American Raj

Before the collapse of the Soviet Union there was some precaution in the System of Capitalism and Capitalistic Societies. During the cold war there was a check order to corporate, Governments and other similar activities, due to strong socialist political parties and unionized labor force as well as some precaution for the sake Soviet Socialist and their Block. Cautiousness was exercised for the sake of labor strikes, demonstrations and rallies over the streets. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, World Order has changed. Capitalism, Imperialism and Corporation Rule is everywhere.

Somebody say, now is the time for American Raj. As mentioned in some of my Blogs that United States of America is exporting Democracy and Capitalism etc. The fact is that the U.S. not only export democracy to under developed countries and other countries across the world but also Corporate Culture, American Culture, Fashion, Nudity and several other Social and other related and/or unrelated phenomenon’s are exported automatically. Frauds, unethical activities and lies are there all across the world along with the World Wide Web, advanced communication and technology. People learn English, get technology and become smarter and smarter and use it for fraudulent activities. That is the way for easy and big money. That is the other factor of English Language demand in those countries. (see also my other Blog “English as a Common Language”) More and more American Cultural and other social aspects are common through favorable environment of technology, media and the trend of the day. Internet, social networking, social web sites and above all globalization factor is in play here. British were promoting English language during their Raj in the past to those countries, through hard ways. Now, the trend is your friend phenomenon is in place. This is not only common in under-developed or other countries; English is becoming more and more popular in countries like Germany, France, Russia and China as well. Until a decade ago, Germans were promoting their own language. In almost every country surrounded by Germany, German Language was common. People of those countries were migrating to Germany for work and better life and learn German language. The situation is changed now and German themselves are speaking English. The similar situation is prevailed in France and countries near France. More and more French are speaking English.

Russian language was taught in Warsaw Pact Nations, as a second language in schools of those Countries and Russian language was common there. Now more and more Russians are Speaking English.

Look at China; a conservative country regarding this type of issues. Think of Great China Wall. Now English is very popular there and is in very demand. Every body wants to learn English Language in China now days. English educational agencies are very popular and are flourishing in China.

As mentioned above, take for example the music, which is changing fast in different parts of the world. Advanced technology and globalization effects are in play. Micheal Jackson style of Dance and Music is spreading not only in Bollywood (Indian Film Industry) and other flexible and open to western and other foreign music and culture, but also other parts of the globe that were far beyond of the Western type of music and fashion and somewhat conservative type of communities and nations, now are following and copying Micheal Jackson type of Dance and Music. Even Indian classic music that is basically deep connected and linked to its roots and fundamentals, which did not change for century, now in the past few years it has started to change somewhat though it is holding strong to its roots (because of its nature, it can't be changed much).

The plus size of the Western and American culture and morality is that the second runner of a prize delivers the underline trophy or whatever, to his/her counterpart/colleague with a smile on his/her face in front of the audience/public. It is really hard emotion wise and etc. to do so. If the winner of the prize was somewhat down or the second runner was a little bit lucky, the prize may be with part of the second runner. In undeveloped countries, this type of scenario is somewhat different. If by chance, the second runner is an influential person, he/she might not be ready to do so, and most probably creates some obstacles in the way. There are incidents of extreme violence on records of history, not even far long ago.

American Raj is also reflected through Political and Military supremacy of the United States of America everywhere. Days are gone when was said “The Sun never set in British Raj”, over one side of the world when it come dark (in countries under British Raj) while on the other side of the world the Sun was on the rise (in countries under British Raj). We are not discussing the political side of the story, we continue on this way:

Traditionally in the past, mostly cotton yarn and cotton cloth was imported from under-developed countries; especially from India, Indian sub-continent countries and China etc. That cotton cloth was finished, colored, re-packed and re-exported back with the mark of (Made in the “underline country”). As the time changes and new technology comes in and used in common. Now some of the under-developed countries doing the same scenario in return. Importing expertise and know how, manufacturing, modifying or re-packaging them and exporting to international markets.

Business environment in the U.S. is different, even it is different from European Countries like Germany and France. That is why those underlined countries remained under slow expansion business and technology wise..

Entrepreneurship and ownership in the U.S. is top in the world. Entrepreneurs and corporations in North America are enjoying the privilege of having offices and presence here in North America and expanding their business to the rest of the world. Technology, Know how, Expertise as well as top notch services and Products along with Capital and Cash flow are exported to several countries around the world, to their advantage, due to variety of reasons. That is why most of International Companies are American and Western Developed Countries in origin.

Role of Asian Philosophy

Entrepreneurs in the rest of the world are not smart, that is not true. Environment in those countries is different compared to the United States of America and Western Countries. As we discussed above, they are not that much privileged as American Entrepreneurs are. On top of that, their knowledge and skill levels are somewhat different to those of American Entrepreneurs. India has a vast numbers of Entrepreneurs, more than North America, by quantity wise. Indian Entrepreneurs are now operational in surrounded regional countries around India.

Chinese and Indian scientists and engineers have made an unexpectedly large contribution to U.S. technology formation over the last 30 years, according to new research by HBS professor William R. Kerr.

