Economist, Nov 24, 2012

choi

I will do (3) tomorrow.
-------------------------
Economist, Nov 24, 2012
(1) Cigarette-smuggling  The Urge to Smurf; When government gets greedy, some people turn to crime.
http://economist.com/news/united ... rn-crime-urge-smurf

Quote:

"Virginia’s tobacco tax is the second-lowest in America [30 cents a packet] New York’s tax, at $4.35 a packet, is the highest in the country.

"For the smugglers, profits are better than those from cocaine, heroin, marijuana and guns, according to a report in September by the Virginia State Crime Commission. Moreover, the penalty for doing it—a maximum of five years in jail, under federal law—is considerably lighter than for selling drugs.

"In New Jersey, where a packet of cigarettes carries a tax of $2.70, about 40% of all cigarettes are smuggled in from other states, according to the New Jersey Treasury Department.

Note:
(a) Interstate 95
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_95
(b) The www.m-w.com does not have "smurf."


(2) Chinese Maoists in North Korea  Paradise Lost; In North Korea, Chinese Maoists find the land of their dreams.


Note:
(a) Hoechang-gun   檜倉郡
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoechang
(a county in South Pyongan province 平安南道, North Korea)
(b) perdition (n; Latin perdere to destroy, from per- through + dare to give):
"1a archaic : utter destruction
* * *
2a : eternal damnation"
(c) ZHANG Hongliang  张 宏良
(d) Yanggakdo International Hotel  羊角島國際號抬
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yanggakdo_International_Hotel

choi

(3)

(4) Manufacturing  The New Maker Rules; Big forces are reshaping the world of manufacturing.

Quote:

"Yet the rich-world still leads in high-tech industries. In 2010 it ran a $726 billion surplus in goods such as cars, chemicals, drugs and machinery, but it had a $342 billion trade deficit in labor-intensive tradeables" such as "textiles, clothes and toys," a category (out of five) that constituted 7% of "the $10.5 trillion total worldwide manufacturing vaue-added in 2010."

"McKinsey sheds new light on another old saw: is manufacturing superior to service?  It is becoming ever harder to tell the two apart, as many munufacturing jobs blur with service jobs. At American 'manufacturing,' 34% of jobs are service-like, rising to 55% in theglobal-innovative-technology sector. If one count teh workers in supporting services and those who provide raw materials, total American manufacturing employment was 17.2m in 2010, rather than the offcial 11.5m. Remove all service-like jobs and it drops to 7.3m.

Note: The article (which there is no need to read) is based on
Manyika J et al, Manufacturing the Future; The next era of global growth and innovation.   Mckinsey Global Institute, November 2012.
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights ... re_of_manufacturing

Full report:
(a) In Exhibit E1 (titled "Top 15 manufacturers by share of global nominal manufacturing gross value added"):
(i) China was No 2 (after US and above Japan), rather than No 1 (as a consultancy asserted two years ago);
(ii) Taiwan was No 15 in 1990, No 13 in 2000 and fell out of the table in 2010 (because some of its manufacturing was moved to China).
(b) The Exhibit E5 (at page 7 where E stands for Executive Sumary; titled "Manufacturing occupations in the United States in 2010") and the following text explain quotation 2.
(iii) Exhibit 6 at page 24 is reprinted in the Economist.
(iv) "box 2. The difference between us and German manufacturing GdP" at page 25.
(v) Exhibit 9 at page 28 is summarized as follows: "US manufacturing job losses in the past decade were driven        ESTIMATES mostly by productivity gains that were not matched by demand growth."
(vi) Exhibit 11 at page 29 is summarized as follows: "Most US job losses have been in apparel and electronics assembly; exports of machinery and 'other transportation equipment' are up."
(vii) Exhibit 42 is summarized as "In the global technologies/innovators group, the United States leads in value added, with a 27 percent share"--and shows: US (27%)> China (23%)> Japan (12%) > (German, South Korea, Taiwan) (all 5% each) > (Brazil, Italy, Switzerland, UK) (all 2% each).
(viii) Exhibit 46 at page 66 is summarized as follows: "In the labor-intensive tradables group, China leads in value added, accounting for 36 percent."

choi

choi 发表于 11-30-2012 12:55
(3)

(4) Manufacturing  The New Maker Rules; Big forces are reshaping the world of manufacturing.

