Apple versus Samsung: Jury foreman justifies $1bn verdict

By Leo KelionTechnology reporter

The judge in the case could still treble the amount of damages Samsung has to pay because the jury said the infringements were "wilful" Continue reading the main story

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The verdict in the recent Apple-Samsung patent trial in the US has sent shockwaves through the tech industry. The jury ruled that Apple be awarded $1.05m (665m) after its South Korean rival infringed several of its software technologies and designs Samsung's own claims of patent breaches were rejected. The decisions have been picked over at length by both the media and public. Questions have been asked: Did the jury spend enough time considering the facts? Was a Californian jury inherently biased? And, based on the evidence, was the verdict wrong?

Velvin Hogan was the foreman in the jury. He is chief technology officer at Multicast Labs, which develops video technology for the web, and was familiar with the US patent system before the trial.

Velvin Hogan said his familiarity with the US patent system helped the jury reach its verdict so quickly

He spoke to the BBC to address concerns he had about some of the reports, and asked that it be known that he had not been paid for this or any other interview. What follows is an edited version of the conversation. A full transcript is also available: What was the crucial bit of evidence that convinced you to give a verdict that was so decisive in Apple's favour rather than Samsung's? One of the most decisive pieces of evidence was reading the minutes for myself of a meeting that was held at a very high level between Google executives and Samsung executives. It was for a tablet and Google was concerned that for the sake of their operating system that the look and feel and the methodology that they [Samsung] were using to create their tablet was getting too close to what Apple was doing. And in the memo themselves - remember this was minutes - they stated that Google demanded that they back away from that design. And later there was a follow-up memo among themselves, these executives, and in black and white it says: we elect to not pass this information down to the divisions that were actually involved in the design. So, from the sake of the engineers they went merrily along continuing their design not given any orders to back away. They knew nothing of that meeting. To me that kind of raised a light bulb in my head that when I got in the jury room I wanted to read the minutes of that meeting myself.

When we went into deliberation in the jury room we not only had all the physical evidence of everything that was presented, but we also had sealed source code in its entirety from both sides, we actually had the memos that were talked about in the trial... and there was a piece of evidence after a piece of evidence that just clearly stacked up.

The jury deliberated for 21 hours before reaching its verdict

A lot has been made about the original interview you gave to Reuters in which you said you wanted to make the award sufficiently high to be painful to Samsung, but not unreasonable. There has been concern this might have be prejudicial and the awards should have been based on the facts alone. I have tried to make it clear that it wasn't an attempt [to take] a punitive standpoint. And it wasn't necessarily focused at Samsung - that is where it had been taken out of context. The jurors wanted to send a message to the industry at large that no matter who you are - whether you are Apple, whether you are Samsung, or anybody if you wilfully take the risk to cross the line and start infringing and you get caught, and again I emphasise wilfully, you need to be prepared to pay the cost for that.

Apple presented this chart as evidence that Samsung had changed its approach after the iPhone had been unveiled

There were two issues, looking at Apple's case: whether Samsung had infringed their patents and whether the patents were valid. Why weren't you convinced by Samsung's arguments that Apple's patents were invalid since prior art existed showing similar ideas? Prior art was considered. But the stipulation under the law is for the prior art to be sufficient to negate or invalidate Apple's patents in this case, it had to be sufficiently similar or, more importantly, it had to be interchangeable. And in example after example, when we put it to the test... the hardware was different, the software was an entirely different methodology, and the more modern software could not be loaded onto the older example and be run without error. And vice versa of that was also true. So the point being, at [a bird's eye-view from] the 40,000 foot-level, even though the outcome of the two seemed similar, the internal methodology of how you got there was entirely different. One could not be exchanged for the other. And that is the thing that most people at large do not understand about the legal system. And as a result of that you have heard a lot of hype in the media about did we turn our back on prior art.

