ADI, globetrotter

China’s Financial Markets, Their Problems and Options for Further Development

2010-01-09T09:28:00.000-08:00

Undoubtedly, China has made impressive economic progress in the last three decades and continues to outperform most economies with an annual growth rate above 8.2% for 2009, even in the current global economic crisis (Xinhua, 2009). But many challenges remain, particularly regarding financial markets, the capital account, and monetary policy. The 2009 lending boom, huge foreign exchange reserves, a re-pegged renminbi (RMB) exchange rate to the US dollar, and capital controls are elements of an imbalanced economy and could have negative implications for China’s long-term future. This article discusses some of the problems and examines options to address them.

The Current Financial Situation in China: Problems and Issues
China’s Financial Markets Are Underdeveloped
The banking sector is dominated by the five biggest state-owned commercial banks that hold 52.6% of all Chinese banks’ assets and are utilized to direct credit mostly to preferred state-owned enterprises (SOE; cf. EIU, 2009). This situation has led in the past to inefficient capital allocation and bad loans. As recently as 2009 the ratio of non-performing loans (NPL) of the Agricultural Bank of China for example was estimated to be at 23.5% (EIU, 2008), but this ratio has now declined on average for all Chinese commercial banks to 1.66% in October 2009 (People’s Daily, 2009). However, given the increase in 2009 in bank loans through November to RMB 9.21 trillion (compared to RMB 5.01tr in 2008; RTTNews, 2009), the NPL ratio could surge again.

It appears that most of China’s largest banks meet Basel standard’s tier 1 ratio of 4%, but China imposes stricter rules with 7% for tier 1 and 10% for tier 1 and 2 which are not met by all banks (e.g. the China Merchants Bank; cf. WSJ, 2009). Chinese banks are thus seen in need to raise additional capital of US$43bn soon to meet tougher standards; regulators have pushed for more caution due to the lending boom in 2009 (CNN, 2009).

Meanwhile, the separation between commercial banks, securities firms, and insurance companies seems to have softened as Chinese institutions face foreign competition. Credit rating/scoring systems are archaic and risk management is weak. Most credit card applications and credit scoring are processed manually and thus prone to errors. Even though policy initiatives aim to improve data collection and dissemination, information sharing among financial institutions appears to be limited (LA Times, 2008).

Capital markets are relatively small and weak (e.g. derivatives markets, cf. Kim, Lee & Shin, 2008; EIU, 2009). Corporate governance, accounting and auditing standards are inadequate and the rule of law is enforced arbitrarily. Financial repression and inefficient capital allocation generate large welfare costs (Prasad, 2008).

The Capital Account Is Gradually Opening Up and Capital Controls Become Less Effective
As the Asian Financial Crisis 1997/98 demonstrated, combining fixed exchange rates with financial liberalization could have disruptive effects. China’s capital inflows consist largely of FDI, which tends to be more long-term oriented and is associated with technology and managerial skill transfer. Interestingly, most of China’s (utilized) FDI inflows come from East Asia (not from the West), although the biggest chunk, 31.7% from Hong Kong (HK) involves probably a large share of round-tripping between mainland China and HK (figures for 2004, cf. Prasad & Wei, 2007).

China restricts foreign investment into RMB-denominated securities on the mainland. However, such capital controls have become leaky and are likely to be further undermined through gradual opening of cross-border capital flows. Even though China’s capital controls remain effective enough to allow the persistence of a gap between offshore (so-called non-deliverable forwards, NDF) and onshore forward rates of the RMB to the dollar (Ma & McCauley, 2008), politically unintended capital flows seem to increasingly occur both via the capital as well as the current account (due to e.g. remittances or investment income). Meanwhile, investment income flows out of China have stayed flat since 2000, which could imply that foreigners try to delay or cancel profit repatriation out of China to benefit from expected RMB appreciation and investment opportunities (Ma & McCauley, 2008).

The large and rising foreign exchange holdings of the central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), currently about US$ 2.3tr, provide some insurance against potential future financial shocks, but imply also large money inflows and impose costs (such as inefficient investment of foreign exchange reserves into low-yielding bonds abroad; cf. Wyplosz, 2008).

China’s Monetary Policy Has Insufficient Tools and Strives to Achieve Too Many Objectives Which Generates Trade-offs
The PBOC’s goals seems to include maintaining a GDP growth rate of at least 8%, inflation of about 3%, a stable exchange rate to the dollar and structural adjustment while pursuing money growth and interest rate targets (Yu, 2008). The PBOC incurs high costs in sterilizing capital inflows through the issuance (and roll-over) of low-yielding short-term bonds. Raising domestic interest rates would attract even more capital inflows (due to carry trades), which would put more appreciation pressure on the RMB. Reserve requirements were sometimes raised in the past as an alternative but they seem to become less effective as Chinese banks hold large excess surpluses, hence such regulatory adjustments may have not necessarily an impact on money supply (Yu, 2008). As China’s money markets are large but fragmented, they limit the influence of the PBOC’s interest rate policy on commercial bank lending. This situation has led to a “stop-and-go” monetary policy: Too much money growth is followed by too strong tightening and vice versa which reflects ineffective and clumsy tools and generates inefficiencies in the economy.

Financial Liberalization and Development: Policy Options
Despite mixed empirical evidence and short-term challenges, financial liberalization has many potential benefits, such as access to international capital markets, which could improve risk-sharing and the utilization of domestic savings for more efficient investments, lower costs of capital (as inefficient investments and cronyism will decrease), and improved intertemporal consumption smoothing opportunities. However, potential negative aspects include more exposure to international financial shocks which could lead to boom-and-bust cycles in the short run. In the longer term, financial liberalization may lead to strengthened institutions, which stabilize markets (Kaminsky & Schmuckler, 2007). To reap some of the benefits and avoid some of the pitfalls, China could implement the following options.

Further Gradually Internationalize the RMB and Make It More Flexible
If the RMB is fully convertible, the Chinese could trade in their own currency and incur fewer risks. A more flexible RMB could mitigate external shocks and reduce inflationary pressure arising from capital inflows compared to a peg. One step in this direction could be the expansion of the RMB trade settlement – which is currently restricted to ASEAN countries, HK and Macao – to all Asia and the rest of the world, after gaining some years of experience in the ASEAN region. Another option is the expansion of RMB bond issuance abroad and then allowing RMB deposit accounts abroad (likewise: first in Asia, then globally). If China’s growth rate picks up, the world economy recovers, capital flows (out of the dollar) into attractive investment opportunities increase, and the euro strengthens against the dollar, there might even be some room for putting the RMB back on an appreciation path linked to a currency basket (similar to 2005-2008; cf. the views of Prof. Keidel, Georgetown, in Batson, 2009).

To contain capital flow volatility and asset price bubbles, investment ceilings could be set for certain sectors. The creation of new investment opportunities (e.g. in China’s underdeveloped Central, Western and Northeastern provinces) could mitigate the run on few and geographically concentrated assets. A gradual RMB appreciation could hurt the export sector in the short run. But it also provides an opportunity to rebalance China’s economy and a coordinated policy response could help the country further climb up the supply chain to more sophisticated sectors which are less sensitive to exchange rate movements. Additionally, greater regional financial integration and policy coordination in the ASEAN+3 area could mitigate some potential risks.

Liberalize the Banking Sector, Privatize State-run Commercial Banks and Use Only Policy Banks for State-directed Lending
A liberalized banking sector may reduce credit-rationing against SME, induce more efficient capital allocation due to increased competition and may further stimulate domestic financial development. Politically driven lending could be restricted to only two domestic policy banks run by the central government, i.e. the Agricultural Development Bank of China (ADBC) and the China Development Bank (CDB). The privatization of state-run commercial banks allows them to operate more efficiently, generates revenues, and reduces risks such as NPL emanating from political interference. Competition in the banking sector could be strengthened further by allowing foreign institutions full market access.

Further Open Up the Capital Account and Diversify Foreign Exchange Holdings
A more open capital account implies not only advantages stemming from incoming capital, but allows Chinese capital to be invested abroad without restrictions which could help to diversify portfolio risks and to strengthen financial market development. Similarly, the gradual diversification of China’s sovereign foreign exchange assets combined with their partial transfer from the PBOC into Chinese sovereign wealth funds not only reduces dependence on the US dollar, but is also likely to increase the return on these assets. As Chinese capital outflows increase due to more liberal regulations, speculative appreciation pressure on the RMB could be reduced. Increasing Chinese outward foreign direct investments could support China’s global quest for commodities.

Steps in this direction could be the expansion and liberalization of the Qualified Foreign/Domestic Institutional Investor (QFII and QDII) programs, the promotion of foreign listings by Chinese firms and local listings by foreign firms, and relaxations on foreign exchange accounts in China. To mitigate foreign fears of many Chinese takeovers of foreign firms, China could strengthen the separation of business and political interests, and improve domestic corporate governance. China could seek to establish bi- or (even better) multilateral investment treaties that clarify rules and limits of cross-border investments and reduce protectionism and discretionary blocks. These treaties would also help win foreign investor confidence in the mainland.

Focus monetary policy on inflation targeting and GDP growth
A more flexible RMB and more cross-border capital flows allow the PBOC to focus on fewer goals and reduce the need for sterilization. A reduction in the number of interest rates and the unification/standardization of capital markets could help the development of a benchmark interest rate which increases monetary policy effectiveness in liquidity management (Yu, 2008). This move would improve the utilization and effectiveness of monetary tools and could help achieve financial stability, growth and low inflation (Prasad, 2009).

Conclusion
China’s financial markets are growing, but are still relatively weak and underdeveloped. The hike in bank lending in 2009 (and a still above average lending level in 2010) could bring back the problem with NPL. China’s capital controls still work, but gaps have arisen. Monetary policy tools are no longer able to fully sterilize, thus enabling unwanted capital flows to occur. The central bank’s effectiveness is constrained by trade-offs arising from a multitude of objectives and targets. Policy tools often over- or undershoot the targets and resorting to clumsy measures such as reserve requirements is inefficient.

Financial liberalization can offer many benefits, but can entail also pitfalls. The development of China’s financial market could be further supported by carefully calibrated and sequenced liberalization steps. First, the gradual internationalization of the RMB could reduce transition risks before reaching full convertibility. A more flexible exchange rate fixed to a currency basket could reduce inflation pressure from inflowing capital, guide expectations and thus reduce currency speculations. Second, a liberalized banking sector would benefit SME by allocating capital more efficiently and reduce NPL risks. Competition and market development could be strengthened by relaxing restrictions on foreign competition. Third, opening the capital account, i.e. reducing restrictions on cross-border capital flows, can help portfolio diversification. A shift of China’s foreign exchange reserves into more non-dollar assets and into a wider variety of securities can bring higher returns and less sensitivity to the dollar. Fourth, a monetary policy focus on inflation in combination with the first three points allows a more effective policy implementation and supports financial development.

As China’s growth rate will rise again in 2010, NPL, asset bubbles, and inflation could become core concerns and monetary as well as fiscal policy could start to tighten slowly. It will be very interesting to follow how policymakers react to new challenges, what tools they employ, and how effective they will be.

References
Batson, A. (2009, December 3). “Rethinking the Chinese Yuan’s Re-Peg to the Dollar”. Wall Street Journal Blog. Retrieved December 10, 2009 from: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/12/03/rethinking-the-chinese-yuans-re-peg-to-the-dollar/
CNN (2009, November 25). Capital Crunch for Chinese Banks. Retrieved December 20, 2009 from: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/11/24/china.banks.lending.ft/index.html
[EIU] Economist Intelligence Unit (2008). Country Finance: China.
EIU (2009). Country Finance: China.
Kaminsky, G. L. & Schmuckler, S. (2007). Short-Run Pain, Long-Run Gain: Financial Liberalization and Stock Market Cycles. Retrieved December 19, 2009 from: http://home.gwu.edu/~graciela/HOME-PAGE/RESEARCH-WORK/WORKING-PAPERS/booms-crashes.pdf
Kim, S., Lee, J.-W. & Shin, K. (2008). “Regional and Global Financial Integration in East Asia”, in B. Eichengreen, C. Wyplosz & Y. C. Park, (eds.), China, Asia, and the New World Economy (pp. 168-200). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
LA Times (2008, October 22). China Charges Into Credit Cards. Retrieved December 20, 2009 from: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/oct/22/business/fi-chinacredit22
Ma, G. & McCauley, R. (2008). “Do China’s Capital Controls Still Bind?”, in B. Eichengreen, C. Wyplosz & Y. C. Park, (eds.), China, Asia, and the New World Economy (pp. 312-340). Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Available online as BIS Working Paper 233 from: http://www.bis.org/publ/work233.htm]
People’s Daily (2009, October 29). NPL Ratio of Commercial Banks in China Down. Retrieved December 20, 2009: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90778/90859/6798344.html
Prasad, E. & Wei, S.-J. (2007). “The Chinese Approach to Capital Inflows: Patterns and Possible Explanations”, in S. Edwards, Capital Controls and Capital Flows in Emerging Economies: Policies, Practices and Consequences (pp. 421-480). Conference held December 16-18, 2004, Published in May 2007, University of Chicago Press. Retrieved December 15, 2009 from: http://papers.nber.org/chapters/c0158.pdf
Prasad, E. S. (2008). “Is the Chinese Growth Miracle Built to Last?”, China Economic Review, 20(1), pp. 103-123.
RTTNews (2009, December 11). Chinese Bank lending Increases in November. Retrieved December 20, 2009 from: http://www.rttnews.com/Content/AsianEconomicNews.aspx?Node=B2&id=1154229
[WSJ] Wall Street Journal (2009, November 24). China Banking Regulator Gets Tough on Capital Rules. Retrieved December 22, 2009 from: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703819904574553571535733270.html
Wyplosz, C. (2008). “Is East Asia Safe from Financial Crises?”, in B. Eichengreen, C. Wyplosz & Y. C. Park, (eds.), China, Asia, and the New World Economy (pp. 233-253). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Xinhua (2009, December 15). ADB Raises 2009 Growth Forecast for Developing Asia to 4.5%. Retrieved December 19, 2009 from: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/15/content_12652454.htm
Yu, Y. (2008). “Chinese Macroeconomic Management: Issues and Prospects”, in B. Eichengreen, C. Wyplosz & Y. C. Park, (eds.), China, Asia, and the New World Economy (pp. 254-273). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kennen Sie die Geschichte des Herrn Wilhelm Würmli?

2010-01-09T09:27:00.000-08:00

Vor langer Zeit da war eine Bauernrepublik. Das Speissbürgertum schaute auf die Bauern wie Wilhelm Würmli herab. Die Landwirte wiederum waren unter der Fuchtel des Landadels und der Kirche, und obwohl sie jedem misstrauten, wurden sie gleichwohl von jedem irgendwie missbraucht und getäuscht.
Dank seiner politischen Stabilität zog das Land seit je Flüchtlinge an, und Wilhelm war skeptisch ob der Neuankömmlinge, die anders sprachen, assen und neue Dinge lehrten. Napoleon kam und änderte vieles, doch er ging bald wieder. Einige seiner Dinge blieben aber, und haben später zu Veränderungen geführt. Die Eisenbahn zog ins Land, und das Volk, misstrauisch wie immer, fürchtete den schwarzen Rauch, wie es auch Pockenimpfungen fürchtete, und Blitzableiter. Doch Wilhelm lernte, wie diese Sachen funktionieren, und dass sie ihm halfen, und akzeptierte sie schliesslich. Die Migranten brachten auch Schokolade, und das Volk liebte dies gar so, dass es mittlerweile wohl Weltmeister im Schokoladeverzehr ist. Und die Migranten halfen, den schwarzen Rauch bei der Eisenbahn wegzumachen, und sie schneller zu machen. Es kamen Banken auf, es zogen Flugzeuge ins Land, Computer und sogar Partikelbeschleuniger.
Es kamen auch neue Bauten auf und Herr Würmli, wie seine übrigen Landsleute war skeptisch. Nach langem Beraten wurden die ägyptischen Hotels dann gebaut, mitten in den Alpen nahe an einem mythischen Pass. Die neu geplanten Türme jedoch, ohne Glocken, waren dem Volk des Teufels. Wilhelm erinnerte sich an die Geschichte des Turmbaus zu Babel, und dass dieser im Chaos endete. So wurden die Türme verboten; man hatte Angst und man verstand sie nicht. Man vestand die Banken auch nicht, die scheinbar toxische Dinge mischten, und verbot auch sie. Die jüngeren Migranten, mittlerweile sesshaft geworden, zogen als nun Einhemische weg in ferne Ländereien, da sie sich nicht mehr verstanden fühlten. Nur die alten Migranten, die über mehrere Generationen kamen, blieben, da sie mittlerweile dachten wie Familie Würmli. Und diese neue Medizin, die mit dem Erbgut arbeitet, wurde auch gleich verboten; man solle ja nicht Gott spielen und Gottes Strafe in Form von Krankheiten ausweichen, so wie damals beim Blitzableiter, dachte Wilhelm.
Doch etwas war anders als früher. Wilhelm und seine Landsleute wussten nicht mehr, wie sie für sich selbst sorgen konnten, ohne all die neuen Sachen. So wurde jeder wieder Bauer, aber ohne das fremde Saatgut oder anderen fremden Firlefanz. Einige waren (wieder) gleicher als andere, belehrten jene und trichterten ihnen Sitten ein. Willi und seine Kollegen waren misstrauisch, wie immer, aber gehorchten den Tonangebenden, die vesprachen das Land zu beschützen und die die Bauern wieder wie damals täuschten. Und Türme gab es nur mehr aus Stein und nur mit Glocken. Und das Land wurde wieder eine arme Bauernrepublik.

Inspiriert durch das Buch “Der modernen Schweiz entgegen: Heinrich Zschokke prägt den Aargau” von Werner Ort (2003, Baden: Verlag hier+jetzt).

aha ... he is no protectionist?

2009-09-18T22:35:00.001-07:00

No protectionism, but bending to the tire workers and manufacturing unions, by accepting the ITC recommendation to raise tariffs on imported Chinese tires....
In contrast, it seems that Mr. Bush never followed an ITC recommendation to inhibit imports (and thus trade).
The loser is the consumer ... and, if the vicious circle continues, global welfare. Who knows, maybe this brings us faster to the necessary macro adjustments that probably need to take place in the next one or two decades ...

