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September 30, 2006
Repeat After Me, Kid: A Kilometer is Longer Than a Mile
Is They Learning is a blog which takes a look at some of the less than desirable products of our educational system; here's a sample:
[Thanks to Heavy Lifting for the pointer.]
Posted by John at 3:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackImmigration's Role in Ireland's Economic Renaissance
Reuven Brenner, author of Force of Finance, on the role immigration has had in Ireland's economic resurgence:
How did Ireland go from being among the poorest places in Western Europe to one of the richest? How did it attract the headquarters of 1,000 international companies? How did it come to rank, by some measures, among the EU’s top 15 original members? With per capita GDP estimated at $37,800 (U.S.), Ireland is now tops in Western Europe. . . .
Between 1995 and 2000, 250,000 people migrated to Ireland (about half of Irish ancestry), which had in 1996 a population of only 3.6 million. Ireland later allowed, along with Britain and Sweden, unrestricted migration to its labor markets from the 10 countries which joined the EU in 2004. Since then the number of people of Irish origin migrating to Ireland has diminished. However, more than 130,000 Poles now live there and, according to recent reports, 10,000 Eastern Europeans arrive every month, on average. A young Polish immigrant to Ireland was recently quoted saying, "If you have ambition in Poland, you come to Ireland."
Not only Poles, but Danes, Iranians, Swedes, Chinese, and Nigerians have come to Ireland, filling both low- and high-skilled jobs. Google’s European headquarters, located in Ireland, employs 800 people. Seventy percent aren’t Irish, and these workers speak 37 languages. According to reports, the company plans to hire another 600 university-educated people, mostly from abroad.
Ireland’s population increase is due largely to the influx of low- and high-skilled immigrants. Combined with a significant inflow of capital, this open-door policy has not led to any of the forecasted negative effects that are now at the center of the heated immigration debate in the United States. The unemployment rate in Ireland is now about 4.5 percent; it was in the 15 percent range in 1993. As noted, the country has become much richer, too.
[Thanks to Econlog for the pointer.]
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Quote of the Day for Saturday, September 30, 2006
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September 29, 2006
Personal Characteristics of China's Entrepreneurs
Based on about 2,000 interviews conducted in seven different Chinese cities, this study reports that
Posted by John at 7:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack. . . entrepreneurs in China are much more likely to have family members who are entrepreneurs as well as childhood friends who became entrepreneurs, suggesting that social environment plays an important role in entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs also differ strongly from non-entrepreneurs in their attitudes toward risks and their work-leisure preferences, echoing Schumpeter. Finally, failed entrepreneurs score the worst on aptitude tests, but have the best self-reported performance in school and perceive the business environment as least favourable.
Yet Again, Congress Fails to Act on Increasing Visa Quotas for Skilled Workers
A few months ago I vented about the sorry state of the U.S. visa process for skilled workers, which often prevents U.S. companies from filling positions requiring technical or other specialized skills.
The Washington Post reports that Congress has once again failed to address the issue. The article also mentions that only about 65,000 H-1B visas (green cards) are issued each year, all of which are taken instantaneously. An estimated half million H-1B applications are pending. Does an almost eight year backlog sound like a functional system to you?
Posted by John at 3:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackObstacles to China Becoming a Major Player in the U.S. Automobile Market
Knowledge@Wharton examines whether Chinese auto makers can realistically expect to become major participants in the U.S. market. The obstacles are significant:
[Wharton management professor John Paul MacDuffie] . . . says it is a question of when, not if, Chinese vehicle manufacturers eventually attempt to export into foreign markets. The speed of international acceptance will depend on whether China can avoid the same type of quality problems -- such as rust and rattling parts -- that initially tainted the reputation of Japanese and Korean exports, leading to U.S. consumer dissatisfaction that delayed the penetration of overseas markets for years. "There was a long period of retrenchment and rebuilding after leaving that bad impression," says MacDuffie. "The Chinese companies will have to be wary of repeating that. If anything, American consumer standards for quality have only gotten higher."
Another obstacle to China's export potential is a new generation of low-end subcompacts developed by Japanese and Korean companies that are performing well in this traditional entry-level export sector. "Nissan, Toyota and Hyundai have new and terrific products," says MacDuffie. "They are not as cheap as the Chinese product, but what they offer in quality and fuel efficiency for $10,000 to $12,000 is very high."
According to Meyer, stagnant growth, combined with overcapacity and consolidation in the global automotive industry, may limit China's ability to push forward as an exporter compared to the Japanese and Koreans who came before. He likened the global auto market to a game of musical chairs. "When the music stops, how many chairs will be left? Will there be room for a Chinese brand to sit?"
Other challenges mentioned in the article include branding, the need to develop more sophisticated auto engineering techniques, and the challenge of running a global business concern.
