Turkey

The man who is likely to become Israel’s next prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has used the World Economic Forum, which is a foundation where top business leaders, international political leaders, and journalists discuss the most pressing issues facing the world, to warn global leaders that Iran’s race for nuclear weapons is a far greater global danger than the financial crisis.

How does this issue relate to ‘Power’?
Please help, I am desperate
Even though Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t a world leader (he is a former Prime Minister and current leader of the opposition) he still has a huge amount of power.

By having being at the World Economic Forum he can influence some of the most powerful and influential people in the world. As you say:
• top business leaders - Israel needs trading links - a growing economy means more money and whatever your aims, you generally need money to make it happen.
• international political leaders - international support is key for the future of the Israeli state, for trade, for settling the whole Middle-East debate.
• journalists - they can give Israel good PR and negative PR to Iran/ other anti-Israeli countries, leaders etc. Perception is very important both domestically and internationally. Domestically Netanyahu could loose support and voters. Internationally, if Israel is view negatively, other leaders will distance themselves and be less supportive for fear of alienating their own voters.

It is Netanyahu’s access to other people that gives him power at the moment, although as an Israeli MP and leader of the opposition he has some influence he can’t directly make decisions.

I don’t know whether Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a member of, or attends the World Economic Forum (I would think not). If he doesn’t compare the power balance - Netanyahu can sell Israel and warn of his concerns over Iran whereas President Ahmadinejad has much less access to such channels and therefore less power in that sense.

Obviously being the CEO of a large company.

The pay, benefits, and stock options can make you rich quickly.

I mean here only THE SOCIAL effects, (like morality, faith, relations, How locals look to foreigners….etc)

what is certain is that things will get worse before they will start to get better.
morality… sometimes i wonder if there still is such thing as morality. i am not talking just about promiscuity. it seems that there is nothing that some people would not do for money. they will cheat, they will steal, they will kill, they will sell themselves. there were times when giving your word meant something, and when you could rely on that because it was shameful, unmanly and not ladylike to trample the word you gave. when promises were kept.
faith… and by this i do not mean the outside appearance, the facade that many people keep just for show. how many people are really living their lives according to what religion teaches us. and by religion i am referring to every religion because they are the same in their roots.
relations… people became so alienated from each other. i remember the times when it was completely normal to help your neighbours without them needing to ask for help. it was normal to help a person in the street who needs help, and now most of people will turn their head to the other side and pretend that nothing is happening.
reflecting on foreigners… lets be honest here. i think that we both know that the locals will look down upon foreign people, and that this will unfortunately happen in every country. the less educated the people are, the more they will be xenophobic. they will blame the foreigners for taking away their jobs, not thinking that it was them, the locals, who refused to do the same jobs and did not have anything against treating those who were doing them with utmost dissrespect.
but you know something? i still have hope in humanity. call me a dreamer, but the things will get better. they always get better. it is the sad truth that we, humans, need a dissaster to wake up, to learn. the whole human history is a series of disasters but also a series of overcoming them. it was the same with the ”glorious” roman empire that declined and fell to open the door to the middle ages. and after the ”dark” middle ages renaissance, the rebirth, came…
it will always be like this. the decline and the fall - the raise and the new beginning…
is not the human life the same? we bring the children (the better versions of us, if you want), to this world as a new hope. we die to make place for them on this earth. we leave to them our legacy hoping that they will do better than we did. and the same thing will happen with their children and the children of their children.
everything comes in circles and something old has to disappear to make place to something new. but that does not mean that the past things should be forgotten as if they never happened. just the opposite, they are to be remembered, they are to be learned from to be able to improve ourselves and the world we are living in…

In this dreadful election season, many politicians have promised to "lead us into the future." I can hardly think of a worse fate for any society than to be led into the future by the political class of gangsters, marauders, looters, and liars. Even the most honest and well-intended among them are powerless to improve the world in any way except by diminishing rather than increasing their power.

Politicians haven’t the capacity to lead whole societies anywhere. They are outclassed and outrun by trends in the world economy that are beyond the ability of the political class to control or direct. The market economy—globalized, enormously powerful, breathtaking in scope and breadth—is remaking the world in ways that far surpass any existing political development in the US, from the crafted blather of Congressional hearings on this or that to the mad rush to grab the presidential brass rings.