Samsung used this image to suggest there had not been a sudden change in direction after the iPhone

There had speculation that Samsung might be awarded damages as well because of its claim that Apple had infringed its technologies. What was key to us... is that [the technologies] had to be interchangeable. And so consequently, when we looked at the source code - I was able to read source code - I showed the jurors that the two methods in software were not the same, nor could they be interchangeable because the hardware that was involved between the old processor and the new processor - you couldn't load the new software methodology in the old system and expect that it was going to work. And the converse of that was true. Do you think if you hadn't been on the jury then we might have ended up with a very different verdict? I think so. But let's not say me specifically. Let's say if there had not been an individual who had the technical background, and there had not been an individual who had gone through the process, the verdict might have been different - or it might have been the same. I believe that the jury system in this country stands. The individuals would have ultimately come to a verdict. It might have been a lot longer.

But what definitely would have been required is passing more questions to the judge and having them come back. In our case we didn't have to. Do you have a concern that this case and the verdict given could encourage further patent litigation? Yes. I have no doubt that, number one, this case for this country is historical. It's a landmark case and, as people have said, we set the bar rather high. But as jurors we took the job seriously. What needs to be understood by those outside that are watching this and listening to it, no matter whether we or anyone else feel personally that the patent procedure in this country or the patent system is broken or sick, we as jurors were sworn to abide by the rules and the stipulations in law as they exist today, at the time we made the decision.

The jury rejected Apple's claim that the shape of its iPad had been infringed by Samsung

And personally, do you think it is broken and sick and needs reform? I believe we definitely need to continue the discussion. What I applaud is the fact that there is a discussion going on. Not everybody agrees with me or agrees with the decision that we made. But that's OK. Whether I believe it is sick or broken or needs to be fixed or not, the rules are today what they are. But if the community of engineers at large believes that it needs to be changed or re-reviewed, this court, this trial, and this set of jurors - myself included - was not the genre for that. It was not the right place. That wasn't our authority and it wasn't what we were supposed to do. A lot has been made of the idea that Apple may have ultimately been gunning for Android rather than just specifically for Samsung. Do you think this verdict will have implications for other companies who use Android?

No.... Those two operating systems can stand side-by-side, even though there is some similarity. The way those two operating systems function are sufficiently different enough that there is no infringement. Just to make it clear, the phone that I have is a Motorola Droid X2 and the reason I'm mentioning that is because it is in the record, it was told to the judge and told to the court when asked that question. And it is of a slider variety so it has a normal keyboard, and for that reason it's not among the 26 accused phones. It uses icons, and they are more than sufficiently different than what the iPhone, what Apple uses.

A hearing has been scheduled for December to consider Apple's demand that eight phones be banned from sale

At the 40,000 foot-level there are some what you would perceive to be similarities. When you look at how the code is running and what the outcome is you will find that when you compare even that phone against the current patents that Apple is using, there is no infringement. My point is that the consumer at large does not have to lose functionality. But the methodology that is used by the company building that can get as close as they want to to that line of infringement, but just don't cross it. Don't cross the infringement line, make some changes so that you're not going to cross it and then innovate like crazy. And that's really the most important part. And I think Samsung has the capability, perhaps like no other on the globe, to be able to do it sufficiently fast enough that they are not going to lose any revenue. A lot of people have said this case happened in Apple's backyard, so what else would you expect? Yes, this trial took place in San Jose in the heart of Silicon Valley and Apple is located just down the road west of where the trial was, and two of Samsung's divisions are here down the road north-east of where this decision was made.

Everybody knows Samsung, everybody in this valley knows Apple. There is absolutely no ground to say that Apple had a hometown advantage. Certainly it did not influence any of us on the jury panel.