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14450332

Swiss Pavilion at EXPO 2010 - in Shanghai

2009-08-19T00:06:00.000-07:00

Have you ever dreamt of riding on a ski-lift downtown a metropolis?
Next year, it's your chance!!! The Swiss Pavilion at the Expo 2010 in Shanghai features the original Swiss ski-lift that takes you on a tour through the pavilion.

more on
http://www.swisspavilion.ch/en/home.html

Asia's Growth is Back

2009-08-16T20:23:00.000-07:00

.. and even the Japanese grow again, at an annualied 3.7% in Q2 2009. However, this is nothing against Singapore's Q2 growth of an annualized rate of over 20%...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/16/AR2009081602331.html

Banking, Switzerland, Risk Management and the Ability to Change

2009-07-27T21:48:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, Switzerland is again in the news, ahem ... in the bad news. After the Nazi gold debate of the 1990, the country faces since 2007 increased scrutiny surrounding the buzz words "tax haven" and once more the Swiss Banking Secrecy is at the top of the controversial topics.

While Germany attacked Liechtenstein extremly rude in early 2008 regarding its Trust legislation (possibly enabling many Germans to hide their wealth from the German fiscal authorities) and later on also Switzerland, the case UBS has been in the news ever since then. Some bank seniors have been pursued in actively helping Americans hiding their money from the IRS with fancy methods. Now the IRS wants to see 52'000 accounts and names of potential Americans that have deposits at UBS. This of course would violate the Swiss Banking Law and its secrecy article which forbids governments (also the Swiss one) to have access to account information.

The banking secrecy - whatever some conspiracy theorists and pessimists may believe - has a long tradition and was never intended to protect dictators, terror financiers and rogue people.
The banking secrecy is fundamentally an expression of a very liberal, libertarian principle, i.e. constrain the size of government and thus protect privacy of individuals. The state should not have the capacity to raid people's savings and expropriate their wealth. Thus, the law intends to protect privacy and people's (property) rights. This only seemingly contradicts taxation requirements and law enforcement.
Over the years, Swiss legislation and banks have developed sophisticated tools to make sure that people's wealth is subject to taxes, i.e. it cannot simply disappear and become grey. With a withholding or sourcing tax of 35% on interest earnings, it incentivizes people to declare their proper wealth on their tax forms. Moreover, the banking commission has set standards against money laundering and banks try to track down financial flows of potentially illegal activities. I don't say this is done in a perfect and watertight fashion. As some notorious examples in the past have shown, it is and will probably always be possible to hide money. Even with the most advanced tools and technological background it may not be possible to clean up perfectly.

Instead of further developing and fine-tuning this banking system that both protects privacy but allows to prevent and track money laundering, the current fuzz may submit a potentially devastating blow to it.
Even though it is not clear how the causa UBS and USA will end, it may well have adverse effects on how (Western) banks cooperate, comply with the law and how they try out of self-interest to reduce illegal activities. Given that international finance is so vast, fluid, fast and dynamic, one should be careful in assuming that with a swift action e.g. by the OECD, the US or the Germans (even the British have some special interests, some say, to further boost their financial center) the problem is solved.

If the last two years of international pressure, Swiss banking activities and the actions of the Swiss government have taught us, then it is the inadequate (again) response of Swiss institutions to crises and international pressure. It is striking how fast the government, banks and other institutions have partially reigned in to the pressure, partially fell into the old habit of resisting as if nothing has happened in the belief that staying ignorant would be the best strategy for survival. The response was chaotic, and seems to show a lack of a risk management concept.

Despite calls to build up a strategic framework to strengthen its voice abroad, improve understanding abroad and coordinate policies at home, not enough was done in advance. Given the complicated political system in Switzerland, it may also be very likely that it stays this way: a few crises here and there, a few critics here and there, but overall the self-righteous conviction that everything still is ok, and we're fine.
Switzerland lost its once leading positions in research, education, its competitiveness is limited to a few industries, while many economic sectors are protected and isolated. And many do not seem to see the huge challenges laying ahead.
Is this country able to change?

Source:
http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/wirtschaft/aktuell/die_wut_der_alten_kmpen_1.3181743.html

Congratulations from the Mainland to the Island! WOW!

2009-07-27T19:23:00.000-07:00

What a move! Mr. Hu congratulates Mr. Ma to his non-contested election as Kuomintang chairman. How cool that this happens just at the right time to have some teasers for the beginning of the US-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue that started today, July 27, 2009, in Washington DC. This was also the reason why I could not take the tunnel under 14th street from the Reagan Building to the Hoover Building (Commerce Dept).

The election could reinforce Ma's consiliatory approach to the PRC within the KMT. Additionally, many in the PRC assume that - since PRC does not accept Ma's title as president of Taiwan - that only this election to party chairman allows him the posture to get invited to the mainland. However, a re-approchement takes time and probably both sides are not yet ready for too much schmoozing. For this, there is not enough trust, and too much fear on the island.
Maybe, a real trust building measure would not just be a telegram from Beijing, but the (partial) scrapping or reduction of its missiles targetting Formosa?

At least: nice words are better than the ugly words a few years back!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/world/asia/28taiwan.html?ref=world

Hand In Hand

2009-07-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s0sLRJ_uic&NR=1
hand in hand - coming soon?
if you have a dynasty and hereditary leadership succession, you may be able to exploit one advantage: that the son can learn from the mistake of his father. well, he can also exacerbate them, but maybe that's what the current guy did ... does the new offspring go in the other direction, if he indeed is to come?
at least, it will take him a bit more than just 'breaking down the wall', but also clearing a mine field and providing some opportunities for his people to survive.

Working in the Federal Triangle

2009-07-17T21:18:00.001-07:00

Room 4001, 4th floor, Herbert C Hoover Building, Department of Commerce, view south to National Mall, visible is the Holocause Museum (center, behind building), the Jefferson Memorial (upper right, white dome) and the Department of Agriculture (upper left).

Preserving a Dinosaur? (Almost) Everything Subsidies Make Possible...

2009-07-16T18:17:00.001-07:00

Do you know CAP? It's not a baseball cap, but the Common Agricultural Policy, with about 71bn $ (50bn Euro) the largest agricultural subsidy program on earth (according to the New York Times, cf. link below), run by the EU. Some say it is also the biggest cRap on earth... which led then to slogans demanding to scrap it (Adam Smith Institute, LYMEC, cf. links below).

Notorious for its loopholes and its benefits not just to farmers, but also to nobilities, pharma companies, large dairy producers, sugar processors, gummy bear (candy) producers etc...
The OECD complains about leakages to unintended beneficiaries, while farmers (the main beneficiaries) complain about being neglected, but the European Commission may defend the CAP as boosting "rural development". Throughout history, there have been many, and vastly different approaches to explain and support the CAP. Most of them, however, do (in)directly rather protect and support industries, instead of pushing for innovation and "development".
Worse off are consumer in Europe, who have to pay more for some basic food stuff than in other parts of the world. Import tariffs as well as domestic production/development support are just two of the channels that make developing countries worse off, as they cannot compete and lack sufficient market access to the Western agricultural produce markets. In return, some Western states still provide food aid to developing countries that provide disincentives for them to develop their agriculture, and thus keep them underdeveloped...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/business/global/17farms.html?ref=global-home

http://www.adamsmith.org/blog/international/time-to-scrap-the-cap-200805111351/

http://www.lymec.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=613

Cars from the West ... and from the East

2009-07-14T20:12:00.000-07:00

Since blogger.com seems to be blocked in China, there was no posting for the last two months by this humble narrator. Looking back, the summer exchange program at 复旦大学(Fudan University) in 上海 (Shanghai) was inspiring. However, as one might expect, being abroad bears some pleasant and sometimes also some unpleasant experiences.

Maybe this picture set may express some features of such experiences:

Pictures shows "Chinese launched the Geely GE, a copycat car, including a winged mascot and huge radiator grill, for just £30,000..."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/picturegalleries/5208546/Chinas-copycars-familiar-looking-vehicles-at-Shanghai-Auto-2009.html

Development Aid and Its Fate

2009-05-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

"Your market share has fallen from 18% to 6% in a decade. Well-financed niche-players are moving in, threatening to appropriate the most exciting areas."
...
"Who, in these circumstances, would want to be in charge of global health at the World Bank?"
...
"Between 1997 and 2008 the bank provided $17 billion for government-run projects in the fields of health, nutrition and family planning."
...
"The evaluators’ criticism was not just that a third of the 220 projects under scrutiny had failed to achieve their goals, but that those goals were often misconceived. In particular, the bank’s remit is to end poverty, but that was the specific objective of only 6% of the projects and a subsidiary objective of only another 7%. Even where poverty reduction was a stated objective, little had been done to find out whether poverty had, in fact, been reduced. If there had been any investigation, it often failed to find any reduction.
There was criticism, too, of the fact that many projects were of a kind more likely to benefit the middle and upper classes which, in poor countries as in rich ones, are often better able to take advantage of infrastructure, such as new hospitals, which the bank helps to create."
...
"But in Africa three-quarters of projects were deemed not to be up to snuff."
...
"What the bank needs, in a crowded market, is a niche of its own, and it is trying to carve one out."

Source: The Economist
http://www.economist.com/world/international/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13579721&source=hptextfeature

Foreign Aid ...

2009-04-29T23:11:00.000-07:00

"The Operation Mils Mopti project in Mali is typical of AID African agricultural assistance. In 1976, AID launched a project to boost food production and marketing in the Mils Mopti area of Mali. AID plowed over $10 million into this project, which included the usual development array of applied research, more tools and fertilizer for farmers, better roads, and better grain marketing.
Almost everything went wrong, but AID kept financing the program long after its failure was evident. AID paid for the building of eighteen warehouses, but five were not built, three were not finished, three collapsed, two had their roofs blown off, and three more quickly crumbled owing to "serious structural deficiencies."[37] Fifty-four open wells with contaminated water were to be sanitized, but only nine were actually improved. A hundred mills for grinding grain were to be constructed; the project managers built and tested one mill, then gave up. The road-improvement project repaired less than one-quarter of the roads scheduled for upgrading.
Operation Mils Mopti sought to increase grain marketing, but the government marketing board paid farmers only the official price for their crops, which was far below free-market prices. To fulfill the marketing goals, the government forced farmers to sell their crops, thereby effectively expropriating their harvest. Instead of increasing sales, Mils Mopti resulted in a fall in total procurement by the government marketing board of over 80 percent by the time the project ended in 1979."

Source: Policy Analysis Article (1986)
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa065.html

New birds in the sky

2009-04-25T22:43:00.000-07:00

After the decision to phase out the F-22 abruptly at 187 planes (so far there are 183), the US Air Force seems to put more weight on the future F-35 JSF and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) like the predator family.
A new hot development is the predator C "Avenger", with a jet enginge.

National Cherry Blossom Festival March 28 - April 12, 2009 in DC

2009-03-29T16:48:00.000-07:00

This weekend, the cherry blossom period started, and the crowds gather around Tidal Basin

http://nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/cms/index.php?id=390

On the Benefits of a Free Movement of People Policy

2009-03-04T21:19:00.000-08:00

Introduction
Is migration of labor among a group of countries beneficial? Critics argue income inequalities and differences in social welfare among countries may lead to waves of migrants flooding wealthier countries and threatening their social welfare systems and societal structures. Simultaneously, poorer countries would suffer brain drain, critics warn, while pleading for restrictive migration and protectionist labor policies. This article claims that the principle of the free movement of people (FMP) is generally beneficial on economic and social grounds, as it expands labor markets and allows increased exchanges of ideas across borders, which provides beneficial spill-over effects.
This article assesses key arguments for and against the FMP with regard to experience of the EU and affiliated countries such as Switzerland. This leads to the discussion of possible implementation problems and policy implications based upon which the article closes with some major conclusions for successful policymaking.

The Free Movement of People (FMP)
Since its inception in the 1950s, the European Communities (and subsequently its legal successor, the EU) have promoted the idea of the free movement of goods, services, capital and people. Given its politically sensitive nature, the last of those four freedoms is a more recent phenomenon and currently in the second phase of implementation. The FMP is understood as the ability to enter, stay and work without discrimination in other member states, as well as to travel without internal border checks (European Commission [EC], 2008a). The FMP policy and its implementation are closely linked to cross-border security issues (dealt with in the Schengen treaty, which enables border-crossing without passport checks among member states), labor policies and national idiosyncrasies (e.g. ethnic composition, socioeconomic diversity and political culture).

The Benefits
The major argument in favor of the FMP is grounded in economic theory: the larger the pool of available labor is, the more efficient the allocation of labor to its most productive use will be, disregarding any market rigidities. This argument has several components. First, from the perspective of a firm seeking specific types of workers, for example truck engineers, it is more likely to find adequate employees if the labor market is larger, because a larger market is likely to have more truck engineers as a smaller one. Similarly, from the view of a worker: the larger the job market is, the more probable he is to find an adequate job.
Second, if a market has many participants, price distortions are less likely as there are more individual supply and demand bargains that aggregate to a smoother determination of the market-clearing wage. This implies that one individual engineer has a negligible influence on the market wage, given that he has to compete with other engineers for a job.
Third, larger labor markets lead to more competition – among employers as well as employees – and increase specialization that sparks innovation and raises productivity. Fourth, if member states of a FMP area are not perfectly synchronic with regard to economic cycles, the FMP could mitigate recessions in one country while enabling another county’s economy to meet its labor needs, as the latter can hire workers from the former. The higher the number of FMP members states, the more effectively negative impacts of recessions could be mitigated mutually.
Overall, the FMP is expected to lead to more efficient, flexible markets and to contribute to economic growth in the participating countries. Empirical evidence supports this argument. Although some European states still have transitional restrictions in place , the effects of labor migration so far have been significant. Switzerland has seen an additional GDP growth of at least 1% due to the FMP introduction with the EU-15 in 2002 and its subsequent extension to the EU-10 in 2006 (Swiss Federal Government [SFG], 2008). The mobility between the EU-15 and the newer EU member states increased the GDP of the enlarged EU by 0.15 – 0.28% and reduced inflationary pressures in most (net) receiving countries (EC, 2008b, pp. 11-12). Eventually, remittances can be an important contribution of income for sender countries if income differentials between the sender and receiver country is large. Data for Romania and Bulgaria suggest that remittances contribute up to 5.5% of their GDP (EC, 2008b, p. 26).

A second major argument for the FMP is the simpler border-crossing which entails simpler access to study (exchanges) abroad as well as a boost for tourism. More student migration spurs the exchanges of ideas, opinions and cultures and this will inspire new ideas and innovation. Increased educational mobility and competition could raise the quality of education and increase cultural diversity. Likewise, increased cross-border tourism can contribute to cultural enrichment and enhance mutual understanding among societies. This may have positive social effects on people’s ability to adapt, to relate to others and thus to thrive in a globalizing world.
Theses social effects beneficially translate into economic gains through at least four channels. First, new ideas could lead to new products or improved production processes. Second, higher student mobility is likely to put pressure on educational institutions to compare and improve their curricula, degree programs and reputation to better fit the needs of students and to attract better faculty members, as academic institutions increasingly compete across borders throughout FMP member states. Third, cultural diversity and increased mutual understanding may reduce barriers to interact and to engage in cross-border trade. Finally, increased tourism as a result of the FMP directly feeds into enlarging a country’s GDP.

The Counterarguments
The FMP is often feared to induce mass migration, as people from poorer FMP countries seek to migrate to wealthier FMP countries with (often) higher wages and better social welfare schemes. While this argument implies important incentives that are indeed at work and while it can explain a part of the labor migration that took place within the EU, it massively overstates their significance. There are at least two important factors that restrain massive migration. First, cultural proximity matters. Workers are less inclined to accept the same job in a country that is culturally very different from their background. Second, having a family at home and being embedded within a social network reduces the readiness to move. This implies that the income differential must be large enough to overcome restraining factors and that people move to jobs in culturally similar countries where they feel more comfortable and accepted.
Empirical evidence supports both explanations: migrating people in the EU are on average substantially younger than the average workforce in both the sender and receiver country (EC, 2008b, p. 10) which supports the claim that people with a family and a strong social network at home move less; workers from Bulgaria and Romania move foremost to Italy, Spain and Portugal (EC, 2008b, pp. 5-7), as their mentalities and cultures are more similar compared to other EU states. Thus, cultural proximity seems more important than higher wages or higher social benefits (as Italy, Spain and Portugal are not known for an extensive welfare state, like Sweden, or for high wages, like Germany or Switzerland). Strikingly, Sweden, which has never had restrictions on the FMP, has seen very low levels of immigration, lower than for example Austria, which has restrictions and is comparable with regard to wage and social benefits levels (EC, 2008b, p. 7).

A second major counterargument against the FMP purports that labor migration would take away jobs from domestic workers in receiving (wealthier) countries, undercut their wages (dumping), lead to more illegal employment, and would cause higher unemployment. However, it appears logical that workers only move if they have a reasonable chance to find a job in the receiving country or if they have found a job before actually moving, relative to their level of sacrifice (e.g. leaving behind friends and family, and a familiar culture and language) when they migrate. If the opportunity to work abroad no longer exists (e.g. the worker was laid-off; shrinking labor demand) or has become less attractive (e.g. worsening economic conditions; decreasing income differential as his original country’s economy is growing faster than the country to which he moved; homesickness), the worker has strong incentives to move back to his original country. Hence, it is unlikely that the FMP causes increased unemployment in relatively wealthier, Western European countries.
Evidence from the European FMP helps to reject this counterargument on three grounds. First, labor migration so far has been relatively small and seems to be temporary. Data from Ireland and UK show that migration from the EU-10 has peaked in about 2006; new entries into those two states have decreased and return migration increased, particularly since fall, 2008, as both countries fell into a recession, thus reducing available jobs (EC, 2008b, p. 9). Hence, migrated workers are most likely not the main driver of unemployment in a receiving country, as they move back when economic conditions worsen. Second, the Dutch experience undermines the claim that migrating workers take away jobs from domestic workers, as the former chiefly fill positions that are apparently undesired by the domestic workforce as well as positions for which the domestic labor supply is insufficient (SZW, 2007). Third, it is unlikely that the FMP lead to more illegal or informal employment as the FMP implementation is usually accompanied by (increased) labor law compliance inspections and subsequent punishment of illicit actions. Employers seem to be willing to comply with the law when they have access to a larger labor pool: the Dutch evidence suggests that lifting restrictions on the FMP actually decreases illegal employment (SWZ, 2007).

