Sonntag, 22. Februar 2009

Inspiration

"Nothing is less real than realism ... Details are confusing. It is only by selection, by elimination, by emphasis, that we got at the real meaning of things."
[Georgia O'Keeffe, 1922]

"As far as I'm concerned, I'm not here to live a normal life. I'm sent here on a mission ... I came here as a man of visions."
[Howard Fisher, 1984]

[As seen in the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, National Portrait Gallery Building, December 2008]

Samstag, 14. Februar 2009

Get Access to Free Market = Get Rich

What liberal politics has assumed for centuries and what essayists have debated controversly has been studied time and again. Now, a fine piece of research by Hou (2009) finds new evidence while using cutting-edge econoetric research tools to provide evidence that increasing access to domestic and international markets boosts household incomes.
Strangely, given the current economic downturn, some policymakers seem to forget this simple fact and seem to prefer to turn to nationalistic/protectionistic measures to cure and instead of opening up economies close them... if they really want to help households, and in general the whole economy, to recover, then research suggests that we should open up and enhance market access to the biggest extent possible!

Hou, Z. (2009). "Market Access and Household Consumption: Evidence from Rural China", under revision for The Review of Economics and Statistics; PhD thesis, George Washington University.
http://home.gwu.edu/~houz/research.htm

Mittwoch, 11. Februar 2009

Go Green

Is America aware of environmental AND economic challenges?

You would not a priori say yes.... if you knew.

at least alma mater (started [!!] to) try over here
http://svp.georgetown.edu/committees/sustainability/

but:
- ICC photovoltaic array: runs at roughly half of the original capacity, despite technical progress in general in boosting photovoltaic effectiveness
- Do you really think that the GUTS shuttle bus fleet is up-to-date on engines technology, vehicle efficiency etc.?
- The Car Barn (a class of its own, unfortunately); is there maybe
- insulation, anyone?
- temperature adjustment, anyone plays around with
- insulation-effective windows?
- windows and doors without huge gaps and drift?
- wasteful computer printing by students?
-"occupancy sensors in common areas"? I don't know in which building that is... wherever I am at night, ppl tend to forget to switch off the lights...
- Flushing of toilet: some have so nice sensors, they flush several times pe session...
- some restrooms have such nice water taps, the water runs for a much longer period of time than you actually need to wash your hands...

Sonntag, 8. Februar 2009

Swiss voters adopt extension of the “free movement of persons” to Romania/Bulgaria

Today, Swiss voters adopted in a referendum (popular vote) with a 59.6% majority the extension of the so-called "free movement of persons” principle to Bulgaria and Romania, which acceded to the EU in 2007. The turnout was 51% which is slightly higher than usual. The “yes”-outcome was clearer than expected as European issues are usually controversial in Switzerland and given the current economic crisis it was expected that fears would weight in even more on the “no”-side. Only in four of 26 cantons (states) in Switzerland, there was a no-majority. Compared to earlier referenda on foreign affairs, this time there was no division between the language communities/cantons in Switzerland.

Switzerland adopted the “free movement of persons”, which exists within the EU, with the EU-15 (as the union consisted of 15 member states) in 2000 and subsequently extended it to the ten new EU members in 2005 (after the EU enlargement in 2004). As Romania and Bulgaria became EU member states, another extension was necessary, but among the public very controversial, given the sizeable income disparities between Switzerland and Rumania/Bulgaria.

The “free movement of persons” means that all citizens, disregarding their nationality, can migrate freely in the member countries, can work and study without the need for getting permissions/visas etc. and can settle where they want. According to several studies, this principle has substantially contributed to the EU’s and Switzerland’s economic growth (i.e. up to 1 percentage point) in the last few years and has increased the competitiveness and flexibility of the (common) labor market.

The issue was subject to a vote in Switzerland due to a popular referendum (i.e. support of 50’000 citizens required) taken by right-wing political forces, after the federal parliament has passed the bill. The “popular referendum” is one of several so-called “direct-democratic” instruments (besides the “mandatory referendum” and the “initiative”).

The issue and the related campaign prior to the vote were hugely controversial. A group of parties from the left to the center right together with the business federation and labor unions has fought in favor of the issue, while some right-wing parties with affiliated interest groups have fought against it. Proponents emphasized the importance of the bill for the economy while opponents argued an adoption of the issue would lead to more economic migration, lower salaries, more jobless, more crime and loss of sovereignty.

With this vote, Switzerland remains the only country in Europe whose citizens have repeatedly voted in favor of EU issues, and in particular on such emotional issues like migration/labor market topics, in the last 15 years. Most EU countries do not have referendums and thus their parliaments ratified “free movement of persons”-related bills.

The Swiss vote this Sunday is the last step in a row of popular votes on European issues and confirmed the bilateral relations between the EU and Switzerland, as the latter choose not to accede to the EU (or EC).


For more information:
Adrian Ineichen
adrian.i@gmx.ch
202-550-1466 (USA)


For further information:
http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/schweiz/klares_ja_zur_personenfreizuegigkeit_1.1935829.html
in German (NZZ is the leading Swiss newspaper)

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/internal_affairs/Swiss_say_yes_to_EU_labour_accord.html?siteSect=1511&sid=10301524&cKey=1234106327000&ty=st
in English (Swissinfo is a government-funded news channel)

MOAB - Mother Of All Breads


rising big... Fri, Feb. 6, 2009, 4am

Sonntag, 1. Februar 2009

Being a Leader (and the creed behind it)

It seems that in the US, there is much more talk about leaders as in Europe, i.e. there seems to be the assumption in place that an individual leader can (and often does) make a huge difference. Maybe this is derived from the American belief in the power of the individual, of a can-be-done mentality (with often positive, but sometimes also very negative implications). This is at least the impression after one has read some articles about managers and leaders for last week's comparative public management class.

And yes, if you like, you can find examples in the real-world:

Dieter Zetsche was praised as "Dr. Z" (coming from Daimler-Benz, Germany) when he was able to change and cut at Chrysler, but his success was only temporary... soon afterwards, the Germans gave up, considered Chrysler to be a hopeless case and sold the company.

"Change we can believe in" - aha! And now? Do we really need to wait for the federal government to change, or can we change ourselves and move our own butt towards a more efficient & sustainable future? Or do we need to wait for the seem-to-be-Messiah?
A leader can only have an impact if he has some people around him ready to join forces, ready to commit themselves to the common cause, but also critical enough not to follow blindly.

Hailed as a genius not long time ago, John Thain was "Lynched at Merrill" (title in the Financial Times, Monday, January 26, 2009), after it became clear that the board of Merrill Lynch paid out about 4bn $ in boni despite a desastrous 2008.

Yeah, sometimes it takes more to be a good leader than many believe - but all too often people suddenly hail you and follow you blindly if you start to have some (unexpeceted?) success. This seems to be easier here in the US. But it seems also to be easier here to go down fast - faster than in Europe, and people abandon you as if you're a hot and smelly potato. And suddenly, a new 'leader' emerges....

...is this typical for a big country? Or is this impression typical for somebody who has grown up in a small country (which has an aversion against big-time leaders and (pseudo-)elites?)?
In any case, sometimes it might be helpful to think and examine, before hail, praise and follow - the downturn might be too strong to indulge into the luxury of not thinking...