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31 AUGUST 2012, TECHNOLOGY

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SiliconValley.comIt?s not over: Apple-Samsung talk from juror, Samsung, about Google and Android55 hrs ago Yahoo! UK and IrelandApple shares soar after court victory, while rivals suffer27 Aug 2012 ZDNet AustraliaApple victory aftermath: Samsung stock slips and experts question jury speed27 Aug 2012 Sky NewsSamsung Shares Plunge After Apple Verdict27 Aug 2012 Los Angeles TimesJurors in Apple-Samsung case delved into emails, other evidence27 Aug 2012 About these results

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The rise of state capitalism

The spread of a new sort of business in the emerging world will cause increasing problems
Jan 21st 2012 | from the print edition

OVER the past 15 years striking corporate headquarters have transformed the great cities of the emerging world. China Central Television's building resembles a giant alien marching across Beijing's skyline; the 88-storey Petronas Towers, home to Malaysia's oil company, soar above Kuala Lumpur; the gleaming office of VTB, a banking powerhouse, sits at the heart of Moscow's new financial district. These are all monuments to the rise of a new kind of hybrid corporation, backed by the state but behaving like a privatesector multinational. State-directed capitalism is not a new idea: witness the East India Company. But as ourspecial report this week points out, it has undergone a dramatic revival. In the 1990s most state-owned companies were little more than government departments in emerging markets; the assumption was that, as the economy matured, the government would close or privatise them. Yet they show no signs of relinquishing the commanding heights, whether in major industries (the world's ten biggest oil-and-gas firms, measured by reserves, are all state-owned) or major markets (state-backed companies account for 80% of the value of China's stockmarket and 62% of Russia's). And they are on the offensive. Look at almost any new industry and a giant is emerging: China Mobile, for example, has 600m customers. State-backed firms accounted for a third of the emerging world's foreign direct investment in 2003-10. In this section
The rise of state capitalism Salve Italia The politics of plutocracy Not quite too late Light and wrong
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Globalisation

South Africa China Economics Privatisation and nationalisation

With the West in a funk and emerging markets flourishing, the Chinese no longer see state-directed firms as a way-station on the road to liberal capitalism; rather, they see it as a sustainable model. They think they have redesigned capitalism to make it work better, and a growing number of emerging-world leaders agree with them. The Brazilian government, which embraced privatisation in the 1990s, is now interfering with the likes of Vale and Petrobras, and compelling smaller companies to merge to form national champions. South Africa is also flirting with the model. This development raises two questions. How successful is the model? And what are its consequencesboth in, and beyond, emerging markets? The law of diminishing returns State capitalism's supporters argue that it can provide stability as well as growth. Russia's wild privatisation under Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s alarmed many emerging countries and encouraged the view that governments can mitigate the strains that capitalism and globalisation cause by providing not just the hard infrastructure of roads and bridges but also the soft infrastructure of flagship corporations. So Lee Kuan Yew's government in Singapore, an early exponent of this idea, let in foreign firms and embraced Western management ideas, but also owned chunks of companies. The leading practitioner is now China. The tight connection between its government and business will no doubt be on display when the global elite gathers in the Swiss resort of Davos next week. Among Westerners there, government delegates often take the opposite view to those from the private sector: Chinese delegates from both sides tend to have the same point of view, and even the same patriotic talking-points. The new model bears little resemblance to the disastrous spate of nationalisations in Britain and elsewhere half a century ago. China's infrastructure companies win contracts the world over. The best national champions are outward-looking, acquiring skills by listing on foreign exchanges and taking over foreign companies. And governments are selective in their corporate holdings. Overall, the Chinese state has loosened its grip on the economy: its bureaucrats concentrate on industries where they can make a difference. Let a thousand mobiles bloom Yet a close look at the model shows its weaknesses. When the government favours one lot of companies, the others suffer. In 2009 China Mobile and another state giant, China National Petroleum Corporation, made profits of $33 billion more than China's 500 most profitable private companies combined. State giants soak up capital and talent that might have been used better by private companies. Studies show that state companies use capital less efficiently than private ones, and grow more slowly. In many countries the coddled state giants are pouring money into fancy towers at a time when entrepreneurs are struggling to raise capital.

