A Chinese delegation, now in the United States, is not there to celebrate the beginning of China's Year of the Pig on February 5, 2019. Instead, the visit signals a transition between what has been an extended period of U.S.-Chinese economic cooperation to what students and global businesses need to regard with caution as an impending era of competition.
Setting speculation aside, Beijing, which already uses facial recognition technology to track 2.5 million troublesome Buddhists and Muslims, also expects to be on high alert on other days in the Year of the Pig:
March 10: 60th anniversary of Tibetans uprising against Chinese rule. Dalai Lama subsequently escapes to India and the government he led in Tibet is dissolved.
May 4: The 100th anniversary of a student movement that welcomed science and democracy.
June 4: The 30th anniversary of the crack down on the democracy demonstration in Tiananmen Square.
October 1: A military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of Communist China.
Like global businesses, young people around the world, who will be in China competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics, need to learn more about this important country. When children learn a Chinese tradition includes giving kids money in red envelopes at the beginning of a new year, they will want to adopt the tradition where they live. Adults everywhere already enjoy multi-course meals at Chinese restaurants.
Showing posts with label economics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economics. Show all posts
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Launch A Creative Career Search
I've been noticing job opportunities while reading magazines (and a book) in a variety of fields.
In November's Vogue magazine, editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, wrote about the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund and awards to new American design talent. If you are a young designer in need of money, mentoring, and magic, look into the qualifications for the fund's competition.
Actually, all career hunters should get to know the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) now found at cfda.gov. This is a government listing of all the federal programs, services, and activities that assist the U.S. public.
Vogue's November issue also had an item about non-profit, New Story (newstorycharity.org/careers), founded by Alexandria Lafoi in San Francisco. This is the organization involved in using 3D printers to build low cost concrete homes in places, such as Mexico, Haiti, El Salvador, and Bolivia.
The small print at the end of an article in The Economist (Nov. 17, 2018) invited promising and would-be journalists to apply for a three to six month internship in The Economist's New York bureau. To apply, send a cover letter and 500-word article on economics, business, or finance to:
deaneinternny@economist.com by December 14, 2018.
Large print in The Economist advertised for an "intellectually curious adventurer" with foreign language skills and a desire to live and work for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency abroad.
Isthmus, our free local paper in Madison, Wisconsin, runs ads for those interested in teaching English in China. Just use "teaching in China" as a keyword, and you will find a full array of information on that opportunity.
In the book I just read, Storming the Heavens, the author, Gerald Horne, wrote more than a description of the early aviation history of African Americans. His account inspires blacks and young people of all colors to follow the pioneering pilots who found career opportunities when they ventured to Africa. Those motivated to accept a similar challenge should get to know and benefit from the advice offered at facebook.com/smallstarter.
For positions back home in the U.S., check out promotion and sales positions in Advertising Age.
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Fools Aren't the Only Ones Who Soon Part with Their Money
Money is part of our lives from morning to night and, if we are earning interest, even while we sleep, writes John Hope Bryant in his book, The Memo: Five Rules for Your Economic Liberation. All the things and services in our lives cost money, and we don't have any control over the prices charged for everything we need and use.
But, you say, we do control what things and services we choose to buy. After examining human behavior, Nobel-prize-winning economist Richard H. Thaler challenges that idea. What Thaler has to say in Nudge, the book he co-authored with Cass R. Sunstein, expands on the financial literacy both he and Bryant see as a valuable foundation for happiness in every child, woman, and man in the world.
Financial literacy, like literacy itself, can begin at an early age, when a child learns it's dumb to take two quarters for one dollar. Thaler also used a Halloween trick-or-treater example to show how the investment choices people are given can affect their decisions. If children were to visit two adjacent homes that both offered Three Musketeer and Milky Way candy bars on Halloween, each child might select a different bar at each home. In another situation, if these children could visit only one home that offered the same two different bars and were allowed to each select two bars, they might choose two of the kind they liked best. What would happen if investors were given a choice of putting their retirement money in a fund composed of all stocks and one composed of all, more conservative and less risky, bonds? Most would split their funds half and half, just like the children visiting two homes. Another group of investors could put their money in an all-stock fund and a "balanced" fund that was invested half in stocks and half in bonds. Although they split their money half and half, their retirement depended on the performance of 3/4 stocks, more like the result of the children who took two of the same kind of candy bars.
Thaler cautions everyone about human failings. He cites a distinction between rapid, instinctive automatic thinking and reflective, rational thinking and presents a problem to demonstrate.
