Migrant Laborers' Strife in Qatar

Migrant Laborer's Strife in Qatar

In a twist on labor extraction in the modern world economy, there are rising allegations that migrant workers employed in the construction sector of Qatar are being coerced into working long, unpaid hours in dangerously high summer temperatures. The spotlight has been placed on Qatar by Amnesty International following the country's successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

The significance of this report is the parallelism between the coercion of the migrant workers and aspects of a dual economy or apartheid system. The dual economy arises from the fact that Qatar is "one of the richest countries in the world" but that the wealth is consolidated in the hands of a few individuals at the head of crude oil extracting industries; certainly not in the hands of the laborers. Secondly, the coercion of the migrant labor force, which is deprived of political rights and delegated to specific low-paying job sectors, is similar to an apartheid system in which a nation's own citizens are subjected to political and labor inequalities.

Critical Juncture in Congo

Recently, the M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo were defeated by the Congolese army and UN peace-keeping force. Prior to this, the rebels had been fairly successful, capturing numerous cities including the economic hub, Goma. It is now expected that a peace document will be signed between the rebels and the Congolese government.

The signing of this document provides a critical juncture for Congo. It is unclear whether the political grievances of the rebels will be addressed and/or whether any definitive change will come out of this document. Acemoglu and Robinson point to critical junctures like this as a crucial point for economic development. The changes coming out of this document could have a significant impact on the future of Congo.

Indonesian Leader's Corruption (Again)

One will know that a country's extractive political institution is at its worst state when a judge, that supposedly upholds the constitution, actually violates it. Just last month, Indonesia's Constitutional Court chief justice, Akil Mochtar was arrested for allegedly accepting a bribery over an election dispute case in Central Kalimantan - one of the provinces in Indonesia. 

This sheds a negative light onto the legal institution and surely shows how prevalent and deeply rooted extractive political institution in Indonesia is. This also brings into question the commitment and possibility of Indonesia in moving forward to eradicate corruption and extractive institutions in the future since the political leaders (the high-ranking judge in this case), whose responsibility is to put an end in corruption, are exactly the ones who actually commit the crime.

Merry Christmas and Happy Extractive Institutions!

Surprise! Christmas came early. Or at least it did this year when Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro declared November 10th Christmas.

Extractive state control of aluminum, iron, and bauxite factories have ultimately caused Venezuela's economy to struggle with an annual inflation greater than 45% and a government shortage of foreign currency. The country is visibly suffering, and in order to boost his popularity prior to the December 8th elections, Maduro has declared that all workers would receive 2/3 of their bonuses and pensions on November 10th. And he created a new cabinet post called the Deputy Minister of Supreme Happiness. Will the Christmas spirit be enough to boost his popularity despite the damage his extractive economy has wrought?

Afghanistan Air Force reaches Critical Juncture

The Air Force in Afghanistan has reached a new milestone, marking a huge development since its creation, according to USA Today. The Air Force has now mastered the ability to take soldiers who have been injured off the battlefield without the help of the US. Previously, they had not had the skills to be able to do this. The amount of causality missions has increased by 341, a huge deal in their fight against the Taliban. This is a critical juncture because it is the first time the Air Force is able to support themselves and their troops without the US. Since the US removed aid, the forces in Afghanistan have been struggling. However, this huge accomplishment shows self sufficiency and the ability for Afghanistan to begin to develop their own programs, a huge step from the country we went into 12 years ago.