A third counterargument accuses the FMP to cause brain drain that leaves poorer countries worse off. However, evidence from the EU highlights that FMP-induced labor migration seems to be largely temporary and mostly due to low-paid labor. Additionally, there is also migration to those relatively poorer countries, for example driven by business pioneers who seek to exploit investment opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe (i.e. EU-10 and EU-2) which has grown much faster than the EU-15 in the last few years. Further, the EU-10 and EU-2 have been very successful in attracting massive foreign direct investments and new industries (cf. the car industry in Slovakia), which drive technology and knowledge transfer. Finally, increased student exchanges mitigate possible brain drain, as foreign students come into the poorer countries and as their own students benefit from having gained experiences in Western Europe.

Policy Implications
A FMP implementation needs to take into account possible side effects. Despite evidence refuting the above mentioned counterarguments against the FMP, the fact that fears among the public (usually in the relatively wealthier countries) persist requires a careful approach. Here are four tools that support a successful FMP implementation.
First, an FMP policy works better if it is combined with a coordination on cross-border security and police affairs among the participating countries (e.g. to address issues such as smuggling and human trafficking). Neglecting to address “international issues” may lead (a.) to important negative externalities (e.g. crime) of the FMP and (b.) voters, interest groups and lawmakers to anticipate this and threaten to veto the FMP.
Second, and following from (b.) above, a successful implementation requires a broad political support domestically. This may necessitate compromises on “national issues” and could entail for example the introduction of labor compliance controls, (additional) labor standards, cross-country coordination on standards for self-employed workers and transitory restrictions with a slow phasing-in of the full FMP.
Third, political acceptance necessary for the implementation and the exploitation of beneficial effects of the FMP both depend on adequate and transparent information provision to the public by the authorities, the media and various interest groups. Even in participatory democracies with complicated political decision procedures and an initially skeptical public is an FMP adoption possible, if the decision making process is intensive and enriched by a plurality of views, opinions and arguments, as the Swiss example regarding the controversial FMP extension to the EU-2 in February 2009 has shown (International Herald Tribune, 2009). Further, if the people are ill-informed about the opportunities offered by the FMP, then fewer people do actually move and this limits possible economic gains.
Fourth, as the actual effects of the FMP on migration are hard to predict, it may be reasonable to retain some policy discretion, for example the ability to reintroduce temporary restrictions if the labor market is heavily disrupted, or if the flow of migration unexpectedly has led to social disruptions and increased tensions between the migrating and the domestic population.

Conclusion
A successfully implemented FMP policy expands the labor market, increases its efficiency and thus can contribute to economic growth. Simplified travelling and extended study abroad opportunities due to FMP-induced simplified border-crossing have beneficial direct and indirect economic and social effects. The European experience with the FMP suggests that labor migration is temporary, limited and depends on cultural proximity, and the job opportunities of a country. Income differentials and expected benefits play a role, but that may be limited by restraining factors (migrant’s sacrifices). The FMP in Europe does not seem to have led to increased unemployment or crowding out of domestic workers by (cheaper) foreign workers. Thriving economies of sender countries attract foreign investors and can thus effectively offset purported brain drain in sender countries.
While the FMP can face public skepticism, this could be addressed with a number of policy tools, such as accompanying measures on the international level (e.g. through combining the FMP with security issues) and on the domestic level (e.g. through compliance measures and step-by-step FMP implementation). Together with an adequate information policy about FMP, some retained policy discretion will enable governments to implement the FMP successfully and to maximize its beneficial effects.

Glossary
EU-2: Romania and Bulgaria (joined the EU in 2007)
EU-10: States that joined the EU in 2004: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Malta, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia
EU-15: EU member states as of 1995: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
EU-27: EU-10, EU-15 and EU-2 together

References
European Commission [EC] (2008a). Free movement within the EU – a fundamental right. Retrieved February 28, 2009 from: http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/fsj/freetravel/fsj_freetravel_intro_en.htm
EC (2008b). Report on the impact of free movement of workers in the context of the EU enlargement [COM(2008)765 final]. Retrieved February 28, 2009 from: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=508&langId=en
EC (2009). Europe – Glossary. Retrieved March 3, 2009 from: http://europa.eu/scadplus/glossary/accession_criteria_copenhague_en.htm
International Herald Tribune (2009). Swiss OK Romanian, Bulgarian workers in referendum. Retrieved February 28, 2009: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/08/europe/EU-Switzerland-Foreign-Workers.php
Swiss Federal Government [SFG] (2008). Bilaterale I Schweiz – EU: Positive Zwischenbilanz. Retrieved February 28, 2009 from: http://www.news.admin.ch/message/index.html?lang=de&msg-id=22428
SFG (2009). Allgemeines - Was regelt das Abkommen Schweiz-EU zur Personenfreizügigkeit (Freizügigkeitsabkommen)? Retrieved February 28, 2009 from: http://www.personenfreizuegigkeit.admin.ch/fza/de/home/haeufige_fragen/allgemeines.0001.html#a_0001
SZW (Netherland’s Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment). (2007). More than 100.000 people from Central and Eastern Europe employed in the Netherlands. Retrieved February 28, 2009 from: http://internationalezaken.szw.nl/index.cfm?fuseaction=dsp_document&link_id=131064
Telegraph (2009). Swiss extend labour deal with EU in referendum. Retrieved March 3, 2009 from: shttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/switzerland/4562152/Swiss-extend-labour-deal-with-EU-in-referendum.html

Inspiration

2009-02-22T23:59:00.000-08:00

"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]

Get Access to Free Market = Get Rich

2009-02-14T22:17:00.000-08:00

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

Go Green

2009-02-11T21:59:00.001-08:00

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...

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

2009-02-08T10:22:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-08T03:37:00.000-08:00

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

Being a Leader (and the creed behind it)

2009-02-01T21:37:00.000-08:00

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...

What matters how: institutions, human capital? Or: what Malaria might tell you about your development

2009-01-23T15:38:00.000-08:00

Is it that a sound political framework with stable and persistant instutions contribute to economic growth, or are, alternatively, sound institutions merely an by-product of a development process that relies primarliy on human and social capital which spurs economic growth (and which leads to more benign regimes through accomodating people by higher and growing incomes)?

The first, institutional approach has diverse followers (depending where you stand, you might wanna include Montesquieu, Buchanan, Tullock, but certainly Easterly/Levine, Dollar/Kray, North and probably also Rodrik and associates).
This logic predicts that political institutions and limited government cause economic growth, and lead to pro-investment policies.

The latter approach may reach out to Aristotle (or at least S.M. Lipset) in the belief that educated people are more inclined to resolve issues peacefully through negotiation than through violence. Key themes are literacy, human and social capital (sounds a bit like Pierre Bourdieu?) - but NOT necessarily good governance and political participation/democracy (cf. the examples of dictator-led South Korea before the 1980s, pseudo-democratic Singapore, Taiwan before 1980s etc.). Subsequently over the years of economic growth the regimes may turn more democratic, or may at least improve its institutional structure.

Common to both approaches are apparently the emphasis on property rights which are supportive for human and physical capital formation, and some sort of competition.

Glaeser et al. seem to support the second logic, but along the way, things aren't as clear as one want them to be. Suddenly, Acemoglu's approach reemerges: European settlers have taken with them their institutional visions/traditions and depending which conditions they found in colonies, they developed exploitative institutions (i.e. if the region was densely populated by locals already) or gov-constraining ones (i.e. if they settled in low-density areas) that caused long-run growth.
One is then not far away anymore of the 'Geographic factors matter'-school of thought (old, but reemerged due to Jeffrey Sachs). Following Sachs's brief analysis (NBER Working Paper 9490) defends geographic factors by doing a regression with a Malaria variable that suggests that ecological conditions directly affect the level of p.a. income after controlling for institutional quality.
And this is just the beginning: there are many more strands of thinking about what factors matter how and in which way(s) run causalities....
Gaudeamus igitur.

basing on:
Glaeser, E.L., La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F. & Shleifer, A. (2004). Do Institutions Cause Growth? In: Journal of Economic Growth, Vol. 9, pp. 271-303.

Sachs, J. (2003). Institutions Don't Rule: Direct Effects of Geography on Per Capita Income. NBER Working Paper 9490.

Public Choice (yeah) --> Institutions III (getting dismantled?)

2009-01-16T15:14:00.000-08:00

Yeah, the good guys, do-gooders and others.

Wasn't it a certain Rod Blagojevich, who proudly claimed to clean up, to be the nice and proper guy, after his predecessor as Governor of Illinois was involved in corruption, scandals etc.? The good guy gets elected and turns bad (if he ever was good...). Roddie wanted to sell a Senate seat and faces himself impeachment...

and now, another gag - Italy (what else would you have guessed?) is back in the news. But this time, it's not Berlusconi, but the political left - ridere licet, but crying out loud is allowed too (from the Economist):

"On January 5th the centre-left mayor of Naples, Rosa Russo Iervolino, unveiled a new and reshuffled city administration. There were six new faces in her 16-strong team. Four of their predecessors had been arrested on suspicion of taking part in what prosecutors claim was a plan for the “systematic looting” of public funds. A fifth had committed suicide after he too came under investigation for corruption and other alleged offences.

The scandal in Naples, which revolves around a €400m ($545m) public-services contract, is the most substantial but by no means the only one to have assailed the opposition. Since the end of November, centre-left politicians have been put under suspicion, or even arrest, in seven other cities and regions."

Source:
http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12906536

if you have ever believed, that some people, willing (maybe sometimes) to do something good, do actually good (for the public, hum ... or for themselves?:-) and never bad, read Mancur Olson.
Yeah, public choice - poor Italians: whoever they wanna vote for, it most likely will turn out to be a lemon....

Do Good and Develop - Institutions II (Economic Development)

2009-01-15T17:09:00.000-08:00

Having an economic development (policy) class is an exciting thing. Given the multitudes of factors and processes one might be willing to take into account (or neglect, or deny) and the level of bickering and finger pointing, one might be tempted to say: anything goes (but, lesson no. one: do no harm - not even this is easy...). In retrospect, some nice theories/creeds/schools of thought have been active.
(For those of you who know better and dislike a 'kick-and-rush' approach to science may roll their eyes upon reading the following. Apologies! But it seems like things are done this way over here).

After WWII, people wondered how to help poor nations. Given a lack of theoretical models, the experiences of the Marshall plan as well as one's own history of industrialization and development formed the basis the 'stages of growth' model by Walt Rostow: economically, there are the five stages: traditional society, pre-conditional stage for take-off, take-off, drive to maturity and the age of mass consumption/welfare. This was described as a linear development (epitomized by Harrod-Domar model, or a sort of AK model). [btw: our time: 1950/60s, big-time econ dev in the West, belief in progress and sunshie]

Some things change, some things don't. In the 1970's, a bunch of societal, political and economic disruptions have taken place.
One new model (or better: way of thinking) was talking about "structural changes" (cf. Arthur Lewis, Hollis Chenery) and commonalities in "patterns of development", i.e. structural transformation in developing countries would have several key features that are largely similar in several countries. Changes would need to take place in econ./pol./soc./institutional realms both domestically and internationally. Given the increasing interdependencies globally, internal/external factors could hinder (constraints) or promote development. Some themes: shift from agricultural to industrial production, accumulation of physical and human capital, enhanced and diversified consumer demand, urbanization and smaller families.
Unclear is whether these are the themes found, or the consequences of development or the actual causes. At least, the way of thinking led one to assume that a 'correct' approach with mixing the right policy ingredients would determine a positive development.
(btw: you may forget the two sector Lewis model with labor surplus in the agri-sector - it sounds just too funny).

Uiiih, conspiracy theories exist everywhere. In the 1970s international dependence models emerged.
First, hard-core marxist thinking contributed to the center-periphery approach in which industrialized (evil capitalists...ahem) exploit dev countries, keep them small and dependend, while a willing group of compradores (elites in dev countries) gather their perks and keep their countries from reforming. Hence, this thinking suggests an externally enforced (and internally secured) underdevelopment and looks pessimistic about future prospects. Uaaa.. luckily, history did largely run different from this grimm thinking.
Second, a bit more benign, "False paradigm" approach claims that underdevelopment is a consequence of ill-fated and faulty advice given my experts, narrow-minded and herd-behaving scholars etc. with biased/ethnocentric recommendations about how to develop, forgetting to adequately recognize differences in traditions, social structures, mentalities etc.
Third, a dualistic way of thinking is almost always applicable, same here. Superior vs inferior groups of countries can coexist, may not change, the junior may not be able to gain from the senior's nice experience, and their development may even diverge, instead of converge.
(look at South Korea, and you wonder who came up with marxist gugus; ok, look at other countries and draft your own theory blend).

After ol' Solow from the fifties, stirring a bit with neoclassical ingredients and funny AK-models, you get the 1980's resurgence of neoliberal models, (yeah, the time of Reagan, optimism and the fall of uncle USSR), the emergence of the Washington consensus (ask Williamson), and a bunch of different models with funny growth ingredients (productive public goods, Barro; human capital, supercharged etc.).
Besides the purist free-market approach, you may also want to consider the application of public-choice-thinking (basically about corrupt, vested-interests driven bureaucrats hijacking public institutions for filling their own pockets; have you heard of Rod Blagojevich and Chicago-style pay-to-play? ... multiply by 10^10 and you get a clue) in dev policy realms. Or, look at the World Bank and be "market-friendly", while recognizing that it takes a government to mend market frames, come up with nice policies to make sure there is actually a market. Market failures are common in dev countries (DC), as well as incomplete info, market power situations etc. Include externalities and you get to endogenous growth models and the conviction, that institutions matter.

Yeah, institutions. Let's ask Douglass North.

Swiss Design - starring Hans Erni

2009-01-11T02:15:00.000-08:00

'Connecting Thoughts 1993'

'Dove and Pegasus 2005'

Commemorating his 100th birthday next February 21, 2009, we can safely say that he is one of the greatest artist, Switzerland has ever seen (and almost forgotten). Still alive and active as usual, he produces paintings that may lead some layman like me to remember MC Escher, Picasso or Paul Klee. He combines geometric, strict forms with artful colors and soft lines.
His works reflect art and politics, and have been internationally acclaimed. Some appeared on post stamps, or some supported the Red Cross, or have been related to the UN. 20 years ago, a museum dedicated to him opened as part of the 'Verkehrshaus' (Transportation Museum) in Lucerne, his hometown in Switzerland.

get insipired and visit:
www.hans-erni.ch

Financial Institutions I

2009-01-02T23:37:00.000-08:00

Before anyone did anything, Matsukata did [almost] everything.

Sadly, if you study financial development and institutions, you rarely come across prominent figures from Asia of the 19th century, as most literature deals with Western financial development. The more fun is to read about a Japanese (seemingly) multitalent. His story (according to wikipedia, as of today).

He was/is:
Matsukata Masayoshi (松方正義), 1835-1924, prince, president of the Japanese Red Cross Society, privy councillor, gijokan, member of the House of Peers, and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan. Later, he was given the title of prince and genrō.

He did/acted as:
- governor of Hita prefecture (1868-71?)
- drafted new Land Tax Reform (1873-81): highlights: pay taxes in money, not in rice, fixed rate 3%, calculated on price of estate.
- Home Minister in 1880
- Finance Minister 1881: fiscal austerity, boosted confidence in currency and fin. institutions
- tried to protect Japanese industry (at the time: uneven treaties with West), launched big government industries, (needed to) hand over to private sector --> evolved into zaibatsus.
- established Bank of Japan (issued paper money) in 1882.
- wrote Meiji constitution (1889) articles 62-72
- Prime Minister 1891/92 and 1896-98 (and simultaneously finance minister)
- produced at least 24 children
(Alexander Hamilton has done much, but could he meet this standard:-)?)

On Wisconsin Ave

2009-01-02T18:36:00.000-08:00

The journey starts in the center of a fanzy shopping mile - M Street - in Georgetown. You pass a building with a golden dome, formerly a farmer and merchants bank (today PNC is in there). Numerous galleries, nail shopes, restaurants, boutiques etc. are along the quite narrow road.
The more north you get, the broader becomes Wisconsin, less crowded, less colorful, less upscale. Brick buildings here and there, a Safeway, a public library.
Then, on the left, a huge territory and a tall, white-grey building (a hybrid between a palace and a bunker): the Russian embassy.
Further north, just past the intersection is the beautiful National Cathedral, built between 1907 and 1990 (probably one reason why the Indiana limestone-structure is still so clean and nice: it's so young). The central tower is 301' 3" high. Highlights are Woodrow Wilson's sarcophagus and the extensive underground rooms (about half of the cathedral has underground chapels/walkways etc). And ... we're in America ...: one of the busts on the Northwestern Towers depict Darth Vader (I did not see him, it was already dark, but check out the website).

http://www.nationalcathedral.org/about/darthVader.shtml

Beyond the cathedral complex, there are many apartment buildings and you wouldn't get the feeling that you're actually in DC. Just when it get's a bit downhill again, there's Fannie Mae on the left-hand side, the big semi-public (given its inception in 1938), private (since its chartering by congress in 1968) and now entirely public (since Sept. 6, 2008) mortgage enterprise.
Nearby is also the embassy of (the Republic of China on) Taiwan, or how the plate says: "Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US" (the building is much nicer than the name).

Further north is Tenleytown and some American University buildings with radio antennas (WAMU 88.5 FM, National Public Radio). Walking back via Albemarle Street (through a nice neighborhood) and Connecticut Ave (past DC University), I encountered a chanting crowd: protesters call for a free Palestinian state (cf. the recent Israeli action in/against the Gaza strip...).

At an earlier point, but time and again worthwile a visit is the Smithsonian museum on American Indians
http://www.nmai.si.edu/

A Day in Downtown DC

2008-12-20T23:43:00.000-08:00

Small, but beautiful: whenever you go to DC, go to the Renwick Gallery (how convenient, it's just next to the White House).
Not only are its temporary exhibitions breath-taking (if you think we glass is only useful for windows, think and watch again, cf. picture, source of the picture: http://www.linotagliapietra.com), but worth-a-visit is also teh George Catlin Indian gallery.

Lino Tagliapietra is a son of Murano, the famous Italian glass-blowing industry island nearby Venice. The connection to the US: he became acquainted with a glass blowing school in Seattle and helped to create talented people over there.

George Catlin (folk art?) anticipated the trouble between the Indians and the White Man and painted a couple of hundred pictures to contribute to the preservation of Indian tribes.
Besides him, you can find other stunning oevres, such as a seemingly veiled clock, whose perceived covering linen is actually wood (very fanzily made; even from a 2 feet distance you can't tell that this is actually wood, it's made so wel).