A bat and ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?
Cost of ball = x
Cost of bat = $1.00 + x
Cost of ball and bat = $1.10
x + $1.00 + x = $1.10
2x = $1.10 - $1.00
2x = .10
x = .05 NOT .10
In Nudge, Thaler suggests the world could design slight nudges that, like a friend, could help our automatic thoughts make better choices and avoid the bad ones. Students would see the fruit and yogurt before the cookies and ice cream in the school lunch line. Best choices would be the default options offered by manufacturers, insurers, sales people, mortgage brokers, and credit card companies. But Thaler knows our best interests are not everyone's objectives. Reflective, rational thinking really needs to come into play, when there are many options and/or humans have little experience, poor information, and delayed or infrequent feedback about mistakes or success. Firms have a great incentive to cater to irrational beliefs. Suggesting everyone is doing something, like paying for a warranty on a small appliance, can provide a kind of peer pressure. The financial aid staff at colleges and doctors, for example, may be receiving gifts to recommend certain private lenders and expensive new drugs.
Humans tend to cling to the status quo, the monetary decisions they have made in the past, such as buying a new bathing suit every year even if they rarely go swimming. If we choose the TV show we want to watch on NBC at 7 pm, we'll be watching NBC shows until we go to bed. If our first vote for President was a Republican candidate, we may never change political parties. Thaler suggests, "Sometimes it's good to learn what people unlike us like....If you're a Democrat,...you might want to see what Republicans think; no party can possibly have a monopoly on wisdom." He also recommends diversifying investment portfolios.
But, you say, we do control what things and services we choose to buy. After examining human behavior, Nobel-prize-winning economist Richard H. Thaler challenges that idea. What Thaler has to say in Nudge, the book he co-authored with Cass R. Sunstein, expands on the financial literacy both he and Bryant see as a valuable foundation for happiness in every child, woman, and man in the world.
Financial literacy, like literacy itself, can begin at an early age, when a child learns it's dumb to take two quarters for one dollar. Thaler also used a Halloween trick-or-treater example to show how the investment choices people are given can affect their decisions. If children were to visit two adjacent homes that both offered Three Musketeer and Milky Way candy bars on Halloween, each child might select a different bar at each home. In another situation, if these children could visit only one home that offered the same two different bars and were allowed to each select two bars, they might choose two of the kind they liked best. What would happen if investors were given a choice of putting their retirement money in a fund composed of all stocks and one composed of all, more conservative and less risky, bonds? Most would split their funds half and half, just like the children visiting two homes. Another group of investors could put their money in an all-stock fund and a "balanced" fund that was invested half in stocks and half in bonds. Although they split their money half and half, their retirement depended on the performance of 3/4 stocks, more like the result of the children who took two of the same kind of candy bars.
Thaler cautions everyone about human failings. He cites a distinction between rapid, instinctive automatic thinking and reflective, rational thinking and presents a problem to demonstrate.
A bat and ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?
Cost of ball = x
Cost of bat = $1.00 + x
Cost of ball and bat = $1.10
x + $1.00 + x = $1.10
2x = $1.10 - $1.00
2x = .10
x = .05 NOT .10
In Nudge, Thaler suggests the world could design slight nudges that, like a friend, could help our automatic thoughts make better choices and avoid the bad ones. Students would see the fruit and yogurt before the cookies and ice cream in the school lunch line. Best choices would be the default options offered by manufacturers, insurers, sales people, mortgage brokers, and credit card companies. But Thaler knows our best interests are not everyone's objectives. Reflective, rational thinking really needs to come into play, when there are many options and/or humans have little experience, poor information, and delayed or infrequent feedback about mistakes or success. Firms have a great incentive to cater to irrational beliefs. Suggesting everyone is doing something, like paying for a warranty on a small appliance, can provide a kind of peer pressure. The financial aid staff at colleges and doctors, for example, may be receiving gifts to recommend certain private lenders and expensive new drugs.
Humans tend to cling to the status quo, the monetary decisions they have made in the past, such as buying a new bathing suit every year even if they rarely go swimming. If we choose the TV show we want to watch on NBC at 7 pm, we'll be watching NBC shows until we go to bed. If our first vote for President was a Republican candidate, we may never change political parties. Thaler suggests, "Sometimes it's good to learn what people unlike us like....If you're a Democrat,...you might want to see what Republicans think; no party can possibly have a monopoly on wisdom." He also recommends diversifying investment portfolios.
