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August 31, 2006
Quote of the Day for Thursday, August 31, 2006
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August 30, 2006
Stats Behind the World's Trouble Spots
| Geographic Region | Unemployment Rate |
|---|---|
| World | 6.3% |
| East Asia | 3.8% |
| Rich countries | 6.7% |
| United States | 5.1% |
| Africa | 9.7% |
| Middle East | 13.2% |
Statistics like these help explain the world's trouble spots. [Stats courtesy of the International Labor Organization via PPI]
Posted by John at 8:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackChina's Polluting Power Infrastructure
This map (pdf) of China's energy and power infrastructure helps illustrate why pollution caused by coal burning is such a major problem. Further, you can get a glimpse of one of the planned solutions: existing and planned nuclear power facilities.
This map, and other similarly interesting ones, can be found at China Strategic Development Partners' All Roads Led to China blog, which I recommend to you.
Posted by John at 4:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackQuote of the Day for Wednesday, August 30, 2006
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August 29, 2006
One-Third of China Affected by Acid Rain
One third of China's land mass was affected by acid rain last year, Sheng Huaren, vice-chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, said in a report to top legislators on Saturday.
Sheng told NPC Standing Committee members that in some regions of the country all rainfall was acidic. . .
Posted by John at 9:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackWith 26 million tons of sulphur dioxide discharged last year 27 per cent more than in 2000 China has become the world's biggest sulphur dioxide polluter.
Acid rain poses a major threat to soil and food safety, he said.
Sheng said sulphur dioxide emissions were double the acceptable environmental limit, and coal-burning power stations and coking plants were the main culprits.
According to the report, nearly 650 out of 680 coking plants in North China's Shanxi, the country's major coal mining province, discharged excessive sulphur dioxide. . .
Remittances to Mexico Up 23% for the First Half of 2006
Mexicans living abroad sent $11.4 billion to Mexico in the first half of the year, up 23% over the same period last year. At this pace, 2005's record of $20 billion will be easily surpassed this year.
Remittances are Mexico's second largest source of foreign income after oil.
Further, this strong growth in remittances speaks to the rising income levels of the Mexican-American population.
Posted by John at 9:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackHispanic Demographic One of the Few Growth Opportunities for Massachusetts Banks
According to the Boston Business Journal, Massachuseet's growing Hispanic population represents "one of the few opportunities for growth" for banks and thrifts "in a state with a stagnant-to-shrinking population."
Posted by John at 7:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackQuote of the Day for Tuesday, August 29, 2006
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August 28, 2006
Quote of the Day for Monday, August 28, 2006
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August 27, 2006
Quote of the Day for Sunday, August 27, 2006
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August 26, 2006
Quote of the Day for Saturday, August 26, 2006
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August 25, 2006
Quote of the Day for Friday, August 25, 2006
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August 24, 2006
Quote of the Day for Thursday, August 24, 2006
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August 23, 2006
A Clear-Eyed View of Mexican Immigration
Princeton University's Douglas S. Massey is a seasoned observer of migration trends, particularly relating to Mexicans. He's written a clear-eyed analysis of not only Mexican immigration, but places it in the broader context of the U.S.-Mexico relationship. While not an essay for the blind who will not see, it's an empirically-grounded analysis which you should consume in its entirety:
Posted by John at 5:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack. . . I am a social scientist and ultimately believe that accurate understanding needs to be grounded in empirical reality. In 25 years of research on a variety of public policy issues, I have never seen so much misinformation as in the debate on Mexican immigration during 2006. Thanks to the media and political entrepreneurs, Mexican immigrants are routinely portrayed as a tidal wave of human beings fleeing an impoverished, disorganized nation who are desperate to settle in the United States, where they will overwhelm our culture, displace our language, mooch our social services, and undermine our national security.
This profile, however, bears no discernible relationship to the reality that I know as a social scientist. Since 1982 I have co-directed a large data-gathering effort known as the Mexican Migration Project. My collaborators and I have conducted representative surveys in communities all over Mexico and the United States, and over the years, we have surveyed 20,000 households and 120,000 individuals to gather detailed information from U.S. migrants about their experiences crossing the border, living in the United States, and returning to Mexico. My understanding of Mexican immigration rests on these data, and if anyone thinks I’ve got it all wrong, they are free to download the data, analyze it, and see for themselves. . . .
