Thursday, December 29, 2011

The Enigma of Long-Term Unemployment



The Enigma of long-term unemployment a possible explanation. The story's conclusion is below and the title and the authors; Richard Peach, Josiah Bethards, and Joseph Song.

Labor Force Exits Are Complicating Unemployment Rate Forecasts



The labor force participation rate has fallen sharply since the previous business cycle peak in fourth-quarter 2007. The decline has been more pronounced than one would have predicted based on the trends of the past decade, such that the participation rate is roughly a full percentage point lower than its underlying trend. Forecasts of the U.S. economy for the next several years that are quite similar in most other respects could have quite different paths for the unemployment rate depending on the assumptions made for the labor force participation rate over the forecast horizon. Moreover, a declining unemployment rate does not necessarily imply that the labor market is tightening if it is due to a decline of the labor force participation rate. "



Sunday, December 25, 2011

Santa Tracker

Now Santa is in South America ,,,Peru...

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

"Live with Dignity" Rajabhat University Research



What does $40 dollars means to me? It means the difference of living off $5 a day and living off of $6 a day. A big increase of the UN MDG goals'. It means to me "Live with Dignity".


"Live with Dignity"

Monday, December 19, 2011

North Korea




North Korean and communist party officials "released a notice on Saturday informing" members of the Workers' Party of Korea, military "and all other people" of Kim's passing, according to KCNA.
The son of Kim Il Song, the founder of the communist nation, Kim Jong Il had been in power since 1994 when his father died of a heart attack at age 82.
The enigmatic leader was a frequent thorn in the side of neighboring South Korea, as well as the United States. There have been reports in recent years about his health, as well as that power will be transitioned to his son, Kim Jong Un.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

G20 Mexico 2012




G20 Mexico 2012 A summary of the goals to be accomplished in 2012 in Mexico during the G20 Summit.

  1. A meeting of finance ministers and central bankers on February 25-26, 2012.
  2. The G20 on Friday February 20, 2012 agreed to increase the IMF resources but by how much is the question. 
  3. The European Debt Crisis continuing caused the IMF to ask for  a lending capacity up to$500 billion.
  4. The European Union consist of the 19 members of major economies to support sovereign finance.
  5. Mexico's Deputy Finance Minister said that it is made up of two parts the European part and the IMF part during the 2 days meeting.
Mexico currently holds the presidency of the G20.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Academic Essay at DD

Latte...

G20 Mexico Summit 2012




G20, APEC and EAS Leaders recognised in Cannes that “global recovery has weakened,
particularly in advanced countries, leaving unemployment at unacceptable levels.”
The end-November OECD Economic Outlook made clear the very real
threat of double-dip recession, with growth forecasts now falling practically
daily. Yet the financial market irresponsibility and greed that were largely
responsible for the recession have not been curbed; inequalities are still rising
to the benefit of the 1% and even more of the 0.1% at the top, while sovereign
debt crises put ever greater strain on the Euro, creating a context in which
unemployment is quasi-certain to rise further. The emerging economies in
the G20 are being affected too, and face particular social tensions in finding
jobs for millions of young people seeking work. And the 1.4 billion women
and men living in extreme poverty face little prospect of improvement in a
context of global economic stagnation.

New E-Book Pricing Scheme



An interesting article appeared in The Wall Street Journal  mentioning Apple, Barnes & Nobel and Amazon.
"The problem of so-called "e-book sticker shock" is becoming a reality ever since six of the top book publishers banded together and agreed to set prices for the electronic books they sell, according to a story in The Wall Street Journal. In some cases the price for the e-version of a book is actually higher than the physical version, the article said."


"“Under the new pricing model, a $25 hardcover is often priced at $12.99 for the e-book. And because publishers receive 70% of the e-book retail price -- while retailers retain 30% -- that means publishers receive only $9.09. Publishers were willing to accept the lower profits because they felt the new arrangement preserved the value of books and encouraged other retailers to enter the e-book market. Indeed, the new arrangement means guaranteed profits on best-selling titles for retailers like Barnes & Noble Inc., which today claims about 27% of the digital books market, as well as Amazon.”"