We are living through changes that may appear slow if observed from the point of view of the daily headlines, but which are momentously fast and completely transforming when looked at globally and from the point of view of years and decades into the future.

These developments are going to bring about surprising political shifts, profound upsets in rooted cultural assumptions, and an eventual and merciful end to the US imperium. These changes will touch everyone in ways that will be both stunning and glorious for average Americans, and deeply disturbing for the American regime that aspires to unchallenged global hegemony.

What is the underlying cause? The unleashing of human energies in nations that have been isolated, regimented, and closed for centuries. China, Malaysia, India, the countries of Latin America, and the new economies of Eastern Europe, among many others, are expanding at as much as twice the rate of American and European markets.

This is not only remaking their nations, but the way we perceive the geographical distribution of wealth and power. Over time, and extended far into the future, this trend is going to mean dramatic upheavals in the way Americans perceive their role in the world.

Within the institution of trade—whether on the most local level or the global level—we find the key to peace, prosperity, and human flourishing.
The people in these emerging countries, confronted with new economic opportunities, are making the fruits of their labors, assisted by investments by US firms, available to American consumers, driving down prices and driving up the quality of everyday goods and services consumed by Americans. This phenomenon has been the saving grace of the US economy for a decade, and, in the future, it will become integral to our very lives.
To get a glimpse of the change, take a tour of the local Wal-Mart, the largest company in the world, and take note of the stunning availability of a huge range of consumer goods at very low prices. Note too that such an array would be inconceivable without the work of international trade. From bicycles and electronics to foodstuffs and flowers, we find the shelves dominated by goods that were produced, in part or in whole, by countries outside US borders, and to this we owe the low prices and the quality that accords with US consumer preferences.

Now, Wal-Mart isn’t on some campaign to become the leading importer; it is only looking to make available to consumers all the things they want at the lowest possible prices. Where they find these goods is outside the US, where we find ever more comparative advantages.

Every retailer in the world is taking notice of this fact, studying the case of Wal-Mart to see how and why it so quickly became the dominant player in the world economy. Its example of seeing both the wholesale and retail market as global in scope—all in the interest of consumer service—has taught the entire business class that nationalism and parochialism are losing propositions. The left may continue to rail against this company, and the right may continue to warn of its dangers to local culture and life, but the example is there for all to see. Average people love this company. It is all old-fashioned consumer service combined with a global reach to bring to average people things that improve their lot in life.

Wal-Mart may eventually go the way of so many companies, displaced by some other firm that knows how to do it even better. The point is the model from which it is working. It is a global model focused on the individual buyer, and it works its wonders by depending on the voluntary decisions of average people. The nation state as such plays no part in its calculus, and this has proven to be the winning ticket. So it will continue to be.

What about the economic impact? Is marketing all these wares to the world a danger? One might be initially alarmed by this, until one considers the savings to the consumer. For every dime saved in consumer prices, one more dime is made available for other pursuits, whether savings, consumption, or investment. It is this fact which is subsidizing American prosperity right now. Far from being a sign that America has lost its edge, it constitutes the world’s gift to American consumers. The trade is mutually beneficial, producing winners on all sides, with the only losers being those American producers who can’t seem to drive their costs down low enough to compete in the world marketplace. It is because of this, and despite the constant attempts by central banks to inflate the currency, that prices are continuing to fall for consumer goods.

People who have noted these trends say that we should panic that there won’t be any jobs left for Americans to do. What this forgets is the reality of scarcity in the world, which implies that there are always and everywhere jobs to do because there are always and everywhere unmet needs. Specialization and the division of labor permits Americans to produce most efficiently in a way that is integral to world demand and not waste time and resources in jobs that can be done more cheaply elsewhere. This does indeed mean a change in world patterns of production, but the market will manage the change with minimum disruption, as it has for the last several hundred years.