Posted by John at 3:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackQuote of the Day for Friday, September 29, 2006
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September 28, 2006
Another Good Reason to Keep Your Eye on Your Three Year Old Computer User
Posted by John at 9:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackA three-year-old boy has used his mother's computer to buy a £9,000 car on an internet auction site.
Jack Neal's parents only discovered their son's successful bid when they received a message from eBay about the Barbie pink Nissan Figaro.
Rachael Neal, 36, said her son was quite good at using the computer.
Mrs Neal, of Sleaford, Lincolnshire, said she had left her eBay password in her computer and her son had used the "buy it now" button.
She said: "Jack's a whizz on the PC and just pressed all the right buttons.
"I was just horrified.
"We now have the parental locks on - and we make sure we sign out of eBay!"
She said her husband John, 37, had called the seller of the car and explained the mistake.
"Luckily he saw the funny side and said he would re-advertise," Mrs Neal added. . . .
India Needs Management Talent from Abroad
India needs expats to fill its near term business management needs, reports the Christian Science Monitor:
According to the head of Evaluserve, India's need is great. He and others agree that India already has an abundance of domestic talent. But if it wishes to compete globally, it must have global resources - in other words, it must be fluent in the language and culture of its clients.
Posted by John at 8:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackThat's where the expats come in. "We are not only an India-centric company," says Ashish Gupta, head of Evaluserve India. "So to have this mingling of cultures is very, very important to us."
In all, he estimates, India will need more than 100,000 expatriates by 2010. In 2002, the government reported that 13,000 expats were working in the country. Yet the need goes beyond language skills to the highest levels of management. "In India, most business is at the start-up stage, so we need managerial talent," says Sudhakar Balakrishnan, director of Adecco Consulting in Bangalore.
Indians themselves have filled some of this shortfall, as more are staying here rather than venturing abroad - reversing decades of brain-drain. The need for foreigners remains, however, whether it is for foreign companies establishing their presence in India or for Indian companies wanting experienced Western executives.
Give Me a Business, Say These Boomers, Not a Set of Golf Clubs
From the New York Times, a reason why America's "demographic bomb" may be less severe than that of less entrepreneurial Europe:
Posted by John at 8:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackThe numbers of retired people rejecting the unfettered leisure that has been the American model since the 1940’s in favor of starting up a small business are not exact. Federal government data suggests there are now at least three million entrepreneurs who are 55 and over — up one-third from the number counted in 2000.
"It’s like this sea swell that has been under the radar," said Linda Wiener, the aging issues expert for Monster.com, the jobs search Web site. "There are people who don’t want to work an hourly job, and are wondering what are they going to do for the next 30 years?"
A "Flat World" in a Kentucky Mountain Town
Harlan, Kentucky is tucked among the mountains in the southeastern corner of the state. Coal mining has historically been the area's prime economic driver or drag, depending on what point in the cycle you pick. Otherwise, geography has often historically worked against Harlan's ability to develop its economy.
The Internet, however, brings opportunity which couldn't have come previously:
Posted by John at 4:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack"The thing about technology is you can do it from anywhere," said Charleen Combs, CEO and co-founder of DataFutures [a $5 million software company based in Harlan].
Experts say Combs' viewpoint is becoming more common among young professionals and high-tech entrepreneurs, many of whom are ditching the big-city scene and taking advantage of the lower costs and comforts typical of rural towns.
"Anecdotally, I really believe it's a trend," said Lawrence Gelburd, an independent consultant and lecturer on entrepreneurship at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
"The costs are so much lower in these rural areas," he added. "The value that they get, the pace of life and the ubiquitous nature of technology makes rural areas more attractive."
Quote of the Day for Thursday, September 28, 2006
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September 27, 2006
Radical Islamism: Successor to Marxism?
Historian Niall Ferguson, author of Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire and The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West, offered some interesting thoughts about radical Islamism in an interview published in the Boston Globe "Ideas" section:
Posted by John at 4:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackIDEAS: How do you understand radical Islamism? Is it, as some say, the successor to Marxism?
FERGUSON: It is. The great category error of our time is to equate radical Islamism with fascism. If you actually read what Osama bin Laden says, it's clearly Lenin plus the Koran. It's internationalist, revolutionary, and anticapitalist-rhetoric far more of the left than of the right. And radical Islamism is good at recruiting within our society, within western society generally. In western Europe, to an extent people underestimate here, the appeal of radical Islamism extends beyond Muslim communities.
IDEAS: To people who might once have been drawn to Marxism?
FERGUSON: And for much the same reason. Here is a way to reject the impure, corrupt qualities of western life and embrace a monotheistic zealotry. That's very satisfying.
IDEAS: Why is Europe more vulnerable than the United States?
FERGUSON: The United States has at least two religions, one being religion per se, the other being the civic religion of the Constitution. These are powerful integrative forces. To become an American is a transformative experience, and I'm impressed by it. It doesn't happen in Europe. Immigrants remain deeply alienated, plus they're not integrated well into the economy. And that's a dangerous situation.