"“I bought a Kindle when ebooks cost 9.99. Since Amazon raised the prices for ebooks, my Kindle mostly sits, unused. If I'm going to pay 15 bucks for a book, I want to be able to loan it out or give it away when I'm done with it.”"

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

The People's Skype "bifurcated"


The people's skype.

A phone-powered, distributed voice and voting system for the #Occupy Movement


The People's Skype

"This concept first became apparent in the U.K., with the “Uncut” protests. There, student protesters developed a new tool called Sukey to help one another avoid police barricades. " 
"This fall, in New York’s Zucotti Park, occupiers have developed new tools and appropriated existing ones. An early example of the latter was their use of the blogging platform Tumblr, which first gained popularity through New York’s fashion and photography scene. But Occupy Wall Street’s use of Tumblr has transformed the tool itself into one more amenable to advocacy. With every new tag, note and reblog that corresponds to activism, the platform becomes more valuable for organizers."



"Occupiers are also the most recent activists to take a stab at creating a “mesh network,” or a localized, independent version of the Internet. (It doesn’t use central hubs that can be shut down by governments.) During the Egyptian uprising in early 2011, mesh networks garnered interest as a viable workaround for future Internet blackouts, like the one instated by Hosni Mubarak. The Egyptian experience inspired projects called Open Mesh and Apps for the Apocalypse. And now Occupy has ignited The Free Network Foundation which, like its precursors, aims to harness the momentum of today’s protests to create technological solutions that will serve actions of tomorrow."
"The new tools that have emerged from Occupy protests are direct responses to user needs. For example, when it became clear that cellphone microphones were insufficient for disseminating information across Zucotti Park, technologists joined with activists to create a phone-powered tool for real-time information sharing. The People’s Skype turns many phones into distributed PA systems, provided the devices have speakerphone capability and their users know the dial-in and pin number. The tool also allows for real-time voting using mobile keypads."
"A new application for Facebook called the Occupy Network provides a simple but important fix for online organizing. Rather than sifting through the various groups, pages and events related to occupations, anyone can use this app to search by location and see which of his Facebook friends are involved."
"Technology and social networks haven’t yet been able to accurately anticipate the needs of would-be users. Only enhanced communication between technology developers and users will foster advancement. Until then, major movements are taking the reins."

"Once upon a time, when major news events were chronicled strictly by professionals and printed on paper or transmitted through the air by the few for the masses, protesters were prime makers of history. Back then, when citizen multitudes took to the streets without weapons to declare themselves opposed, it was the very definition of news — vivid, important, often consequential. In the 1960s in America they marched for civil rights and against the Vietnam War; in the '70s, they rose up in Iran and Portugal; in the '80s, they spoke out against nuclear weapons in the U.S. and Europe, against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, against communist tyranny in Tiananmen Square and Eastern Europe. Protest was the natural continuation of politics by other means."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101745_2102132_2102373,00.html #ixzz1gWDrFQHu"

Mobile English Free for Awhile


From the US State Department, it is free for awhile. You be the judge...
Mobile English

Friday, December 9, 2011

How Mobile Technology is Reshaping the Global Landscape Seminar


Participants can follow the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #CTIMobile.
"With smart phones now outnumbering personal computers, there has been a sea change in the way people access and share information. Powerful mobile devices and sophisticated digital applications enable users to build businesses, access financial and health care records, expand educational opportunities, conduct research and complete transactions anytime, anywhere." 

"On December 8, the Center for Technology Innovation at Brookings will launch a new mobile economy project, which will examine and document the impact of the mobile revolution on the economies of developed and developing countries, with a forum exploring how mobile technology can ease the everyday lives of Americans. Darrell West, vice president and director of Governance Studies, will moderate a discussion with Chris Dede of Harvard University and Allan Friedman of the Brookings Institution. Peggy Johnson, executive vice president and president of Global Market Development at Qualcomm, will provide opening remarks."