To Americans who fear cultural displacement, I say look at what’s happening south of the border. Cultural influences travel in both directions and in an integrated economy they are inevitable. Given the global hegemony of the United States, however, the cultural effects are asymmetric. We influence Mexican culture and society far more than they affect U.S. culture and society. Within Mexico, Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, Toys ‘R Us, and 7-11 are increasingly displacing Mexican outlets. Even Taco Bell is making inroads, and American cultural traditions such as Halloween and Santa Claus now compete with Mexican celebrations such as Day of the Dead and Three Kings Day.
Linguistically, English-speakers certainly have nothing to fear. English is increasingly spoken in Mexico and is viewed as essential for social and economic advancement. Even the smallest towns and cities in Mexico have bustling English language academies, and English has become a core part of the Spanish spoken by most Mexicans. Within the United States, in contrast, few Anglo-Americans speak Spanish and although it may be widely spoken among new immigrants, there is a rapid shift to English over time. Few of children of immigrants use Spanish rather than English and virtually none of their grandchildren can speak it at all. . . .
The Issues Behind Beijing's Rising Focus on the Environment
Zhou Shengxian, director of China's State Environmental Protection Administration, has placed part of the blame for the country's rise in harmful emissions this year on local fraud in project approval:
"It is clear the conflict between economic growth and environmental protection is coming to a head," Zhou said.
"Fraud in project approval was prominent, with many projects passing their environmental assessment without fulfilling the necessary criteria," he said.
In some counties only 30 percent of the projects had been checked for pollution control compliance before they received construction licenses, the environmental chief said.
And nearly half of the firms, even those that passed environmental appraisals, failed to carry out emission-control measures as required. [Source: China Daily]
Focusing on the environmental impact of development, says private intelligence firm Stratfor, gives Beijing attractive cover with which to redirect investment westward, tighten control over foreign companies, and rein in growth:
By limiting investment from both foreign and domestic sources in projects along the coast, Beijing is betting that investment in less-developed areas will become more attractive. It is important to note that, by controlling investment, Beijing will be able to better shape the investments and actions of domestic as well as foreign companies. . . .
Using environmental laws to shape investment has an additional benefit for the Chinese government. By appearing to limit pollution, Beijing's leaders will ingratiate themselves with China's rural residents, who represent the bulk of China's population. The rural masses are often directly and dramatically affected by air and water pollution, sometimes costing them their livelihoods. They have used discontent with pollution as a pretext for criticizing local officials. Now, Beijing is co-opting their methods, removing a path to social unrest while appeasing rural citizens. This gives Beijing the political capital to implement other policies and keeps local officials -- aware that most Chinese are more loyal to Beijing than their county seats -- from straying too far from national policy.
As I've pointed out previously, the pollution control business in China should be robust for several years to come, regardless of the country's growth trajectory.
Posted by John at 5:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackWal-Mart's Role in Alleviating Chinese Poverty
Michael Strong makes the case:
Between 1990 and 2002 more than 174 million people escaped poverty in China, about 1.2 million per month. With an estimated $23 billion in Chinese exports in 2005 (out of a total of $713 billion in manufacturing exports), Wal-Mart might well be single-handedly responsible for bringing about 38,000 people out of poverty in China each month, about 460,000 per year.
There are estimates that 70 percent of Wal-Mart's products are made in China. One writer vividly suggests that "One way to think of Wal-Mart is as a vast pipeline that gives non-U.S. companies direct access to the American market." Even without considering the $263 billion in consumer savings that Wal-Mart provides for low-income Americans, or the millions lifted out of poverty by Wal-Mart in other developing nations, it is unlikely that there is any single organization on the planet that alleviates poverty so effectively for so many people. Moreover, insofar as China's rapid manufacturing growth has been associated with a decline in its status as a global arms dealer, Wal-Mart has also done more than its share in contributing to global peace.
Giving Wal-Mart the Nobel Peace Prize is probably a bit of a stretch, but trade and peace go hand in hand.
Posted by John at 5:14 AM
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China to Spend $125 Billion on Water Systems Over the Next Five Years
About 1 trillion yuan (US$125 billion) will be spent over the next five years to improve water security and build sewage treatment systems, a top official said yesterday.
"The country is facing severe water problems," Qiu Baoxing, vice-minister of construction, told a news briefing. "And the urban water environment in China is worsening."
Posted by John at 4:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackMore than 50 water treatment plants of nearly 800 nationwide in 30 cities were operating below a third of their capacity or were not used at all, according to ministry statistics.
And 278 cities out of the total of 661 did not have any wastewater treatment plants by the end of last year.
Also, about 20 per cent of water pipes in cities leak, Qiu said.
