some skilled individuals who are highly likely to out-perform the S&P over long stretches.

In my lifetime, though, I’ve identified – early on – only ten or so professionals that I expected would accomplish this feat. There are no doubt many hundreds of people – perhaps thousands – whom I have never met and whose abilities would equal those of the people I’ve identified. The job, after all, is not impossible. The problem simply is that the great majority of managers who attempt to over-perform will fail. The probability is also very high that the person soliciting your funds will not be the exception who does well. Bill Ruane – a truly wonderful human being and a man whom I identified 60 years ago as almost certain to deliver superior investment returns over the long haul – said it well: “In investment management, the progression is from the innovators to the imitators to the swarming incompetents.”

Further complicating the search for the rare high-fee manager who is worth his or her pay is the fact that some investment professionals, just as some amateurs, will be lucky over short periods. If 1,000 managers make a market prediction at the beginning of a year, it’s very likely that the calls of at least one will be correct for nine consecutive years. Of course, 1,000 monkeys would be just as likely to produce a seemingly all-wise prophet.

But there would remain a difference: The lucky monkey would not find people standing in line to invest with him. Finally, there are three connected realities that cause investing success to breed failure. First, a good record quickly attracts a torrent of money. Second, huge sums invariably act as an anchor on investment performance: What is easy with millions, struggles with billions (sob!). Third, most managers will nevertheless seek new money because of their personal equation – namely, the more funds they have under management, the more their fees. These three points are hardly new ground for me: In January 1966, when I was managing $44 million, I wrote my limited partners: “I feel substantially greater size is more likely to harm future results than to help them. This might not be true for my own personal results, but it is likely to be true for your results. Therefore, I intend to admit no additional partners to BPL. I have notified Susie that if we have any more children, it is up to her to find some other partnership for them.”

The bottom line: When trillions of dollars are managed by Wall Streeters charging high fees, it will usually be the managers who reap outsized profits, not the clients. Both large and small investors should stick with low-cost index funds.

In many aspects of life, indeed, wealth does command top-grade products or services. For that reason, the financial “elites” – wealthy individuals, pension funds, college endowments and the like – have great trouble meekly signing up for a financial product or service that is available as well to people investing only a few thousand dollars. This reluctance of the rich normally prevails even though the product at issue is –on an expectancy basis – clearly the best choice. My calculation, admittedly very rough, is that the search by the elite for superior investment advice has caused it, in aggregate, to waste more than $100 billion over the past decade. Figure it out: Even a 1% fee on a few trillion dollars adds up. Of course, not every investor who put money in hedge funds ten years ago lagged S&P returns. But I believe my calculation of the aggregate shortfall is conservative.

Much of the financial damage befell pension funds for public employees. Many of these funds are woefully underfunded, in part because they have suffered a double whammy: poor investment performance accompanied by huge fees. The resulting shortfalls in their assets will for decades have to be made up by local taxpayers.

Human behavior won’t change. Wealthy individuals, pension funds, endowments and the like will continue to feel they deserve something “extra” in investment advice. Those advisors who cleverly play to this expectation will get very rich. This year the magic potion may be hedge funds, next year something else. The likely result from this parade of promises is predicted in an adage: “When a person with money meets a person with experience, the one with experience ends up with the money and the one with money leaves with experience.”

Question:
Summarize Buffett’s views on “The Bet” and passive investment management

please help me with this lab.

Ethanol Production

(Thermal Energy Conservation)

Lab Objective

Through this lab exercise, the principle of conservation of charge will be demonstrated using an adopted problem-solving methodology and a simple Matlab exercise.

Materials

Matlab 2007 or higher

Lab Assignment

Introduction

GASBUGS INC. is actually a division of a much larger alternate, fuel-generating corporation known as BIOFUELS INTERNATIONAL. One thing this company produces is ethanol (C₂H₆O) from an industrial process that uses a type of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). The elemental formula of S. cerevisiae is CH_1.83 O_0.56 N_0.17 and it has a heat of combustion of approximately -21.2 kJ/g. In their batch process, .25lb_mNH₃ and 5.0lb_m glucose are combined with the yeast at 25^oC. After the reaction goes to completion (at least one of the starting reactants is used up), 1. 4 lb_m of ethanol is produced. The unbalanced reaction for this process is:

C₂H₆O (s) + NH₃ (g) → C₃H₈O₃ (l) + C₂H₆O (l) + CH_1.83 O_0.56 N_{0.17 +} CO₂(g) + H₂O (l)

Note: 1 mol of glucose produces .5 mole glycerol (C₃H₈O₃₎ and that the ration of NH₃ to H₂O is 1:1.

You are told that it is likely that too much glucose is being added in the batch reactor process. It is your goal as the production engineering support specialist working for BIOFUELS INTERNATIONAL to model this scenario to determine how much unnecessary glucose is being added to reduce waste and cost.

Procedure

Follow the 4 steps of methodology for solving problems on pp. 44–46 of your textbook to set up the model.

Using MATLAB, create a plot that demonstrates the impact on ethanol production as the amount of glucose in the reactor varies from 1.0 lb_m to 10 lb_m.

Questions

How much excess glucose was being added to the reactor?

What is the ideal amount needed?

How much heat was produced and subsequently removed from the system?

Interpret the Matlab plot produced.