Quote of the Day for Wednesday, September 27, 2006
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September 26, 2006
Poet Engineers
Georgia Tech has an endowed chair in poetry, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
"The pursuit of science and technology is just as creative a process as poetry and the arts," [Georgia Tech President Wayne] Clough says. "Both require intensely creative people who can think outside the box, look at the same things everyone else sees and imagine something more, and put the pieces together in new ways."
For alumni who still might be wary of such right-brain activities, Thomas Lux, director of the Poetry at Tech program, offers a presentation every year called "Engineering a Poem."
"We're trying to diminish the stereotype of the poet as some dreamy bozo who wanders around and then all of a sudden gets struck by inspiration," says Lux. "Poems are made things. They have everything to do with intense emotions ... but poems are made things. They don't just happen." . . .
This English major couldn't agree more, not just with the idea that good poetry is a result of good engineering, but that engineers ought to be studying poetry. It will ultimately make for better engineers.
Posted by John at 6:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackCoronary Disease May Cost India $236 Billion Over the Next Decade
India has over 60 million coronary patients, and over two million Indians die of coronary disease each year. The $236 billion estimated societal cost of this disease includes treatment costs and loss in productive working days.
The Hindustan Times reports further:
The WHO [World Health Organization] has warned that Indians, being genetically prone to cardiac disorders, are likely to constitute about 60 per cent of the world's cardiac patients by 2010.
Posted by John at 4:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackStatistics show an alarming incidence of heart diseases among youngsters in India, said SK Gupta, senior cardiologist at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital.
Cases of heart diseases (per 1,00,000) increased from 145 males and 126 females in 1985 to 253 males and 204 females in 2000.
"According to one estimate, more than 260 people are succumbing to the diseases for every 1,00,000 people."
Gupta said the prevalence of coronary heart diseases among the urban population was more than three times compared to the rural populace.
"Changing lifestyles, no focus on physical exercise and growing work pressure in urban setups are contributing to the spread of this menace," he added. . . .
"The situation is really grim in India. As the number of deaths is growing gradually, the country is losing productive working days, which in turn is a loss to the economy," said K Srinath Reddy, head of cardiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
Upendra Kaul, chief cardiologist at the Fortis hospital, said that due to lifestyle problems nearly 10 per cent of the urban population and around three per cent in rural areas were suffering from coronary heart diseases.
"More shockingly, over 30 per cent of these patients are young (below 40 years). The disease is certainly affecting their income by eating into the productive workdays. This indirectly has a negative impact on the country's economy," Kaul said. . . .
Quote of the Day for Tuesday, September 26, 2006
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September 25, 2006
Shanghai in the 1980s
China Digital Times has an amazing set of photos taken around Shanghai in the early 1980s. Only a quarter of a century later, today's Shanghai bears only faint resemblance.
Posted by John at 5:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackInnovation, Progress, and Reasons for Optimism
John Mauldin, President of Millennium Wave Advisors, LLC, publishes a weekly e-letter, Frontline Thoughts, which I highly recommend. Mauldin's commentary comes every weekend, and he invariably offers a clear-headed, high level perspective of the financial markets.
In his letter this week, Mauldin looks forward expectantly at the progress likely to be generated by countless world changing innovations. While we'll have normal economic downturns and continue to fight terrorism and sporadic political upheaval, Mauldin is optimistic:
There are really very few outright new inventions. Most new products or services are innovations. And innovation is usually a slow incremental, collaborative process. You build on the work of others. But it is not just technology where we see innovation. It is everywhere. . . .
You can innovate not just new products, but business models, marketing methods, new organizational structures, new processes, services, supply chains and new financial structures. You can take innovations in one industry and apply them to another. Innovation breeds innovation.
Some will note all the problems we face. The entire War on Terrorism, which is degenerating into a clash of modern thought with Islamic fascism. (Can no one in the Muslim world see the irony of torching churches and the call of death for the pope because he suggested Islam might be a tad violent? Where are the voices of Islamic reason? It is all quite depressing.) Poverty, AIDS, a nuclear Iran, running out of oil, the rise of socialism in the third world, rap music, etc.
Last century saw two World Wars and the Cold War, along with hundreds of smaller conflicts, a major depression, famines, numerous natural disasters, epidemics, serious financial crises, numerous recessions, multiple cases of genocide and so on.
But in spite of all that, the process of innovation in at first a hundred different, and then a thousand different areas, produced a growing world economy and a style of living that is remarkable. "Progress," however you define it, did not stop.
In fact, the innovation cycle has gotten faster and faster. Precisely because there are more people than ever working on new and better innovations.
And in the next ten years, we are going to bring 3 billion more people into the Information Age. The cost of connection to the internet is going to drop more than you can imagine.