Asian beliefs, Philosophies, and practices are influencing everything from the way we treat the ill to how we make cars. Now, a Harvard Business School professor is looking to the East as a model for developing strong business leaders.

William George, an expert on leadership development, recently teamed with Tibetan Buddhist meditation master to present a conference on “mindful leadership,” a secular process to explore the role of self-awareness and self-compassion in developing strong and effective leaders.

Mindfulness is a state of being present, aware of oneself and other people, and sensitive to one's reactions to stressful situations. Leaders who are mindful tend to be more effective in understanding and relating to others, and motivating them toward shared goals. Hence, they become more effective in leadership roles.

For George, leaders who don't develop self-awareness are subject to becoming seduced by external rewards, such as power, money, and recognition. They also have difficulty acknowledging mistakes, an Achilles' heel that has crippled a number of CEOs who have appeared in the news recently (I have mentioned some of the names of CEOs and others in my other Blog ).

This is the first time that a Buddhist Rinpoche and a leadership professor have joined forces to explore this subject and see how Eastern teaching can inform our Western thinking about leadership and vice versa.

In other service sectors though there are some of Immigrants that have reached to the positions as they deserve, but those are very few. Most of educated immigrants are under-employed and under-paid. Their skills and knowledge are gone out-dated and decayed over the time and they got old (age wise) as well. Next generation of recent immigrants who are graduated from North American or Western Countries educational institutions are better than their parents.

Read on:

A bird flying across the ocean long from East, Far East and warm air, as he reached through the North-side and American cold air, and the weather was getting colder and colder, his wings got freeze and he fell down to the ground. Meanwhile, the cattle that were passing by, one of them drop its stool over him. The bird’s wings were getting warm and warmer, and he was feeling warm and good. And then he starts jumping and making noises. The cattle realized that there is some thing under that. The cattle searched there and got the bird and eat him up (please read between the lines).

Most of the immigrants that arrive here to North America and Western Developed Countries from those places, they are ultimately forced to do menial jobs that people well settled here do not take those jobs. And then they take their hard earned money back by selling their used cars, used furniture, used clothes and all unwanted things (garage sale) to them.

Emerging Markets

Business cycle fluctuations in developed economies tend to have very strong effects on developing countries, says a new study by Harvard Business School professor Diego Comin, Norman Loayza and Luis Serven of the World Bank, and Farooq Pasha of Boston College. The researchers have developed a quantitative model capable of explaining the amplitude and persistence of the effect that U.S. shocks have on Mexico's macroeconomic variables. The model is then used to provide an account of the drivers of business fluctuations in developing economies.

Money or Knowledge? What drives demand for financial services in emerging market?

Why is there apparently limited demand for financial services in emerging markets? On the one hand, low-income individuals may not want formal services when informal savings, credit, and insurance markets function reasonably well, and the benefits of formal financial market participation may not exceed the costs. On the other hand, limited financial literacy could be the barrier: If people are not familiar or comfortable with products, they will not demand them. These two views carry significantly different implications for the development of financial markets around the world, and would suggest quite different policy decisions by governments and international organizations seeking to promote "financial deepening." Financial literacy education has no effect on the probability of opening a bank savings account for the full population, although it does significantly increase the probability among those with low initial levels of financial literacy and low levels of education. In contrast, modest financial subsidies significantly increase the share of households that open a bank savings account within the subsequent two months.

Wealth levels across countries

Using currency exchange rates, global household wealth amounted to US$125 trillion in the year 2000, equivalent to roughly three times the value of total global production (GDP) or to US$20,500 per person. Adjusting for differences in the cost-of-living across nations raises the value of wealth to US$26,000 per capita when measured in terms of purchasing power parity dollars (PPP$).

The world map shows per capita wealth of different countries. (World Wealth Levels in Year 2000) Average wealth amounted to $144,000 per person in the USA in year 2000, and $181,000 in Japan. Lower down among countries with wealth data are India, with per capita assets of $1,100, and Indonesia with $1,400 per capita.

Per capita wealth levels vary widely across countries. Even within the group of high-income OECD nations the range includes $37,000 for New Zealand and $70,000 for Denmark and $127,000 for the UK (see also my other Blog “World Wealth inequalities”).

Wealth is heavily concentrated in North America, Europe, and high income Asia-Pacific countries. People in these countries collectively hold almost 90% of total world wealth. (Figure 2: Regional Wealth Shares) Although North America has only 6% of the world adult population, it accounts for 34% of household wealth. Europe and high income Asia-Pacific countries also own disproportionate amounts of wealth. In contrast, the overall share of wealth owned by people in Africa, China, India, and other lower income countries in Asia is considerably less than their population share, sometimes by a factor of more than ten.

The study finds wealth to be more unequally distributed than income across countries. High income countries tend to have a bigger share of world wealth than of world GDP. The reverse is true of middle- and low-income nations. However, there are exceptions to this rule, for example the Nordic region and transition countries like Czech Republic and Poland.

The authors of the UNU-WIDER study explain that in Eastern European countries ‘private wealth is on the rise, but has still not reached very high levels. Assets like private pensions and life insurance are held by relatively few households. In the Nordic countries, the social security system provides generous public pensions that may depress wealth accumulation.’