Wednesday, April 28, 2010

“China vows to boost exports of cultural products amid trade deficit - People's Daily Online” plus 3 more

“China vows to boost exports of cultural products amid trade deficit - People's Daily Online” plus 3 more

China vows to boost exports of cultural products amid trade deficit - People's Daily Online

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 06:55 PM PDT

China's Minister of Culture Cai Wu has vowed to boost the nation's exports of cultural products to address the nation's deficit in cultural products trade.

Figures from the ministry show average revenue from one foreign performance in China is ten times that of a Chinese performance aboard.

"In recent years, our country's export of cultural products has increased. However, the trade deficit in cultural products remains unchanged," Cai said in a report submitted to the 14th session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress, the country's top legislature.

Cai said the channels for exporting the nation's cultural products and services are still narrow while the competitiveness of Chinese cultural products in the global market is lacking.

The average annual earnings of Chinese cultural products and services is only 100 million U.S. dollars -- which is "even less than the annual turnover of a single famous overseas circus," Cai said.

Cai said the nation lacks works of profound ideas, unique styles and advanced technologies, citing industrial problems such as a lack of original ideas and inadequacy in research and production.

Cai urged related departments to expand the market for the nation's cultural products and to boost technological innovation and the attractiveness of cultural exports.

He also called for "great efforts" to support music, dance, acrobatics, film, animation and other cultural products, especially those with ethnic and traditional characteristics, to build internationally acclaimed brands.

Source:Xinhua

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The Lack of Cultural Agreement Roars, The Eurozone Mews - Seekingalpha.com

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 08:06 PM PDT

Economic systems are the result of cultures. Where there is little cultural agreement, the economic system will be unstable, as will be governmental action.

No, this is not another "Rules" post. But this is a post about the Eurozone and Japan today. Japan faces trouble, but there is cultural agreement on what should be done, so there is no great crisis, though the demographics may force issues eventually.

The Eurozone does not publicly recognize that there are large disagreements over what economic policy should be. In the countries that are in economic trouble, there are many that push their governments to spend more on them, forcing the governments to borrow more. This is particularly true of the unions.

My view of unions is that they slowly kill whomever they serve. Industries with high unionization die eventually. Countries that support unions die slowly as well.

Unions introduce inflexibility into the economic process, which has a huge cost eventually. Greece is controlled by its unions. They are willing to seek their own prosperity even if it leads to the destruction of the nation. They don't think the nation will be destroyed, but think that there are parties in power that hold back value from them, and they must be opposed, deluded fools that the unions are.

But there is a bigger problem for the Eurozone. What do they do about Portugal, Ireland, Spain, and maybe Italy? Yeah, the Eurozone could rescue Greece, but could it rescue Spain? The answer is simple, NO. But rescuing Greece discourages Spain from taking hard actions.

There is a lot of moral hazard involved in rescuing countries in the Eurozone. Far better for nations to rescue banks that have lent to Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain, Italy, etc. From what I have read, Europeans don't exist. Nations exist around a common culture and language. Nations in Europe exist, and many act against the concept of a Eurozone.

Both positively and negatively, one can say that the Eurozone can't make everyone into Germans. The Germans exercised discipline that other nations would not. Because of the size of Germany, and those allied with them in the Eurozone, the euro is a hard currency, harder than many cultures/nations with lower labor productivity would like.

Why is the euro weak? Because the present crisis has relegated it to the status of an experiment. Wondering over how Eurozone obligations will be repaid is an issue outside the Eurozone. There are solutions, but they are painful — 1) let Greece become a state of Germany. Not happening. 2) Let the Eurozone pour money into Greece; I'm sure they will reward you by adopting austerity measures, not. 3) Let Greece default, and then, let the Eurozone attempt to ameliorate it. It will be difficult, and I doubt that debts to Greece will be settled at over 40% per euro.

The major trouble is that banks in countries with relatively orthodox finances have lent to countries with liberal finances. Well, who else could have done it, but the banks making the loans are in a fix because their health is subject to the creditworthiness of those that they lent to, which should be no surprise, but we forget.

Thus the big crisis in Europe is really over the soundness of the banking sector. Rather than bailing out nations in trouble, far better to bailout your own banks that made bad loans, and let the profligate nations fail. Remember, the Eurozone was not a promise to support profligate nations, but an effort for responsible nations to share a common currency. If nations are not responsible, it is not the responsibility of the other Eurozone nations to subsidize them.

Do you want to save the Eurozone? Save it by protecting your own banks, and letting profligate nations fail. You will end up with a "hard" Eurozone of nations that are not profligate, and can live up to the demands of a strong currency. The Eurozone exists without the UK. It can exist without Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Ireland.