Maybe we get 30 million more scientists and engineers and entrepreneurs than we would given today's reality, all working on some small innovation that moves the ball forward in their chosen field, each building on the work of others.
And hopefully out of that a few thousand world class minds, whose potential is now wasted because they are mired in poverty and simply trying to survive, will fulfill their potential and create something entirely new for the betterment of us all. Some kid in Kisangani or Kabul or Kigali or Vladivostok or Mumbai will make that discovery which changes the world, or at least a part of it.
Yes, sadly, some of them will become politicians, but more of them will see the world in a new and different way, and contribute to the betterment of the world.
The cynics will say, "Great. More people who will take US (or European or wherever you live) jobs at cheaper wages." And yes, that is true, but it is missing the point.
In the late 1970s, when the US had seemingly lost its way, unemployment was as high as inflation. We were losing our manufacturing jobs to Japan. It was a time of malaise.
Where would the jobs come from to employ the next generation? Would we all become hamburger flippers?
The correct answer was, "I don't know where they will come from, but they will." And they did, because hundreds of thousands of innovators kept at it, undeterred by circumstances. They worked on their own projects and let the cynics worry about where the jobs would come from. They created the jobs by creating whole new industries.
And yes, we got bubbles and recessions and wars and a whole host of bad stuff. But overall, would you really want to go back to 1976? And in 30 years, when we have seen more technological progress than we have seen in the past 150 years, no one will want to come back to 2006 either.
So call me a pragmatic optimist. I can see the problems. I can deal with the cycles. But I also know there is a time to ride the waves of change. Life is good and going to get better. . . .
Follow this link to subscribe to Mauldin's excellent commentaries. You'll find yourself looking forward to them every week.
Posted by John at 4:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackWould You Really Want to Go Back to 1973?
In this post, "Jane Galt" (a.k.a. Megan McArdle) at Asymmetrical Information does a terrific job at explaining why measuring changes in standards of living over time are as important as measuring changes in incomes:
I am more interested in making the poor and middle class better off than I am in making the income distribution more equal; I don't feel that Larry Ellison's harrier makes the modest new rug I bought in Turkey somehow less beautiful or enjoyable. There are several broad categories of goods that I would like to make sure that everyone has enough of, and which I would like to see improve for everyone at roughly the same rate: food, shelter, clothing, leisure, health, education, and autonomy. . . .
Posted by John at 3:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackAccording to the Census bureau, median personal income for a man was $8,056 in 1973, which I think puts my nuclear family right near the center of the income distribution. This works out to roughly $28,893 worth of income in 2003. The figures say that in the intervening years, median personal income rose only $1,100, to $29,931--an increase of less than 4% in 30 years. Median household income has done a bit better, going from a little over $10,000 in 1973--or $37,700 worth of 2003 income--to $43,318 in 2003. (Hooray for women's lib!) That's an increase of $5,618, or almost 15%.
But let's say we could find someone who makes $29,931 today, and remembers the 1970's. Do you think that if you offered to send him back to 1973, with 4% more than the 1973 median income, he'd take you up on the deal? What if you doubled that, to 8%? What if you sent him back to 1973 making 15 or 20% more than the median wage, so that he could keep the wife at home and still enjoy a modern level of household income?
Personally, I wouldn't take the deal . . . and not just because I'd be the one stuck at home trying to make the Harvest Gold drapes match the new Avocado refrigerator. 1973 means no internet. No cell phones. No cheap air travel to exotic foreign climes. No computers. No blessed asthma drugs (see my co-blogger's memoir for just how much this means). Three television channels and nothing good on any of them. Expensive books. Air pollution. Shorter life expectancies. More crowded housing. About the only thing more available then were Manhattan apartments, and that was because the muggers were cramping everyone's style. Yes, we all wish we'd done like my parents and bought a co-op in 1973--but that's because we want to live in it now, not then.
Quote of the Day for Monday, September 25, 2006
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September 24, 2006
The Only Man Who Can Get House Democrats to Defend President Bush
The Washington Post editorialists deliciously cut through the bogus bluster which Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez seems to possess in unlimited quantity:
. . . Since Mr. Chávez took power seven years ago, Venezuela has mismanaged its oil so disastrously that production may have fallen by almost half, according to the estimates of outsiders, reducing global oil supply by a bit more than 1 percent. Along with natural disasters and Nigerian rebels, Mr. Chávez's ineptitude has contributed to high energy prices.
It takes sustained determination to reduce output by that much, and Mr. Chávez has provided it. He inherited a competent national oil company that produced three times more per worker than its Mexican counterpart. He immediately starved it of investment capital and dispatched ignorant political cronies to oversee it. When this abuse provoked a strike, Mr. Chávez fired the staff en masse, getting rid of two-thirds of the skilled employees and managers.