It's not just cool that there is no admission fee, but also that the museum actually consists of two buildings (i.e. the second part of American Art is together with the portrait gallery at F Street further to the East, let's call it the real SAAM).
The SAAM houses an amazing amount of presidential paintings and other inspiring pictures about American history. And if you fall almost asleep (e.g. because you sleep not enough also during your holidays), then you get a boost by a coffee and "gourmet" cookie at the "Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard" (i.e. the courtyard is covered by a 900-ton (really? so says the flyer), 28'000 square feet glass roof consisting of 864 individual glass panels.

go there and enjoy:
http://americanart.si.edu/

In times of trouble, it's always good to reinforce your confidence in democracy, its institutions and recall its ideas. Ideally, a walk on the Mall makes you thinking and inspiring.
But not only - a closer look, and a healthy portion scepticism reveals that the many lights on a Saturday evening 8pm in the many (and the many big) federal office bunkers, ahm, buildings along/around the Mall, is most probably not because zealous and hardworking employees...
People here seem to talk much about change, how to relaunch the economy ... and about climate change (watch out, the oil price is down to around 40$/b compared to the 145$/b this July...!). Why only talk and await a big push in the green direction when everybody can make a (little) difference on his/her own - AT NO COST? It just takes the willpower of a second to switch off the light in the evening and switch it on in again in the morning.
[if they have a central on/off switch for the whole bureau, why not use motion-detectors, so you won't even need to do the job on your own?)?
Energy efficiency does not just mean MPG (miles per gallon, which is here ridiculously low anyway) and it's not coming from big companies only, but from the bottom - from each individual. If we do not believe in change and our OWN capacity/discretion to (at least initiate it), then we do not need to listen to people promising us the same. Both need each other - otherwise it's not going to work, whether the world is flat, hot or crowded or not.

What makes you tick?

2008-12-19T07:41:00.000-08:00

"to commit every nerve, every muscle, and every drop of sweat to a work, to a great task; to grow with the work, to become greater oneself in the struggle with one's betters - and then to be able to say at the end: I die, but there remains something that is more important than my life and will last longer than my body: my work."

[Morgenthau, H.J., (?) School Composition, "Was ich von meiner Zukunft erhoffe, und worauf sich diese Hoffnung gruendet", as cited in Frei, C. (2001). Hans J. Morgenthau: An Intellectual Biography. (p. 80) Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.]

My home is my castle

2008-12-17T20:14:00.000-08:00

Would you like to see an example of America's infrastructure?

2008-12-12T22:37:00.000-08:00

"....Address the Lauinger Problem", as The Hoya (student newspaper at Georgetown University) put it in an editorial (issue of Friday, Dec. 5, 2008). Indeed, our campus' main library is not only not known as a beauty, it has some other severe drawbacks.

I can't put it more vivid terms than the editorial: ".. not just because it's physically ugly, outdated and decrepit. (Earlier this semester, for instance, Lauinger's ceiling was leaking so much that many stacks had to be covered with blue tarp to protect them from water damage.
In its current configuration, Lauinger stifles the intellectual life of our community. With only a handful of meeting rooms and woefully inadequate study space, it remains stuck in an obsolete notion of what a library should be. In the 21st century, a library must be more than a warehouse for storing books."
And it goes on: "Changes must reflect the need for expanded study and meeting space, and for the development of a more inviting learning environment. Lauinger must become a destination, not a mark of shame on our campus."

It's indeed a sad reality: Tables and chairs are worn out and seemingly never clean, the restrooms seem to be not properly taken care of, the computers are slow (except those in the Media section on the first floor), the heating system is crazy (either too hot or too cold, and the air filter are either too loud or (but usually and) not really working well so its a stuffy atmosphere to work in. Copy machines are often out of order and ...
And one wonders about the ridiculous security measures (whenever you enter, show your ID; as if that would prevent somebody to make nasty things...; however, sometimes the guards are too much into a conversation among themselves...).

However, one must point out that the staff is really friendly and always ready to help. And, a big advantage compared to the University of St. Gallen: you can download journal articles and papers online from home by logging in - you do not need to download them on the campus.

A nice idea from Singapore: RFID chips to make everybody able to check out books individually instead of waiting in line for too long and bothering the circulation desk guys (who are students, and sometimes do not seem to be very committed to do their job).

Go on, and keep on fighting for the good sake

2008-12-12T22:10:00.000-08:00

"Sometines, bad things are good for us, because they teach as a lot of things. Who would we be if and what whould we learn about life, if we didn't have bad things anymore, and trust me, God doesn't give you more than you can take."
[A friend of mine, December 2008]

Bird of prey

2008-12-07T00:33:00.000-08:00

You'll be sick, if you continue like this...

The F-22, too good (and expensive) to become widely used?

While we're in a financial/economic crisis and a new administration is incoming (promising to cut the Defense budget), you wonder what happens to big projects such as F-22 (which was downsized several times already).

One of the most expensive fighters (Raptor) becomes a prey of the congress. The new plan to invest huge sums in America's basic infrastructure to boost and retool the economy is probably not focusing on such projects as the Raptor.

Nevertheless, cool website> http://www.f22-raptor.com/

And the Chinese? They seem to make a copy... (surprise?), or at least something, that might look like a copy (even though apparently several design studies exist, the J-XX seems to be based on the Flanker platform, with resemblance to F-22, F-16 etc.)

some sources:

http://www.sinodefence.com/airforce/fighter/jxx.asp

http://209.157.64.201/focus/f-news/1600141/posts

White -

2008-12-07T00:16:00.000-08:00

hey, the first day (Saturday) when snow was falling (quarter of an inch or so - and disappeared the same evening).

Instead of white snow, this is maybe black snow (i.e. surprise):
An old boy after years of introspection may see that he maybe did sth on wrong grounds
http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/international/george_bushs_ploetzliche_reue_ueber_den_irak-krieg_1.1367934.html

Notes of a day

2008-11-29T22:34:00.000-08:00

In Switzerland, you usually collect your leaves (if you have a garden) with fallen branches of trees, cut gras and other "green waste" and put them into a green container/trash bin. Then, a truck stoos by every other week or so and the bin's contents get poured into the truck.

In America, the team of 534 N Monroe Street performed an extra effort at 11pm on a Wednesday night to get the huge pile of leaves - brushed/collected together the Saturday before - to the street, hoping that a truck would collect it as scheduled the next morning. There is not green waste bin, so the leaves get "sucked in" [remember Electolux' famous ad from the 1970s or so: "Nothing sucks like Electrolux" - poor Swedes]. Indeed, 14 days later, a truck came by and did the job: A lawn sign two blocks away reminded the neighborhood "Vacuum leave collection, Nov 25". Strangely, just one block further, huge piles of leaves still embellish the streets - maybe the truck lost its breath?

yeah, you really can suck leaves: http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/EnvironmentalServices/swd/EnvironmentalServicesSWDLeafCollectionSched.aspx

and something else sucks money...:

I was honored to join the selected many (who had an invitation/reservation/links to Congress(wo)men or else) today and visited the all new Congress Visitor Center CVC (costs: just 630-odd m$) before it's actual opening on Dec 2. Apparently, construction took about 7 years and the result is gorgeous: Virginia sandstone, the large "Emancipation Hall" reception hall, embellished with some statues that have been moved from the Capitol here (among others Astronaut Swigart of Apollo XIII and the plaster version of Lady Liberty (the lead one is on top of the Capitol dome) and of course an impressive exhibition hall with an abridged version of the Senate's and House's history. An exciting movie introduces the audience to this Temple of Liberty.

In any case: it's worth a prolonged visit and also worthwile to spend some thoughts on liberty and the purpose of good policymaking.

Sadly, there are a lot of security precautions that hugely restrict visitors' moves. A visit in 1998 was rather simple: you just walked into the Rotunda and there friendly guides welcomed you (guess what: there was no such thing as a bag control or x-ray). Now, it seems there are more policemen than guides...

http://www.aoc.gov/cvc/project_info/index.cfm

Reflections on so-called "elite education"

2008-11-28T17:14:00.000-08:00

Deresiewicz, W. (2008). "The Disadvantage of an Elite Education". The American Scholar, Summer 2008, 77/3, pp. 20-31.
The author was English teacher at Yale (and thus may have some provocatively exaggerated points, but the core isn't that bad, I'd say:-)

"The first disadvantage of an elite education is how very much of the human it alienates you from" (i.e. you cannot relate to ordinary ppl anymore, the claim goes).

"The second disadvantage, implicit in what I've been saying, is that an elite education inculcates a false sense of self-worth ... all involve numerical rankings: SAT, GPA, GRE." (and, one ought to say, sometimes a false sense of self-esteem...).

on elite uni's and their exlcusivity-drive, reinforcing the self-perception of the "best and the brightest": " There's no point in excluding people unless they know that they've been excluded" (otherwise there is no "exclusive society:-)

"The elite like to think of themselvesas belonging to a meritocracy, but that's true only up to a point. Getting through the gate [of the school, i.e. getting admitted] is very difficult, but once you're in, there is almost nothing you can do to get kicked out" [yeah, maybe, but the fear persist...; on the other hand, there are parallels to management establishment where "eine Hand waescht die andere", i.e. mutual protection of who's "in the club".]

The perception of being 'entitled" to money, fame, power...

"... students from elite schools expect success, and expect it now. They have, by definition, never experienced anything else, and their sense of self has been built around their ability to succeed. The idea of not being successful terrifies them, disorients them, defeats them. They've been driven their whole lives by a fear of failure ... "
[Good point, although the author is here much too narrow and simple-minded. I think the phenomenon goes much deeper...]

and what the guy thinks of the true nature and purpose of an (elite) school:
"their education as part of a larger intellectual journey, have approached the work of the mind with a pilgrim soul ... feel like freaks ... searchers."
[a bit less metaphoric, please - ok, he is English teacher...-, but this is quite true, at least in my eyes. It's the perennial quest, the thirst to know and experience more...]

"Being an intellectual means thinking your way toward a vision of the good society and then trying to realize tht vision by speaking truth to power. It means going into spiritual exile...."
[ok, cool. Sadly, instead of pondering the financial meltdown and the political consequences, all we do is solving problem sets and embracing the Neyman-Pearson Theorem... (I just come from trying to read the stats book...)]

issue needs continuous treatment...

Financial Crisis and its ramifications...

2008-11-21T21:54:00.000-08:00

In "Blue & Gray", the biweekly official Georgetown gazette for faculty and staff (there is btw also "the Hoya", published by the students), of Nov 17th, 2008, there was a brief article about Georgetown's endowment.
Apparently, the fund's volume dropped below 1bn $. It lost 9.5% of its value in Q3 2008 and overall 12.5% in 2008YTD.
Tough times ... however, the author of the article points out that Morgan Stanley's MSCI (global equity index) lost 26 (same time frame may mean 2008YTD, I guess). Anyhow, compared to Yale's or Harvard's endowment, Georgetown's is pretty small....

Another hot issue this week was (and still is) the possible 25bn $ loan for Detroit's Big Three (GM, Ford, Chrysler). However, it is highly unclear whether there will be money, how much, for which purposes and with which strings/conditions attached. There is no clarity whatsoever about the automakers' current financial health: will the go bankrupt withouth the federal money injection? If so, when (end of the year, in some months, never)?
Even if the money would help (how to spend it most efficiently, given the complexities and sizes of those firms?), is there enough oversight to avoid just preserving outdated plants/management styles/ill-fated worker benefit programs etc.?
It seems that noone wants a breakdown of the US auto industry, but can a gov't bailout help? on the other hand, if there is no help, what if all three go bust and some 4-5m jobs are lost in the aftermath?

We might assume that Congress, after playing hardball tactics to get more facts and clearer conditions on the package, finally grants money for the carmakers. Let's hope that it really helps to change the industry. The US auto industry urgently need a DRASTIC change (with or without public money), so let's just hope pouring money over it won't help them avoid changes and make them look forward (energy challenge, fuel efficiency, environmental standards, design revolution, sizes & tastes) and not backward (outrageous health care and pension packages).

Mitt Romney is apparently an outspoken critic (cf. "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt", NY Times, Wednesday, November 19, 2008, page A31): "with it [governmetn money], the automakers will stay the course - the suicidal course of declining market share, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check."

On the other hand: how can you explain in simple terms why to bail out a financial system with 700bn, while being stingy about 25bn for cars and 4m jobs? Most people possibly don't easily understand stability and systemic issues and rather care more about their job. In any case, policymakers face a huge challenge to restore confidence: in the system, in the individual's power to keep on fighting for him/herself, in America, and, in politics.

Tue, November 4th, 2008: Being Election Officer

2008-11-16T15:30:00.000-08:00

A student as election officer…
Tuesday 4.11.08: I went to bed at 3.30am (doing readings for courses and reading the guide for election officers). I got up at 4.10am, cooked eggs and ham to eat breakfast with bread and cooked spaghetti (to take with me as lunch). After taking a shower I walked two blocks to be on time at 5am at the Arlington Arts Center (my polling place). Overall, about 18 election officer were assigned to work in this precinct. At 5am, we built up the voting room, i.e. set up the desks, chairs, voting machines, leaflets, marked queuing lines on the floor etc. The actual voting room was approx. 5 x 10 meters in its size. When the first voter came in, he went to the desk for with the three poll books (3 electronic ones) to check-in as voter (i.e. the ID, name/address is checked and compared to the registration rolls on the poll books). If a voter was correctly registered, he got a yellow voter permit for the day to vote on all issues. Other colors restricted special voters to the federal elections or the presidential elections only.
Then a voter would proceed to the second desk was for deciding whether to vote by paper ballot or by machine. Each voter could opt for either one. If the choice was voting by machine, voters kept their yellow (or other colored ) permit and went on to stand in line for the machines (we had four, i.e. WINvote machines).
If opted for paper ballot, the two election officers at the desk took the yellow card and handed out the paper ballot (Arlington County ballot, contained: election of president/VP, one Senator, one House Rep (8th district), one member for the county board and two persons for the local school board as well as five ballot issues (four about whether to issue bonds for some purposes (for the metro, utilities, community infrastructure and public schools) and one about whether to activate a Redevelopment and Housing Authority in Arlington (was rejected clearly).
The voters then filled out the paper ballots at a desk (four seats only, with cardboard shields on the side, so no one could look on their ballots), and put it through the scanner, next to an election officer, called Accuvote which optically counted the vote.
The Winvote machines were touch screen-based systems (strangely, the Virginia state legislature apparently decided in 2007 against the purchase of more touch-screen or similar voting machines, so the electoral Board decided to opt for optical scanners (rental!!) in order to make sure to have enough capacity on election day).
Voting on the Winvote machines was straightforward: in order to re-activate (after a voter has posted his votes and finished the process), each time an election officer had to take the next person in line and put in his card to activate the system for the voter to start casting his votes (i.e. to prevent multiple/abusive use). Besides one brief incident (apparently related to power supply) the machines worked fine.

The precinct (Monroe, # 49) has about 1600 registered voters, of which about 900 or so voted. Both Winvote and Accuvote machines (overall five devices have been at our place) have an individual tally which we printed out three times after the closure of the polls at 7pm. Then the tallies have been checked, added together etc. If I recall correctly, Obama won by a sizeable margin (about 600 votes against McCain’s some 260).

From 6am onwards, I worked first at the Winvote, welcoming voters and advising them how to operate, and handed out stickers (“I voted in Arlington”) until about 10am, when the major wave of voters was over. Then I voted by myself on the Winvote and subsequently took a seat at the table with the paper ballots (worked (and more talked there between 10-1 and 5-6pm) and in between sitting around and waiting, eating, trying to learn (while falling asleep several times) Micro (last midterm was Micro, on Nov 7th). I had some good conversations with fellow election officers. One had Iranian roots and worked as a director in a law firm, another was originally from Dakota and worked for the FDIC. I could share some thoughts about the Swiss system (how they vote over there, the referenda of Nov 30 in Switzerland etc.) A Japanese-American woman invited me to a Japanese-US panel on education and IT later on. Particularly glad I was when one of my fellow roommates came at about 4pm to cast his vote and take this picture.

Stunning was that most of the voters came early in the morning, so that after 10am not many people came (between 1 and 4pm was almost nobody voting). The first people started to build a line in front of the polling place at 5.30am, so between 6 and 9am we all have been pretty busy and the place was crowded.

Freedom

2008-11-02T00:02:00.001-07:00

The land of the free has elections next Tuesday. What about the state and quality of freedom in this country? Given its huge challenges and the many tasks that the next president face may make us think about how freedom will be affected. Some helpful inspiration:

"Freedom is the oxygen of the soul." [Moshe Dayan]

"Freedom is the will to be responsible to ourselves." [Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols, 1888]

"My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular." [Adlai Stevenson, speech, Detroit, 1952]

"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves." [Abraham Lincoln]

"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" [Benjamin Franklin]

"None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free." [Goethe]

"Freedom is always and exclusively freedom for the one who thinks differently." [Rosa Luxemburg]

http://www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_freedom.html

Indulgence....

2008-11-01T23:48:00.000-07:00

Indulgence is when ...

... you can read again a newspaper after having had to deal only with econ/math/equations for weeks to study for midterm exams
... dedicate your time again to do some politics (e.g. vote early in the US for the presidential, House and Senate elections as well as some local elections and local ballot issues; e.g. Swiss politics, as Swiss voters face 5 federal referendum issues on Nov. 30th, as well as Cantonal government elections in Aargau)
... finding time to dive again into some political philosophy (and being reminded how sad it is that no party in the USA reflect this brand of thinking, i.e. cf. e.g.
F.A. von Hayek, "Why I am not a Conservative"
http://www.fahayek.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=53

and, of course: indulgence is when a friend spontaneously invites you to original Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup lunch at a Pho75 restaurant (cheap, simple, but great food) in Falls Church.
The beef briskets gets cooked in the hot soup (a bouillon) whith bean sprouts, rice noodles, Thai basil and some other herbs. Dunk the beef slices into the pepper/chilli sauce and enjoy!
Afterwards feel even more comfortable by sipping iced Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk .. hmmmm.

Sound bites and punch lines

2008-10-02T23:31:00.000-07:00

Ceci n'est pas une gaffe...

If you watched this night's VP debate (ahem, was it really a debate?), you may understand what a gaffe may be. If it is successful, it may be called sound bite, particularly when A delivers it to score points relative to its counterpart B (which may then be called a 'punch'line:-).

Maybe also thoughtful, some funny comments, given by Thomas L. Friedman (NY Times, Wed, Oct 1, 2008, page A31) - hopefully, this is enough of citation), about what for possibly most seem more of a concern than talks on issues which are not really addressing the questions in so-debates.