Subsidies don't work, and that is what the loans to Greece are. The Greeks will just suck them in, and continue their unruly fracas over who gets what. Far better to let Greece fail, and scare marginal nations to clean up their acts.

I don't write this because I want the US dollar to prosper because of a failure of the euro. Hey, I want credible alternatives to the dollar, because it is at best the best of a bunch of sorry currencies, and I am not ready to sign on to the cult of gold. I like gold as a currency, but am not crazy about it as an investment.

My view is that the euro can exist even after the failure of nations that leave the euro, and that euro obligations could still be enforced on defaulting nations because of the large amount of commerce inside Europe.

My advice to European statesmen, including those that share my surname, is to focus on your national interests. The Eurozone is too vague to matter to those who elect you. Focus on protecting your banks, rather than those the banks have lent to, which would waste money.

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Astronomer Galileo represents cultural bridge linking ... - Xinhua News Agency

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 08:06 PM PDT

ROME, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Famous astronomer Galileo Galilei's passion for scientific research and human progress represents a cultural bridge linking China and Italy, an Italian scientist said Wednesday.

"Paradoxically, Galileo was better known in China than in the Western world. The people there read his works in Chinese, translated by the Jesuit missionaries, and started to venerate him as the father of modern science," said Antonino Zichichi, president of the World Federation of Scientists and head of the Italian research center, Fermi.

Speaking at the inauguration of a six-meter high Galileo bronze statue, Zichichi said the Chinese people were the first to really appreciate the work of Galileo.

It was donated to Italy by the prestigious Chinese Center of Advanced Science and Technology (CCAST) and designed by its president and the Nobel laureate physician Tsung Dao Lee.

The statue, called "Galileo Galilei Divine Man," has been placed in the inner court of one of Rome's most beautiful and ancient churches: the breathtaking State Basilica St. Mary of the Angels and Martyrs, depicted by Renaissance genius Michelangelo.

Zichichi explained the gift stood as the coronation of 30 years of scientific and technological collaboration between China and Italy in many pioneering fields, including medicine and physics.

"Our partnership has strong cultural ties with the figure of Galilei," he said, recalling that the Chinese government had celebrated the Italian astronomer in 1991 with the issuance of commemorative postcards.

Zichichi highlighted the many contributions of Galileo to scientific and human progress, including space exploration through his powerful telescope and the spreading of the universe's sun-centered theory.

The statue donation ceremony was attended by Italian Culture Minister Sandro Bondi, who praised the event as further boosting bilateral relations and friendship between China and Italy.

"It's an important step, paving the way for the celebration of the Chinese Culture Year in Italy," Bondi said.

Transport Minister Altero Matteoli said Galileo was part of Italy's cultural and scientific heritage, embedded in its DNA.

"Galileo is what makes Italy a great and advanced country, despite the precariousness of our industrial system, mainly composed of small enterprises," Matteoli said.

"Galileo's genius today lives among Italians. We must be thankful to him for this," he said.

Galileo (1564-1642) pioneered the experimental scientific method and was the first to use a refracting telescope to explore the universe, which led him to make ground-breaking astronomical discoveries, such as Jupiter's satellites, stars in the Milky Way and the moon's craters.

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Multi-Cultural Center's Impact on Hispanics - KELOLAND TV

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 03:56 PM PDT

SIOUX FALLS, SD - People who rely upon the Multi-Cultural Center to welcome immigrants to Sioux Falls are hopeful the embattled center will emerge stronger than ever.

The Spanish Speaking Community Association opened up an office last year on the second floor of the Multi-Cultural Center to help Hispanic immigrants adjust to their new lives in Sioux Falls. But Juan Bonilla says the recent turmoil surrounding the Multi-Cultural Center has given some Hispanics the wrong idea that the center is closed.

"We have people talking everywhere and sometimes that makes the people confused," said Juan Bonilla of the Spanish Speaking Community Association.

Bonilla says he's troubled by a study released in February that says the Multi-Cultural Center isn't reaching out to certain ethnic groups. Bonilla says it's important that Sioux Falls embrace people from all ethnic backgrounds.

"Because all of them struggle and have the same needs, so that is important to maintain and sustain this Multi-Cultural Center, to help them," said Bonilla.

Bonilla says he's been approached by people in the community urging him to seek the vacant director's job with the Multi-Cultural Center. Bonilla says he's interested in the position, but the center would first have to get its house in order.

"And they want to take my application, or anyone over here that can do that, perfect," said Bonilla.

Bonilla says it's important for the center's board of directors to sit down with a wide range of ethnic groups to improve the center's image and recommit to a mission of serving all the people of Sioux Falls.

The Spanish Speaking Community Association plans to add a computer class at the Multi-Cultural Center this summer. The classes would teach both kids and their parents how to use computers, to help with school work and to apply for jobs.

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