Mr. Chávez imagines that he can damage the United States by rerouting Venezuelan oil to other markets. He fails to understand that oil is fungible: If Venezuela's crude is sold to the Chinese, the Chinese will buy less of it elsewhere, freeing up supplies for U.S. consumers. But Mr. Chávez also appears oblivious to the technical difficulties in sending oil halfway round the world rather than selling it in his own hemisphere. Oil tankers do not come cheap, and China will have to build special refineries to process the heavy brand of crude that Venezuela produces. Despite Mr. Chávez's bluster about tripling exports to China in three years, Venezuela will depend on Yanqui consumers for the foreseeable future. . . .
Chavez's outrageousness can be measured by the fact that even Charlie Rangel and Nancy Pelosi--who don't seem to agree with President Bush on anything--jumped to Bush's defense after Chavez's United Nations speech last week.
Posted by John at 3:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackImplications of a Trans-Atlantic Trade Agreement
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is promoting the idea of a free trade zone between Europe and the United States. Private intelligence firm Stratfor, whose service we've recommended several times previously, analyzes both the positive and negative implications of such a free trade zone ($):
Taken together, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and EU states -- complete with the tightly affiliated economies of Central America, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, the Balkans and Turkey that would likely be included as well -- make up the bulk of the world's economic heft. Even a "modest" agreement that utterly excluded touchy topics like agriculture would easily add 1 percent to the group's collective gross domestic product (GDP). That might not sound like much at all until you realize that that collective GDP of such a TAFTA [Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement] grouping is roughly $24 trillion (out of a global total of approximately $43 trillion).
But the greater effect would be the changes such an agreement between two economic superpowers would impress upon the international system.
With Doha falling apart, the most likely course for the global economy would be its bifurcation into competing NAFTA- and EU-led trading blocs that aggressively attempt to induct other economies into their respective regimes. Under such a scenario, the threat would constantly be of a trans-Atlantic trade war that could only be mediated by an increasingly discredited WTO. Economic friction on a global scale would be palpable and permanent, while political tension between Washington and Brussels would likely mount.
TAFTA would obviously change that calculus. Instead of facing off, the United States and European Union would be partners in the most powerful economic grouping in history. Already the United States and European Union enjoy significant gravitas in negotiating bilateral trade deals with smaller -- which is to say, all other -- economies. With the two joined at the hip in TAFTA, their negotiating power would become nearly absolute, giving both players the ability to dictate terms to any state that sought to join their joint trade network.
The biggest losers in such an arrangement would be countries that have always attempted to play the world's major powers off one another or attempted to carve out regional economic groupings for themselves; India, China, Russia and Brazil come to mind. Instead of holding a trump card in their respective regions, these states would find that countries they had once sought to enter trade deals with would more likely flock to TAFTA -- and, in fact, the secondary powers would likely be tempted to follow. Aside from giving some bitter speeches, there is not much a power can do to prevent other parties from linking in an FTA.
U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab has already expressed support for TAFTA talks, while noting that such talks are unlikely to clash with any attempts to restart the Doha round. Stratfor points out that the U.S. government trade bureaucracy can handle only one big trade deal at a time, if that. I'd like to know how the U.S. and the E.U. will be able to agree on any "free trade" deal when the two cannot agree on cutting agricultural subsidies. Failure to agree on this issue was largely the reason behind the recent failure of Doha round negotiations.
Posted by John at 6:04 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack"Blind Worship" of the English Language Actually Very Practical
I bemusedly read this China Daily article; the disconnect between business and the academy which often occurs in the United States obviously occurs in China as well:
A linguistics expert has claimed Shanghainese are overusing the English language.
"It's a blind worship of the English language,"said Pan Wenguo, dean of Chinese as a Foreign Language School at East China Normal University, at a conference held Monday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of promoting Putonghua, or Mandarin.
He added the business sector was particularly responsible for the trend, claiming many people used English "more for following others blindly than for practical needs."
Pan said up to one-third of Chinese are studying or have studied English, while the number of English learners in Shanghai is even higher.
"English is not bad in itself, but the present mania of learning English is really too much,"said Pan.
As we noted in this post, the English language has a 40% share of global GDP. Just as many in Latin America increasingly believe they must learn Mandarin to fully participate in the global economy, many Chinese see a need to learn English. The linguists are powerless to change such "mania", thank goodness.
Posted by John at 5:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackBringing the World to a Remote Corner of Brazil
Here's yet another example of how broadband Internet access changes even the most remote locations on the planet:
Intel has created a wireless, high-speed Internet network in a remote Amazon town for residents to access medical, educational and commercial information for the first time.
Posted by John at 4:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackThe project is part of the Intel World Ahead Programme, an initiative in which Intel plans to invest more than $1bn globally over the next five years to accelerate access to computers, the internet and technology for people in developing communities.
In a statement, Intel said it expects the digital transformation of Parintins, a town on an island in the Amazon River, to improve the healthcare and education of its 114,000 residents and advance the lives of future generations.