"After the program, panelists will take questions from the audience."

Friday, December 2, 2011

Academic Essay "Written Word" at Starbucks The End of Year Summits Under The G20 Framework


Introduction:
The annual summits, which begin last month, started with the G20 and lead to the APEC Summit.
The ultimate goal agreed upon by all the countries is to bring about a "Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific" (FTAAP) by 2020. There were no divergent views among the countries.


Point 1:
There have been many Summits over the last two years, and a creation of frameworks of economic partnerships. The ASEAN nations are at the core; ASEAN + 3, which involves Japan, China and Republic of Korea, or ASEAN + 6, which adds India, Australia and New Zealand. As well as, a joint research on a Trilateral FTA among Japan, China, and the ROK would be brought to a conclusion in 2011.


Point 2:
The 2011 East Asian Summit (EAS) is the first time the U.S. and Russia will participate. After a decade spent on war, the US can get back to an economic framework. Evidence can be seen, for the first time in a decade, Secretary of State Clinton visited Myanmar. The next worrisome problem are the 11 emerging economies or, so-called N-11, which includes, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Turkey, and Vietnam; that will play a more important part in driving global growth over the next decade.


Point 3:
The policy of how to reach the goal of growth or no growth is perceive as the problem, especially in the realm of economic policy, for example, attempts at multilateral economic partnerships, it is very difficult to get every one to agree.The details of each bilateral agreement between two countries as in the Organization of Economic Cooperative Development (OECD) developed countries manage the lost of control and face to the developing or emerging countries in the globalized world making growth the perceived dominate factor of there is a choice between growth or decline. It can be summed up as (The Dependency Theory), a rich country has a choice of growth or decline and vice versa "the other way around" a poor country has a choice of growth or decline.


Conclusion:
The summits were a missed opportunity in terms of strategy and policy. The world needs a clear macroeconomic strategy for recovery in addition to a framework, which would allow deficit countries to grow their way out of debt rather than get caught in austerity-induced downward spirals. Hopefully, the strategies policies can be discussed at that point. 

Saturday, November 26, 2011

APEC 2011 Framework Under The G20 an Academic Essay



These are analyze of concepts and theories of development nationally for Thailand and internationally under the framework of The Group of Twenty Nations.  These past three weeks in deepening the trust among national leaders on the world stage. The bonds of friendship can be seen between Japan and ASEAN especially during the flooding of Thailand can be seen in the global economic realm.  The mutual sharing of experiences in disaster management within the framework.

The framework which begin with the G20 leading to the the APEC summit the ultimate goal were agreed upon by all the countries is to bring about a "Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific" (FTAAP) by 2020. There were no divergent view among the countries.

The strategy of how to reach there was the problem. There has been a creation of frameworks of economic partnerships. The ASEAN nations at the core, ASEAN + 3, which involves Japan, China and Republic of Korea, or ASEAN + 6, which adds India, Australia, a New Zealand. As well as, a joint research on a Trilateral FTA among Japan, China, and the ROK would be brought to a conclusion in 2011.

In addition, the Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia (CEPEA) have meeting also being lead by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry. The East Asian Summit (EAS) for the first time the U.S. and Russia will participate.

To conclude, the appropriate form of development to the way of community life and local sustainability during the globalization era one can see there is one consistent actor, Japan.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

OWS Movement's Strategy Leading to Policy Decision



Saturday, November 19, 2011

OWS Protest This Could Happen to You



We are all the 99%, the definition is we are all one paycheck  away from being homeless. This is what it means to be of part of the 99% movement.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

APEC High Level Policy Dialogue on Disaster Resiliency 2011



This is what the APEC 2011 High Level Policy agreed to in bullet form for public private partnership:


1.     Adopt a “Whole of Society” approach to developing and strengthening public-private partnerships that support business and community resilience to disasters. This includes involving all levels of government, non-government, and the private sector;

2.     Through public-private partnership programs, encourage a greater role for women in supporting disaster resilient businesses and communities;

3.     Strengthen public-private partnerships by sharing information, drawing on best practices, and learning from experiences;

4.     Leverage existing programs and resources, and strengthen partnerships that develop during disasters to sustain long-term public-private collaboration and avoid duplication of effort;

5.     Establish partnerships based on shared responsibilities and resources, with mutually agreed upon roles and tasks;

6.     Cultivate public private partnerships that are open to flexible and innovative ways of working together to build business and community resilience to disasters.