The Extractive Nature of Corporate Publishing

http://uwire.com/2012/04/20/editorial-amazons-dirt-cheap-e-book-prices-hurt-authors/

     Writers and creative minds alike are often demoralized by the extractive nature of large, professional publishers. Authors can dedicate years of their lives researching and writing literature, convincing editors to publish them, and tweaking their work to fit the ideals and needs of the publisher. Upon finally entering a contract with a publisher, according to the Wall Street Journal, modern artists will only receive $1,000-$5,000 as an advance (usually just enough to cover a month's rent if they're lucky).  This advance has vastly decreased from past advances which could reach $100,000 to $500,000 for fiction. It's estimated that only 15% of the revenue from a hardcover book, upon sale in a store or online, will return to the author, while a publisher will earn 50% of the sale. An author might see a higher percentage return (25%) on an eBook, however electronic copies of books are sold at such a discounted rate that this return is often lower than that of a physical copy. Still, authors are almost forced to use a corporate publisher over electing to self-publish because oftentimes they themselves don't have the time, or access to markets, advertising, and resources that the corporations have. This subjugation of the creative minds behind literature is basically a vicious cycle because they don't have any other reasonable options than to bring their work to a mass-publisher. This makes me wonder what kind of returns Why Nations Fail brought to Acemoglu and Robinson, who would have to split the probably minimal profits between themselves for co-authoring the book.

Article: "Authors Feel Pinch in Age of E-Books" Jeffrey Trachtenberg
online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748703369704575461542987870022

Apartheid Photographer

     This article by CNN's Errol Barnett offers a look into the life of one of Africa's most distinguished photographers, David Goldblatt. He is followed through as he captures images of the African Apartheid  and the havoc that it wrecks on the working class. His images show the purposeful and designed poverty of the Apartheid system.


     Through his moving images we see the direct results of extractive political institutions and the resulting brutally uneven distribution of wealth and power that comes along with them. Sadly, A&R's idea of persistence has been exemplified in the long existence of the Apartheid until 1994, from which point the political and economic imbalance has largely persisted.

Critical Juncture in Mongolia

The country on Mongolia has experienced growth recently, with economic growth rates upwards of 10% the past three years in a row. This growth has been largely due to coal production and mining exploration associated with a project called Oyu Tolgoi. However, recently the sustainability of Mongolia's economic growth has been threatened.

An article titled "Mongolia's Economy is at a Crossroads" highlights the threats to economic growth in Mongolia. The article points to "nervous foreign investors, a drop in Chinese demand for coal, and uncertainty surrounding Oyu  Tolgoi" as challenges facing the economy. Mongolia's is now at what Acemoglu and Robinson would call a "critical juncture". The actions of the Mongolian citizens and leaders will determine whether they continue on the path of economic growth.

The Smartphone Revolution

In Why Nations Fail, Acemoglu and Robinson discuss at end about the importance of the Industrial Revolution and the roll it played in a country's ability to prosper economically in the future. Countries that received the effects and benefits of the Industrial Revolution ultimately have gone on to become the more prosperous countries of today. On the other hand, countries that did not participate in the Industrial Revolution went on to struggle economically in the future. The entire continent of Africa missed the Industrial Revolution and its benefits and have felt the effects of this for decades.

The continent however is not missing the Smartphone Revolution. Nmachi Jidenma argues in The real mobile revolution: Africa's smartphone future, that the rise of smartphones in Africa will improve the daily lives of Africans. The rise in smartphone popularity has driven app developers on the continent "to invest their skills acquisition and app development" in Africa's smartphone future. For Africans, these smartphone apps would be useful in solving "key pain points in their day to day lives from mobile commerce to transit ticketing." GoMetro, as pictured, "Aims to improve commuting in South Africa by providing real-time train schedules, associated platform changes, a trip planner, fare calculator and route maps." Africa missed the Industrial Revolution, ultimately hindering the continent's ability to experience economic prosperity for decades. The smartphone revolution however will have a profound impact on the continent, as it will greatly improve the African people's day to day lives, ultimately improving their productivity as a whole.