Working with the Brazilian government and business and education officials, Intel and its collaborators installed a WiMAX network for a primary healthcare centre, two public schools, a community centre and Amazon University. Intel also donated and installed telemedicine equipment at the health centre and computer labs at the two schools where students and teachers can regularly connect to the outside world for the first time.
"We’ve been blessed with this project," said Parintins Mayor Frank Bi Garcia. "We’re really isolated and don’t have the conditions to receive the Internet with cables. So we’re receiving it wireless, from antennas, from satellites. Access to wireless internet is a great pleasure for us. This project will prepare this generation for the future."
The programme will also include teacher training and a telemedicine course at Amazon University. Doctors say telemedicine will help in preventing the spread of diseases such as AIDS and leprosy.
[From The Engineer Online; thanks to Smart Mobs for the pointer.]
Quote of the Day for Sunday, September 24, 2006
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September 23, 2006
Latin American Learning Mandarin
Interesting Washington Post article on the significant increase in Latin American business people and youth learning Mandarin:
Posted by John at 4:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackMany of those taking up the challenge are young, like Leidy Catalina Ortega, 17, who recently dropped an English-language class in favor of Mandarin. Her parents want to import clothing from China to sell in Bogota. If she learns the language, she will help manage the business.
"If you're interested and work hard, you can learn and talk almost like they do," she said. "You are afraid at first. Later you get it and move on."
Time to Invest in Mexico?
Rich Karlgaard asks whether it's time to invest in Mexico:
Posted by John at 4:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack. . . Mexico will clock a 3.5% growth rate this year. And probably 4% next year. . . .
Mexico is riding a 20-year demographic tailwind. The country's biggest population bulge has just entered the workforce. The ratio of earners to dependents looks good for the next two decades.
Consumer credit has grown by 400% since 2000--a measure of a rising middle class. . . .
The country's stock market trades for 37% of the gross domestic product. That's low.
Mexico is always a risk. It has flattened investors' hopes before. But Mexico looks interesting right now. Its fundamentals paint a rosier picture than the dreary headlines.
That's usually a buy sign.
China's Ecological Situation "Very Grave"
China's ecological is so severe that a "green development strategy" is the only choice the country has, argues Hu Angang (pdf) of Tsinghua University's Center for China Study. Hu is one of China's top economists and researcher on China's development; this essay he recently penned is both fascinating and sobering:
Posted by John at 3:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackChina has already overtaken the United States in industrial and agricultural production to become the world’s largest "manufacturing factory". As a result of economic reform and opening up, annual industrial added value growth averaged 11.5% in 1978-2004, more than two percentage points higher than GDP growth. If calculated by PPP, China’s industrial added value rose from 4% of the world’s total in 1980 to 22.0% in 2003, overtaking the US (16.5%) to become the world’s number one. China has already become number one in the output of iron and steel, coal, cement, chemical fertiliser and television sets. But industrialisation and urbanisation have put great pressure on water, land, energy, raw materials and other natural resources. The contradiction between population and resources has become even more prominent. China’s resources are lower than the world average per capita, yet its losses in natural resources are the biggest in the world. China is the world’s largest consumer of water (15.4% of the world’s total); China is the world’s leading emitter of water pollution (3 times that of the United States). It ranks second in the world in energy consumption and CO2 discharge and is likely to overtake the United States to become the world’s No. 1. With rapid industrialisation, the demand for natural resources and raw materials has risen rapidly and that will sharpen the contradictions between resources supply and demand even more.
The tensions between population and resources have caused tremendous damage to ecological and environmental systems. China’s ecological environment is deteriorating in its integral functions and its capacity to resist natural adversity is weakening. At the same time, ecological deterioration is growing in scope, dimension and scale of the damage. Despite restoration efforts, the damage continues. When ecological protection is applied to one area, damage is caused elsewhere and the controls are unable to offset the damage. The failing environment can be seen in declining forest quality, grassland degradation, accelerated desertification, soil erosion, serious water loss, worsening of water ecology, vast pollution in agricultural and rural areas, serious food safety problems, alien species invasion, a sharp reduction in biodiversity and the loss of genetic resources. The situation brooks no optimism.
Floating Garbage Behind the Three Gorges Dam
According to a manager of the Three Gorges Dam, the amount of floating rubbish in the resevoir behind the dam is expected to hit seven million cubic feet, due in part to drought conditions which keep the Yangtze River from cleaning itself.
[Source: Yahoo! News]
Posted by John at 2:56 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackQuote of the Day for Saturday, September 23, 2006
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September 22, 2006
Severe Worker Shortages In California's Pear Orchards
A few weeks ago, we reported on pears rotting in California, waiting for workers to pick them. Today's New York Times picks up the story:
Posted by John at 8:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackThis year’s shortages are compounding a flight from the fields by Mexican workers already in the United States. As it has become harder to get into this country, many illegal immigrants have been reluctant to return to Mexico in the off-season. Remaining here year-round, they have gravitated toward more stable jobs. . . .