"I've always believed that America's government was a unique political system - one designed by geniuses so that it could be run by idiots. I was wrong."

We have House members, many of them whom I suspect can't balance their own checkbooks, rejecting a complex rescue package because some voters, whom I fear also don't understand, swamped them with phone calls. I appreciate the popular anger against Wall Street, but you can't deal with this crisis this way. "
[the House rejected the bill on Monda, Sept 29, the Senate passed it on Wed, Oct 1]

"We're all connected. As others have pointed out, you can't save Main Street and punish Wall Street anymore than you can be in row boadt with someone you hate and think that the leak in the bottom of the boat at his end is not going to sink you, too. The world is really flat. We're all connected. 'Decoupling' is pure fantasy."
[didn't he write a book with the 'flat'-title...?:-)]

"I always said to myself: Our government is so broken that it can only work in response to a huge crisis. But now we've had a huge crisis, and the system still doesn't seem to work. Our leaders, Republicans and Democrats, have gotten so out of practice of working together that even in the face of this system-threatening meltdown they could not agree on a rescue package, as if they lived on Mars and were just visiting us for the week, with no stake in the outcome.
The story cannot end here. If it does, assume the fetal position."

How is America?

2008-10-02T23:08:00.000-07:00

When you live for some period of time abroad, you wonder how to depict the more and less subtle differences. Sometimes you do not even recognize them, sometimes you do not know how to conceptualize them.
Here is one, I (still) cannot make sense of.

To my experience, it seems that stairs are usually a representative part of a building, and for this reason it may seem legitimized to put them on a crucial spot in the building.
Even more, security, safety and emergency concerns may impose additional restrictions on how to design a building and its stairs. no wonder, that soccer stadiums tend to have many many gates, in order to fill/empty the structure quickly (quess what would happen in panic, when you seem not to be able to move out quickly? Don't tread on me...). And so it comes that you see not only audience, but many gaps due to gates and stairways which cut across the rows of seats.

But let's look at a more common type of stairs, in buildings of every day use. We might expect huge stairs in huge buildings, for huge crowds and to make a huge impression on the visitor. this may be valid for Gaston/Healy Hall on the Georgetown Campus (likewise for European palaces, but similarly - scale adjusted - also for single households).
But - where are the stairs in the Walsh School Building? Where are the stairs in the ICC building or in the Lauinger library? They are not representative, not impressive, but closed up, away from the main hall/entrance room/atrium. As if the stairs are not a part of the building, but something to hide (and indeed, their walls are sometimes not even painted). And those stairs are small, maybe not even 1.5m (or 6 yards?) wide...
WHY????
Given that those few elevators are slow, old and small, they do not tend to provide enough capacity for the loads of students, faculty and others to get through the structure.
Is there any good reason for this? Cutting costs? Space constraints? Static challenges?? Or just different conceptions of how (thought of) modern buildings should look like?

If you have a powerful explanation, let me know.

Settled in Arlington

2008-08-30T00:59:00.000-07:00

Hey

Life has been and is still quite hectic. After having introduced my successor (intern) at the bank, I ended my internship, packed my few belongings and took the plane to NYC (yes, it's apparently much cheaper to fly to New York (via Dusseldorf), from ZRH, instead of heading directly to Washington (Dulles)). The bus from NYC to hot-humid DC was a mere 20 bucks (there are many Chinatown buses).
I think I still have to get used to many small things here (e.g. why the hell do they use different sheet sizes? Nobody here knows the DIN A4 page, they all use standard 10 (8.5 x 11 inch or so, which is a bit broader, but less long).
After a strenuous two week math camp I try to get used to the semester which started this week. And I am still waiting for most of my textbooks (which are usually bought second hand here, as the prices are just crazy). However, an annoyance is amazon, where I ordered most books. There is not just a huge difference between the shipment date range and the delivery, but they apparently postpone bot date ranges. So what seemed to be a matter of 3-5 days becomes not a waiting time of 3-5 weeks.... not enough calamity: here you pay also the transport costs while e.g. amazon germany ships the books for free if their value exceed 50 bucks.

Let's see, what else is coming

Saying goodbye to the army

2008-06-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

What a special feeling, to turn back all army stuff (yes!, always surprising for foreigners, the Swiss keep their army rifle with 50 bullets at their homes as soldiers) that I kept for the last five years. However, after the 15-week recruit school in 2003, I just served one WK (annual repetition course that takes 3 weeks) in 2006, while the other years I "postponed" it:-) and - given the recent turmoil around the army, it's a goodbye with a multitude of meanings.

But, I fulfilled another annual duty so far, i.e. the also mandatory shooting on a 30om range with the SIG 550 (aka assault rifle 90 ("Sturmgewehr 90") of the Swiss Army) and I scored quite satisfactorily.
After that, furbishing and greasing, the weapong together with the uniform, bags and stuff turned went back to the army base.

The incident on the Kander river, some weeks ago, that killed 4 soldiers on a boat trip, stirred up emotions and all kinds of political opinions about what to do and what's wrong with the army.

Since the lost popular vote on the proposal for an army base in Rothenturm in the early 1980s (the location was a natural preservation area) and the first people's initiative to abolish the army altogether (also in 1980's) and the end of the Cold War, there is a kind of a vanishing consensus about what the purposes of an army should be.
Some important trends of warfare have been overslept, some equipment is outdated, the selection of the officers is ambiguous and a career in the army - in opposite to Cold War times - is highly unpopular in the business world.
Incapable officers, a lack of commitment and a complete lack of a meaning or understanding (in what to do on a daily basis in their role as soldiers if a war would erupt) have hollowed out this organization, so much that dramatic changes seem to be a necessity.
Who knows, maybe we too shift to a professional army (away of our Miliz-model), or reduce the size again dramatically.
One thing seems plausible: amidst all that shit around the army, we're definitely not in the need of new war planes, but of a huge clean-up in organizational/structural terms.

SWFs are here - no need to fear

2008-05-26T16:17:00.000-07:00

Hot debates emerged in 2007 about Sovereign Wealth Funds and their implications. Be it oil exports, FX reserves or fiscal surpluses, the Mid-East and some East-Asian growth-states saw their SWFs mushrooming in the last few years.

An easy reader and entry for laymens is provided by the Council on Foreign Relations:
http://www.cfr.org/publication/15251

Some nice stuff is also avaiable at the IMF and the Peterson Institute for Int'l Economics (mainly written by E. Truman).
Check it out, and you won't have that much fear anymore, even though some policy questions remain and, as Larry Summers last July pointed out, potential problems exist.
What about a Code of Conduct and the reliance on market discipline and its forces? Will this work?
In the long run, not even hard-core special interests can stem themselves against the logic of a good return (cf. the problems with the Chinese CIC...)

Financial Integration in Asia - And Why It's NOT Really Happening

2008-04-27T18:56:00.000-07:00

Hey

Since the Asian Crisis 1997/98 there's been much talk on economic and financial integration in East Asia. However, EA seems to integrate more with the world than with itself (so, who is the true globalizer?).
More on the topic at:
http://www.aric.adb.org/pdf/workingpaper/WP13_Cross-border_Financial_Asset_Holdings.pdf

or will that change when China takes over the world leader role (creating a new "hub-and-spokes" system in EA?)? ...

we're curious...

ADI (more stress with papers)

Uff . . . stress with paper writing

2008-04-24T10:49:00.001-07:00

.. being behind with writing is awful, but the topics aref fascinating; cf. read news about Asia's burgeoning bond markets (even though they are still pretty small and illiquid):
http://asianbondsonline.adb.org/administrative/abm_overview.php

Wanna hear music from Switzerland?

2008-04-08T16:29:00.000-07:00

Hey, maybe I am kind of chauvinist, but when I've heard this for the first time, it was quite relaxing.
http://www.elianaburki.ch/?get=musik

The Artist combines funk chill-out music with an alphorn. The alphorn, as everybody knows (:-)) is uniquely Swiss (I guess at least), i.e. a 3.5m long instrument. All you need to have is a strong belly/strong lungs and just simply blow in, possibly as strong as you can. You can even produce different tones. It's quite fun - and cool music.

Preparing for the big blockbuster

Protests wherever you look

2008-04-02T11:41:00.001-07:00

Hum, strange ... you wanna celebrate the Olympics, but - boom - there is blood, violence and turmoil in you country. Sad, but maybe not so surprising, if you take the cries for autonomy and the claim to be supressed for granted.

However, it gets silly, if you blame others and refuse to talk to them by putting words into their mouths they never have used. How can effective and goal-oriented communication work like this? Or is the goal simply not to talk (to a in the West quite famous and bold monk?).
Even more strange it gets if you blame "the West" (what is that exactly? maybe something to eat...hmm:-) to be partial and systematically misrepresent information (which of course you (can/are allowed to) do, because it's your right and your "domestic affairs", thank the UN-charter's territorial integrity of states).
Of course information and media are not always impartial, how could they? The human being is fallible, has hidden agendas, pays attention more to sensational than dry news etc.
But the good thing about pluralism is pluralism of information, debate and challenging positions. This does not mean that the truth is revealed just around the corner. It can (sadly) mean that one copies from the other, herding behavior etc. However, it tends empirically to evolve critical thinking (every once in a while), a mentality of mud-racking/investigative journalism, a mentality of healthy scepticism and has at least brought us (or scientists) the method of falsificationism (Karl Popper's legacy:-)
So, while we should reprimand ourselves of being sometimes distorted and (too much) simplifying, we should be grateful of the other to have reprimanded us about some imperfections of our media system. This helps to improve it and develop debate.

However, why one still sticks to near-waterthight censorship and keeps believing to have the legitimacy to blame others on reporting standards, is too much for me. Maybe I am truly just a stupid white man; however, at least I don't measure with two different gauges...

Hey, btw: also the Swiss have their small turmoil/strike: some old folks believe the state-run railway company SBB (or the federal government directly) shall provide them eternally with the same jobs as yesterday. The funny thing is that the proposed restructuring measures wouldn't have led to firings (they could have kept their jobs, just at different factory...).
Crazy that you allows those folks to strike for the 4th consecutive week (this never happened before in Switzerland, maybe except the general strike in 1918 ... 90 years ago).
As SBB Cargo has sky-rocketing deficits anyway, maybe it would be good to go ahead with the reforms at a fast pace. Think about Reagan you fired all (!) striker of the air traffic control in the early 1980s...
(i.e. tabula rasa sometimes helps)

Hopefully we can enjoy a nice summer. Maybe the nomenklatura who self-celebrates itself at the Olympic Games sooner or later may come to the conclusion that pluralism is needed to develop its country further...

Year of Renewal

2008-03-03T15:28:00.000-08:00

I am doing my last two papers at the university, before I - probably - say goodbye to my alma mater. Who knows where I will be taken in next fall?

I'll also step down of some more political functions this year. I am sure I will miss the fun I enjoyed during my four years as International Officer of the jfs (Young Liberals of Switzerland). However, there always comes a time when change is needed in order to find progress. And noone is irreplaceable...

It's cool that there are so many people out there craving for liberty, freedom, peace and progress. By the way, do you know an old European comic ("Asterix"; has also been poured into movie form...) about a tiny village in France of the Roman Age, which defends itself against a mighty empire? As they have a magic elixir that provides them with super (muscle) power, they and their two heros, Asterix and Obelix, dare to fight the Romans and subsequently defeat each of their attack.
Sometimes, a small island (Formosa) in the pacific ocean reminds me of this miracle, that free people who have determination, can make a difference and will reach what they dream for.
And they do so in a quite original way:
http://www.vivataiwan.tv/ :-)

Exams are over - I AM BACK

2008-02-18T16:03:00.000-08:00

Relaunch of this Blog - ADI is alive again, after the last HSG exams. Picture taken in HK, Dec 2007

2007-12-11T09:29:00.000-08:00

Angkor Wat, one of the famous sites of the ancient Angkor empire (8th to 13th c.)

home of poor ppl, trying to sell you too silly stuff for too much money

Siem Reap ("Siam defeated"): touristy vs poverty

2007-12-11T08:35:00.000-08:00

Siem Reap, the city next to Angkor, a huge complex with dozens of temples, ruins and impressive memorabilias, but also hords of tourists and local (aggressive) sellers.

As soon as you get into the city (coming from the scam-border of Poi Pet/Thailand), you're struck by finally a good road (compare this to the dirt-path with crater-big loopholes before), eletric lighting at the main road (and almost only there; althought there are also lighting posts on the street to Angkor Wat, they aren't used) and nice-looking buildings.

Seemingly almost everybody tries to rip you off, you the Westerner from whom one can easily extract money.
This starts as soon as you get dropped off from the bus, 6km away from the border (still in Thailand); so you need to get a tuk-tuk, which drives you to the border (80Baht per Person/tuktuk); and of course, this tuk-tuk conveniently drops you off there, where the scammers want to make you believe that you cannot get a VISA (20US$) for Cambodia "on arrival" anymore but since they are the "friendly volunteers" they want to sell you a Visa for 1200 ThaiBaht (40US$) from a Cambodian consulate in Thailand (which easily takes 3 days).
So, I left them and headed to the border, checked swiftly the Thai-border, walked to the Cambodian side, where noone tells you where to get this fucking visa from which booth. A guy points at a house, in which a police official first asks for your passport (not to clear it and help; but to check from where you are in order to estimate how rich you may be and how much you could be overcharged or extorted!!! He wanted also 1200Thai Baht; no US dollar, probably because of the recent $ depreciation). After a row, I left for the right VISA booth, told again my story that the official Cambodian immigration police says a visa is 20US$, but the bureaucrats and policemen on site demand 1000 Baht (= 33 US$) or 20US$ and 200B, and the latter I had to pay, otherwise would get granted accessin Cambodia.
Then, next red tape station was the stamping and entry-/exit cards; while you get photographed by a super-mdern webcam (same for Angkor entrance [!] and Suvarnabhumi in Thailand). At least this was for free, as well as the quick 1.5km journey to the state-run tourist room (not office…), where you can book a bus or taxi onwards). I took a cab with two germans (splitting the fixed 60$ cost into 3 times 20$); a bus ticket would be 12$, it was said, eventhough there are also private companies and tickets for 5$ acc. to Lonely Planet…

On the cab (>12 year old Toyota Camry), just 20minutes driving and one tire was gone… took 20min to repair for the driver. It gives you a hint how fucking dusty and rocky the roads are.
Despite being promised to be dropped off at the booked hostels, the driver and his tuk-tuk connection tell us that taxis are not allowed to enter the city center (such a silly lie did noone believe anyway..), but tired from the journey, we embarked the tuks (for free, at least); only to see that they are free in order to skim us and convince us to hire them as driver for out upcoming Angkor experience.

The Cambodian challenge went on in the bathroom of my otherwise relatively ok hostel: I wanted to wash my hands, tap water on and peng, the pipe (a gummy pipe) broke off, causing some disorder (at least seured briefly thereafter).

If you stroll to the Psar Chaa, the olöd market, it's all trendy-Western styled tourist restaurants, very pricy (ok, roughly a bit below Western prices, but some are even more expensive; incredible for Cambodia, one of the poorest sates in the world). Funny way at least, that ppl here seem constantly smiling and making fun of foreigners. But by smiling back, I got to know a smart Khmer, who did explain me some basic things about Cambodia.

Tenets:
- Locals overcharge foreigners whenever they can
- Tuk-tuk drivers, hostel managers, taxi companies frequently cooperate to upsell
- State concrete elements of a deal and set the price fixed in advance, otherwise you become a target to get cheated
- SR is a kind of a 2-class society (west vs. locals)

Next time more about Siem Reap

ADI

Bisy - Tài máng - 太忙

2007-11-19T09:24:00.000-08:00

R U busy as well? ... 4 exams, 2 papers, apply for jobs/grad school, plan your Dec vacation and try to find happyness? exactly

but, while researching for the Monetary Policy assignment, have a look at this:

http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/governance/pdf/Governance_Indicators_eng.pdf

The World bank's Governance charts.

As a Swiss, you're looking at the all deep-green colours which basically say your gov is ok (granted, there is always improvement potential, Kai Zen, e.g. for the Regulatory Quality, which is only at 93 (of 100)). No wonder I encounter frequently ppl abroad who keep telling me that, as a Swiss ("wow"), you live in paradise....
Since I live in Singapore, I was curious... and, aha, they are not bad either, when it comes to gov effectiveness etc.; BUT: in category "Voice&Accountability" the fellas score only 44 (of 100), which gives them a red pitch... ouuuuhhh.
Well, Singapore is undoubtedly an economic success story in the last 40 years. But who pushed this? The people? The individual? oh man, the gov of course. They seem to rely heavily on a top-down 100%-management of all political affairs which makes the de facto-one-party-polity almost a benevolent dictator (with emphasis on the first). However, as history - unfortunately - shows, there is no longterm good track record of any benevolent authoritarian polity.
I just hope, the Singaporeans will not be trapped and locked in - the challenges lay ahead and might demand more self-responsibility, ownership and bottom-up initiative than other stuff.

Btw: the folks who wanna construct a "harmonious society" perform much poorer (cf. China). Their accountability is just 7 of 100; the highest score is 60 for any indicator - let's just hope they won't get flushed down into a bloody civil war which might cost millions of lives, when ppl start to demand more equality, more say, more honesty and transparency....

PRC - I will conquer ya!

2007-11-07T23:24:00.001-08:00

155 bucks for this sticker! I think I should start a business and grab a own market share….

Did you know: When you go to a supermarket in Singapore, there is no small conveyor belt at the cashier desk, but a lady who packs your groceries into numerous plastic bags (hey, isn't the oil price rising?). So you easily walk home with five or six such bags, and don't even have to pay for it.
We use big brown bags in Switzerland (recycled paper/cardboard, enduring), and you gotta pay 30 Rp. for one à makes ppl more aware of environmental issues and cost-effective living.

in statu scribere pro altera (!),with no reward

Ceci n'est pas un xīn jiā pō rén

2007-11-07T23:05:00.000-08:00

What makes a Singaporean?

huh, I dunno, but I guess most Singaporeans do not know it either. Maybe it's time to look for movies about this....