" Whole of Society " approach is very interesting for Thailand, and " Promote and facilitate the use of Business Continuity Plans (BCPs), especially for SMEs," in wake of the recent flooding and clean up in Bangkok. The memories of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March the 11 are still fresh in the minds of the victims also the "Hyogo Framework for Action" help prepare Thailand for the next disaster. Hopefully, together with Asian Disaster Preparedness Center and Dr. Krasae Chanawongse Chairman ADPC Board of Trustees ( who taught me), we will be better prepared. Website is http://www.adpc.net for more information and to help.


United Way of Oconee
United Way of Oconee County 2010
United Way

G20 and Tofu Banks



These percentages are true for China, Thailand is exactly the same, the question are these percentages true for the rest of the G20. An educated guess, they are.
Click here to take survey

Friday, November 11, 2011

G20 France Petition


Please let all of your friends know about the "Make Aid Transparent" petition and pass it along. The Udon Thani Blog.

Thank you,

Syu Jeng-Chyang 

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

The Official Communiqué of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Summit Nice 2011



The G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit in Nice France was also disappointed in results. It followed its big brother exactly the above Communique is only three pages long for those that are curious in reading it. Where is Thailand ??? not even there as an observer no wonder nothing happens so sad.

  

G20 France 2011 Role Call

President Barack Obama stands during a family photo at the G20 Summit in Cannes, France, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011. Bottom row, from left are: President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea; Brazil President Dilma Rousseff; Russian President Dmitry Medvedev; Argentina President Cristina Fernandez; Chinese President Hu Jintao; French President Nicolas Sarkozy; President Barack Obama; Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono; Mexico President Felipe Calderon; South Korean President Lee Myung-bak; South Africa President Jacob Zuma. Middle row, from left are: European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso; European Council President Herman Van Rompuy; Prime Minister Julia Gillard of Australia; Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy; German Chancellor Angela Merkel; Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey; Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh; Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper; British Prime Minister David Cameron; Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. World Trade Organization Director General Pascal Lamy; World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick; President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates; Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of Spain; Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia; Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong; United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon; Internatinal Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde; International Labor Organization Director-General Juan Somavia; OECD Secretary General Jose Angel Gurria. 

(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)


A very disappointed Summit in France, very vague and no mention of the financial tax as 

opposed by the  United States and Great Britain so money talks for the G20. Something 


missing compared to 2009, Where is Thailand ???


http://www.g20.org/Documents2011/11/Cannes%20Declaration%204%20November%202011.pdf

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Udon Thani, Thailand to Clemson, America: Cycle of Poverty OWS


From Udon Thani, Thailand to Clemson, USA, the measure of poverty or the cycle of poverty is the same in rich countries like America to the Upper Middle Income countries like Thailand. The OWS (Occupy Wall Street) protest to the flooding of the streets of Bangkok, the model of development is the same all over the world.

"Shadow Banking" or what ever you want to call it is the same all over the world from China, Thailand to America a vicious cycle that never ends. Even if you throw education into the mix of variables in the regression framework the data turns out the same, wrong model OLS (Ordinary Least Squares). Or shattered dreams...

