Das Boot, Colombian Drug Smuggler Edition

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 6/30/2008 01:06:00 AM
Der Spiegel has an interesting article and interview on the Colombian drug cartels' latest mode of drug smuggling transportation to North America--the submarine. The UN International Drug Control Programme pegs the illicit trade as a $400B annual industry, so it's not surprising that some of the most enterprising ideas have come from smugglers attempting to overcome those who would intercept them. There is always a race in the technological sophistication of peddlers and enforcers. As in any global industry of note, things do not often stand still. Not that they always work, but certainly, there have been some very creative...
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G8 @ Hokkaido: Anti-Globalization Gets There Early

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 6/30/2008 12:23:00 AM
What's the difference between a football hooligan and an anti-globalization protester? The former probably get more TV coverage. Last year, the annual G8 summit was held at Heiligendamm, Germany. As you would expect, the anti-globalization crowd was out in force then. This year, it seems that the battle lines are forming early as the anti-globalization has already begun to mass for the meetings from 7-9 July in Hokkaido, Japan. While I have no real qualms about the principal complaint of the anti-globalization crowd--global governance as decided by a select group of developed nations does not represent the interests of much of the rest of the world--I honestly see no method to the anti-globalization madness. Have years and years of such protests resulted in significant changes in the structure of international organizations or policy making? It's hard to argue in the affirmative. So many years later, it's the same old, same old.To be sure, smaller crowds are expected this year...
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Amerocentrism, Saving Doha, and Lamy the Savior

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 6/30/2008 12:05:00 AM
I am currently listening to Handel's Messiah as conducted by Christopher Hogwood. This 1980 recording is credited with ushering a new generation of musicians from the "historically informed" school of classical music. (Although Messiah is often played during Christmastime, I listen to this fine recoding year round--not the least because I feature in a lot of the lyrics ;-) As much as possible, these musicians try to use musical instruments that are more in line with what long-gone composers had at their disposal: harpsichords instead of pianos, baroque instead of modern violins, etc. Anyway, the topic of today's post is familiar...
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Should the World Bank Still Lend to China?

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in ,, at 6/26/2008 01:49:00 AM
Setting aside the issue of the efficacy of World Bank lending, shouldn't the priority of Bank lending go to countries that have fared nowhere near as well as China in recent years? Unfortunately, there are far too many countries which have been economically stagnant and whose performance pales in comparison to the emerging giant. Late last year, I featured a Wall Street Journal story on how World Bank lending in fiscal year 2007 was topped by India, followed by China in third place. From a social justice standpoint, aren't there other countries where poverty alleviation is a more pressing matter and should therefore get more...
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Is Pricey Gas Killing of China's Automotive March?

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in ,, at 6/26/2008 01:06:00 AM
If you have had the (mis)fortune of driving in one of Asia's megalopolises, then bumper-to-bumper traffic that crawls from here to eternity is not unfamiliar to you. In these parts of the world, you do not really drive so much as you get stuck in traffic. Thus, traffic exacerbates concerns about automotive emissions, especially in urban centres. Of course, it is difficult to deny the Chinese private transportation as a matter of fairness. If those in the West have been motoring for years and years, then why should the Chinese have to go easy on auto ownership? Still, the sheer scale of potential automotive emission increases...
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Credit Rating Agencies: The New Jesters of Capital

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 6/25/2008 01:37:00 AM
I've already voiced my doubts over Tim Sinclair's book The New Masters of Capital in which he depicts credit ratings agencies such as Standard and Poor's, Moody's, and Fitch's as globetrotting institutions which enforce an Americanized neoliberal order on a hapless world. For you IPE junkies, these agencies purportedly conduct sovereignty at bay. I'll tell you what: if the calendar showed 1998 instead of 2008, I would be inclined to agree with him. However, in a global political economy in which LDCs have boatloads of reserves to guard against the recurrence of another Asian Crisis, their opinions on sovereign debt are greatly...
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Clash of the Titans: Thomson Reuters vs. Bloomberg

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 6/25/2008 01:08:00 AM
The recent merger of Thomson Financial with Reuters has set the new combination on a bid for better bragging rights against Bloomberg in providing financial information to the banking industry. Of course, these two firms also provide news fodder for countless finance and economics bloggers like yours truly, making the competition particularly interesting. Simply put, it's a test of two approaches to marketing financial information. Whereas the more prestigious Bloomberg provides a single package with all the trimmings for a monthly fee of between $1,500-$1,800, Thomson Reuters is offering a more a la carte menu where basic...
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What Happens to Ireland If It Ditches the EMU?