Those costs are likely to rise. State companies are good at copying others, partly because they can use the government's clout to get hold of their technology; but as they have to produce ideas of their own they will become less competitive. State-owned companies make a few big bets rather than lots of small ones; the world's great centres of innovation are usually networks of small start-ups. Nor does the model guarantee stability. State capitalism works well only when directed by a competent state. Many Asian countries have a strong mandarin culture; South Africa and Brazil do not. Coal India is hardly an advertisement for efficiency (see article). And everywhere state capitalism favours well-connected insiders over innovative outsiders. In China highly educated princelings have taken the spoils. In Russia a clique of bureaugarchs, often former KGB officials, dominate both the Kremlin and business. Thus the model produces cronyism, inequality and eventually discontentas the Mubaraks' brand of state capitalism did in Egypt. Rising powers have always used the state to kick-start growth: think of Japan and South Korea in the 1950s or Germany in the 1870s or even the United States after the war of independence. But these countries have, over time, invariably found that the system has limits. The Chinese of all people should understand that the best way to learn from history is to look at its long sweep. But it may take many years for the model's weaknesses to become obvious; and, in the meantime, it is likely to cause all sorts of problems. Investors in emerging markets, for instance, need to watch out. Some may be taking a punt on governments as much as companies. State-capitalist governments can be capricious, with scant regard for minority shareholders. Others may find their subsidiaries or joint ventures in emerging markets pitted against state-backed favourites. Another concern is the impact of the model on the global trading system which, at a time when the likely Republican nominee for president wants to declare China a currency manipulator on his first day of office, is already at risk. Ensuring that trade is fair is harder when some companies enjoy the support, overt or covert, of a national government. Western politicians are beginning to lose patience with state-capitalist powers that rig the system in favour of their own companies. For emerging countries wanting to make their mark on the world, state capitalism has an obvious appeal. It gives them the clout that private-sector companies would take years to build. But its dangers outweigh its advantages. Both for their own sake, and in the interests of world trade, the practitioners of state capitalism need to start unwinding their huge holdings in favoured companies and handing them over to private investors. If these companies are as good as they boast they are, then they no longer need the crutch of state support.

Human resources for health in India

Prof Mohan Rao PhD a, Dr Krishna D Rao PhD b Chatterjee MPH d, Thiagarajan SundararamanMD e , AK Shiva Kumar PhD c, Mirai

Summary
India has a severe shortage of human resources for health. It has a shortage of qualified health workers and the workforce is concentrated in urban areas. Bringing qualified health workers to rural, remote, and underserved areas is very challenging. Many Indians, especially those living in rural areas, receive care from unqualified providers. The migration of qualified allopathic doctors and nurses is substantial and further strains the system. Nurses do not have much authority or say within the health system, and the resources to train them are still inadequate. Little attention is paid during medical education to the medical and public health needs of the population, and the rapid privatisation of medical and nursing education has implications for its quality and governance. Such issues are a result of underinvestment in and poor governance of the health sector two issues that the government urgently needs to address. A comprehensive national policy for human resources is needed to achieve universal health care in India. The public sector will need to redesign appropriate packages of monetary and non-monetary incentives to encourage qualified health workers to work in rural and remote areas. Such a policy might also encourage task-shifting and mainstreaming doctors and practitioners who practice traditional Indian medicine (ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, and siddha) and homoeopathy to work in these areas while adopting other innovative ways of augmenting human resources for health. At the same time, additional investments will be needed to improve the relevance, quantity, and quality of nursing, medical, and public health education in the country.

Special repoOne Computer Can Deliver Whole-Class Instruction rt at a glance

ssner, K. (May 2000). One computer can deliver whole-class instruction. Music Educators Journal, 34-40. This was a very interesting article that presented several ideas for using one single computer in the music classroom. One of the suggestions was to use the computer in front of the class just like you would any other visual aid in conjunction with your teaching. Another, more preferable way was to arrange the chairs in the class around the computer so that all of the students can see the screen and hear the audio. The students can sit down in any order they choose and rotate turns using the computer. This way, all of the students have a chance to use the computer equally and all of the students observing also have the opportunity to learn the entire lesson by watching their peers. Another advantage with this is that it also helps to prevent boredom from sitting for the entire time because they get to move up to the next chair every time they change turns. If used in certain ways, having and using only one computer can be detrimental to the music class. Some teachers set the computer up in the back corner of the room and allow select students to go and use it while the normal lesson is being taught. This sends the notion to the students that the lesson being presented to the class is not that important. There is also an issue with the teacher being able to monitor exactly what the student is doing on the computer. Finally, it can create disruptions in the class if the student using the computer has a question. The main point of the article was to give a few ideas and encourage creative thinking from the teachers on how to use their classroom computer to its fullest potential.