"12 Storeys" (check out: http://www.zhaowei.com/12.htm)
We watched the film in a Pol. Science class. Pretty interesting study about the daily-life and anguish of 08/15-Singaporeans, narrated by somebody who just committed suicide from the 12th floor of a typical HDB flat (hey man, I also live on the 12th floor). The taxi driver meant, the higher level one jumpes, the higher his soul bounces back to heaven...
Anyway, his spirit/ghost wanders around and reveals some soul-shaking realities.
- A robust woman who has to take care of her (step-?)mother who constantly denigrates her and openly states her predilection for the second (step-)daughter, Rachel, who later drives by in a BMW 7-series car.
- Khor, the mid-20 brother who has to take care of his two adolescent siblings, both unwilling to learn, but eager to party. It's like the old generation (go for education, for a bigger flat/condo) tries to teach the younger (go for fun, sex, alc), but fails.
- Ah Gu, aged 45 or so, owner of a food stall, achieved to seduce a beauty in the PRC to Singapore, but her arrogance , affairs and vanity drives him crazy. It's like a petty pride of running one's own business mixed with the cliché to bring in a cute lady, eager to marry (a would-like to be) rich.

Lot's of half-veiled jokes about Singapore's mentality. The fear to lose out, kiasu, is here, as well as the reproach on ppl who (ab)use elevators as pissoirs (guess what: in my flat we have a plate in the lift that says "urinating is forbidden", funnily they forgot to mention the fine you'll face). However, ppl still do this (as I can smell sometimes in the morning…) there or on the corridor (btw: go once to St. Petersburg in Russia, pick one of the free English "St. Petersburg" and there you'll get as well complaints about ppl shitting in staircases…).
So, what's the success of gov campaigns if ppl do not share does values intrinsically? It's possibly more about bottom-up value building and ownership, rather then top-down inculcating…

All in all, it's depressing, but still worthwile to watch.

dies cacatus - not even Roti Prata works

2007-11-01T06:43:00.000-07:00

Such a nuisance. You wanna start a day early with reading, but are not concentrated, so you go to the library, but fall asleep. The only thing you get done is filling out a survey, which is the second part for gaining 1% of MPW's grade.
In AMP class, you're the only one who has not an appointment with the Prof for the paper (since you haven't done anything since 6 weeks on your topic).
After class, you go on with reading, but don't get far, too tired. With some books grabbed for reading at home you get to Dhoby Ghaut's MRT station, and miss two trains, because other ppl are more street-smart (kiasu - fear to lose out, so Singaporeans use their ellbows to get into the subway coach) than you.
Finally, at home, you try to cook Roti Prata, since this is one of your favorite dishes and always made you happy - except this time, when the fucking stuff is stuck in the frying pan - even though you poured in more than 1dl olive oil (the fucking pan seems to suck up the oil). So, after the first pancake, the pan was ruined (cf. picture), and the following dough bags, soaked up in oil, but not able to get fryed.
How can you end such a day happily?
.. by writing on the pol science paper?

nov 1, 2007

2007-10-30T09:36:00.000-07:00

Wŏ kĕyĭ zuò shénme rŭguó wŏ de (nǔ?) péngyou bù xĭhuān wŏ hé rŭguó wŏ méi you chénggōng?

bäää, I don't even know how to write...

Wǒ bù nûlì, wǒ shi nán guò

2007-10-30T09:08:00.000-07:00

After my Bachelor thesis, I thought I would have grasped how you write a decent paper in some sort of a scientific sense (this is not to say that the thesis indeed met this standard, prob rather not), but here at SMU, things seem subtly different.
You give a presentation about a topic and try to structure it in a sense which reveals your reflections as well as it is factually rooted. But the ppl considered it as too dense/complicated. How come?
Somehow, the dysfunctional team managed to finish the slides of the presentation 30min after it should have started, instead of starting at 12am, the class watched a movie (beause the prof was late from another meeting) about an ancient Thai princess (Suryothai or so) which enabled us to put together the last slides. We then started to present at 12.47, but things still have been screwed up in almost any sense.
An now, a week later, we didn't manage to come up with the follo-up summary of our presentation as scheduled (funny is that here you can be late with delivering things, just say you would not be able to meet the deadline and you are granted some excess days; at the University of St. Gallen, we're kind of much more strict on this...). somebody and I of 5 in my group did deliver on time. However, 2/3 of my part (which was clearly defined until 2 days before the presentation, where I had to change due to others wishes; we had huge overlaps in our topic assignments) have been cut away. Now the paper is even more superficial than ever, with less sources, less differentiated discussion of our question. But it "looks" nicer, with fewer paragraphs (but a simplified cartoonization of the topic) and probably finds a better reception.
Are we at university or in kindergarten (with some fairy tales)?

Another nuisance:
Never apply for a PRC visa from Singapore, if you're US citizen. They rip you off with the highest fees (155 Sing-$)! But I have no other choice...

Politics: Swiss elections and Singaporean Gugus

2007-10-24T16:41:00.000-07:00

Tja, hard to admit, but true: the liberals have lost in the recent Swiss Federal Elections to the Parliament. Even though I contributed my ballot from Singapore, they lost 5 seats in the National Council, buhuhu..

Apparently, the political debate throughout the campaigning season wasn't that sophisticated. Ok, you might think that is usual, but the Swiss standards are somewhat higher for this, I dare to say (at least compared to US, Germany and so on...). But this year, the parties didn't succeed in bringing up the hottest topics which need mending (e.g. pension funds, welfare system, decreasing competitiveness, education, trade openness, and: INTERGENERATIONAL EQUITY), no ... but they succeeded in delivering a "zoo" of issues:
One party came up with a goat as mascot, using sheeps to campaign...

and this caused an international uproar, interpreting racism and all kinds of other displeasing things. Sadly enough, even the serious foreign newspapers (BBC, and some others, ahem...) seem to be unable to put things in an appropriate context and interprete things in a more differentiated fashion (admittedly, this is not allto differentiated here, but hopefully funny; if you're interested in a serious debate about any topic- which I welcome - email me: adrian.i@gmx.ch).
This here is not about defending the stupid SVP campaign (I am member to the FDP, their competitor:-), but reigning in exaggerating reports about Switzerland. We're neither racist, nor more concerned about migration and other cross-national issues than other societies in Europe, but there are maybe more channels to discuss (and abuse) such issues in my country than in others (and so it happens that countries withouth many security valves get disrupted either through a detrimental referendum once in a decade à la française or through the dangerous "live apart and soon against"-approach in some UK-suburbs).

however, it's time for those elected now to act and push through urgently needed reforms.

Singapore does this, but maybe in a somewhat strange fashion (yeah, one big party, so why need discussions?). Look at the recent talk about (keeping) the ban on gay sex. Apparently, the Singaporean society is for once moving faster than it's political class and thus the conservative stance (hyporcritical enough, cf. below) taken by the parliament came under blogging-fire:-)

Is this a credible, feasible stance - to say, ok, actually it is forbidden to be gay here, but we won't enforce the law -? This looks just ridiculous to me, as a liberal, in several ways:
- Legal security/rule of law: How can you be sure that the government in the end does not crack you down? They are entitled to by law, but promise they wouldn't do. So in the end, you're left with an arbitray gov. that can do what and when they want it. This is generally speaking a very encouraging symbol to live here...:-(
- Signal to the public: Does this foster honesty and liberty, "ownership" and self-responsibility? At best, the rule fosters people to act hidden and secretly. I cannot see how such a thing could foster a society's development. With this rule, the gov. obviously is ok with allowing the society to break the rules unless it deems its extent as inappropriate.
- The fear that gays would start to dominate/influence the mainstream and disrupt values: Maybe Kasper-Li erred in reading his notes. What kind of funny argument is this? Does he fear that society is unable (or unwilling) to tolerate diversity? Why then does Singapore take so much pride in promoting it's cultural and ethnical diversity? Or does he belief he knows it better than the public and has to educate them (the old top-down story)?

(but these are maybe only some hastily keyed down points of a stupid white man)

The Name is Lee - Kasperli:-)

2007-10-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

You know my name...

The Prime Minister is called Lee, Lee Hsieng Loong to be precise; his father is also Lee (maybe the Schmutz-li?), Lee Kuan Yew.
(for all non-Swiss who read this: Kasperli is famous comic and audio figure for children, we pronounce that like Casper-Lee; Schmutzli is the type of guys who accompany the Santa Clause and usually are there to punish the bad kids; known at least in the German-speaking area).

What happened? Well, if something happens, it is not the happening that grab media attention, but it's Lee, or his response, comment etc. on the happening (cf. news about the Fed's 0.5%-interest rate cut some weeks ago, the biggest story was not the Fed's deed, but what Lee thinks the impact on S'pore will be).

Could it be a coincidence? Sure, life is full of surprise. The most widely used name in Mandarin is Li (or anglizised Lee). But isn't there something?

Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister Singapore (1959-1990; actually only chief minister till 1965, since Singapore was before not sovereign).
- His son, Lee Hsien Loong PM since 2003;
- his daughter-in law (PM's wife), Ho Ching, CEO of Temasek, the government-run Investment fund (117bn$ assets; one of those sovereign wealth funds the Europeans are scared about right now, due to heavy boost of investments from the Arabs).
- his son Le Hsien Yang, former CEO of Singtel (partly gov-owned telecom firm) is CEO of F&N (big player in dairy/food market) and gets a nice job at DBS, a big bank here.

Coincidentally the Lee-clan seems to own also the biggest fire-insurance company which has exclusive contracts with all HDB-flats.
Coincidentally, Lee Kuan Yew seems to be still chairman of GIC, the other gov-run Investment fund (200bn$-assets).
Or is all this just gossip? (Maybe we shall ask the folks in Beijing who just gather for their Congress?)

Hey man, life is full of fun, right? Everything is so nice and proper here, except below the surface, and unfortunately the facade is not covering 100% of the reality:-(((

Nepo... nepotism?
At least the Financial Times Asia thought so in its article on Sept 29. Now, they surrendered and officially apologized for an article which could be understood in certain ways ... (FT Asia, Oct 17, page 10) .

Whatever the past was, sooner or later the nomenklatura on the island will see that collusion, intransparency, nepotism and all those nice words hamper development. Funny that all students know the term "meritocracy" (hey, it's from Latin and Greek!) and follow that, but noone seems to care about politics.
Again, ask the folks sitting currently in the Great Hall of the People: In the short-run and in the past it could have made sense to catch-up, but you're doomed if you don't acquire some more proper, transparent and truly competitive habits. Otherwise, "City of Possibilities" will be drowned....

Nanyang (NTU) Asian Business Case Competition (ABCC) 2007, Oct 8-13

2007-10-16T16:41:00.000-07:00

Already the title sounds impressive, isn't it?

Indeed, it was a huge pleasure to attend the ABCC and represent my Alma Mater, The University of St. Gallen with three other Swiss (two of them on exchange at the very NTU itself and one flew in solely for this purpose from Switzerland).
Sad only that the NTU campus is "so far" (25km or so from the Woodlands?) away at the Western edge of S'pore (and it takes ages (i.e. 80min.) to get there.

Cool was the accommodation, the Executive Center, a fairly well equipped Hotel usually used for Manager Seminars or so.

Monday, Oct 8:
I just arrived back from KL at 9.30am in the Woodlands, took a shower, caught my suitcase and was off for NTU.
In the evening we had our welcome dinner with a lot of fun, small games etc. where every university (12, among them Rotterdam, St. Gallen, State Unis of Washington, Minnesota, Florida, South Carolina, UBS Vancouver, Otago, Thammasat Thailand, NTU, HK UST, another NZ school) presented itself briefly.
After the "formal" part we gathered at the pub nearby for a drink and already there you could see how competitive all the others saw their task. Most of them had already a competition at home as selection criteria and have already forged strong team ties. Some have studied business cases intensively. There have been people who were quite laid-back, others might have been over-ambitious...
In comparison, we Swiss just met for the first on Monday for lunch, discussing how life is in Singapore. For all of us, this was the first case competition ever. And for me, as a non-business student it was funny to see how our business-folks would perform.
Funny was that every team got an "ambassador" (= a nanny, in our case a cute one, who took care of the team, gave infos about logistics and so on)

Tuesday, Oct 9:
We gathered in suits for the opening ceremony and a key note speech plus lunch talks at banquet tables. Nanyang business school dean Prof Singh welcomed us - a strange Indian who came in from Wharton School, UPenn, and was on the advisory committee for establishing SMU (one NTU student told me, Singh did not like it there so he changed to NTU --> everybody seem to be extremely keen on his/her own school, often denigrating the others. It this - looking down on others - what you call being competitive????).

The Econ Prof was even more strange. His speech on the Asian Financial Crisis 1997, its underlyings and the future outlook (will there be another one?) was to some extent inflammatory, defending capital controls, blaming the IMF and using bizarre rationales for this. Only after some critical questions came up he started to become more differentiated and serious in choosing his words. But still, I found his way of addressing things completely off the track, influencing poor, unknowledgeable business students about Monetary and Macroeconomics in the wrong way.

During the lunch talk I did not really get along with our Malaysian expert (whose name I still do not know...) and the facilitator who wasn't. He said good things, but didn't understand what I was trying to say (ok, my communicative skills are worst, I know). But why criticize me in structuring the dialogue (when the facilitator was silent and noone had a clue what the topic was all about) and starting with Macro Econ (when the prof's speech was abt this) and then saying exactly the same stuff 15min later?

Tuesday afternoon we went out for exploring Singapore by bus, boat and feet organized by the NTU; this was cool. Some of the pic's are on flickr. The day ended after supper in Chinatown in Harry's pub on the Singapore river bay.

Wednesday - Thursday, Oct 10/11:
On wednesday we got the case and separated ourselves. Our HSG team met, read the stuff and set itself to work. We took the matter quite serious, but it took a while to coordinate us and structure out thoughts. Nobody had an idea at first about the case's Keppel Offshore&Marine firm.
But still, we got some sleep as well (4-7 hours roughly per day? depends on who you ask in our team:-). Other teams put in more time and slept apparently just 2 hours per day during the solution-prep time.
We had constantly hunger, although I ate as much as never before (although the food was not that good, rice and noodles all the time).

Friday, Oct 12:
I handed in the USB stick (flash drive for Americans) with our ppt-presentation at 1.53am, then went to bed. Others have finished at 6.55am, minutes before the deadline at 7am... Asians tend to use every minute to work on the problem, I was told.

We had our presentation at 10.30, but rehearsed too few times and have been prepared not that good. Our team felt quite bad after the presentation in front of 3 judges, since a lot of details went wrong.
The 12 teams have been structured in 4 groups, the best presenting team of each group would go to the finals on Friday afternoon. We competed in our group against Rotterdam (seemingly a holiday-hobby crew more interested in drinking/alc without any Dutch, but Italian, German and 2 Poles) and HK UST.

Apparently, we didn't reach the finals, so we enjoyed them watching 4 quite different presentations.
- Rotterdam: bit unprepared, rushed throught the slides, somewhat bad layout, but a lot of business-style charts
- NTU: professional, but many slides (more to impress?), focus on risk mgmt and due to my drowsyness I didn't really hear any concrete solution.
- Florida: simple, using SWOT and Vision first (as we did...), straightforward recommendations, stripped down-version (it seemed they didn't know that much abt the case/industry), but superbly presented and very consistent/cohesive.
- South Carolina: good ideas, but screw-up with financials (never mention this if you lack some figures and have problems in calculating!!), forgot to treat the oil rigs...

--> Florida won, probably because they have been the most consistend and clear-cut.

In the evening we gathered at the Asian Civilization Museum for a Gala Dinner. In the end, everybody got a nice pen.

Saturday, Oct 13:
I had to leave "early" at 9.30 to get back to the Woodlands and work on papers

KL

2007-10-13T10:52:00.001-07:00

the famous Petronas Twin Towers, Sunday, Oct 7, 2007

KL - glamour next to filth, Oct 5-8

2007-10-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

KL - I clearly remember those days when the Petronas Tower have been finished and celebrated as the World's tallest (office) buildings (now the take pride in repeting "the worlds tallest Twin Towers", in case you're around for a visit...:-). It must have been 1996 or so.

Now, the Twin Towers look still pretty impressive (and are well preserved), but the image I have of KL is a different one. Gone are the days where Mahathir could brag how cool Malaysia is. The facade does not hold (and I am doubtful if it ever has...).
I arrived at the Sentral KL train station (built in 2001), which has somehow not really a functional design - a huge hall, but the space is not used efficiently; there are too few seating possibilities, which makes it hard for you to get on Intercity trains, because all ppl are sitting on the floor with their many bags... and the stairs down to the train tracks are locked - like a bottle neck - for ticket controls.

I walked to the city center (actually, there is none, but at least some spread attractions) and you see it all: Nice buildings (cf. the twin tower Hotels Hilton and Meridien right at the Train station), stupid design (cf. there is no clear sidewalk from the train station, you have to cross multi-lane-highways several times; bad to non-existent directions/arrows), peculiarities (cf. the Tourist Information Center, which is a ruin now, the new one (as I experienced only later) is much more in the Northeast), gigantism (National Mosque), the uglyness of concrete (cf. the Post office building, unfortunately closed Saturday and Sunday, so I couldn't send out any postcards).
But there is also diversity (various ethnicities, diverse architecture)in this bustling, chaotic, but colorful street life (much more than in overly orderly Singapore).

It is pretty hard to assess KL. It has it all and none at the same time. You can see homeless ppl sleeping on thresholds early in the morning (and still it is not so bad that you would need to fear robbery or so). You can see the Jalang Bintang with its touristic design, many boutiques, Western shops (and you ask yourself: is this authentically Asian? It seems to be a superficial facade to attract foreigners, but has no spirit and charme).
You can buy an adidas or Nike bag for 2-7 Swis Francs (they all look the same, only the logo differ - so poor are this imitations... but I guess there are also better ones) at street stalls.
Or you can go to Mydin, a mix between department store and supermarket (and buy maybe leather shoes for 30 Ringgit, 10 Swiss Francs...). Funny is in the Mydin that, as soon as you enter it with a backpack, the zippers get locked, so you won't steal things and put it into it. They do not seem to have an electronic burglary protection (like those gates you usually see at the entrances), so they employ security staff (cheaper solution?). In the Mydin, you do not have cashiers in a row (with desks for your purchases). Rather, they are spread all over the space and this causes not only a huge chaos, but also that you have to carry all your purchases, since you cannot put them on any desk or so.

Somehow, KL is similar to Singapore: You have modern skyscrapers, a Chinatown, some Museums (albeit here centrally located on a hill, which seemed to be a ghost town - nobody here...), a shopping area (artificial Bintang walk), public transports such as buses (ouhh, some are very oldtimers, some are the newest mercedes...) and Monorail/LRT etc., but it looks still a bit strange here.