Cocoa Crisis in the Ivory Coast

An Ivory Coast court has sentenced 15 prominent "cocoa barons" for embezzlement that began during the tenure of former President Laurent Gbagbo. The corruption of the Ivory Coast's most lucrative industry is of no surprise. Gbagbo's term in office was mired by corruption, violence, and crimes against humanity. Charges are currently pending on the former president. Upon his defeat in the Ivory Coast's latest election, Gbagbo refused to leave office before finally being forcefully removed. As A&R have proven, this created a highly extractive and volatile dynamic that allowed the "cocoa barons" to exploit such economic and political institutions to their benefits. When the political arrangement allows for such corruption at the highest levels of government, it should be of no surprise that society organizes itself in an exploitative and extractive manner.

Ex-Felon Disenfranchisement In Virginia

In Chapter 10 of Why Nations Fail Acemoglu and Robinson highlight the beneficial and inclusive impact of the introduction of adult white male suffrage in Australia over 150 years ago. Here in Virginia, that has still yet to be achieved. Virginia is one of four states in the Union that permanently denies ex-felons their right to vote. Ari Mebler writes in an article on msnbc.com, that in the most recent Virginia election "over 300,000 citizens will be missing from the voting rolls – including 20% of the state’s black population". 

This problem goes deeper than mere felony disenfranchisement, it's a matter of racial marginalization. Nationwide this figure is even more stark with 1/3 of the Nation's African-American males being denied the right to vote, largely due to our country's "war on drugs". Acemoglu and Robinson often use America as the poster-child for inclusivity, but seeing the correlation between the states that currently enact restrictive voting laws that disenfranchise African Americans and the states with strong histories of slavery, segregation, and discrimination, it's clear that these legacies are persistent and we aren't as far from the days of Jim Crow as we'd like to think.

The Heavy Censorship In China

- [Knock, knock]

- Who is it?

- Room Service (in Hotel) / Checking water usage (at Home)!

- Ok. [Open the door]

- Freeze! Police! 

This might be an effective way to catch a crafty criminal. However, imagine it in everyday life, when one day you are staying at home, surfing on the Internet and suddenly get caught like that without knowing why. Wouldn't that be horrifying? This scenario actually happens in China often, even today. Unlike the American government, which protects and supports the free media and makes sure other forces can’t silence it (thanks to the virtuous circle), the Chinese government itself actually silences/forbids the free media a lot due to its extractive structure: Facebook, YouTube and a lot of other international websites are made inaccessible in China and many of the political related articles, history books that describe the truth but oppose the government's opinions or reveal some of its down sides can't be published and sold in Mainland China and can only be read secretly. People are not allowed to discuss the sensitive issues online or to spread any anti-government thoughts. If they do so, the contents will soon be "Hexie" - an Internet censorship - and they themselves might be caught/guarded using the way of "Room Service" of "Check Water Usage" mentioned above.

Google's Going to Try to Cure Death.

On October 30th, Jon Stewart joked about Google's newest ventures that seemed to have little to do with their search engines. It's newest investment, a company called Calico, and a cover story in Time Magazine have caused quite a stir. 

Short for the California Life Company, Calico has a fairly ambitious goal: to solve death. Tim Cook, Chief Executive Officer to Apple wrote in his own Google+ statement:

OK … so you’re probably thinking wow!  That’s a lot different from what Google does today.  And you’re right.  But as we explained in our first letter to shareholders, there’s tremendous potential for technology more generally to improve people’s lives.  So don’t be surprised if we invest in projects that seem strange or speculative compared with our existing Internet businesses.

Google's goal may be lofty - Larry Page, Google's CEO, calls it a "moon shot" - but it's a goal to benefit society. However, should Google achieve this goal, the company itself would benefit too.
In chapter 3 of Why Nations Fail, Acemoglu and Robinson argue that economic prosperity is the result of "inclusive economic institutions [which] foster economic activity, productivity growth, and economic prosperity." (p. 75) Acemoglu and Robinson highlight the importance of property rights and how, when people have confidence due to inclusive economic institutions that they will gain from their own innovations, they creatively invent benefitting the public. Without these property rights, US companies would not take the risks they are taking today. 
No one's saying Google's reversing the aging process any time soon but within the economically inclusive institutions of the US, they're going to try.