Sunday, November 6, 2011

The "World Spring" Begin in Thailand for The G20

Most people forgets about Thailand and Bangkok in particular Udon Thani in its part of the "Arab Spring" that begin last year in Tunisia it first begin in Thailand. The "burning of Udon Thani" Administration complex witness by me last year. The protest was the same against "haves and the have nots" with the same demands as the "We are the 99%". The classic battle has been fought over and over again against the elite in Thailand against mostly the poor from the Northeast particularly Udon Thani this time it has been since PM Shinawat fought the battle and lost in 2006. Now he has elected his daughter PM Yingluck, the first female PM in Thai's history. She has an uphill battle being the elite of Thailand was mostly education in America's Universities and America's capitalistic system the same system as the protest "We are the 99%".

This time the poor is different, they have tools, the blog...posted by Syu Jeng-Chyang of Udon Thani...
For more information...a better written story..

The Globalization of Protest


Project Syndicate


Thursday, November 3, 2011

Greece You are on Your Own





"European leaders were preparing on Thursday for the possibility of Greece leaving the euro zone to preserve the 12-year-old single currency."


To save everyone else Greece is on her own, abandon a drift at sea, good luck is all anyone can do, how much is that worth at the bank...?...0...


From the Financial Times a report on the G20 Summit. Do not forget that the G20 economies represents 85% of all assets, they have the power to do so without forgetting about the people. They are watching on the internet for the "world spring" the "social evil doers" are open.



Bad news from Ben Bernanke for the G20

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Bad news for the international community from everyone. Ben Bernanke of the US Federal Reserve "You are on your on own" until 2014 high unemployment and lower growth in the GNP. The European Union is waiting for the details on the Greek referendum "The if you want your money, you will have to wait.". Emerging markets from Thailand to BRIC's more bad news for growth.

The picture everyone is painting is.."you are on your own"... from the international community...The future of the G20 France Summit ,,,Young Entrepreneur Summit...

"The two-day Group of 20 summit officially starts Thursday. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for an emergency session Wednesday night with other European officials after their Greek counterpart announced the day before that he would put a European rescue plan for his indebted nation before voters in a January referendum.
It was unclear what Merkel and Sarkozy would seek from Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, who flew to Cannes for the session. The pair spent considerable political capital to push through a comprehensive bailout plan just a week ago, but it includes some measures that likely would prove unpopular with Greek voters."

"cash-strapped states relentlessly slash spending on relief for people who fall outside the federal social safety net, a new group of “untouchables” is fast emerging, experts warn.
For years, hundreds of thousands of people in dire straits – mentally or physically disabled, homeless and unemployed, ineligible for federal welfare, disability, or food subsidies – could generally count on state or local government largesse for modest handouts of cash to help scrape by. Under the rubric of “General Assistance,” these down-and-out Americans received modest payments – often no more than a few hundred dollars a month – to help defray the cost of necessities including rent, food, clothing, toilet paper, aspirin, phone cards, and bus tickets.
But in the midst of the worst recession of modern times and changing attitudes about the poor, many states have been gradually chipping away at general assistance programs or eliminating them altogether. Only 30 of 50 states currently offer any form of general assistance – down from 38 in 1989. And just this week, Washington State formally ended its “Disability Lifeline” program for an estimated 18,000 to 22,000 economically desperate residents."

Based on the G1 Economic Data others to follow...
Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates is to address the G20 summit on Thursday as part of a continuing campaign for a Robin Hood tax on finance. Photograph: Paul Hackett/Reuters
"The publication of the Gates report comes at a time when the issue of a financial transaction tax has been moving up the political agenda in the UK. The archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, supported the idea earlier this week but David Cameron told MPs on Wednesday that Britain would only back an FTT if it was introduced globally. Andrew Tyrie, the chairman of the Treasury select committee, wrote to the chancellor, George Osborne, asking whether Britain would veto an attempt by the European commission to implement an FTT in Europe.

The City has been lobbying the government hard to resist an FTT but Gates said he hoped the prime minister would allow other members of the G20 to press ahead even if Britain remained opposed. "It doesn't seem that the UK should have an objection when it has a settlement tax of its own," Gates said, referring to stamp duty levied on share deals. He added: "Hong Kong and the UK, which are both big financial centres, have settlement taxes. At the same rate levels it could be adopted by more countries and raise a fair amount of revenue."