Per capita water resources in the country are less than a third of the global average and falling. . . .
Quote of the Day for Wednesday, August 23, 2006
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August 22, 2006
U.S. Hispanic Youth Say "Sí" to English
Looking at data tabulated by the Census Bureau's 2005 American Community Survey, Ad Age reports that U.S. Hispanic youths are quite fluent in English and less likely to speak Spanish at home:
At home, 76% of Hispanics ages 5-17 speak Spanish (alone or in addition to English), vs. 89% of Hispanics 18-64 and 94% of those 65 and older.
Nearly three-fourths (72%) of Hispanics 5-17 speak English "very well"; another 18% speak English "well." So nine in 10 Hispanic youth are able to communicate well in English.
In contrast, fewer than half (47%) of those ages 18-64 speak English "very well," and 19% speak English "well." Among those 65 and older, just 36% speak English "very well" and 19% "well."
Among Hispanics 5-17, 2% do not speak English, compared with 13% of 18- to 64-year-olds and 22% of those 65 and older.
Further evidence that marketing to the Hispanic demographic is trickier than it looks.
Posted by John at 9:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackAmericans: More Old-Fashioned Than Europe, and Not Ashamed of It
I just ran across an amazing commentary in the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph. It's by Andrew Gimson, who wrote the commentary after brining his family to the United States for vacation. I encourage you to read it in its entirety here, but a tidbit follows:
The Americans are more old-fashioned than us, and what is equally admirable, they are not ashamed of being old-fashioned. . . .
We are inclined, in our snobbish way, to dismiss the Americans as a new and vulgar people, whose civilisation has hardly risen above the level of cowboys and Indians. Yet the United States of America is actually the oldest republic in the world, with a constitution that is one of the noblest works of man. When one strips away the distracting symbols of modernity - motor cars, skyscrapers, space rockets, microchips, junk food - one finds an essentially 18th-century country. While Europe has engaged in the headlong and frankly rather immature pursuit of novelty - how many constitutions have the nations of Europe been through in this time? - the Americans have held to the ideals enunciated more than 200 years ago by their founding fathers.
Posted by John at 7:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackWe stood at Gettysburg, scene of the bloodiest battle of all, on a field covered with memorials to the fallen. Here Abraham Lincoln gave his great and sublimely brief address, ending with the hope "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth".
The idea has somehow gained currency in Britain that America is an essentially peaceful nation. Quite how this notion took root, I do not know. Perhaps we were unduly impressed by the protesters against the Vietnam war.
It is an idea that cannot survive a visit to the National Museum of American History in Washington, where one is informed that the "price of freedom" is over and over again paid in blood.
The Americans' tactics in Iraq, and their sanction for Israel's tactics in Lebanon, have given rise to astonishment and anger in Europe. It may well be that those tactics are counter-productive, and that the Americans and Israelis need to take a different approach to these ventures if they are ever to have any hope of winning hearts and minds.
But when the Americans speak of freedom, we should not imagine, in our cynical and worldly-wise way, that they are merely using that word as a cloak for realpolitik. They are not above realpolitik, but they also mean what they say.
These formidable people think freedom is so valuable that it is worth dying for.
China's Urban Consumers Gravitate to U.S. Products
UPS has released its second annual survey of Chinese urban consumers, or "Chuppies", as they're sometimes called. This group, according to the survey results, likes products they perceive as high quality, including U.S. products:
Posted by John at 7:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackWhen considering imported products, 85% of Chinese consumers say that quality is a critical factor in their purchasing decision. "I think quality is very important," said Jennifer Cheng, 33, of Beijing. "It is especially important for high-tech products such as laptops or mobile phones."
Much like the United States, China is a melting pot of demographic distinctions and the survey reveals varying purchasing preferences by age group, gender and location. For example, younger consumers are more open to buying U.S. products in general than their older counterparts. Younger consumers also say that they buy imported products to enhance their image and status, with laptop computers, video/digital recording systems and coffee makers among the most attractive American products to them.
"Older consumers grew up during much harder times and their life experience is analogous to the Great Depression generation in the United States," said Sam Flemming, CEO and founder of CIC Data, a China-based Internet market intelligence service. "Younger consumers have grown up with more money and are used to being bombarded with marketing messages. This means they are less inclined to ‘penny pinch,’ have more disposable income and are more informed about products and services."
. . . more consumers (56%) want to hear messages about quality ingredients or workmanship in advertising about American products. This number increases to 65% when it comes to advertising fashion and apparel.