Will Technology Transform Music Education?

Beckstead, D. (May 2001). Will technology transform music education? Music Educators Journal, 44-49. This article dealt with composing in the music education classroom and the emerging technologies that can assist with the process. After the initial summary, the article presented a very brief historical background of the purpose of music education and how composing was viewed and used. In 1994, the National Standards for Music were introduced and among the list of the eight standards was composing. This was something that has become very seldom, if at all present, in the music education classroom. One of the reasons is because traditional composing and notation is quite complex and a lot of information must be known in order to be able to do it. This, in conjunction with the time each class is seen each week, would take entirely too much valuable time that could be spent on things that could be more quickly and easily mastered. However, technology has completely reformed these limitations of composition in the classroom. With a computer, MIDI keyboard and programs such as Finale, Rhapsody, or Music Writer a student can very easily play their composition on the keyboard and the computer will automatically notate what the student is playing, resulting in an instant composition. There are also now emerging music notation programs that allow input from a microphone that will transcribe the voice or other non-MIDI instruments. The main point of the article was that because of technological advances, composition in the music education classroom doesnt have to be something that is avoided because it is too complicated.

Advantages of Iphone medical apps

Technology Articles | August 27, 2012

Health

The medical sector is under immense pressure when it comes to balancing the administrative technicalities with the increase hospitalization of patients on a daily basis.

Business Finance

Hence to unburden the hospital personnel, the healthcare sector has channelized the administrative workload in an independent enterprise called medicaltranscription. These companies form a bond with Travel the hospital to provide conversion of audio files regarding the details of a patient into textual format that can be referred in case the need arises in the future. For this process, individuals are appointed Home Repair that have certain abilities and criteria that must be fulfilled as per company norms. These

transcriptionists have background knowledge about medical linguistics and have a sufficient level of speed and accuracy while typing. To help thetranscription process to be much simpler, iphone medical apps have been made available. These apps can be downloaded on an android compatible cell phone or net book that enables recording on the move. These apps have no overhead expenditure that makes it economically worthless. The free download facilities allow the app to be installed in any android or cloud based phone without too many technical complications.

Technology Computers Autos Family

Orra is one such Iphone based medical app that has gained prominence owing to its range of features Communication that works in the benefit of the medical expert as well as the transcriptionist. A doctor can utilise their leisure hours in a productive way to store and record the patients information. These software Entertainment are aligned along with a security system that to avoid loss of data or modification by unauthorized personnel. The audio files are converted into textual matter by transcribers to store it in large Marketing databases in case of future referral of the case. These records are arranged alphabetically or in an order preferred by the hospital management. Medical transcription on the whole has uplifted the Sports economical conditions of the developing nations by providing job opportunities to the unemployed population. These companies are independent and legally approved by legal bodies and government Self Help agencies. The administrative stress is eliminated and the hospital has a functional system that provides up to date data regarding the different patients and their related details.
Education

Iphone medical apps have been created to enhance the transcription sector and provide facilities that utilises the travelling hours by doing productive work. The speed of storing and transmitting is powerful and swift making it extremely effective. The level of reliability is good and efficiency in services makes it a doctors go to app. Orra is a medical app that has been formulated to be compatible with android based phones. It can be easily purchased from the android market and can be installed in a few simple steps. Eliminating the complexities in functioning and installing, this app is being more famous as the day goes by. With the increasing employees and trustworthy technological developments, the medical transcription has become a large enterprise and has formed a crux of every hospital across the seven seas. It is a field that is gaining prominence with every passing minute.
Article Tags: Medical Transcription Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Orra Health is a unique transcription software application from Acroseas Global Solutions, a pioneer in medical transcription services. for more information visit here: www.orratech.com

Is Obama Getting Serious about China Trade?