The Overlooked Costs

The Congo literally is too rich for its own good. It boasts “abundant deposits of copper, gold, diamonds, cobalt, uranium, coltan, and oil,” but, in tradition of the country, laid out in this article, they continue to be obtained in an extractive manner that destroys not only wallets but, more importantly, lives. Dictators and the elite “(bleed) the country of billions of dollars”, while “nothing but misery and death (has been brought) to the very people who live on top” of the whole country's potential fortune and future. 

This is the true shame of the situation. Most of our focus is on economic failure, as if an economy is a life to mourn. That situation is of course lamentable and leads to wide scale “human suffering” (as we saw in the downfall of South America and the unfathomable toll of the slave trade) , but we get wrapped up in the big picture and fail to connect with the individual human loss like Innocent.

Cooperatives

Acemoglu and Robinson discuss at length the issues with extractive institutions, arguing instead for more inclusive ones that maximize and broaden social participation and individual freedom. One way to do this in a broadly capitalist context is through cooperatives. Generally speaking, cooperatives tend to be small-scale organizations like local credit unions or co-op markets. One, however, is very different than the rest - the Mondragon Corporation. It was founded in the 1950's by a Basque priest, originally as a miniscule manufacturing company. Today, it is a large firm that operates in multiple sectors of the economy. Mondragon is a remarkably successful story of how cooperation between capital and labor - that is, a more inclusive business model within a generally inclusive economy - can work wonders.

 Mondragon's motto - "Humanity at Work" 

Taken from UnitedDiversity.coop

As economist John C. Medaille writes,

"Mondragón has a unique form of industrial organization. Each worker is a member of two organizations, the General Assembly and the Social Council. The first is the supreme governing body of the corporation, while the second functions in a manner analogous to a labor union. The General Assembly represents the workers as owners, while the Social Council represents the owners as workers. Voting in the General Assembly is on the basis of 'one worker, one vote,' and since the corporation operates entirely form internal funds, there are no outside shareholders to outvote the workers in their own cooperatives. Moreover, it is impossible for the managers to form a separate class which lords it over both shareholders and workers and appropriates to itself the rewards that belong to both; the salaries of the highest-paid employee is limited to 8 times that of the lowest paid. Mondragón has a 50 year history of growth that no capitalist organization can match," ("The Economics of Distributism V: The Practice of Distributism").

It's clear that Mondragon is a model of institutional inclusivity. By empowering rather than using its workers, the whole company thrives. 

IBM

                 In 1980, IBM owned about three-quarters of the computer market. They were huge, and the CEO, John Opel, had plans for more growth in the future. He challenged the company to grow to create $100 billion in revenue per year by 1990, up from $40 billion when he made the challenge. But this plan changed the behaviors of IBM's employees. With their director's grand vision in mind,  they set about business strategies that maximized profit in predictable ways. The business increased output of existing technologies and neglected new markets. IBM's profits increased in the next few years. But with technology changing every year, other companies like Compaq grew faster by embracing new technology. Because of this mistake, IBM lost it's place as a major player in the PC marketplace.
                IBM's business strategy is similar to the Soviet Union's central control strategy in the 20th century. Like IBM, the Soviet Union tried to attain growth by allocating resources to the areas where they already knew they would succeed, and by trying to motivate workers with incentives. Both grew rapidly at first, and then fell apart later. Both institutions ultimately lost their power because they did not have incentives for innovation and new technology.

http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/ibm-beware-of-bhags/

Oil: Blessing or Curse?

