This booklet offers evidence-based guidance to help primary care clinicians identify and treat children, young people and adults who are overweight or obese. It supports the care pathway that the Department of Health made a commitment to developing in the White Paper Choosing Health: Making Healthy Choices Easier. You will find the care pathway one version for adults and another for children and young people at Appendices A and B.
Although the resources have a general practice focus, they may also be useful for other practitioners in primary care and be used opportunistically to advise patients they may see for reasons other than obesity. School nurses may also play a key role in the treatment of children and young people.
Individuals have become increasingly active in financial markets, and market participation has been accompanied or even promoted by the advent of new financial products and services. However, some of these products are complex and difficult to grasp, especially for financially unsophisticated investors. At the same time, market liberalization and structural reforms in Social Security and pensions have caused an ongoing shift in decision power away from the government and employers toward private individuals. Thus, individuals have to assume more responsibility for their own financial well-being.
Are individuals well-equipped to make financial decisions? Do they possess adequate financial literacy and knowledge? There has been little research on this topic and the few existing studies indicate that financial illiteracy is widespread and individuals lack knowledge of even the most basic economic principles (Lusardi and Mitchell (2006, 2007a), National Council on Economic Education (NCEE, 2005), and Hilgert, Hogarth and Beverly (2003)). At the same time, there are concerns that households are not saving enough for retirement, are accumulating excessive debt, and are not taking advantage of financial innovation (Lusardi and Mitchell (2007b) and Campbell (2006)). The existing studies have also shown that those who are not financially literate are less likely to plan for retirement and to accumulate wealth (Lusardi and Mitchell (2006, 2007a)), and are more likely to take up high-interest mortgages (Moore (2003)).
Buyers for many automotive OEMs–and, in fact for other large companies beyond that industry–are focused on getting the lowest price for their tool, die, and mold (TDM) purchases. The frequent message to TDM sources is that they must meet or beat the —world price“ for tools or risk losing their bids to suppliers who can provide TDM at this lower price. Winning bids often include tools made in —low-cost countries“ (LCCs). LCCs are thought to be lower cost because they employ a lower-wage workforce, do not pay benefits, have fewer worker health and safety protections, and sometimes utilize inferior engineering and sub-standard materials. When you combine LCC cost advantages with state-of-the-art engineering systems and manufacturing resources, the potential for significant cost savings is obvious. There are other critical factors affecting overall costs, however, especially those that pertain to technical capabilities and logistical costs for managing offshore sources. This paper examines how the cost advantages and systemic disadvantages affect a domestic TDM.
TDM builders, especially the smaller shops among them, are unsure how to comply with their customers‘ demands for lower-cost tooling. The use of LCC shops offers one alternative. However, developing TDM relationships with LCCs poses new challenges. TDMs are still run, in many cases, by journeyman toolmakers rather than finance- oriented dealmakers; utilizing LCC tool sources would force these companies to move out of their comfort zone into potentially risky ventures that could put the fate of their family businesses on the line. In addition, LCC sourcing may not be the only (or even the best) way to satisfy their customers‘ desires for lower-cost tools.