California farms employ at least 450,000 people at the peak of the harvest, with farm workers progressing from one crop to the next, stringing together as much as seven months of work. Growers estimate the state fell short this harvest season by 70,000 workers. Joe Bautista, a labor contractor from Stockton who brings crews to Lake County, said about one-third of his regular workers stayed home in Mexico this year, while others were caught by the Border Patrol trying to enter the United States.
Private Companies Dominate China's Economy
According to this China Daily report, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences predicts the private sector will generate three-fourths of the country's GDP in five years. Further 70% of the country's company will be non-state-owned. In contrast, domestic private firms accounted for 50% of GDP last year.
Posted by John at 7:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackChinese Love the Free Market
Harper's Magazine reports that 74% of Chinese polled believe a free market is "the best system on which to base the future of the world."
[Thanks to Dr. John Rutledge for the pointer.]
Posted by John at 7:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackQuote of the Day for Friday, September 22, 2006
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September 21, 2006
Atlanta's Summit Bank Sold for $175 Million
In previous posts such as this one, we've pointed to the vitality of the Asian-American community in Atlanta and the significant economic benefit it offers to the area.
There are now another 175 million reasons to believe Atlanta's Asian-American community has many years of growth ahead of it.
Summit Bank Corporation, Atlanta's leading independent bank catering to the Asian-American community, agreed to sell to California's UCBH Holdings for $175 million in cash and stock.
As sale prices for banks go, the deal was a very good one for Summit Bank shareholders. According to SNL, the deal value represents 3.6 times tangible book and almost 27 times trailing twelve months earnings. So far this year, other Southeastern banks have sold on average at 2.7 times tangible book and about 26.5 times earnings.
For UCBH to justify such a price, they obviously must believe not only in the management and employees of Summit, but in the long-term attractiveness of the communities Summit serves. While Summit has some small operations in San Jose and Houston, the bulk of its operations are in the Atlanta metro area. Consequently, this deal is a ringing endorsement of the vibrancy of the Asian-American community in Atlanta.
Congratulations to our friends at Summit for realizing the fruits of many years of efforts in building such an attractive institution.
Posted by John at 5:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackChina in "Urgent Need of Senior Foreign Professionals"
From a Xinhua News Agency story:
Posted by John at 3:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackChina is in urgent need of senior foreign professionals with innovative, decision-making and management skills, said Liu Yongzhi, of China's State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA), on Wednesday.
Liu was speaking at the Conference on International Exchange of Professionals (CIEP) and High-Tech Exhibition, sponsored by the SAFEA.
Liu said China's domestic human resource market could meet demand for middle and lower-level professionals, but senior professionals with the innovation, management, decision-making and consultancy skills required by research and development centers of enterprises and universities were still needed from abroad. . . .
More Foreign Companies Tapping the U.S. Hispanic Market
"The market is very big," said [Mexican businessman Luis] Almeida, whose firm sells Mexican food products to Hispanic grocers in the Midwest. "Consumption of the 40 million Hispanics in the U.S. is the same as the gross national product of Mexico, and Mexico has 110 million people."
The quote, from a Washington Post article, is from a businessman whose company is one of more than 100 foreign companies--the most ever--participating in this week's annual convention of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Most of these companies are from Mexico.
It's a further signpost (in addition to others we pointed to here and here) that Latin American companies are expanding into this country at a rapid rate to tap the increasingly lucrative U.S. Hispanic market.
Posted by John at 1:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackQuote of the Day for Thursday, September 21, 2006
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September 20, 2006
Milken on the U.S. Economic Recipe
In a Wall Street Journal editorial on baby boomers, Michael Milken puts the development of China, India, and the United States into historical perspective:
China and India combined to produce nearly half the world's economic output in 1820 compared to just 1.8% for the U.S. Our remarkable growth since 1820 has benefited from democratic institutions, a belief in capitalism, private property rights, an entrepreneurial culture, abundant resources, openness to foreign investment, the best universities, immigration and relatively transparent markets.
And our prosperity going forward will be dependent on the same mix of ingredients.
Posted by John at 4:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackYoung Latinos 'Latinize America and Americanize Hispanics'
While the political spotlight has been on Hispanic immigrants, social scholars and purveyors of media and entertainment are already focusing on their children, an exploding generation of bilingual, bicultural Hispanics who are rapidly emerging as a force that will affect music, television, movies, fashion, advertising, slang, and just about everything else in American pop culture.
Because they grew up in the United States fluent in two languages and two cultures, young American-born Hispanics - who often call themselves Latinos, rather than Hispanics - form a kind of bridge. Not only are they Latinizing the American mainstream, they are Americanizing what it means to be Hispanic in the United States. . . .
