[p2p-research] What's different about this economic downturn? -- the severe unemployment

Mon Sep 7 15:45:40 CEST 2009

Again, I doubt it.  Europe is still a hot bed for ugly
colonialism...particularly the UK and France.  Governments are regularly
corrupt in these countries in foreign dealings.  I think the Nordic nations
lead...along with New Zealand and a few others in good governance...but
there is still a lot of corruption...Sweden and Iceland both recently had
big bouts...and no one but Japan is more corrupt in their dealings on
fishing treaties than the Nordic nations...and it matters to them.

I agree there is little value in comparing cultures.  Feelings run deep even
for those who see themselves as internationalists.  But I always run into
the European perception that they are clean while the US is dirty.  I've had
the discussion with many experts...it just isn't so as understood in
academia and development economics.  Most development economists I know
think France is a great beast in the current world...Haiti, Francophone
Africa, etc.  But they present themselves as moral leaders.  Even Holland
still has some ugly issues in the Caribbean and Belgium has never stepped up
to its own responsibilities in the Congo.  The UK's failure in adequately
supporting the Commonweath goes without saying.  Spain really does a modicum
of work in the Spanish new world...it really is unfortunate.

US schools still overwhelmingly include more expats than Europe or anywhere
else.  American graduate schools train the best Indians, Koreans, Russians
and even Chinese now, regularly...it is a win/win, but some of that
knowledge filters back in huge ways...and the Chinese, Indians and Koreans
especially know this.

On Mon, Sep 7, 2009 at 8:29 AM, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>wrote:

> I would venture that, with the exception of Berlusconi's Italy, most
> European governments are substantially less in the pocket of private
> interests.
>
> Comparing cultures is a tricky business. In many countries, European
> companies would be internally more hierarchical than U.S. companies, less so
> than Japanese ones ... though that is compensated by stronger employee
> rights in Europe, and the collective culture of East Asia (i.e.
> paternalistic goodwill to the whole community of employees)
>
> Gauging 'efficiency' in different models is difficult, because they are
> most like more efficient in different areas ...
>
> Michel
>
>   On Mon, Sep 7, 2009 at 7:46 PM, Samuel Rose <samuel.rose at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> > Hi Andrew, I'll leave it up to your judgment, I must admit never having
>> > heard of objective metrics proven American companies to be  better than
>> > European ones, whether there is a U.S. superiority. It is true that U.S.
>> > workers generally work longer hours than their European counterpart, but
>> I
>> > have yet to see that this improves their decision-making. Anyway, that
>> could
>> > be my own euro-bias about well-rested minds, having a healthy social
>> life
>> > and time to read things that are unrelated to the job at hand. But I
>> welcome
>> > any stats that disprove this.
>> >
>> > Apart from that, your arguments complement rather than contradict my
>> > comparison with the East Asian choice of using more people for the same
>> work
>> > amount. In addition, educational levels still have to catch up (of
>> course
>> > this is only true 'on average', there are plenty of outstanding people
>> on
>> > this side of the ocean).
>> >
>>
>>
>> Heh,
>>
>> As an American who has worked for American companies for 2 decades, I
>> can tell you that American companies can and do outperform Euopean
>> companies in the following areas:
>>
>> 1. Financial fraud: I would venture to guess that there is far more
>> financial fraud happening in US companies than European
>>
>> 2. Overcompensation of executives: Surely, American corporate
>> executives are the most overcompensated people on the face of this
>> planet. Please correct me if I am wrong.
>>
>> 3. Government lobbying: American corporations are just really, really
>> good at lobbying the US government into subsidizing their existence. I
>> would go so far as to suggest that many of America's largest
>> corporations would not even be able to remain in existence without the
>> subsidization and favoritism of government (nevermind that small
>> business, which receives basically no subsidy, is around 50% of US
>> GDP)
>>
>> 4. Public Relations manipulation: Come on, no one can manipulate and
>> lie to the public like American companies!
>>
>>
>> --
>> --
>> Sam Rose
>> Social Synergy
>> Tel:+1(517) 639-1552
>> Cel: +1-(517)-974-6451
>> skype: samuelrose
>> email: samuel.rose at gmail.com
>> http://socialsynergyweb.com
>> http://socialsynergyweb.org/culturing
>> http://flowsbook.panarchy.com/
>> http://socialmediaclassroom.com
>> http://localfoodsystems.org
>> http://notanemployee.net
>> http://communitywiki.org
>>
>> "The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human
>> ambition." - Carl Sagan
>>
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