For the developing world, it means something far more dramatic: a nearly complete abandonment of traditional economic pursuits that were imposed on them by virtue of their previous isolation from the capitalist West. The point is not that their economies are free or have been completely unleashed from the chains of the state. The US and Western Europe, in many respects, remain the most free economies. What matters here is the direction of change. Whereas the US and Europe are increasingly controlled, countries such as China, India, Romania, Poland, Thailand, and many others, are far less controlled than they once were.

This has unleashed pent-up human energies and made a fantastic difference in the ability of these people to integrate themselves into the worldwide division of labor. This has meant rising incomes, better diets, less starvation, less disease, better sanitation, falling infant mortality, much longer lifespans, and ever more economic opportunities for work and investment. The fate of these economies has two major links to that of American citizens: in their capacity as consumers, they have a strong interest in seeing it continue, and, as investors, many portfolios of US investors are heavily invested in these emerging economies.

The quality of life in these distant lands is increasing in ways that would have been unimaginable even a decade ago, with information technologies made available by the private sector coming into the hands of a new generation that relies on cell phones and high-speed web access, where their parents struggled barely to survive. The lifespan in China alone has risen from 25 years to 65 years in the course of a century. It also means more revenue for the governments of these countries, which, if driven to build up militaries to fend off US political influence, could eventually challenge the supremacy of the US in world public affairs.

Again, this is nothing to regret. A world dominated by a single superpower is a gravely dangerous place, especially when that power is irresponsibly managed (and, some would say, is managed by maniacs). A decline in the power, might, and influence of the US is not the same thing as a decline in America; quite the opposite. The only real downside is the transition: the US government may increasingly behave like a dying and rabid animal, posing a danger to its random victims. But once you hear the "thud" of the final fall, the world will be more peaceful and prosperous than ever before.

In the meantime, political trends in the US will become increasingly irrelevant, despite appearances. Until recently, Americans thought of themselves as a self-contained people with a nationally bound culture and economy that can be conceptualized and managed in the way that civics texts describe. This is on the verge of being impossible. The managerial class of the regime will continue to pose as experts and top-flight managers, but old assumptions about government are being shredded. Trends on this scale reduce the bellowing of politicians for protection to mere peeps.

There is a tendency on the part of everyone to judge a historical moment by our own daily affairs and in relation only to the headlines that dominate the news. Economic analysis takes a much broader view to consider the overall impact of billions of people in many lands over a long period of time. It is through examining these trends that we can see that we are entering into a new world of global economic expansion that will rout any attempt to keep it at bay. Now, clearly, this will not occur without periods of crisis, particularly so long as the world is on a dollar standard and governments are still at work bringing calamity wherever they can.

Take a look at where and how the products you use every day are made. Therein lies a remarkable story of the genius of entrepreneurship, the capacity for the world economy to manage itself and overcome ten thousand barriers, and the direction we are headed. It is a world in which consumers and producers from all nations can join hands in praise of the networks that draw them together, and against their common enemy: governments that would stand in the way.

To understand the world being recreated before us, we must constantly keep this principle in our mind: trade based on ownership is always and everywhere mutually beneficial. Within the institution of trade—whether on the most local level or the global level—we find the key to peace, prosperity, and human flourishing. If we understand this, we have no reason to fear our fate except to the extent that anyone anywhere dares to interfere. If we understand this, we can see why being led into the future by the political class is something we should neither desire nor expect.

"Huff-puff!!" "Pant–pant"……out…..of……breath.. breath…from…. .reading……..your…….letter……………too……
tired……..to…….answer…………except…….."pant, pant"……

THE REVOLUTION IS COMING!!!!

"pant; pant", "huff; whoof"………

Is it not time for the rich money mongers to cough out the billions they have stolen from others in the name of business?
Is it not time to change the world economic order and have maximum wage/wealth in place?
Why should the greedy money mongers be given Free hands to keep exploiting the little guys?
You get fired by a CEO who at the same time went home with $100 million hand shake?
What kind of rubbish stealing system like this extreme capitalism will survive?
Let those who over produce keep their product and allow others to do their own little thing that keep the little guys surviving.
Industrial revolution though good for our world has served selfish interest to exploitative degree.
The guy in a little Timbuktu village lost his income when tractors hit the surface of the earth with mass production and import to his country.
Then he gets exploited on daily bases for whatever little he could gather.
So, how is a guy like that suppose to live? That is what happened.
Those who mass produced only hoard money for themselves thereby living others penniless.
Now no more money to go around.
If you get fired, go and lie down in front of the rich neighbor’s house in mass and demand for money back.