1.8 Methodology for Solving Engineering Problems. page 44-46. four steps.

Developing a pattern or methodology for solving engineering problems is important for consistency and thoroughness. The application of accounting and/conservation equations (discussed in Chapters 2–6) should be carried out in an organized manner; this makes the solution easy to follow, check, and be used by others. As a new engineer, you may find going through these many steps tedious and excessive for seemingly simple problems. However, when the level of difficulty increases, having a method or process to fall back on will be invaluable. Experienced engineers use most of the steps below when solving real-world problems.

The methodology laid out here or one similar to it should be used to solve problems throughout your career. The method outlined below is a general guide of the steps that will be followed to solve problems in Chapters 3–6 of this book, and as in real-world problems, only steps applicable to the problem should be performed. Other methodologies for solving problems are also valid; the critical issue is that you develop a thorough method and implement it regularly. As you mature as an engineer, it is appropriate that you develop your own problem-solving method.

1. Assemble. Information regarding the problem, including a picture, should be assembled and rewritten.

(a) The objective of the problem or the answer that you are seeking to findshould be clearly stated. This is often written as: Find: the flow rate ...

(b) Draw a diagram showing all relevant information. Often a simple box diagram showing all components entering and leaving the system allows information to be summarized in a convenient way. The system, surroundings, and system boundary should be drawn and labeled. When possible, all known quantitative information should be shown on the diagram.

(c) Set up a calculation table. The known values on your diagram, the components entering and leaving the system, form the foundation for the table. Units should be consistent across the table. The unknown components on the table (blanks) are often the desired answers. As you solve for different components, you can fill in the table. (Developing a table is optional, although useful, especially in multicomponent mass balance problems)

2. Analyze. A framework for understanding what is known and what is not known is developed at this stage.

(a) State any assumptions applied to the problem. Biological systems are extremely complex, since many processes and reactions, as well as transport of materials, are often going on simultaneously. Knowing when and where to make assumptions to simplify the system to a few salient features is the mark of an outstanding engineer. An example of an assumption is that the human forearm can be modeled as a cylinder.

(b) Collect and state any extra data. In this step, you may need to research information about a component in your system that was not given in the problem definition. An example of extra data that you may need to look up is the viscosity of plasma.

(c) List the variables and notations (symbols) adapted for the problem, and select a set of units for the problem. Typically, a choice is made to use either metric or British units throughout the problem.

[Note: The notations for variables may vary from discipline to discipline, but standard variables that are inherently understood within a subject do not always need to be listed. For example, kinetic energy is defined as EKin physics, but as T in mechanics. If you are calculating data that will be shared with coworkers of the same discipline, it is not necessary to define standard variables. Rather, variables specific to an aspect of the problem need to be defined (e.g., Fs = force of the astronaut on a chair).]

(d) State a basis of calculation. A basis is a specified input or output to a system (usually given as a flow rate or amount). In some problem statements, the basis is given. In other problems, values of components are given relative to one another and not as absolute amounts or rates. Select a basis if one is not given. Mass (Chapter 3) and energy (Chapter 4) problems often need a basis.

(e) If the problem involves chemical reaction(s), list the compounds involved and stoichiometrically balance the equation(s).

3. Calculate. Equations are developed and solved in a logical manner.

(a) Write down all appropriate accounting and/or conservation equations.Writing down the governing equations and then simplifying them by analyzing the system to eliminate unnecessary terms can be a helpful tool in solving engineering problems. For example, if asking the question, “Is this system at steady-state?” results in a positive response, the governing equation may be simplified by making the Accumulation term equal zero. This concept will be discussed further in Chapter 2. Write down any other essential equations needed to solve the problem.

(b) By applying the appropriate equations, calculate the unknown quantities. This is the heart of solving the problem and may require extensive effort. In some cases, the calculation of unknown quantities can be done sequentially. In other cases, it may be best to solve a series of equations using MATLAB or other computer software.

[Note: For a multi-unit or complex mass and energy conservation problems, a strategy to solve the problem may be required. A degree-of-freedom analysis is a systematic method to demonstrate whether a problem can be solved with the stated information and can help determine the sequence in which the equations should be solved. This process is discussed in chemical engineering textbooks (e.g., Reklaitis, Introduction to Material and Energy Balances, 1983).]

4. Finalize. Correct answers to the problem statement are stated clearly.

(a) State the answers clearly with appropriate significant figures and units. Confirm that you answered the specific questions asked by the problem

Laboratory Report Cover Sheet
DeVry University
College of Engineering and Information Sciences

Course Number: ECET301

Professor:

Laboratory Number: 3

Laboratory Title: Ethanol Production

Submittal Date: Click here to enter a date.

Write a brief technical lab report summarizing the technical facts learned from this lab. The report should be organized to provide the following:

Section 1–Introduction: An introductory/summary paragraph describing the type of conservation principle being analyzed and the key elements that will be discussed relating to this principle.

Section 2–Model: The documented model using the standard problem-solving methodology in section 1.8 of your text.

Section 3–Plot: Matlab plot with script to generate.

Section 4–Discussion: A section describing the most important characteristics shown, or demonstrate via the modeled and collected data. Also include a practical example of how the information learned in this assignment might help you in a job setting in the real world.

Section 5–Concluding Remarks: A summary statement listing the most positive aspects of the assignment and any difficulties encountered.