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Don't Only Think Outside the Box, Put More in the Box
Richard Thaler, who just won the Nobel Prize for economics, created behavioral economics. He combined what is known about human behavior from psychological analysis with economic theory. Before making economic policies, he urged policy makers to consider how humans are influenced by their cultures, lack complete self-control, and act on less than pure economic considerations. Policy makers around the world have been influenced by his book, Nudge, which emphasizes how humans are more likely to respond to gentle persuasion rather than compulsory measures.
In many respects, diversification or the combination of fields is nothing new. It's done with stock portfolios and by actors who sing and dance to increase their career options. I remember reading how the structure of trees helped an architect design skyscrapers. If you look at a Jaguar automobile, you can see the jaguar animal inspired its design. There's music in elevators and serious films. In science, the fields of biology and chemistry are merging. Technology puts LED lights in kids shoes and in women's evening gowns.
The more information we can draw on, be it from the arts, sciences, economics, military history, or religion, the better prepared we will be to face the challenges of a very challenging future. Thaler makes you wonder what sort of gentle persuasion, i.e. a nudge, would be better than sanctions to stop the military build-up in North Korea or a spanking from preventing a child from throwing another tantrum.
In many respects, diversification or the combination of fields is nothing new. It's done with stock portfolios and by actors who sing and dance to increase their career options. I remember reading how the structure of trees helped an architect design skyscrapers. If you look at a Jaguar automobile, you can see the jaguar animal inspired its design. There's music in elevators and serious films. In science, the fields of biology and chemistry are merging. Technology puts LED lights in kids shoes and in women's evening gowns.
The more information we can draw on, be it from the arts, sciences, economics, military history, or religion, the better prepared we will be to face the challenges of a very challenging future. Thaler makes you wonder what sort of gentle persuasion, i.e. a nudge, would be better than sanctions to stop the military build-up in North Korea or a spanking from preventing a child from throwing another tantrum.
Maybe we should be creating prompts to foster combinations. What combinations might foster learning, new products, people-sensitive policies?
Thursday, June 22, 2017
Career Choices for an Automated Future
At the end of the day, have any of us thought about the immutable function of nature, i.e. light waves, used to measure distance or why democratic governments recognize their obligation to protect the civil liberties, the rights of their citizens, but Communist governments don't.
Robots with artificial intelligence might as well take our jobs, if we lack the humility to recognize we don't have all the answers and have no curiosity, no love of learning, no desire to read a book, and no willingness to risk the failure of trying something new.
Five thinkers present alternative approaches to future employment.
Personal Touch
Being able to relate, person to person, on an emotional level could be the winning skill for some future careers in fields such as medicine, police work, and religion. What needs are people satisfying, when they check their smartphones, a mirror, or the mole on their arm over and over every day? Are they concerned about social issues outside themselves, life changing measures that offer hope and motivation, reduced anxiety, or a functional benefit that provides more money?
How much does a patient want to know about her or his condition? the risks of treatment options? how long it will be before treatment provides a better quality of life? Some 81-year-olds will arrive at a doctor's office having done extensive internet research about their ailments and ready to take any risks for the possibility of improving their lives, even if costly pills, twice weekly therapy sessions, and monthly doctor's visits will continue for the rest of their lives. Some won't.
Eric Mack, who wrote an article for inc.com, suggests students have opportunities in careers that enable them to do what robots can't: deliver personalized service, diagnose and solve non-routine problems, and enter into a collaborative give and take with others. At Big Think (Nov. 13, 2016), Micho Kaku said robots can't match the creativity and imagination needed by gardeners, scientists, and those who write rock and toll tunes. Amazon, Netflix, and Spotify try to pick the books, movies/TV shows, and music you'd choose for yourself and Facebook thinks it can select only the news and ads you want to see, but maybe you or a person who knows you personally can provide even better suggestions.
.
Cottage Industries
Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba, China's family of Amazon-like e-commerce businesses, expects small companies to use the internet to find customers and sell their products throughout the world. He suggests schools need to prepare students to analyze customer data. To operate on the world stage, he fails to mention a small business owner also needs to understand foreign currencies, laws, and languages. New importers and exporters could benefit from an organization similar to the Food Enterprise & Economic Development (FEED) Kitchen in Madison, Wisconsin. This nonprofit incubator for would-be entrepreneurs in the food industry helps obtain necessary permits; provides kitchen, refrigerator, freezer, dry storage, and dish washing space; and serves as a drop-off point for deliveries.
