The 2008 Financial Crisis and the Flying Geese Model

In the twentieth century Japan embarked on an economic developmental path that came to be known as the Flying Geese Model. The geopolitical milieu after the Second World War provided Japan with favourable conditions for rapid economic growth and industrialization. By the 1950s, many had noticed the success of the model and it was subsequently adopted by other East Asian countries. They too enjoyed decades of remarkable economic growth. An important element of the model is growth driven by export to the USA and Europe. As a result of the 2008 financial crisis, the traditional markets of the geese are shrinking. The new situation poses grave challenges to both the existing flying geese economies and latecomer economies which wish to follow the model. East Asian countries are responding to the situation by broadening and deepening their existing economic linkages and developing new ones. This represents a continuation of East Asian regionalism in the wake of the 1997 financial crisis.     

我爱北京

我叫Peter Gonzalez,来自美国的加利福尼亚。12年前,我从加州来到了中国。在这以前,我对中国是一无所知。当我穿着短裤踏上中国的土地,中国人都用奇怪的眼神看着我。当时是秋天,天气已经很凉了,他们一定认为,这个老外疯了。我心里清楚,我没疯,只是心里越来越兴奋,因为我喜欢上了中国,喜欢上了北京。     

Prospects For Acquired Rights

A notable feature of European Union Directives is that they are initially somewhat loosely worded, necessitating constant (re)interpretation by the European Court of Justice. This process may itself eventually necessitate the publication of a new version of a Directive, once again creating tensions between member states. Few Directives illustrate this better than that concerned with the 'acquired' rights of employees in the case of business transfers which has recently been revised more than twenty years after its original publication. This article sets out to explore, mainly in the context of the UK: the context and content of the original Directive; its particular relevance for the increasingly popular practice of contracting out; the role played by the European Court of Justice in both clarifying and, arguably, clouding the issues; the process of revising the Directive. It concludes with an assessment of the current state of play.     

Public Opinion and Collective Obligations

This article attempts to identify the general principles that underlie public reasoning about collective obligations and that help explain when political parties can create new obligations or defend existing ones. I use these principles to President Clinton’s unsuccessful attempt to create government health-care plan and attempts by President Bush to privatize Social Security. The success of a party in selling – or defeating – an obligation depends upon what people believe about the competence and capacity of government and the value of autonomy – choices made by each citizen; whether people perceive the obligation as providing floors or establishing ceilings by limiting choice or otherwise restricting opportunities for the better-off; and whether the program is more like insurance or more like welfare. A party’s ability to maintain credibility with voters also depends upon whether party leaders can suppress issues that threaten intra-party elite pacts. When attempts to suppress “taboo” issues like “stem cells” or “black crime” fail, the party loses credibility with its voters and attempts to defend or sell obligations fail.

Looking Ahead: Addressing Ethical Challenges in Public Health Practice

Ethical challenges in public health can have a significant impact on the health of communities if they impede efficiencies and best practices. Competing needs for resources and a plurality of values can challenge public health policymakers and practitioners to make fair and effective decisions for their communities. In this paper, the authors offer an analytic framework designed to assist policymakers and practitioners in managing the ethical tensions they face in daily practice. Their framework is built upon the following set of six considerations: determining population-level utility of the proposed action; demonstrating evidence of need and effectiveness of actions; establishing fairness of goals and proposed implementation strategies; ensuring accountability; and, assessing expected efficiencies and costs associated with the proposed action. Together, these considerations create a structured guide to assist decision-makers in identifying potential ethical challenges and in assessing the moral considerations that underlie public health practice - and possibly even, if the conditions are met, reduce the creation of ethical tension. Although the authors'empirical experiences provide the basis for the framework advanced here, their approach remains to be tested and evaluated by public health practitioners.