Quote of the Day for Tuesday, August 22, 2006
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August 21, 2006
One-Third of the World's Population Faces Water Shortages
A study released by the International Water Management Institute finds that one-third of the world's population is dealing with some form of water scarcity, defined either where water is over-used or where is cannot be accessed due to infrastructure limitations.
Posted by John at 10:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackThe Health of China's Children Steadily Deteriorating
One in four boys in China's cities are overweight, says Yang Guiren, a senior official from the Ministry of Education. Chinese youth generally, Yang says, are experiencing "a steadily deteriorating health condition over the past 20 years". [Source: China Daily]
Posted by John at 5:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackMeasuring Standards of Living
Virginia Postrel, writing in Forbes, takes on those who claim (amazingly) that the overall standard of living for Americans has stagnated over the last couple of decades. The naysayers clearly don't understand that standard of living involves not just income, but the quality, variety, and cost of goods a given income can acquire:
. . . today's gloom peddlers can claim to have scientific data on their side. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median real income of a full-time working male rose only 4% between 1981 and 2001, from $44,000 to $45,900 in today's dollars.
Posted by John at 5:06 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackIf so, you have to wonder who's buying all those flat-screen TVs, serving precooked rotisserie chicken for dinner or organizing their closets with Elfa systems. "Anybody who thinks things are getting worse should go to Best Buy and notice the type of people who go to Best Buy," says economist Robert J. Gordon of Northwestern University.
Gordon is the author of a much-cited study showing that from 1966 to 2001 real income kept up with productivity gains for only the top 10% of earners. What the pessimists who tout his study don't say is that, while Gordon does find that inequality is increasing, he's convinced that the picture of middle-class stagnation is false.
"The median person has had steadily improving standards of living," he says. But real incomes have been understated. The problem lies in how the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates the cost of living.
Do we want to know how much money it would take the typical American to buy today what the typical American bought 20 years ago? If so, what about all those things that didn't exist back then--not just iPods and mobile phones but everyday items like wrinkle-free pants, effective sunscreens, prewashed salads-in-a-bag or comfy hotel beds?
Price indexes also haven't kept up with changes in what consumers buy and when and where they shop. Wal-Mart's share of the U.S. grocery market is more than a fifth and is growing. Wal-Mart and other superstores charge up to 27% less for food than traditional supermarkets, estimate economists Jerry Hausman of MIT and Ephraim Leibtag of the Department of Agriculture. But the BLS doesn't factor those lower prices into its inflation estimates. It simply assumes that Wal-Mart's price reflects worse service, and ignores the savings.
Government statisticians, Hausman complains, "want to act like accountants, and they don't want to take economics into account at all."
Using ACNielsen data from 61,500 households, Hausman and Leibtag calculate that grocery shoppers are 20% better off--not the full 27%--with a superstore shopping trip. "So some of the food isn't quite as good or the diversity isn't quite as good," says Hausman. "But you still get a huge boost."
Since groceries make up 12% of household spending and as much as 25% for low-income Americans, this distortion significantly understates real incomes, especially at the bottom. . . .
Quote of the Day for Monday, August 21, 2006
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August 20, 2006
Less Than Half of China's Large Manufacturers are State-Owned
Less than half (220) of China's top 500 manufacturing enterprises are state-owned, according to data compiled and released by the National Bureau of Statistics. The entire group of 500 companies generate about one-third of the country's manufacturing revenues but employ only 10% of its workers, according to this report.
Moreover, two-third of China's largest manufacturers are foreign. The largest, with $9.3 billion in sales in the country, is Motorola, far ahead of rival Nokia, which placed second with $6.1 billion in sales. Taken together, the sales of these two mobile phone makers are about three times as large as the number three foreign manufacturer in China, General Motors ($5.6 billion in sales).
Posted by John at 10:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack"The Other Iraq"
In television advertisements on CNBC and other U.S. media outlets, the Kurdistan Development Corporation calls this region in northern Iraq, roughly the size of France, "the other Iraq". Type in www.theotheriraq.com and you'll be greeted by as enticing a pitch as you'll find from any chamber of commerce in the United States.
In truth, Kurdistan is not "the other Iraq", but a region of people waiting for independence, as Michael J. Totten writes in an extended profile of Kurdistan in Reason:
Some Middle Eastern countries—Egypt, for instance—are grim, depressing places that feel like they’re circling the drain. Iraqi Kurdistan is optimistic, full of hope, infused top to bottom with a go-go, build-build attitude. Vast tracts of lovely new housing developments are under construction all over the major cities. Suleimaniya, the region’s cultural capital, has doubled in population in the last three years. It’s up to around 800,000 now, although no one is sure how many people actually live there. Like all cities that undergo rapid urban migration, most of the newcomers live on the outskirts. Unlike most Third World cities that explode in population, the outskirts of Suleimaniya are more prosperous than the old inner city.