25 January 2012

I will not stand by when our competitors dont play by the rules, said President Obama in his State of the Union message on Tuesday. And to make sure other nations comply with their obligations, he announced the creation of the Trade Enforcement Unit. According to the Wall Street Journal, the new grouping will be a task force combining officials from the Treasury, Commerce, and Energy Departments as well as the US Trade Representatives office. Despite the generic name, the target of the Trade Enforcement Unit is China. China may have racked up as much as a $300 billion trade surplus against America last year; if it failed to achieve that record-smashing mark, it was only billion or two short. In any event, it will surely surpass its 2010 surplus against the US of $273.1 billion. The 2010 deficit with China is the largest single-country one in the history of the United States. If there were any time for the White House to get serious about Beijings predatory trade policies, this is it. Clearly, Chinas surpluses are not sustainable, especially in a period of deteriorating economic conditions. Last Wednesday, the World Bank downgraded its global growth estimate by a full percentage point to 2.5 percent. The president is right to highlight the China issue, and perhaps his organizational approach will result in more effective policies. Ted Alden of the Council on Foreign Relations, in comments carried in the January 12th Nelson Report, correctly called the task force proposal the most comprehensive effort by any administration to rethink approaches to trade enforcement since the creation of the WTO. Yet that is not saying much. The Clinton administration made a strategic mistake by agreeing to Chinas admission into the global trade organization before it was ready to abide by international standards, and the Bush team inexplicably allowed Beijing to continually game the system after

the countrys accession in 2001. The common element of the policies of the two presidents is the belief that Washington must work cooperatively with the Chinese. President Obama, despite the trade actions he has launched against China, still shares this view. For instance, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner apparently discussed the task force proposal with Chinese officials during his visit there this month. Yet the effort to maintain this dialogue appears misguided, as this patient engagement approach is what contributed to our problems in the first place, by giving the Chinese more time to engage in delaying tactics while racking up trade surpluses. As Alan Tonelson of the US Business & Industry Council wrote this month, Ever since he endorsed the 2008 version of the Senate currency bill early in his first White House run, President Obama has had all the evidence of Chinese economic transgressions he could possibly want to justify strong retaliatory actions. And, as Tonelson also points out, the president already has the legal tools to enforce Chinas trade obligations. One does not need to believe that Obamas task force is a ployWill anyone be fooled? Tonelson askedto understand that the US will not make progress until Washington realizes it must move beyond dialogue. After decades of broken Chinese trade promises, we should realize that the only thing that will work going forward is the full use of our economic leverage. And what would that leverage be? With the collapse of European orders for Chinese goods last year, America has become an even more important market for China. President Obama has the bargaining power. The question now is, does he have the will to use it?

China Targets American JobsAgain

29 August 2012

On Saturday, Wen Jiabao said China will try to export its way out of its current economic troubles. The countrys premier suggested technical fixes, such as faster payment of tax rebates, but he did not refer to depreciation of the national currency, the renminbi.