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 6/24/2008 01:39:00 AM
Working in a building called the "European Research Institute," you cannot expect me to rehash Eurosceptic rhetoric about EU members surrendering sovereignty to Brussels and all that jazz. Fortunately, there are bazillions of blogs out there if that's your thing. If anything, I am a fierce proponent of giving up the pound and adopting the Euro. However, many others here in Britain and across the continent do not share my sentiments. Witness Ireland's recent referendum where it turned down the adoption of the Lisbon Agenda. Admittedly, the agenda is a warmed-over version of the EU Constitution which France and the Netherlands...
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Why Do Chinese Households Save So Much?

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 6/24/2008 01:08:00 AM
I am currently revisiting the interesting paradox of rising Chinese household savings in recent years. It is indeed curious how household savings rates in the PRC have risen while consumption has dropped as a percentage of GDP. Given the improving economic fortunes of China, shouldn't more exuberant households instead be spending more, albeit not to Americanesque extremes? Chinese household savings rates are in the range of 20-25%, while American ones are in the range of, er, 0-1%. If we are interested in remedying whopping huge global economic imbalances, then finding ways of inducing more domestic Chinese demand will be part of the solution. There are various explanations offered for this pattern, including:(1) The government does not provide as many health and education services as in the past, necessitating more savings for out-of-pocket expenses on these expenditures;(2) China lacks a financial infrastructure that permits more to buy on credit;(3) The Chinese, like many...
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Keeping Up With China: India's Foray Into SEZs

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 6/23/2008 01:13:00 PM
The use of special economic zones (SEZs) to encourage development in China is well-known. Incentives for local and foreign investors to locate in these zones may include steady electrical and water supplies (not always a given in LDCs), better transportation (especially access to ports and airports), tax benefits, and so on. Like the rest of Asia, India looks upon the Chinese example with a mixture of envy and loathing. While the rest of the world is familiar by now with India's prowess in service sectors--business process outsourcing, engineering consulting, call centres, legal and medical transcription, and what else have...
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PRC Olympic Squad & NYT's "Ivan Drago" Fixation

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 6/22/2008 03:49:00 PM
International sporting competition and jingoism are as inseparable as Amy Winehouse and eyeliner. In either case, the results can be quite scary. Most infamously, the 1936 Berlin Olympics served as a propaganda vehicle for the National Socialist's idea of Aryan supremacy. Jesse Owens' track and field achievements may have punctured that idea, but, lest anyone forget, the Germans did win the most medals in that event. 72 years later, we have another Olympic host country emerging--or more correctly speaking, re-emerging--on the global scene in the PRC. Although its co-opted, sold-out, and rather bourgeois brand of Leninist-Marxism...
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Party Like It's 1899: The Revival of UK Rail

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 6/21/2008 04:39:00 PM
Partly as a result of high fuel prices, the British are resorting in greater numbers to a time-tested form of transportation: the train. In 1986, Margaret Thatcher is said to have uttered the now-famous line "a man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure" [!] as a put-down to those who have not bettered their situation enough to own private transportation (read: own a car). Despite her put-down, however, it seems the British have been taking the train in ever-larger numbers, necessitating the expansion of rail transport for the first time in ages. Given that car ownership is becoming...
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Cast Your Vote: Do Firms Need Prodding on CSR?

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 6/21/2008 02:58:00 PM
The Economist website has a debate going on regarding this question: "Without outside pressure, corporations will not take meaningful action on sustainability." It follows the rules of the "traditional Oxford-style debate." As I write, the "yes" votes outnumber the "no" votes 72% to 28%. I am not particularly keen on the phrasing of the question for a host of reasons. For instance, "pressure" implies an antagonistic stance between civil society and corporations when opportunities for collaboration do exist and may in fact outweigh this negative framing. In many respects, the CSR debate has moved beyond this combative approach.On the "yes" side we have Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres, which bills itself as "a national [American] network of investors, environmental organizations and other public interest groups working with companies and investors to address sustainability challenges such as global climate change." Her opening statement is somewhat predictable--subprime, SUVs,...
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Take That! US Slaps Tariffs on Chinese Steel

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 6/21/2008 01:16:00 AM
With the fourth US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) passing into history, the US is going back on the trade offensive. On Friday, the US International Trade Commission ruled against China on the matter of dumping of steel products in the United States. This paves the way for the application of countervailing duties on "circular welded carbon-quality steel pipes." These pipes are used in plumbing, heating, irrigation, and other construction applications. The Chinese government stands accused of granting unfair subsidies to steelmakers. Further, the Chinese steelmakers are accused of dumping their wares in the US below...
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