Microsoft's co-founder, Bill Gates, echoes Ma's emphasis on the need for educational systems to prepare students to base conclusions on statistical analysis. Where Ma's focus is on consumer data, Gates' is on data related to the spread of disease. He stresses the importance of science, engineering, and economics and equipping students to understand what those in these fields can and cannot do.
Think about the book and movie, The Big Short, which entertained and explained the financial concepts of the 2008 housing crash. How can entrepreneurs and small businesses in the arts earn a living on the world stage?
Leader/Servant
David Eli Lilienthal, the director and chairman of the government-owned Tennessee Valley Authority that brought electric power to a region not served by private corporations, made a fortune by taking chances in private business after he left the public sector. In the journals, actually loose-leaf notebooks, he began writing when he was a high school student, we learn he found the business life full of creative original minds, but he also found solving management problems was not enough. He missed the gratification of public service until he found a way to combine it with private enterprise in the big, new company he started. He found he could make a profit by helping foreign countries develop their resources for the benefit of their citizens.
In Conclusion
There you have it, advice to offer personal service, start a small business, or found/work for a major corporation that makes big profits from projects that improve the world. Your choice. As Ma believes, "machines will never get the wisdom and experience that comes from being human."
Robots with artificial intelligence might as well take our jobs, if we lack the humility to recognize we don't have all the answers and have no curiosity, no love of learning, no desire to read a book, and no willingness to risk the failure of trying something new.
Five thinkers present alternative approaches to future employment.
Personal Touch
Being able to relate, person to person, on an emotional level could be the winning skill for some future careers in fields such as medicine, police work, and religion. What needs are people satisfying, when they check their smartphones, a mirror, or the mole on their arm over and over every day? Are they concerned about social issues outside themselves, life changing measures that offer hope and motivation, reduced anxiety, or a functional benefit that provides more money?
How much does a patient want to know about her or his condition? the risks of treatment options? how long it will be before treatment provides a better quality of life? Some 81-year-olds will arrive at a doctor's office having done extensive internet research about their ailments and ready to take any risks for the possibility of improving their lives, even if costly pills, twice weekly therapy sessions, and monthly doctor's visits will continue for the rest of their lives. Some won't.
Eric Mack, who wrote an article for inc.com, suggests students have opportunities in careers that enable them to do what robots can't: deliver personalized service, diagnose and solve non-routine problems, and enter into a collaborative give and take with others. At Big Think (Nov. 13, 2016), Micho Kaku said robots can't match the creativity and imagination needed by gardeners, scientists, and those who write rock and toll tunes. Amazon, Netflix, and Spotify try to pick the books, movies/TV shows, and music you'd choose for yourself and Facebook thinks it can select only the news and ads you want to see, but maybe you or a person who knows you personally can provide even better suggestions.
.
Cottage Industries
Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba, China's family of Amazon-like e-commerce businesses, expects small companies to use the internet to find customers and sell their products throughout the world. He suggests schools need to prepare students to analyze customer data. To operate on the world stage, he fails to mention a small business owner also needs to understand foreign currencies, laws, and languages. New importers and exporters could benefit from an organization similar to the Food Enterprise & Economic Development (FEED) Kitchen in Madison, Wisconsin. This nonprofit incubator for would-be entrepreneurs in the food industry helps obtain necessary permits; provides kitchen, refrigerator, freezer, dry storage, and dish washing space; and serves as a drop-off point for deliveries.
Microsoft's co-founder, Bill Gates, echoes Ma's emphasis on the need for educational systems to prepare students to base conclusions on statistical analysis. Where Ma's focus is on consumer data, Gates' is on data related to the spread of disease. He stresses the importance of science, engineering, and economics and equipping students to understand what those in these fields can and cannot do.
Think about the book and movie, The Big Short, which entertained and explained the financial concepts of the 2008 housing crash. How can entrepreneurs and small businesses in the arts earn a living on the world stage?
Leader/Servant
David Eli Lilienthal, the director and chairman of the government-owned Tennessee Valley Authority that brought electric power to a region not served by private corporations, made a fortune by taking chances in private business after he left the public sector. In the journals, actually loose-leaf notebooks, he began writing when he was a high school student, we learn he found the business life full of creative original minds, but he also found solving management problems was not enough. He missed the gratification of public service until he found a way to combine it with private enterprise in the big, new company he started. He found he could make a profit by helping foreign countries develop their resources for the benefit of their citizens.
In Conclusion
There you have it, advice to offer personal service, start a small business, or found/work for a major corporation that makes big profits from projects that improve the world. Your choice. As Ma believes, "machines will never get the wisdom and experience that comes from being human."
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