In one of the poorest regions of the world lie the resources that allow some men to make a killing.  Diamonds, iron ore, and especially oil have proven to be detrimental to the masses in Africa in the past, leading to inhumane practices and gross mistreatment of human beings.  One simply has to watch the movie "Blood Diamond" to gain perspective on this issue.  However, as this article states, "For the first time in decades, though, there is some reason to hope that a better model is emerging that may be more successful in bringing the benefits of Africa's extraordinary endowments to the people who need them most."
New regulations from the EU and United States are being put in place to keep the money earned from these exploits in the country themselves, rather than being sent offshore to executives' bank accounts.  However, not all are optimistic about these safeguards from extractive institutions.  The chair of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice argues that there will still be corrupt officials, regardless of the inclusive institutions put in place.  However, one universal idea underlies the crux of Africa's problems, one that A and R would agree with.  Without a stable, centralized government, the discovery of oil in Africa will remain a curse, not a blessing.  

Improvement and Persistance in Liberia

The recently released Ibrahim Index of African Governance has Liberia ranked as the most improved nation "in terms of overall governance since 2000". With the ending of Liberia's devastating civil war over 10 years ago, the country began the transition into more inclusive institutions. Their overall progress is positive, with the biggest improvements seen in the category of "Safety and Rule of Law". This improvement suggests that the Liberian government is becoming more centralized, a key aspect of a move toward inclusive institutions. However, despite major improvements, Liberia had its lowest ranking in the category of "Sustainable Economic Opportunity". Without economic opportunities to provide incentive, the country will not be able to experience significant sustained growth.

Another article also discusses the corruption that persists in the Liberian police force. According to the article, the police "simply take what they like"from street vendors. It is this sort of insecure property rights that Acemoglu and Robinson point to as stifling the incentive for entrepreneurship.

Obamacare and Creative Destruction

     For fifteen million Americans that utilize private health insurance, challenges with Obamacare are incredibly frustrating. The anxieties and frustrations expressed over this massive shift in health insurance is due to its difficulty in transitioning into a functional institution, and especially with the difficulty of transitions in the private sector of health insurance.
     These frustrations are aggravated by misunderstandings, as well; Obama frequently said that Americans who were satisfied with their plans would not have to change their plans. It seems now that Obama only meant this in reference to people whose health insturance was provided through their employer, Medicare, or Medicaid. It is likely that Obama was trying to divert these fears of creative destruction in order to gain support for Obamacare.

      Initial understandings claimed that policies which were in effect since March 23, 2010 were originally expected to be grandfathered in without any changes, but later the Department of Health and Human Services elaborated further that if any part of a health insurance policy was changed since that date, it would not be grandfathered in (any change such as to co-pay, deductible, benefits, etc.).  Estimates claim that "because of normal turnover in the individual insurance market, “40 to 67 percent” of customers will not be able to keep their policy," NBC reports.
      Policies that don't match standards will have to be dropped; old policies are being dropped for new ones and two million Americans that previously used private health insurance have been notified that they will have to change their plan, The Atlantic reports. It is quite obvious that the massive reconstruction and shifts within the health insurance market is ultimately what is driving the fear and anger of many Americans. The plan is intended to greatly increase health insurance of the masses in the long term, but for many Americans it is completely undesirable in the short term.

Google Glass

Google Glass

The new "connected eyeware", Google Glass, provides an excellent example of the economic innovation that contract enforcement, technology development, private entrepreneurial investment yield.  While the article was an initial report on a conspicuous barge located in the San Francisco Bay, which was later confirmed to be a future "floating Google store", the background is a profound example of many modern economic institutions that have brought prosperity to modern states and individuals.

Several miraculous economic stimulants and safeguards were casually mentioned throughout the article. The first was the description of leasing agreements, which are enforced by the United States courts, and allow economic agreements to take place without fear of a contractual partner reneging on the terms. The second was the mention of a patent for a water-based cooling system for data centers. Patents allow entrepreneurs to make major informational and financial investments to innovate their industries without having their patented ideas stolen by business competitors. The third, a regulation on business by the state, is the requirement of a permit to dock the barge near the San Franciscan shoreline, which would require the permit to be purchased from the city. In short, political institutions may implement a variety of policies that bring about economic prosperity as well as legislate regulations on businesses, some of which allow the state to extract some of the profits both directly and indirectly.