2012 July « Dr Alf's Blog

BEIJING, CHINA – APRIL 17: Two Chinese women play near the Olympic rings sculpture and the torch of Beijing Olympic Games before the rehearsal of ceremony to mark 100-day countdown to London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Park on April 17, 2012 in Beijing, China. The 100-day countdown to London 2012 Olympic Games falls on April 18, 2012. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

This is a good article from the FT. Check it out!

London awaits Olympic effect on trade – FT.com.

Personally, I fear that there will be a very long wait for the pick up in trade.

Once the dust settles, serious attention will focus on the business case for the Olympics.

Will the UK Government release the full business and the forecast for all the unforseen costs, like soldiers called at the last moment, and special pay conditions for London’s Public Sector workers, like bus drivers?

What do you think?

: God help the middle class (Photo credit: maistora)

This is an excellent article by Professor Nancy Folbre in the Economix column in the NYT. It is recommended reading. Check it out!

Nancy Folbre: How to Cut Skilled Labor Costs – NYTimes.com.

For me, the article was very effective in analyzing the impact on jobs in the US of globalization. Simply, to keep costs down, companies are both exporting jobs and importing of skilled foreign labor. It focuses upon the implications for the large number of US graduate unemployed.

More importantly, the implications of the article are generalizable, in my view. The article should be of interest around the World to:

Economix Blog header (Photo credit: John Niedermeyer)

Policymakers
Businesses
Professionals
Parents
College students
Journalists

As a passionate believer in free trade and globalization, when I look at Europe, there is still enormous potential to reduce costs and improve the quality of life. This includes both the Private and Public Sectors, and most especially international bureaucracies, like the EU.

What do you think?