(5) Pilotless aircraft  This Is Your Ground Pilot Speaking; Autonomous civil aircraft could be flying before cars go driverless.
http://economist.com/news/scienc ... -go-driverless-your
("Modern aircraft are already perfectly capable of automatically taking off, flying to a destination and landing")

Note:
(a) Though the report does not specify, the test plane will be Jetstream 31,rather than 41. See

British Aerospace Jetstream
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Aerospace_Jetstream
(Jetstream 31; Status  Active service Not in production; Produced  1980-1993)
(b) Warton Aerodrome
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warton_Aerodrome
(i) aerodrome (n; First Known Use 1908): "chiefly British: AIRFIELD"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aerodrome
(ii) -drome (n; combining form; from "hippodrome"):
"1: racecourse <motordrome>
2: large specially prepared place <aerodrome>"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drome
(iii) hippodrome
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippodrome
(c) The article states, "Which is why pilots keep their eyes peeled when such traffic might be about" to avoid airplane collision.

keep one's eyes peeled
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/keep_one%27s_eyes_peeled
(d) The article says, "In the event of an engine failure, for instance, it could use its navigational map to locate a suitable area to put down."

put down: "[INTRANSITIVE/TRANSITIVE] if an aircraft puts down, or if someone puts it down, it lands"
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/put-down


(6) Georgia’s history  Bad Location; Despite its unhappy history and dire geography, Georgia is doing well.
http://economist.com/news/books- ... g-well-bad-location
(book review on two books: Donald Rayfield, Edge of Empires: A history of Georgia. Reaktion, 2012; Stephen Jones, Georgia: A political history since independence. IB Tauris, 2012)

Note:
(a) Xenophon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophon
(c 430 – 354 BC; Greek historian)
(b) For Queen Tamar, see Tamar of Georgia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamar_of_Georgia
(1160-1213; reign 1184-1213; presided over the "Golden age" of the medieval Georgian monarchy; The name Tamar is of Hebrew origin and, like other biblical names, was favored by the Georgian Bagrationi dynasty because of their claim to be descended from David; map)

* Tamar (name)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamar_(name)
(Hebrew for date the fruit or tree)
(c) For "Georgian Democratic Republic," see Democratic Republic of Georgia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Georgia
(from 1918 (declaring independence after Tsar had been toppled) to 1921 (when Red Army occupied))
(d) The review comments Mr Jones "underplays the real achievements of the Saakashvili years."

underplay (v)
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/underplay

choi

(3) Every now and then, Economist publishes a special report, whose theme in this issue is Mexico. Only one article--a half, actually--in the special issue stands out.

The economy |  Señores, Start Your Engines; Cheaper than China and with credit and oil about to start flowing, Mexico is becoming a Brazil-beater.
http://www.economist.com/news/sp ... ing-mexico-becoming

My comment:
(a) Please read from the beginning to the paragraph that ends with the sentence: "Soon 'Hecho en México' will become more familiar to Americans than 'Made in China.'"

* The "hecho" is past participle of "hacer"--meaning "done" and "do," respectively. The consonant "h" is silent (not pronounced) in Spanish.
(b) Querétaro
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quer%C3%A9taro
(a state; The most likely origin of the name is from the P’urhépecha word “Crettaro” which means “place with crags;”  Guanajuato is a state on its western border)

choi

When I wrote the first posting on Nov 30, 2012 I forgot to add the URL for (2). So I am reproducing (2), ADDING the URL only.

``````````````````````
(2) Chinese Maoists in North Korea | Paradise Lost; In North Korea, Chinese Maoists find the land of their dreams.
http://www.economist.com/news/ch ... reams-paradise-lost

Note:
(a) Hoechang-gun   檜倉郡
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoechang
(a county in South Pyongan province 平安南道, North Korea)
(b) perdition (n; Latin perdere to destroy, from per- through + dare to give):
"1a archaic : utter destruction
* * *
2a : eternal damnation"
(c) ZHANG Hongliang  张 宏良
(d) Yanggakdo International Hotel  羊角島國際號抬
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yanggakdo_International_Hotel