I spent my time with walking around, visiting the National History Museum (and the Merdeka/Independence Square, which is actually a football field with a 100m high flagpole), the Rahman Independence Memorial on the museum hill and a tour through Chinatown.
I met two Malays and had some talks with 'em. The latter one at dinner in an Indian food stall East of Bintang area (mmhh, Roti Prata with Banana and curry sauce). He was talkative, but somewhat angry on Singapore (due to land reclamation in the channel next to Malaysia/Johore Bahru) and on his own government (due to corruption, bad economic management and unemployment). He did not mention that the gov here is playing with the populist hand. They push (apparently) Islamic values and this threatens to distabilize the "silent" agreements made after the 1969 riots.
It seems not enough that the Malays (majority, 50-60% or the ppl) are positively discriminated and get preferential access to civil service, education etc. The gov wants to go further (according to a newspaper report). tststs, hopefully, they don't err....

On Sunday, I walked to the Twin Towers, but you only can get to the Skybridge (41st floor), for free. U need to queue for tickets EARLY (I was there at 9.44am and got a ticket for 1.30pm, such a nuisance). In the meantime I talked to a Swiss (Sandro), who does his sabbatical, came from HK and Vietnam. We went together to the Menara KL Tower (TV tower, 450m high, much better view than from the Petronas towers).
After this I got to the Sikh temple in Chinatown and then the Islamic Art Museum (but only from 4 to 5pm, sadly). The Islamic Art temple is a very good place to visit - recommended for everybody. I just had to few time for this.

Then I walked back to the Train Station, drinking "100Plus" (a Singaporean electrolytic energy drink; cheaper here than in S'pore:-) and had some Malayan cookies, while reading NZZ (yes, a Swiss newspaper, my parents brought in some copies last week:-).

The train back at 10.15pm had a delay, and again was stubbornly undercooled! Half sick I got off at the Woodlands Immigration Centre on Monday Morning, Oct 8 to rush back to my flat, change clothes, take a shower and head for the Nanyang (Technological University's) Asian Business Case Competition ABCC 2007 (cf. www.abcc2007.org).

More on this later; cf. pic's at flickr

Oct 5: HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2007-10-09T10:22:00.000-07:00

Hei
Incredible, usually just some 5 or soe people would congrats me to my birthday (and usually it is the day where I have a lot of bad luck..). But being abroad, I get tons of congratulatory messages from all over the world, cf.:
from Singaporeans from Singapore,
from a Chinese from Singapore,
from Taiwanese from Hawaii,
from Taiwanese fromTaiwan,
from a Belgian from Belgium,
from a Philippinian from Germany,
from an Austrian from Austria,
from Swiss from Singapore,
from Swiss from Switzerland,
from an Indian from Singapore,
from a Philippinian from Singapore,
from a German from Germany
from Canadians from Canada,
from a Vietnamese American from the US
from a French from France,
from an American from the US.
from Dutch from the Netherlands.
from an American Swede from Sweden,
from a Finnish from Finland,
from a Canadian from the UK
and some others whom I unfortunately forgot to cite here (sorry, I am busy at a Business Competition at Nanyang right now...)

after my Mandarin lesson at SMU I tried go gove some feedback to a German prof here at SMU who teaches a pol. science course, then prepared some stuff for a seminar, heading back to my flat in the Woodlands, preparing my suitcase for the ABCC (the business competition at NTU, see below), taking a shower, catch the MRT to Outram (Southeast Downtownd Singapore), to embark the Train for KL (Kuala Lumpur) at 10.15pm.
This Malaysian Train station looks quite run down here in Singapore and I was one of the few white men using the train amidst a lot of Asians.
It is nice to use the overnight train to KL, you can save hostel costs, but it takes u 9 hours for a distance of about 500km or so. Insane (I guess I would be faster by bike..:-))

The real problem is, I wore (as usual here) shorts and a T-Shirt, but it is incredibly cold in the coach, so I was almost frozen, caught a cough and felt sick upon arrival in KL at 7.25am on Saturday.

Now, wednesday morning, Oct 10, 1.33am, I actually should do something for the Business Competition we're in at NTU (cf. www.abcc2007.org), but I also must do some other stuff.

I'll write about KL and the ABCC later.

ganbei

Last Week in September

2007-09-30T06:44:00.000-07:00

What a week: busy, but not achieved anyting...

Monday, Sept. 24:
Due to an error or misinterpretation in the course Negotiation Skills for Business I loose the negotiation (but indeed I had the best chances to win it).

Tuesday, Sept. 25:
I read just one paper about Korean Monetary policy, thn tried to learn Mandarin with a Chinese, but I fail on how to distinguish a Pinyin z from a c... (orally)
Then there was an interesting panel discussion about China and India and the question of democracy.
After the panel I got to know a UK-German prof, but couldn't talk, since I had to rush on. LAter on, he wouldn't answer my mails.
Then I attended the reception at the Swiss House in Biopolis (near Buena Vista MRT), good food, good contacts, few time.

Wednesday, Sept. 26:
Slept late, too late. I barely manage to review 1, 2 chapters in Negotiotion (due to mid-term exams next week). Then my MPW group has an interview with Leslie, former Singaporean master swimmer, in his "Elements" massage saloon in Orchard Hotel; we discuss our proposal for a employee satisfaction survey.
In his firm, this doesn't exist. If the cheap labor starts to complain, the management screams, try to keep 'em under control. If too many problem, ppl get fired.
I guess you call this "hard-core hammer method of management - hire, shout-shout, fire"

Thursday, Sept. 27:
I should actually organize a seminar still (but just don't get to it), AMP class is interesting, but cannot follow really. Then meet the AMP prof, but he didn't read my (crappy) paper outline, at least I got some new ideas. About grad school application: to be postponed, he has no time yet to discuss/recommend me sth.
Then I had a good discussion about Chinese organizational behavior/university administrative mechanisms etc.
A prof. in pol. science (Gov and Pol in SEA) comes up with the exam content (4 days prior to the exam). It appears that half of the stuff we didn't cover in class nor do we have appropriate material on it available. --> we prob end up learning from wikipedia for this (why the hell then I am at a university??).

Friday, Sept. 28:
I am too slow in reviewing the materials for next week's mid-term exams (4, 3 of those on Monday!!).
In Mandarin we got back our first exam/results. I have only a B (too weak in oral, listening stuff).

Saturday, Sept. 29:
Get up at 4.40am, take MRT to Changi Airport, arrive there at 7am, to pick up my parents (SIA flight from ZRH tba 7.05am). We take MRT to Aljunied, put the baggage in the Hotel (next to the red-light district...), proceed to SMU, where we talk and have coffee.
I learn while they're experiencing the city.
Dinner we get together at Newton's hawker center (boah, you should have seen how much I've eaten, crazy!). At home too sleepy to learn.

Sunday, Sept. 30:
Learning, but growing anger about those fucking exams. Either they seem to ask redundant "learn-by-heart" stuff, but demand a lot to have read, or they are assembled (apparently) that chaotic, that you do not even know how to learn for them.
I go crazy

Cast my ballot - als Auslandschweizer:-)

2007-09-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

Cool, right? I can even participate in the Swiss federal elections to the National Council (200 seats, Lower House) and select the 15 people for my constutiency (Kanton Aargau). I just got the material by mail last Friday and send my list back today.

And today was also the Mid-Autumn Festival (Sept. 25th, varies each year due to the old Chinese Mooncalendar). Actually, I had to clean the flat (ugly, moldy washroom and my room) learn, then a panel discussion (about democracy in India and China, how nice:-) and straight afterwards rushed to a diplomatic reception at the Swiss House, the business and education networking platform of the Swiss Embassy here in Singapore, with Ambassador Woker as speaker. Incredible how many people here are linked to Switzerland!
Later on I got an SMS of my Chinese friend depicting two rabbits (they are the pet of Shi, who flew to the moon, according to the legend).

Zài jiàn - gotta work

ADI

007 vs. 881 :-)

2007-09-22T10:58:00.000-07:00

The first movie I watched in Hokkien (Chinese dialect from the South, spoken also in Taiwan) I enjoyed with a local (and MPW teammate) who taught me about the (for me hidden) wit of the film.
The movie is simply called 881, but plays in a different field than 007. Instead of a never-ending sequellization of British kiss-kiss-bang-bang (which I like, btw:-) it is a local, Singaporean production, depicting the fate of Getai singers.

During the "festival of the hungry ghosts" ("called zhong yuan jie", right?; in the 7th lunar month of the old Chinese calendar, which ends up in the mooncake-filled mid-autumn-festival:) there are set up ad hoc stages (tai), where part-time singers perform (to sing = chuàng ge).

881 (babayi) stands for the papaya sisters who perform well, gt challenged by a techno-influenced girl-group "Durian"; finally the small papaya girl dies (smoked too much!!!).
It is filled with symbolic meanings, exaggerations, sit-comedy but also tragedy (I almost cried towards the end when small papaya goes down). For a foreigner, it is a good opportunity to learn more about this apparently profound Singaporean subculture (Getai).

Check out youtube for some trailers and clips, e.g.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubeLcCnqGWo

Swiss Elections (Oct. 21, 2007)

2007-09-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

Switzerland faces ordinary general elections on October 21, 2007 to its bicameral federal parliament (National Council with 200, State Council with 46 seats; although the latter is not completely elected on this date).

Btw: In case you're from the Canton of Argovia (German: Aargau, roughly 600'000 inhabitants), pls vote for Stefan Huwyler (JFDP, list 4b) --> www.waehltstefan.ch

Since I have registered myself as official foreign Swiss citizen, I'll get the absentee balloting mat sent from the embassy here in the next days:-); they even sent around already an issues of "Scweizer Revue" discussing the topics around the elections.

If you wanna know more about Swiss politics/elections, check out:

http://www.smartvote.ch/index.php
Nonpartisan survey, incl. all candidates and their political orientation (both on the left-right/liberal-conservative dimension as well as on the smartspider-8-issues web). You even can create your own pol. profile and compare which candiates suits you best.

http://www.swissworld.org/
general infos about Switzerland; gov.-funded promotion site, but very good overview and helpful infos.

http://www.bk.admin.ch/dokumentation/02070/index.html?lang=en
Swiss Confederacy Guide booklet. In English only as PDF, but quite essential to get a grasp on the parliamentary mechanics in politics.

CU

Money (I)

2007-09-17T18:03:00.000-07:00

Hey, actually Singapore is a trading city-state. The openness ratio (export to GDP ratio) is more than 180% (compare this to the roughly 50% of Switzerland and the mere 11% in the US or Japan). There are numerous banks here.
But, if you wanna open a new bank account, it is somewhat onerous. Here you gotta wait 2 weeks until you get your bank card, and another week for receiving the PIN code and the access to tranfer money to/from the account. Well, may be I am spoiled, but in Switzerland it takes you at max (!) 3 days to have the account fully operational (card, PIN, e-banking etc.)...
Another difference: OCBC bank here seems to be the only one who exempts you the fee for opening/maintaining a bank account (but only for the first 5 years, and only if you open the account as a student). In Switzerland, I don't pay any fees so far for any account (the exemption lasts until you're 30 years old).
Finally, it seems normal for banks to demand a minimum deposit (!), but again here is only one account who exempts you from this. In contrast, I have never faced a minimum deposit requirement for a Swiss bank account.... the standards/customer friendlyness seem worlds apart.

So now, I just wait to get this damn PIN code to draw in new funds from my home country - meanwhile "sitting dry".

Interesting is is money also from a monetary policy perspective over here (in conjuction with the demanding/rigorous ECON325 course on "Asian Monetary Policy").
The MAS (S'pore's central bank) has apparently hybrid regime of a BBC (band, basket, crawl) in order to tighten Exchange rate and pursues also a goal of low inflation (we don't talk about central bank independence here:-).
More on this later

Mid-Autumn Festival / Mooncake

2007-09-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

After a tiring week and a quirky Mandarin exam on Friday (on Sept. 14 - the writing part was very easy, but listening and then writing the correct Pinyin was apparently considered by most students as difficult; we all laughed in the exam because we didn't understand anything...), I had a nice experience on Saturday evening (pretty in the dark, i.e. after 7pm) at Clarke Quay (ckeck out the hip place on the rather dire site http://www.clarkequay.com.sg/), where a wonderful Chinese explained me the numerous Lanterns hanged around the River (apparently depicting the 100 most common Chinese surnames out of a total of only 593). Originally, Chinese names seem to be inherited matrionially (or matrilineally?)
Some other big devices (i.e. lanterns, in specific shapes) empytomized Conficius, the great poet Li Bai (who wrote the story behind the Mooncakes, if I am not wrong) and a big gate (fixed at a bridge at Clarke Quay).

Further down at Chinatown, there was a big procession with lantern-wagons depicting numerous Chinese mythological items.

http://www.visitsingapore.com/publish/stbportal/en/home/apps/event_detail.html?pageName=home&buttom=detail&eid=7413

Earthquake - Wed/Thu Sept 12/13, 2007

2007-09-13T17:08:00.000-07:00

Ouuu - Shaky!
This is the first time I kind of experienced a vague tremble related to a quite strong earthquake roughly 800km away from Singapore (off Sumatra; 8.5 magnitudes on Richter scale).
There have been several trembles, but I only felt one on Wed-evening and one on Thursday morning.

Strange that the Singapore newspaper (the free paper Today for example, cf. http://www.todayonline.com/pdf_main.asp?pubdate=20070914) focuses exclusively on the effects of the shake on Singapore - even thought it is clear that Indonesia is much more affected. The main message here seems to be "everything ok, our buildings are good" (at least for once they couldn't cite the otherwise omnipresent PM Lee for this event:-).
Are the S'poreans a bit too concerned/preoccupied about themselves and how good they are?

You need to google to check that the effects have been detrimental for Indonesia (cf. e.g.
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0912/breaking74.htm).

Closing Time

2007-09-10T17:06:00.001-07:00

qui cherche, trouve:-)

http://studentloansharks.com/Sounds/SoundBoard.html
--> column "Music", title "closingtime.mp3", by semisonic

lib-sound

MPW/OB/leadership/ "es menschelet" - correct some misperceptions

2007-09-10T10:04:00.000-07:00

Ouh man!

Maybe I should correct some misinterpretations. I am delighted to be in a very good MPW course team (called STALKY, after our stupid first name "Oktoberfest" didn't really appeal to the German Professor...). We get along with each other wonderful and we havea lot of fun (not at all comparable what fellow HSG-Students told me about their group:-).

So, our only problem seems to be to increase efficiency. Silly is that you have 3 hours-15min-blocks of classes (e.g. 8.30-11.45 incl 15min break) at SMU, so if your team needs to be complete, e.g. for a video, you gotta wait till all are together; this is first of all seldom and second if you're together it is hard to find focus and concentration to get the things done (and done in a professional, serious and perfect manner)....

As a European, you ask yourself if you should push more and take over leadership (this is the approach a fellow HSG regular exchange female student has chosen and gotten promptly the attribute to seek "Swiss efficiency"; ähem..) or try to be more accomodative.
On the one hand side you gotta want to have things done, so push ahead; I am used to discuss things openly, confront ideas and opinions and argue tough but fair about them. However, if you propose here something, the others might just nodd or "overhear" it, if they do not like it, but rarely you enter a serious debate in order to find the best possible solution.
On the other hand, you deem it probably as not appropriate to push ahead, since you're a guest in a foreign country and you've got to respect the domestic culture, which tends to be - superficially said - more indirect and tentative when it comes to stating opinions. So as a direct-speaking guy, you would offend those folks over here, which means you better keep yourself in the back and do not try to dominate (as some would probably conceive it).

A tricky thing - I do not have found a middle ground now ... still experimenting (in various group settings).

Ouhh, it's soon 2am, so I gotta go soon to bed (I settled this as the latest time to start "listening to the pillow" after some quarrel with my roommate, woho apparently loves to sleep and allegedly cannot fall asleep if I am still at the comp - if you ask me, no wonder, if you sleep so long, you don't feel tired enough to falls asleep).

Strange is just that you apparently have to do presentations @ SMU in formal attire! So when I got up at 5.45am yesterday (Monday, Sept. 10), I had to grab my suit (at least tie, formal pants and formal shirt and leather shoes) and get to the MRT Woodlands. Crazy - this station is only 400m away from the flat, but you feel terribly oversweatened after arriving there (I suspect that the air humidity in the Woodlands is higher thatn in downtown... arghh).
So it is like a boon to dry up again in the MRT (45min ride to Dhoby Ghaut), before I got to the SMU at 8am to tie my tie and prep for the MPW presentation.

btw: if you're staying late in teh library (as I usually do), you get warned about the closing (midnight) at 23.45 with the rocky song "it's closing time":-)

MPW group meeting, enactment of scenes for movie clips, 5.9.2007

2007-09-05T16:52:00.000-07:00

ADI alias Linus Carver as the emotionally imcompetent tar performer in a HBR business case. Picture taken at 3pm during an 8-hour group meeting (12.30-8.30pm...!!!!) for the course Management of People at Work at SMU.
Ppl here seems to have usually long, exhaustive meetings with vry few outcome... completely inefficient and mind-numbing.

Afterwards, I went to the library to hopefully catch-up with my work. After a brief dinner at Kopitiam (this is like the square-root of McDonalds times 10; i.e. a food-store/court with semi-dependent food stalls which just have to pay a share of their revenues to the Kopitiam-infrastructure provider) I went on to read in the library and guess, what kind of ppl came in at 11pm?
the Indians... also keen to study hard. A quick reminder of how strong and competitive India could become within the next 10-30 years?

2007-09-02T06:12:00.000-07:00

cooking at the common evans lodge "kitchen", 3rd floor. very narrow - and a lot to eat, yeaaah! It was delicious!

1.9.2007: MacRitchie Reservoir visit

2007-09-02T05:49:00.000-07:00

after the strenuous MPW group meeting, it began to rain heavily (typically Singapore: First they say on the forecast that it going to be sunny, then they say it'll rain heavily, then they say it will rain only at noon...) at around 14.30.
In Singapore, you're never sure what the weather is gonna be. Actually, you don't need to listen to forecasts. just make sure you wear light apparel, good shoes and take an umbrella with ya (the army would say: umbrella is "Sackbefehl"). Usually, it is between 23 and 35 degree Celsius hot and very humid. In case you walk a lot around, it doesn't really matter whether you are wet by sweating, or wet because of the rain...
Due to its exposure to the sea - I guess - the weather can change very quickly, sun follows rain follows sun etc.
So, at Saturday afternoon, I took the MRT to Toa Payoh Station, where I arrived at 3.15pm and the sun was already back again. Just fine to go to the MacRitchie Reservoir (lake).