inShare1 Email Print Thats a rather large omission considering the circumstances. Why? Because his primary plan, evident over the course of the last several months, has been to force down the value of the currency to make Chinese products cheaper on global markets. Some analysts believe the yuan, as the renminbi is informally known, is undervalued by as much as 40 percent against the dollar. Thats possible, but we do not know the market value of the Chinese currency. The Peoples Bank of China, the countrys central bank, essentially fixes the value of the yuan by buying and selling currencies so that it stays within a predetermined band. The renminbi has depreciated against the dollar by about 1 percent this year after it climbeddue to Washingtons pressure4.7 percent in 2011. In short, Beijing is doubling down on its mercantilist approach to global commerce. And its not hard to see why. The Chinese economy is slumping. Official statistics tell us the country is expanding in the high single digits7.8 percent growth in the first half of this yearbut in reality the economy has flatlined. The most reliable indicator of Chinese economic activity, the production of electricity, has increased an average of less than 1.2 percent in the AprilJuly period. Because the growth of electricity historically outpaces the growth of the economy, its evident China cannot be growing faster than zero. Zero growth? That startling assessment is not only possible; it may even be on the high side. On Thursday, HSBC released its closely watched Flash Purchasing Managers Index for this month. The index plummeted, making it clear that August will be the tenth straight month when the critical manufacturing sector in China contracted. Manufacturing is contracting and bringing the rest of the economy down with it. Perhaps Wen Jiabao is now focused on exports because exports cured Chinas last downturn, which was triggered by the Asian Financial Crisis at the end of the 1990s. Then, robust economies in Western Europe and North America dragged China out of its troubles by buying just about everything Chinese factories were making for export. This time, the rest of the world is not riding to the rescue. Exports increased only 1.0 percent in July over the same month last year. The HSBC Flash Index had gloomy news on this front as well: the new export sub-index revealed a quickly deteriorating environment for Chinese goods. In fact, exports increased 7.8 percent in the first seven months of the year, and this means China could miss its target of 10 percent export growth.

By focusing on boosting exports, Wen is again resorting to mercantilismthe effect of which will be to take away even more American jobs and manufacturing. Beijing, therefore, is throwing down a challenge Washington cannot ignore. Wen is doing this in the midst of the American election season. We should thank him. We cant talk about the presidential campaign without talking about the economy. We cant talk about the economy without talking about jobs. And we cant talk about jobs without saying the word China. Peter Navarro, co-author of Death by China and maker of a documentary of the same name, points out that Beijings currency manipulation has directly contributed to the closure of tens of thousands of American factories and the loss of millions of jobs here. The best American jobs program, he tells us, is the reform of Washingtons China trade policies. Wen, with his new export promotion program and his emphasis on depreciating his currency, is just daring the two presidential candidates to make Beijings currency manipulation a campaign issue. It should be. We need a national conversation on this complex and crucial matter, and there is no better time to do that than now, when it will affect the direction of the next four years.

Gordon G. Chang's blog

Obama names Bombay IIT graduate to key post

By Arun Kumar | IANS India Private Limited Sat 1 Sep, 2012

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Washington, Sep 1 (IANS) President Barack Obama has appointed Romesh Wadhwani, an Indian American founder of several software and IT companies, on board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts. Announcing his intent to appoint Wadhwani and nine other general trustees of the centre, Obama said, "These dedicated men and women bring a wealth of experience and talent to their new roles and I am proud to have them serve in this Administration." "I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come," added Obama, whose administration has over a score Indian-Americans serving in senior positions, more than any other previous adminstration. Set up in 1971 as a living memorial to former President John F. Kennedy, the centre is the busiest performing arts facility in the United States and annually hosts approximately 2,000 performances for audiences totaling nearly two million. According to a White House announcement Wadhwani, who received a BA from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay and an MS and Ph.D. from Carnegie-Mellon University, is the founder, Chairman, and CEO of Symphony Technology Group. He is actively involved in Kennedy Centre initiatives, having served as Co-Chair of the Maximum India Festival in 2011 and as a supporter of the 2010 Honours Gala. He is the founder and Chairperson of the Wadhwani Foundation, and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. Previously, Wadhwani was the founder, Chairman, and CEO of several software and IT companies, including Aspect Development, Inc.