Posted by John at 9:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackUrban beautification campaigns are under way everywhere. Freshly cut bricks are being laid into sidewalks. Enormous new parks, some so large you might need a car to get from one end to the other, can be found in both Erbil and Suleimaniya. Highways are well-signed and in perfect condition. Advertisements for DSL Internet connections line the road from Erbil to the resort town of Salahhadin. There are no statues of tyrants, dead or alive. Most of the statues I saw were of poets. It’s a different world from the shattered country below. It’s easy to imagine the place as a reasonably well-functioning conservative democracy, a moderately prosperous Utah of the Middle East.
The longer central Iraq burns, the more distant the Kurds feel from Baghdad. But while the Kurds may not feel like they belong to Iraq, they don’t pretend they aren’t still shackled to it. . . .
During Beirut’s civil war the profits of window and glass companies perfectly tracked the rise and fall of the level of violence. When people felt safe from the chaos of war, they replaced the windows blown out from bullets, rockets, and car bombs. When they felt under siege and pessimistic, they didn’t bother. Iraqi Kurds are so optimistic they’re putting up new glass buildings for the first time in their history. . . .
Nashville's Burgeoning Hispanic Business Community
Hispanic Nashville reports that the Nashville MSA now has four Hispanic chambers of commerce.
Posted by John at 5:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackA Bureaucracy Not Even the Cliché "Bloated" Can Describe
According to Johan Norberg, just the accounting department of the state-owned railroad in Egypt has 40,000 employees. That's about 10,000 more than in the whole company at Norfolk Southern.
Posted by John at 5:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackQuote of the Day for Sunday, August 20, 2006
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August 19, 2006
Beijing Starts Cracking Down on "Unauthorized" Provincial Development
Yang Jing, chairman of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and his two deputies, Yue Fuhong and Zhao Shuanglian, have been ordered to write a letter of self-criticism each to the State Council for failing to stop billions of yuan of investment being poured into unauthorized power stations.
The decision was made Wednesday at a meeting of the State Council chaired by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
The trio are the first group of senior local leaders to be sanctioned by the central government for ignoring its macro-control policies aimed at preventing the economy from overheating.
The meeting accused the Inner Mongolian regional government of being weak in enforcing the central government's policies concerning macro-control and the reform of the electricity generating and supply system. . . .
According to an investigation by the National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Supervision, the project was started in April 2004 without following standard procedures in project approval, land acquisition and tendering.
The probe reveals that the regional and local authorities failed to stop the project from going ahead even after it was labeled illegal by the central authorities. . . .
The State Council urged all departments and local governments to take a lesson from the Inner Mongolia example and closely follow the central government's macro-control policies, or face serious consequences.
For more on the friction between Beijing's attempt to control growth and provincial authorities' development desires, see this post.
Posted by John at 11:20 AM
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One-Fifth of the World's Obese are Chinese
In an editorial for the British Medical Journal, Dr. Yangfeng Wu writes that not only is China catching up with the West in terms of prevalence of obesity, but the problem is destined to further mushroom:
Although the prevalence of obesity in China is relatively low compared with Western countries such as the United States, where over half of adults are either overweight or obese, it is the rapid increase of the condition, especially among children, that is particularly alarming. Data from the China national surveys on the constitution and health in school children showed that the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children aged 7-18 years increased 28 times and obesity increased four times between 1985 and 2000, a trend that was particularly marked in boys. [emphasis mine]
Both lifestyle and cultural reasons explain the epidemic:
Posted by John at 5:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackThe explanations of China's recent epidemic of overweight and obesity include changes to the traditional diet, reduced levels of physical activity, and increased sedentary lifestyles. Recent data from the national surveys of nutrition indicate noticeable changes in the proportions, and sources, of dietary macronutrients over the past 20 years. Energy intake from animal sources has increased from 8% in 1982 to 25% in 2002,3 and the average energy intake from dietary fat among urban Chinese increased from 25% to 35%, which is above the upper limit of 30% recommended by the WHO. The obesity epidemic in China may also have its roots in the prevailing social attitudes towards body fatness. In Chinese culture, there is still a widespread belief that excess body fat represents health and prosperity. This is perhaps a consequence of China's recent history, where famine and chronic malnutrition caused the deaths of millions of people in the 1950s.