The MacRitchie was built in the 19 Century and subsequently enlarged to serve as a water catchment or fresh water pool for Singapore (the chief engineer's name was MacRitchie). Later on the Brits saw that the need additional water supply which is why they turned to the Sultan of Johor Bahru (Malaysian province next to Singapore) for water (from where S'pore still gets water today - despite some quarrels).

The MacRitchie is quite cool to hike around. There are good trails (one around the lake is 11km), mostly near at the lakeshore. You see some monkeys, turtles and other animals. The nature park is surrounded by two golf courses (at one I briefly encountered a Chinese golf player who spoke German:-).
more infos: http://www.nparks.gov.sg/nature_central_history.asp

Unfortunately, the HSBC (right, in Singapore very much everything is sponsored; e.g. in the Night Safari park you see an old elephant which is "sponsored" by another bank...:-) TreeTopWalk closes at 5pm (hum!!!) and my Chinese collegue and I were not able to get there on time. On 25m altitude above surface, you would walk there 250m around the tree tops.

However, we managed to get on the Jelutong Tower, a roughly 20m high metal device from where you get a great view to the primary (or secondary) forest still in place here.

Unfortunately, I gets dark very early here (sunrise at 7.10am and sunset at 7.10pm...), so we walked in some muddy trails in the darkness. Due to poor trail-arrows/directions, we got on the wrong road and more and more deeper in a second golf course until we reached another lake (Lower Peirce Reservoir, north of the MacRitchie...). Damn!
My fellow took it remarkably easy tough.
check out the latest pic's at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8557504@N04/?xp=1

Back to the Golf Resort Restaurant, we finally reached the bus station. Nr. 167 took us to the Farrer Rd, from where we reached Evans Lodge (at Evans Rd) by foot.

Around midnight, we cooked experimental chinese Hotpot with a more-than-crappy-stove. But we had a lot of fun!

http://www.nparks.gov.sg/nature_central_history.asp

MPW class - group 1, 2nd meeting

2007-09-01T23:46:00.000-07:00

hard working on Saturday, MPW OB guru summary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeWHh4jhvw4

A Globalized Life

2007-08-28T17:02:00.000-07:00

What is it - to lead an international life?
Getting the wake-up call from a Finnish cell phone, while sleeping in a poor bed with a pizza-thin mattress (probably it is not even "Made in China"..) in the heartlands in Singapore (no clue why it is called like this, since it is far remote from Downtown Singapore, but near the border bridge to Malaysia...).
Taking a shower with an old "Elmark"-device (made in the UK), using German (Niveau, right?) shower gel (don't ask me where it was produced).
For breakfast, taking malaysian made margarine and jelly from Australia (but with the description in Arabic, since it was produced for this export market - and finally sold in the Carrefour, which is a French chain, in Singapore) on toast bread from xyz. Well, as European-rooted guy you can't call this bread since they pre-slice the loaf and then pack it in a plastic (!) bag. Except for luxury niche bakeries, you never find a "normal", fresh baked bread loaf on the shelves, but only this gummy stuff (at least they have besides white bread also mixed wheat ones, which are supposed to be more healthy – for me one of the few sources I could brag to live healthy from…).

Ah ja, concerning "health": I just read this morning in the "Today" newspaper (a free daily that is sometimes distributed in our apartment building that the obesity problem in the USA is still increasing. The record hit Mississippi with more than 30% of its population being obese, according to the cited study! (Coincidentally, I just opened a letter from a good friend in the USA).
Incredible, if you think about the economic costs this entails and the future prospects of humankind. The coming generation or our children of now about 5-10 years will be the first who face lower life expectancy due to poor nutrition and a lack of physical exercise. Somehow, it is insane – humans have found ways to fly, hunt and exterminate animals, got to the moon and finally, we voluntarily kill ourselves through being too fat and live unhealthy.
[Admittedly, the author of these lines should keep quiet since he lives unhealthy and imbalanced as well; his "household class" teacher told him once, if he continues to refuse eating vegetables/salad etc he would die in his 30's…]

Compare this to the Asian people in here. Wherever you look, the vast majority of the people are skinny, well trained, pure skin, no acne, look very good and seem to be always happy (at least the come up with a smile pretty fast … and sometimes this does not mean to be happy).
If we Westerners want to remain competitive, innovative and aim for progress, then we need to alter our habits. There is a lot gossip on the streets here, where people find that they will soon be able to outcompete old/aging Europe and fat America!! The West is no longer the one who is being looked up to, but rather who is smiled at…

Actually, I should continue with my main theme, the globalized life…
Yeah, while I type in these words, I take notes concurrently on my Swiss-made scrap-paper book, figuring out what I shall write for a column for a Swiss local newspaper (I will frequently report about my experiences here in Singapore).

Hey – I gotta go, is already 8.30am (usually I would write such things at 2 or 3am, but since my roommate wants to sleep then he forbade me to stay at the computer after 2am, since the clicking/typing annoys him. Interestingly, he sleeps usually till 11am and is not annoyed by my typing in the morning when I get up at 6am…).

btw: I finally got my "Student Pass" yesterday - the official card allowing me to stay here for the semester, issued by the ICA (immigration bureaucrats). I asked for it on Aug 6, they said it'll be ready at Aug 11; when I came on Aug 11, they didn't have it and later on forgot to tell me when they were ready. To my emails I got a very late reply...
So, not everywhere in Singapore this PS21 (public service reform to focus public employees on more costumer oriented values) was successful....:-(((
CU soon

Chinese Customs

2007-08-23T11:13:00.001-07:00

Pulau Ubin - Saturday, August 18, 2007

2007-08-23T11:10:00.000-07:00

6.15am - get awake, take a shower, drying and still feeling wet, rush-breakfast
7.05am - running to the MRT Woodlands
8.25am - meeting a bunch of Swiss people and some HSG-affiliated internationals at Tanah Merah MRT station.

WHY all this? --> the rainforest on the original Pulau Ubin awaits me!

Pulau Ubin is a small Singaporean Island just north of Changi village and near Malaysia. There are a lot of swampy quarries (i.e. ponds, sometimes fenced off, so that they can keep their natural state; sometimes seemingly turned into fish-breeding centers). Further, you get to know how Singapore must have looked before Western civilization hit it. There are a bunch of remote cabins and sometimes you wonder whether you're visiting a ghost village amidst a forest.

You get there by boat (2$ per person if the boat is full, i.e. 24 bucks a boat). After having landed there, we had lunch under umbrellas and plastic protection while a heavy rainstorm hit the island. I learnt, that a popular Chinese curse is "tamade" (=shit) and talked about other peculiarities in life.

After a while, we took off by bike. At first, they seemed to be stylish, with full suspension. But, presumably nobody did ever add some lubricants to the chain and gears... not to mention the suspension fork itself which threatened to break apart at the next road bump... but you get a lot more fun with quirky bikes rather than with none - even though your back is brownish due to the muddy road and the splashes.

We experienced the Mangroves at the eastern edge of the island, with perfect sight on changi airport. A modern waterbridge funnels you around the well preserved seaside. A visitor's kiosk provides you with a map of this nature reserve.

Later on, we criss-crossed the island, until we were exhausted. But the famous German Girl shrine could not be found (there is no accurate island-wide map...).

After the journey, probably muddier as even the road.

PICTURE

2007-08-20T21:26:00.000-07:00

if you wanna see some pic's taken in and around Singapore, visit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8557504@N04/sets/72157601307864919/

MY CONTACT ADDRESS In SINGAPORE

2007-08-20T21:24:00.000-07:00

In case somebody likes to write me:

Adrian Ineichen
BLK 519 Woodlands Drive 14
# 12-281Singapore 730519

cell phone: 0065 9094375 (don't use this for calls, only for SMS)
finxet: 0065 6891 2249

Wednesday, Aug 15

2007-08-15T10:36:00.000-07:00

(thte 37m-Merlion and the Merlion Walk)

SENTOSA - an artificial tourist site which used to be a fortress.

Yeah, tempus fugit. On Feb 15, 1942 surrendered the Britons with 88000 soldiers against incoming 33000 Japanese. In 1968, the military island got the name Sentosa (Malay for peaceful and quiet), and the gov started to transform the island into a tourist hot-spot.

Besides some trashy features, you definitely need to check out Sentosa. You get a great overview on the Skytower (110m) as well as the big Merlion (37m), new insights in the Fort Sentosa Museum in the bunke tunnels created by the British. However, you can also do some mind-numbing activities such as the Sentosa-4d-Magix mad-pirate-movie. Anyhow, just sitting on a nice terrace and chill-out with a S$8-Coffee Bean Chocolate-Banana-Drink while reading in Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" is quite ok.

Instead of walking back (as I did when I came in and had to make a bit detour, since the front side of the island, towards downtown, is under huge construction works) you take the monorail and glide directly back to shopping at vivocity.

Mo-Wed August 13-15, 2007

2007-08-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

turtle/tortoise in the museum (it thought i'd feed him:-)

Hola - I visit the small Singaporean Art Museum (SAM), and then proceed to explore the Arab Quarter (where only one mosque lets me in with shorts..), but I get caught in another Shopping District (Bugis, this time).

Finally, I have a wonderful dinner at Newton Hawker Centre, where I experience Prati (Indian Pancake, with egg), Sati/Satay (Malay "Spiessli", meat on wooden sticks), Hainanese Chicken Rice and some other nice dishes. Pls, don't ask my about how fast my belly is growing (even though I am quite picky...).

Tue, August 14

Finally, I get to the Swiss Embassy (which is on a Road called Swiss Club Link near the Swiss Road:-) in order to become officially an expat (Auslandschweizer) which enables you to vote with absentee ballots (particularly since on Oct. 21 we get federal elections this year).

Then, I walk to the Bukit Timah Natural Reserve, which hosts one of the few originally primary rainforests that still exist in Singapore. It's fine for a visit, but except the insane humidity and some courageous monkeys you won't see any exotic stuff (or I am too ignorant for this?).

Finally, I proceed to the Chinese Gardens that host not only a bunch of Chinese-styled Pagodas, Houses etc. but also a quite bizarre but interesting Turtle Museum (they must have a couple of hundred turtles and tortoises free to visit).

The end of the day I spent at the New Asia Bar on the 71st floor of the Swiss0^tel Stamford with chatting to HSG-exchange and alumni people.

WET!

2007-08-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

It is unbelievable. You take a shower in the early morning, hoping for some cooling are; but no, just as you try to dry yourself with your towel, only the sily move called "clothing" makes you sweating. During the day, at best your arms, legs, palms and your face are wet, at worst (e.g. climbing "Mt." Faber) the sweat just pours out of your skin and you feel like a river flows out of your body.
Probably the best you can get as a city-hiker it to take the daily MRT (subway) from the Woodlands to City Hall which takes 45min, enough to make you feel cool and rather dry (the only time in the day:-(

The humidity is usually around 80%, so whenever you enjoy a rest on a bench or so, you're sure that your shorts stick to your ass and legs like glued together.

Even in our flat which we (two exchange students) share with a Chinese family you sweat like hell (there is no Air-con, buhu). To "solve" the problem, they keep every roomdoor in the apartment open all day (and night); this does not only limit my capacity to work in the night (and early/late morning) - since the tipping apparently annoys my fellows - but robs you the last privacy you possibly could have.

Huh, Imiss the feeling of dryness. I just ask myself if I ever get accustomed to this kind of climate here.

Homo Faber goes Mount Faber - or: Wet vs. Dry

2007-08-15T10:05:00.000-07:00

(another merlion on mt. faber)

Sunday, August 12th

How nice - after talking to a Swiss fellow at the huge Vivocity Shopping Center (those folks over here really seem to know only 2 leisure activities: shopping and eating... but the do not seem to get fat, unlike many Westerners, like me:-() near Harborfront in the South of the City I have the unique opportunity to hike near the equator! Well, the call it Mount Faber (for a Swiss, this wouldn't even go as a hill, since it's just 110m or so high). Anyway, you get a beautiful view to the South (namely, the artificial paradise island of Sentosa) as well as to the North (Downtown).

Even the Danish understood this and built a mission and a church on the Western slope where a Danish preast lectures his 1500 countrymen here (mainly, the DK-Singapore connection is because of Maersk).

Further, I get to "Reflections at Bukit Chandu", where - shit - the Museum just closed, but anyhow, you walk on a skybridge thorugh the foreset and get a great view to the "killing fields" of a battle in early Feb '42 when the approaching Japanese basically exterminated one Malayian defending unit here and slaughtered reportedly 200 doctors and personnel of the nearby GB-army hospital.

After a heavy rainstorm I find shelter in the Kopitiam (this is like an inter-Asian foodcourt just run by one company, operating on a very cheap, but popular basis) and eat Bibimbab (Korean chicken-noodles-vegetables and who-knows-what meal).

2007-08-11T11:40:00.000-07:00

SMU, my uni here for 4.5 months; superbly modern (erected in 2005) in the very center of the city (between Dhoby Ghaut and City Hall MRT)

2007-08-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

Saturday, August 11th, 2007

I got up early in order to be early at the ICA (Immigration bureaucracy) at 8.10am, but what d'ya see there? A huge queue. Aftr 20min I got into the buildling, got a queue ticket. When I finally reached the counter, the lady let me waiting only to refuse me (I shall pick up the damn students pass at counter 22, not counter 9). well, counter 22 does not have a queueing automaton, so how to queue there if you have no number assigned? After some quarrels I got at counter 25, where I was ultimately able to ask for the Student Pass only to recognize that they don't have it prepared (even though I was confirmed last Monday, when I travelled to ICA the first time) that I shall come and pick it up at Aug 11.
So they told me to wait at a coffee shop nearby and send me an SMS when I could come and pick it up.
After 1oam, I had no nerves and went to the city for sightseeing, fuck this pass-damn thing (and for this card I stood up at 6am... 4 hours for nothing).

It was cool to hang into the Raffles Hotel (prob. the most expensive luyury hotel in the city) with adidas shorts and a cheap, white T-shirt. They have an own "museum" (well, 3 small rooms stuffed with pic's and memorabilia), which was worth the visit, you'll get a better hint how the city evolved (cf. the old map of 1893, where the seashore was directly at the Raffles; nowadays, Singapore consists by 1/6 of reclaimed land...).
The Raffles is a huge complex, emerged in the 1880's, but was nearly gone in the 1970's (rotten).

After that I paid a visit to the Philatelic Museum (who knew that the most expensive stamp was sold for 2.6m Swiss Franc - yes, it was sold in Switzerland albeit it was a Swedish stamp). Further, I learned that I was born in the year of the boar (1983, acc. to the Chinese Calendar) and the 2007 is another boar-year (those ppl would be "intelligent, creative, kind, orderly ...", the plate said:-). Needless to say that the Singaporean Post had some stamps with boars. The first stamp obviously was printed in Singapore in 1854 (after its invention in the UK in 1840).

Highly recommendable is a visit to the Fort Canning Park (or hill). There, you can enter Battle Box, a British bunker, built in the 1930s, but lost in Feb 15, 1942 to the Japs after the Britons surrendered Singapore (which was militarily a shame). The hill as actually home to Stamford Raffles (at the Eastern edge of the hill) 1819 onwards and used as gov.-seat till 1859, when the army began to built a fort, which was demolished (except its gate) in 1926 in favor of the construction of a water reservoir pool.

To chill out, I checked out Merlion Park and the Starbucks at One Fullerton.

2007-08-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

Hum, ndp consisted mostly of a big military parade (seen from a video screen on remote Orchard Road); obviously the Singaporeans are quite proud of the conscription army (they have a compulsory 2-year-education for all men and then subsequent courses; comparable to Switzerland, except that our terms are much shorter:-). However, their active duty soldiers just make 70'000 and the reservists 300'000 (at least if I understood the ads correctly on the big screen at noisy Orchard).
They seemed to have invested quite heavily in technology/military equipment (F-16 even with Block 52 standard, F-15, Longbow Apaches) but still drive around with some old stuff (AMX and M-113 "coke bins" due to their light armor). They even have the Swiss Oerlikon 35mm cannon:-)

Unfortunately, I haven't seen the fireworks (which reportedly only lasted for short 10 minutes) as I was having Chinese dinner. Apparently, it seems (at least to me) ridiculous that Singaporeans are denied of buying or owning fireworks (that's probably the reason why everbody wanted to grab a ticket for the official show on the Marina as they have been distributed to an online bidding process).

I finished the evening at the Riverside/Clarke Quay area where a lot of nice pubs/bars etc. wait to be explored by well-equipped wallets.

2007-08-08T22:32:00.000-07:00

indische Kunst im Asian Civilizations Museum,
Tue, 7 Aug 2007

9 Aug 2007 - Singapore National Day

2007-08-08T20:53:00.001-07:00

Hei

The folks around here celebrate their nation's 42nd birthday with the NDP (or National Day Parade) at Marina South (with gaining its independence in 1965, this multicultural country is still very "young"; . Solely for this purpose was a huge swimming platform constructed which serves as a stage for the events today (cf. http://www.ndp.org.sg/ for more infos).
Interestingly, they have 2 current national day songs (who knows for which purpose... may be to whip people up to go ahead ... alias "Malujah Singapura", which is on the national coat of arms).

Btw:
If you think that Singapore is too cool (like my Chinese fellow Gu Zhimin, with whom I share a room in a Chinese apartment in the Woodlands here; he's from Shanghai, so they tend to have up to 39 degree celsius in summer), check out some pic's made in Qatar last Saturday.
I had a stopover in Doha (yes, the Doha of the WTO Doha-Negotiation round). Unfortunately they do not even have a Tourist Office or Visitor Center, so you are advised straight from the airport to go to one of the many hotels (although, half of the hotels are under construction at least in the West Bay Area).
Sadly, the Weaponry Museum and the National Museum were closed (which I experienced only after some sweat-provoking walking, uff), so after being forced to take a rest under a palm tree, I checked out some Souq's (=markets, malls) which unfortunately close between noon and 3.30pm... (siesta in Arabic?) and finally ended up in fleeing to the City-Center Mall (western styled), where they have built an ice rink (yeah, what else could you do if you have too much money, too hot a weather and no else ideas of leisure than watching movies and go shopping?).

I think I gotta go now and check out Singapore's City on its National Day. CU later

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8557504@N04/

Blog start

2007-07-31T05:33:00.000-07:00

Oueeeh!

Cool! The first time blogging.

ADI (preparing for departure to Singapore)