The Elephant in the Room:

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The Elephant in the Room

Darrien Hertzler was born in Augusta, Maine as the first child of two military parents who are now divorced, so she has lived in several places. Most of her poetry is usually about her fiancée and the troubles they face in a long-distance relationship. She also writes about other events from her life in which she has experienced abuse, violence, addictions, and unacceptance. She tries her best not to sensor or sugarcoat her world because she feels that it makes it less realistic and less likely to speak to people

The Elephant in the Room

According to the Swedish legislator, animal welfare is an important ethical issue in the country that has deep and broad anchoring in human consciousness. Nevertheless, criticism regarding urgent measures needed to raise the level of legislative protection for animals has been articulated in international comparisons. One of these measures being that Sweden ought to ban the use of all wild animals for entertainment purposes. Correspondingly, when the new Swedish Animal Welfare Act 2018:1192 was incorporated in 2019, the supplementary Animal Welfare Ordinance 2019:66 also followed which now added elephants to a list of 11 other kinds of wild animals prohibited to be displayed at circuses or similar operations. Notably, the new ban did however not prohibit the exhibition of elephants at zoos in Sweden. The reason behind the ban was according to the responsible minister that it was obvious that elephants’ natural behavior could not be satisfied in a circus. The Animal Welfare Act distinctly contains the contingent of natural behavior as a stipulation for a good animal environment. This critical animal law article consequently focuses its analysis to the issue of elephant’s prospects of natural behavior in both the circus as well as in the zoo environment. By utilizing elephants as an example and by comparing these two different institutions of entertainment, a systematic study illustrates an inconsistent use in the application of the legal requirement ‘natural behavior’. Key words: Animal Law, Animal Protection, Animal Rights, Animal Welfare, Critical Animal Studies, Ethology, Natural Behavior

Modelling: The elephant in the room

In an insurance world preoccupied with Solvency II, internal models have increased in both complexity and business significance. Nonetheless, actuaries are painfully aware of models’ limitations in representing the economic world, not least because of their reliance on often arbitrary assumptions. It is commonplace to say “all models are wrong but some are useful”. But in what sense might an internal model be wrong? If a model is wrong, how can it be useful? Significantly, what incentives does regulation produce for model development and use

Productivity: the elephant in the room

George Osborne failed to mention the dire performance of productivity since 2008 in the budget speech. This was a disappointment as raising productivity is crucial for a robust recovery. Policies on tax, regulation, business support and funding for science and research can create help businesses invest and become more productive, writes Anna Valero