Worker Shortages in U.S. Manufacturing Continue
An excellent article in the Los Angeles Times on worker shortages in U.S. manufacturing:
Daniel McGee's parents were apprehensive when their son turned his back on the four-year college degree they always assumed he would earn. They figured a bachelor's degree was the key to success in the modern economy, and their son was on track to earn one, with athletic honors, a 3.0 grade point average at his Minnesota high school and scholarships in hand.
But as McGee saw it, his future lay in the old-world industry of metalworking. And to succeed, he would have to do something that would shock many parents: turn down the scholarships and study machine-tool technology at a two-year technical college.
McGee, 21, realized what many American workers are missing: Manufacturing, long known for plant closings and layoffs, is now clamoring for workers to fill high-paying, skilled jobs. While millions of manufacturing jobs have been outsourced or automated out of existence during the past decade, many of the remaining jobs require higher skills and pay well — $50,000 to $80,000 a year for workers with the necessary math, computer and mechanical abilities.
Posted by John at 5:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackSome manufacturers are so desperate for workers who can program, run or repair the computers and robots that now dominate the factory floor that they are offering recruitment bonuses, relocation packages and other incentives more common to white-collar jobs. . . .
At first, McGee's decision was tough for his parents to accept. Although Mike McGee, 49, is an academic dean at the community college his son attends, he still had visions of manufacturing work that involved "a blue-collar, tattoo on the arm, drink beer after the shift — not the kind of career for my son."
What changed his mind was seeing his son hired by E.J. Ajax & Sons Inc., which makes metal brackets, latches and other parts, some of which go into household appliances and industrial machinery. In addition to tuition and a $14-an-hour apprenticeship, the company is providing McGee with health insurance, a 401(k) and, once his training is complete, a salary of $58,240 a year.
That's more than his college-educated brother earns at an advertising job that took him two years to find. . . .
Quote of the Day for Saturday, August 19, 2006
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August 18, 2006
In China, The World Isn't Flat, But Slightly Tilted
My pal John Daly sent me a Spot-on commentary by Jonathan Ansfield on the difficulties being encountered in getting Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat published in China.
Ansfield ponders why such a book would be objectionable to Chinese authorities, particularly given that significant portions are so laudatory of China and it's increasingly significant role in the world economy:
. . . the hesitation and delay speak to a feisty new mood being felt in certain Chinese circles these days. Sensitivity to globalization has become nearly as potent a political force as globalization itself.
This is not to say that Friedman’s wrong about his basic thesis: Outsourcing and Internet access are "leveling the playing field" somewhat for societies like India and China to enter and move up the U.S.-led capitalist world order; and yes, there are major geopolitical implications. But China's entry into this flatter world is causing a lot of atmospheric friction, more, perhaps, than Friedman originally imagined. As old doors are being opened, new obstacles are going up.
To say that’s because China’s still under Communist rule is gross oversimplification. It's because unlike anytime since perhaps the tumultuous interregnum of the 1910's and 1920's, people in government, business, the media, and the intelligentsia are having to come terms with the anti-imperialist challenge of the modern Chinese nation: how do they enter the (free) world on their own terms - not America's, not Walmart's, not Tom Friedman’s? As my industry source speculated: "This move [censors putting the brakes on the book] is saying, 'We don’t want China to become like everywhere else. China will always be different economically, politically and socially.'"
Ansfield's point is a great one, and cannot be emphasized enough. Throughout its history, regardless of the ruler, party, or faction in power, the Chinese have viewed their civilization as being unique in the world. It is, after all, the "Middle Kingdom", the center of the universe. From ancient times in China, the Emperor's rule was thought to be 天下, or "all under heaven". Those lands outside of China were considered barbaric, thinking which led to China closing itself off from the rest of the world for several periods during its history.
Aligning a strain of thought so ancient in the Chinese psyche with globalization, the Internet, and a "flat world" is jarring indeed. Such friction is not at all solely a function of Communist Party rule.
Posted by John at 10:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackCities in China and India Dominate the World Rankings of Smoky Cities
Statistics compiled by the World Bank reveal that cities in China and India take 18 of the top 20 spots on the world's list of most smoky cities:
Particulate matter levels top out at 177 micrograms per cubic meter of air in New Delhi. The rest of the top five include Cairo, Calcutta -- officially "Kolkata" since 1999 -- Tianjin and Chongqing, all with levels above 130 mikes per cubic meter. Guiyang, Chongqing, Tehran, and Taiyuan lead in acid-rain precursor sulfur dioxide; for this pollutant, 14 of the 20 highest rates are in Chinese cities. Milan, a bit curiously, has the ignominious lead in nitrogen dioxide levels at 248 micrograms per cubic meter -- twice the rates of Beijing and Mexico City and five times that of Bucharest.