They are currently going to have a party and spend all that money that they begged, borrowed and stole (high interest rates) in Las Vegas. JP Morgan Chase are amoung the leaders of those bailed out with taxpayer money that are spending million of dollars in Las Vegas this month. They also increased all of their credit card holders’ interest rates 1.5% in the country to help cover their record-stupidity-performances in the mortgage crises they caused. Wells Fargo cut down their list from 1,000 attendees to just the idiots only. Bush gave 41 billion dollars for stock worth 14 billion late last year. GM will be in Vegas I believe. The people that fleeced America will be at the Venetian spending our money. So they do this every year. Big deal, right? Oh. You are probably mad because you lost your job. Well let’s say that your job was donated to someone in India, Bali or the Philipines (and long ago). The same people blowing millions this month gave our jobs away long ago.

So it’s a big party. Since 2.7 million of us have alot of time on our hands these days, I think that we should run down there and face these robbers-without-guns.

You may consider watching Lou Dobbs a bit more. We all should. (Lou should be president next time).

Hi

I am Aditya Kulkarni completed B. E. Mechanical from last 6 months working as Marketing Engineer in Kirloskar………………

As we are aware of economic slowdown………….

instead of debating whether world word is realizing heat of recession……..lets discuss how to overcome it?

because…..

As every bad situation gives rise to something innovative

so can anybody suggest different way how to take advantage of this slowdown and grow higher?

Share your thoughts to pull out Boat (the WORLD) from economic slowdown before it sinks in ocean

Your early reply is highly appreciated.

Regards
Aditya Kulkarni

A simple truism is that money is made going AGAINST the market. When everyone is selling buy, and vice versa.

For example, if you buy some undervalued property now, you will be able to sell it for huge gains in a few years. Or, if you hire people who are being laid off, you can bargain for cheaper labor, and sign them into long-term contracts. This means when everyone else is hiring, you will have the cheapest labor, giving you a serious advantage. Take note that the sellers and employees would be willing to trade. You can’t ‘exploit’ people who trade WILLINGLY!

In short, now is the time to scout, examine, and buy.

There is panic among their ranks that their ‘Golden Goose’ is going to fly away…….

It’s getting ridiculous….. ‘methane time bomb’ in the Arctic, absolute statements (unfounded of course) that man has accelerated ‘global warming….. ad nauseum.

Don’t they realize that their ’cause’ no longer warrants the government charity that has been thrown at them in order to keep them quiet??!!

They’ll spout as much gloom and doom as they think it will take.

South Africa is ranked 18th out of a total of 115 economies in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2006, ahead of many developed nations, including Belgium (20th), the United States (23rd), Switzerland (26th), Austria (27th) and France (70th).

South Africa ranks 52nd out of 157 countries in the world in terms of economic freedom, ahead of Italy (60th), Brazil (70th), the United Arab Emirates (74th), Greece (94th), India (104th) and China (119th), according to the Index of Economic Freedom 2007
.
South Africa ranks in the top four countries worldwide in terms of the transparency surrounding its budgets - ahead of the US, Norway and Sweden - according to the Open Budget Index.
South African media ranks 31st out of 167 countries in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2005, higher than any country in Asia, the Middle East or South America, and ahead of Japan, Spain, Italy and the United States.
South Africa was ranked as the 18th most attractive destination for Foreign Direct Investment by global strategic management consulting firm AT Kearney.

Three South African cities were voted amongst the world’s top 100 Most Liveable Cities in a study conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Cape Town was ranked in 85th place, Johannesburg 90th and Port Elizabeth 97th.

Since the 1940s, South African golfers have won more golf majors than any other nation, apart from the United States.

South Africa has been ranked 28th among 108 countries measured for responsible competitiveness, according to the global think tank AccountAbility.