Posted by John at 4:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackA 2003 study by Roberto Suro, director of the Washington-based Pew Hispanic Center, showed the numbers behind the trend. Suro's study established not only that the second generation is becoming the most important segment of Hispanics, but that they are also the ones to watch in the general population.
Because Hispanics have more children than other ethnic groups - 3.51 births per woman, compared with 1.84 for non-Hispanic whites and 2.53 for blacks - and because non-Hispanic whites are predicted to fall below 50 percent of the population by 2050, Latinos are poised to become even more significant.
According to Suro, U.S. Hispanics make up 19 percent of people 20 to 34 years old, the crucial years when people move into adulthood and establish careers. By 2020, Latinos will make up almost one-fourth of children 5 to 19, a study by the California consulting firm Cheskin predicted.
"In terms of that market that really defines popular culture, it's getting Latinized much faster than the rest of the population," Suro says.
That is of intense interest to U.S. companies.
"All of them are slowly waking up to the fact that moving forward, this is the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. economy," says Marcel Suarez-Orozco, co-director of the Harvard Immigration Project and co-author of the book Children of Immigration.
"This is where the action will be in terms of new investment, new growth. So even though the attention is on immigrants, even if we seal the border tomorrow, the real growth will be in the second generation." . . .
"The word Latino doesn't exist outside of the United States," says Jose Tillan, senior vice president of music programming and talent strategy for MTV Latin America and MTV Tr3s. "It's like a new world. The definition of the word Latino is up for grabs."
If to be American is to invent yourself, young Hispanics are as American as it gets, stitching together a patchwork of references and identities in two languages with surprising optimism and confidence.
"I think Latinas in general have a better advantage," says 13-year-old Miami student Shawn Nelson, whose background is Cuban, Puerto Rican, Jamaican and Trinidadian.
"I'm never just black or I'm never just Cuban. I can be around anybody and still be who I want to be."
Chinese Need More Education About Heart Disease
About 62 percent of Chinese over 40 suffer from various heart diseases or heart-related diseases, and 80 percent of them do not know much about how to protect the heart, according to a World Heart Federation survey.
Posted by John at 3:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackA total of 2,400 people from China, the USA, Germany, Spain, Canada, Argentina, Mexico and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea took part in the survey, which aims to focus global attention on the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
Statistics show more than 40 million people in China suffer from cardiovascular disease, which accounts for half the total deaths in China. About 75 percent of survivors are no longer able to work and four percent are severely disabled.
The survey shows people do not pay enough attention to protecting the heart.
Only 50 percent of those surveyed believed "a healthy lifestyle is very important to protect the heart". . . .
"The incidence of cardiovascular disease has risen by 50.3 percent in the past decade," said Hu Dayi, an expert on cardiovascular diseases.
Each year 2.6 million people die of cerebral apoplexy and myocardial infarction in China, which means cardiovascular diseases claim one life every 12 seconds in the country, Hu said.
Cardiovascular disease today has the highest growth and recurrence rate of any disease in China, experts warned.
"Unhealthy Lifestyles" Causing Rising Cancer Deaths in China
The combined factors of improper diet and stress have increased the incidence of some highly fatal cancers in China, including colorectal and pancreatic cancers.
During recent medical conferences,experts reported alarming growth of some forms of cancer and called on the public to guard against the diseases by changing unhealthy lifestyles and ensuring early detection.
The Ministry of Health reported early this year that cancer has become the leading killer of Chinese. Cancer deaths have increased 29 per cent over the last 20 years.
Posted by John at 3:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackIn Shanghai, colorectal cancer has become the most fatal cancer after lung cancer, surgeons reported at the Second International Colorectal Cancer Forum on Saturday.
In 2000, the cancer was reported to have hit 40.8 Shanghai residents in every 100,000. Its incidence rate has increased by 4.2 per cent each year.
"The cancer incidence rate in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou almost equals that in Western countries,but the growth is twice the global figure," said Dr Xu Xinyu of Zhongshan Hospital. . . .
Experts say the increase in cancer is closely connected to the environment and unhealthy lifestyles.
Pancreatic cancer is closely related with high alcohol consumption and excessive intake of food rich in protein and fat. "Many patients like drinking bowls of liquor and take a large amount of beef and mutton, which are very risky factors," said Professor Wu Xinmin, president of Qinghai People's Hospital. . . .
Quote of the Day for Wednesday, September 20, 2006
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September 19, 2006
Is Delta Airlines Even in the Running for a China Route?
If this Washington Post story is any indication, the answer is no. United, American, Continental, and Northwest are all mentioned as competitors to receive the next direct China routes, which could begin as early as March. Delta, which is lobbying for an Atlanta-Beijing route, doesn't even rate a mention.
Posted by John at 9:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackQuote of the Day for Tuesday, September 19, 2006
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