Posted by John at 5:38 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackBy comparison, the residents of New York and Los Angeles inhale 22 and 36 mikes of dust in each cubic meter of air. Parisians are healthier still; Paris' 12 micrograms per cubic meter is the lowest for the 110 cities in the Bank's survey. Perth, Melbourne, Stockholm, and Oslo are just a bit higher at 13 micrograms; the least-smoky developing-country city is Capetown, at 15 micrograms. (But Capetown has a high nitrogen dioxide count; the gas is pumped out by a power plant north of the city.)
The health consequences, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, are rather serious: "High particle levels, have been associated with problems such as reduced lung function and the development of chronic bronchitis and even premature death." But comparing the 2002 survey to one done in 1999 gives reason for cautious optimism. Seventy-three cities report lower levels of smoke and dust, and only 19 report higher levels. The sharpest improvements are Manila's 30 percent drop, from 60 to 42 micrograms per cubic meter, and the 20 percent drops in Paris and Mexico City. But Birmingham (in England, not Alabama) seems to have gotten smokier, reporting a jump from 17 to 26 micrograms per cubic meter. Accra likewise reports a 29 percent jump and Kuala Lumpur and Singapore 17 percent each.
[Courtesy: PPI]
Quote of the Day for Friday, August 18, 2006
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August 17, 2006
Seeking Awkward
Seth Godin, in a thoughtful post, explains why we need to seek "awkward":
Posted by John at 9:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackThe reason we need to be in search of awkward is that awkward is the barrier between us and excellence, between where we are and the remarkable. If it were easy, everyone would have done it already, and it wouldn't be worth the effort.
The South's Attraction to Immigrants, Then and Now: It's About Jobs
Here's an interesting comparison of the South's attraction to immigrants a century ago and today:
An economically stunted South had few jobs to draw immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. North Carolina was particularly untouched: In 1900, it had fewer foreign-born residents than any other state.
Says historian Tom Hanchett of Charlotte, N.C.'s Museum of the New South: "The South had enough poor people coming off little bitty farms to work the jobs in the cotton mills. But in the North, the steel mills were so big that they pulled in people from Italy and Slovakia."
It's about jobs. For more on the direct association between immigration and jobs, read this post.
Posted by John at 9:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackWhy Airlines Remain Such an Appealing Target for Terrorists
The Times of London addresses the question:
Commercial aircraft represent globalism and high technology — they shrink the world and threaten cultural conservatism. The Boeing 747 was the last of the "great machines" that characterised the 20th century: it opened up air travel to the mass market. And it was so very American; big, brash and useful. But aircraft also appear vulnerable. In truth, civil aircraft are a lot more robust than people think, but the aviation industry is selling safety almost as much as it is selling transport and passengers need constant reassurance that aircraft are operating well within their technical limits.
So destroying or hijacking aircraft has always had great symbolic value for terrorists. . . .
You can read the entire article here.
Posted by John at 8:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackQuote of the Day for Thursday, August 17, 2006
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August 16, 2006
Going Global in Georgia
Just a cursory scan of the headlines in recent days gives you a great perspective on the future of Georgia and greater Atlanta in particular. The future is global:
--Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin announced she is headed for China in September, leading a trade mission made up largely of Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce members. (My partner Sam Zamarripa will be on this trip).
--Craig Lesser, Georgia's commissioner of economic development, leaves in a few days to visit China leading a similar trade mission. Lesser has been very active in developing Georgia-China links and business opportunities.
--The Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce announced the results of a study commissioned by its International Task Force (pdf). This study made a number of recommendations based on surveys of the Chamber's membership and based on the current international thrust of metro Atlanta business. Suffice it to say, one of the key messages accompanying the release of this study is that the focus of the Metro Atlanta Chamber will be increasingly global in coming years.
--Atlanta-based Delta Airlines announced plans to introduce a number of new routes to Mexico, including several from Atlanta. By next year, the Atlanta-based airline will offer its customers service to three times as many Mexican destinations than just two years ago.