China's Richest Man Could Teach Us A Thing Or Two About Being Frugal
By Jill Krasny | Business Insider 16 hours ago

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Zong Qinghou may be China's richest man and rank No. 23 globally, but he could easily earn the distinction for being most frugal. According to Bloomberg News, Zong, the 66-year-old founder of Wahaha soft drinks, only spends$20 a day, though he's worth a cool $21.6 billion. As the BBC's Nick Rosen discovered last Summer, Zong's "monk-like devotion to duty is legendary," with one Wahaha employee recalling he "reviewed every office expense, including the purchase of a broom." Zong's trajectory from school shopkeep to beverage mogul spans more than two decades, so it's commendable that he hasn't let his wealth go to his head. In this way, he's a lot like wealthy peers who earn $100,000 or more and told PNC Financial Services that the recession has had little to no effect on their retirement planning goals. In fact, they're looking forward to punching out. Beyond being disciplined savers like Zong, a lot of the PNC survey respondents (46%) said they've worked hard to reduce their debt, turn around their spending habits (33%) and pay off their mortgage (23%). What's more, these respondents planned to work well into their golden years, with three-quarters saying they'll "work in some fashion after retirement." While you don't have to count every penny like Zong, it's important to take note of the habits that got the baby boomer ahead. He worked hard, followed his passion, and lived incredibly below his means. He still does. Put simply, he thinks like rich people, which in turn has brought him great wealth.

As Chinese data continues to deteriorate, housing continues to show weakness and bad debts rise, some take solace in the fact that this is all part of China's plan to rebalance its economy and cool growth. In a paper, Li Zuojun, deputy director at the Development Research Center of the State Council (DRC) writes that after 30 years of rapid growth, China is beginning to restructure. And that the economy now faces 9 major challenges. Chinascope features excerpts from Li's work, which we summarize here: 1. Slowdown in economic growth: China's economy is slowing and this isn't temporary it reflects "the market's direction". This means that "companies will face losses to the point of bankruptcy" and the pressure on employment will rise. 2. Long-term inflation: Chinese consumer price inflation has gone from 6.5 percent in 2011, down to 2.2 percent in June 2012. Inflation is an intermediate to long-term problem for China which means the country needs to increase its "tolerance" for and "resilience" to inflation. 3. "Accumulating economic bubbles": Years of rapid growth have led to many bubbles and now the concerns is that the bubbles will start to burst. "If the government uses a superb macro-control technique, lets the air out of the bubbles little by little without triggering an economic crisis or social unrest, and timely cultivates new economic growth and new competitive advantages so that businesses are restructured and upgraded, this would be considered a "soft landing," and the bubbles would not burst. However, in 2013 there will be unprecedented pressure, which will warrant a high degree of vigilance and attention." 4. Challenges from rebalancing: China faces 4 major shifts the shift from external demand to domestic demand, from investment driven growth to consumer-led growth, shift from government investment to private investment, and finally from "traditional elements of production to advanced elements of production". China needs to promote this to maintain the pace of economic growth. "Japan and Latin America have gone through this transformation, but they did not do well and fell into the "middle-income trap" or the "high-income trap." We also face this challenge." 5. Challenge of adjustments to industries: China needs to get rid of over-production at its industries and upgrade technologies, management, and employ more skilled personnel. Moreover, the country needs to conserve energy which is a problem for central and western China that are growing rapidly. The regions hope that Beijing will compensate them but a decline in the country's coffers mean this isn't very likely. 6. Constraints on resources and environment are rising: Demand for energy and raw materials in China is massive. At the same time the country faces massive pressure to cut carbon dioxide emissions and protect the environment. 7. Rising social costs as government revenue declines: Improvements in social development raises costs for the government, because it increases spending on pensions, health care, housing, education etc. But government revenue is falling since tax revenues

from small and medium enterprises has fallen, and government income from land use is decreasing because of falling house prices. 8. Weakening international environment: The global economic slowdown is likely to persist for another two or three years, and will be a blow to Chinese exports. Moreover, "the international environment for China's overseas investments is deteriorating" because countries don't trust the Chinese and suspect they will steal their technologies or are doing it to control their resources. Third, western countries are pushing to undermine Chinese competitiveness by calling for renminbi appreciation, which impacts the international environment for adjusting the exchange rate. 9. Increased resistance to reform: Those with vested interests are against reforms in the Chinese economy. And ignorance has led to the belief that disparities between the rich and the poor for instance were brought about my market-oriented reform, which has led to many resisting more reforms now.