“Growth now depended more on the operation of markets, something that sits uneasily with the institutional inheritance. Innovation-based growth  is risky, uncomfortably so for security-oriented European societies. It responds to financial incentives, which is difficult to reconcile with the value Europeans assign to earnings equality. It requires continous reallocation of labor resources, which is at odds with the importance they attach to job security”.
Barry Eichengreen - The European Economy since 1945: Coordinated capitalism and beyond.

A pretty good picture of the difficult environment that Europe has to navigate.

A very fine blog on issues related to globalization is posting its last entries. I am sorry to see it go and I wish all the best to Daniel Altman, the host of this incredible source of information about our increasingly inter-connected world.

This is what carrying the Olympic torch thru San Francisco looked like:
The first torchbearer held the Olympic flame aloft triumphantly. She waved to the crowd and set off — and promptly ran into a warehouse.(src).
After, of course, being carried thru London (seconds 25 thru 35 are particularly telling) and Paris (carrying the torch in a bus amids boos and police on roller-blades stands out).

I am wondering if the IOC realizes what these events are doing to its brand (*) because lately the Olympic torch has become the symbol of collaboration with a brutal regime which has to be put out rather than a symbol of peace and fraternity. I am also wondering how things will play out in Beijing, because this is where the next episode of this saga will probably play. Right now the torch is safely out of the Western world where dissent is allowed (**) and it is passing thru a string of authoritarian regimes where it will not encounter any serious resistance.
I would not be too surprised if the Olympic stadium will be empty, most of the Olympic tourists preferring to stay at home. I would not be too surprised if the Chinese government would fill this stadium with people picked up at random from the street. And I would not be too surprised if we will have some similar incidents in Beijing as well. If we do have these incidents the last place that I would be in is in IOC’s shoes: they would pretty much have to wait on the sidelines and pray that the Chinese government will not quell these dissenters (which happen to be all IOC customers) with too much brutality.

Personally, I think that these events are good. They are bringing home to the IOC the dangers of doing business with dictatorships: they could devalue your brand and beat the hell of the people that believe in your values in front of the cameras. Maybe they will think twice before awarding the place where the next Olympic games will take place…

* Unlike the IOC the Chinese government doesn’t have these PR problems. It will probably continue to act the way that it does, brutally that is, after all its interests lie exclusively in providing cheap labor to the Western world and using the gains from it for consolidating its regional position. China is light years away from having any meaningful dialogue with a regular guy living in the Western world.

** The fact that the IOC banks on the success of this torch-bearing missing on collaboration with authoritarian regimes will not be lost on many. If I were in a decision-making position within the IOC I would play down the passing of the torch thru these countries because it would stress this collaboration even more. After all, IOC’s main customer is living in the Western world and you probably don’t want to alienate it by playing down its values…

Au dessus des vieux volcans,
Glisse des ailes sous les tapis du vent,
Voyage, voyage,
Eternellement.
De nuages en marécages,
De vent d’Espagne en pluie d’équateur,
Voyage, voyage,
Vole dans les hauteurs
Au dessus des capitales,
Des idées fatales
Regardent l’océan…

Voyage, voyage
Plus loin que la nuit et le jour, (voyage voyage)
Voyage (voyage)
Dans l’espace inouï de l’amour.
Voyage, voyage
Sur l’eau sacrée d’un fleuve indien, (voyage voyage)
Voyage (voyage)
Et jamais ne revient.

Sur le Gange ou l’Amazone,
Chez les blacks, chez les sikhs, chez les jaunes,
Voyage, voyage
Dans tout le royaume.
Sur les dunes du Sahara,
Des iles Fidji au Fujiyama,
Voyage, voyage,
Ne t’arrêtes pas.
Au dessus des barbelés,
Des coeurs bombardés
Regardent l’océan.

Voyage, voyage
Plus loin que la nuit et le jour, (voyage voyage)
Voyage (voyage)
Dans l’espace inouï de l’amour.
Voyage, voyage
Sur l’eau sacrée d’un fleuve indien, (voyage voyage)
Voyage (voyage)
Et jamais ne revient.

Au dessus des capitales,
Des idées fatales
Regardent l’océan.

Voyage, voyage
Plus loin que la nuit et le jour, (voyage voyage)
Voyage (voyage)
Dans l’espace inouï de l’amour.
Voyage, voyage
Sur l’eau sacrée d’un fleuve indien, (voyage voyage)
Voyage (voyage)
Et jamais ne revient.

I am testing a few things with my RSS feed, it will change the way it exposes the contents of this blog.

I hope it will not create much of a disruption.

The great tenor passed away on September 6 2007. A sad day…

Une des blogues les plus connus dans le 514 vient de s’éteindre. C’est dommage, il etait un de mes favorits.

All is quiet on new years day,
A world in white gets underway.

I’ll take a break from writing over here. I’m pretty busy and I don’t get much sleep, all this adds up. I’ll get back to writing somewhat later, when I’ll have more time.