--The Census Bureau released its American Community Survey for 2005. In the survey, Georgia ranks fourth nationally in growth of its immigrant population over the past five years. As we've discussed previously, this immigrant population has been very entrepreneurial, placing Georgia near the top of the list in terms of growth of minority businesses. Many of these businesses will have a predisposition and unique skills and contacts in developing international trade and business opportunities.
--Finally, the Atlanta Business Chronicle offered a story on a new bank seeking to raise over $100 million in initial capital, which would be a record for a new Georgia bank. Unlike the typical de novo bank, the management of this institution has significant experience in international banking and sees a signficant opportunity to offer such services in the metro Atlanta market it intends to serve.
For just a few days, it seems like a whirlwind of signposts on Atlanta and Georgia's path through globalization. In reality, it's only a glimmer compared to what is coming.
Posted by John at 12:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackHezbollah Networks the Battlefield
The MIT Technology Review examines, in a chilling article, how Hezbollah successfully utilized the power of small, flexible networks in its recent war with Israel:
. . . Hezbollah's battlefield agility and flexibility is one of the most striking features of the recent conflict. Objections that Hezbollah has accomplished a "victory" only in that its obdurate resistance has vast propaganda value within the Arab world miss the point that a militia of some 3,000 fighters impeded the advance of what was supposedly one of the world's best armies beyond a few kilometers inside Lebanon. In the process, more than 20 Israeli Merkava tanks -- again, reputedly the world's best -- were damaged by anti-tank weapons, including the Russian-made RPG-29, which have a tandem warhead so that the first explosion blows away a tank's protective shield and the second penetrates it.
Overall, Hezbollah's decentralized, flexible network of small units exhibited the essential aspects of a warfighting style that some military thinkers have predicted would predominate in 21st-century warfare, and which has been described as netwar or fourth-generation warfare. It's a style of warfare that armies of nation-states, with their massive levels of force, are ill-equipped to fight.
One proponent of this school of thought, John Arquilla, a professor at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, has argued: "What happens if you take your large hammer to a ball of quicksilver? That's what these networks are." He continues: "We are trying to wage war as if it still mattered that our forces are comprised of 'the few and the large' -- a few large heavy divisions, a few large aircraft carrier battle groups -- when in fact war is migrating into the hands of the many and the small -- little distributed units. We live in an era when technology has expanded the destructive power of a small group and the individual beyond our imaginations."
Posted by John at 7:51 AM
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North Carolina: Home for "Relocated Yankees"
My pal John Daly responded to my post on the middle class exodus from South Florida to other Southeastern states with the following comment:
The Miami Herald article is correct about North Carolina, too. We have property in Sunset Beach, NC. Over the past eight years, the value has increased by 80%. The land and home opportunities in North Carolina are immense. The coast is getting expensive, but there are still good deals for retirement. If you have kids, you will want to look in the Raleigh-Durham area. In fact, the city of Cary is quite popular. The acronym for Cary is "Containment Area for Relocated Yankees." We have many friends who have fled the northeast and have no regrets.
Great comment, John, thanks. I've learned something about Cary!
Further note on the same subject: according to Allied Van Lines, North Carolina is one of the country's most "magnetic" states.
Posted by John at 7:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackBusiness and Management Education Also Booms in China's Poorer Provinces
Responding to our recent post on how private education in booming in China's poorest provinces, John McIntyre, Executive Director of Georgia Tech's Center for International Business Education and Research, wrote us noting that the same trend is occuring in business and management education.
John should know; along with Ilan Alon, he is the editor of the book Business and Management Education in China: Transition, Pedagogy, Training and Alliances. Thanks for the comment, John.
Posted by John at 7:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackQuote of the Day for Wednesday, August 16, 2006
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August 15, 2006
The Most Influential Foreigners in China's History . . .and the Mentality Behind It
People's Daily published a list of 50 foreigners who, according to this official newspaper of China's Communist Party, have had the greatest impact in shaping China's modern development. The list seems to be a metaphor not just for where China has been over the past couple of centuries, but where it is going as well.
Some names on the list are expected: Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and Khrushchev. Franklin Roosevelt, Richard Nixon ("one of the most influential presidents in American history"), and Henry Kissinger are on the list. Thomas Malthus is on the list, whose pessimistic theories regarding population growth represent the seeds of China's "one child" policy.
As the list proceeds chronologically, it becomes populated with more capitalists. Harland Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, made the cut, as well as Armand Hammer.
The most interesting names, though, are those at the end. They include American futurist Alvin Toffler, director Steven Spielberg, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and basketball star Michael Jordan.
This list also includes individuals who had a negative