Johannesburg has been ranked as the eighth cheapest city in the world for expatriates, according to the most recent Cost of Living Standards Survey from Mercer Human Resource Consulting.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange was the 7th best performing stock market in 2005, according to the World Federation of Exchanges
South Africa accounts for almost 45% of the GDP of the entire African continent, with an economy three times the size of the second biggest (Egypt)
According to the Economic Freedom of the World 2005 Annual Report, South Africa ranks 38th out of 127 countries in terms of ecomomic freedom, tied with France and ahead of Israel, India, Italy, China, Brazil and Russia.
The rand, the world’s most actively traded emerging market currency, has joined an elite club of 15 currencies - the Continuous Linked Settlement (CLS) - where forex transactions are settled immediately, lowering the risks of transacting across time zones
South Africa’s per capita GDP, corrected for purchasing power parity, positions the country as one of the 50 wealthiest in the world
Worldaudit.org ranks South Africa as the 32nd most democratic country out of 150 nations
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange was the 7th best performing stock market in 2005, according to the World Federation of Exchanges
South Africa accounts for almost 45% of the GDP of the entire African continent, with an economy three times the size of the second biggest (Egypt)
According to the Economic Freedom of the World 2005 Annual Report, South Africa ranks 38th out of 127 countries in terms of ecomomic freedom, tied with France and ahead of Israel, India, Italy, China, Brazil and Russia.
The rand, the world’s most actively traded emerging market currency, has joined an elite club of 15 currencies - the Continuous Linked Settlement (CLS) - where forex transactions are settled immediately, lowering the risks of transacting across time zones
South Africa’s per capita GDP, corrected for purchasing power parity, positions the country as one of the 50 wealthiest in the world
Worldaudit.org ranks South Africa as the 32nd most democratic country out of 150 nations
Stellenbosch University was the first university in the world to design and launch a microsatellite .
South Africa is the best-ranked country in terms of price stability, our fiscal policy is ranked 11th, our international trade competitiveness 21st, and we are the 28th most-attractive destination for foreign direct investment, according to the World Competiveness Yearbook 2005
The number of tourists visiting South Africa has grown by 116% since 1994
Over the past 5 years, Consumer Confidence in SA has improved by 43%.
In the global measure of women in Parliament, South Africa ranks 8th in the world.
Of the 10 LSM levels ( LSM1=poorest; LSM10 wealthiest ), the average SA family located in LSM6
The current police to population ratio is 1:304.
http://www.sagoodnews.co.za/fast_facts_and_quick_stats/index.html
Seems like the Brits are suffering from those old post-colonial blues again……
Maklie…. you must realise that SA is going through a lot of growing pains, without some of the things above we will never get the things you want. But we have to live in the present so lets not lose sight of the good things either….

Hey MJ

This is awesome — What is with these people above me? I feel proud to call myself a South African - thanks MJ

just wondering what the scenario would be.

It is tempting to answer "a good deal better off", but the fact is that with mankind established on this earthly biosphere, economics in the macro- and micro- forms are physical realities, just as real as the air we breath.

Without this kind of physics there would be no means for people to live together without trading or sharing (rather than following the so called "laws of the jungle"), and it would result in our quality of life being close to that our precendents had when they first came down from the trees.

In view of this physical approach, it is a wonder why professional economics is not a more exact science, and it seems to me that a great deal is lacking in how the academics view it. Perhaps this is because of private interests from those who support these institutions of higher learning.

I’m need of Web-based resources that provides low-income communities with information and tools to serve their unique needs. I should like to take advantage of educational and employment opportunities on the internet because I believe that every community should have a chance to benefit from a networked global society. I have spent most of my time studying and writing about the social and economic crisis and its effects on poor rural people in Zambia. I have noticed that most young people have been forced by economic desperation to support themselves in ways that harm their lives and the environment, such as drinking, prostitution, violence, deforestation, and over-harvesting of natural resources. Young people need the kind of education where they learn lessons in cooperation and teamwork and to understand the rules of society. One important way to pass on these skills and values to youths is by connecting and creating partnerships between young people who are from diverse worlds.

You should be more concerned about lack of access to safe drinking water in low-income African communities…