Despite Japan’s economic powers being the third largest in the entire world, it still ranks in the 20s for digital competitiveness. This weakness of Japan's infrastructure was heavily exploited when the country was hit with corona virus. The result of the dated nature of data infrastructure showed when trying to provide aid relief to its citizens during this summer. Besides lagging the relief of its citizens, its dated technology has dulled its competitiveness in technological innovation in the private sector. Due to this long overdue overhaul of Japanese dated infrastructure, they proposed a deal last month calling for a year of concentrated investment to boost data-sharing between ministries and update websites. The Japanese government did not state how much they will be investing, but it is obvious that they are taking this very seriously. I am really intrigued with what Japan's economy will look like after they invest in the infrastructure of data. If they have the third largest economy with this updated software image, there’s no telling what this investment will do not just for GDP but for their economic status as a whole.
Saturday, August 29, 2020
Unemployment Claims Have Reached Historic Levels
Since March, the United States' economy has experienced extremely high levels of unemployment. This is of course a direct result of the ongoing global pandemic caused by the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Jobless claims record before the pandemic reached around 700,000 which is a significantly low number given that there are approximately 162 million total jobs in America. These numbers have increased to 7 million in March when the virus' spread was at a peak and continuously increased during the past consecutive weeks. As of last Thursday, August 27, 1 million more americans have filed for employment bringing the number of claims to a high 14.7 million according to the Department of Labor.
This is a step back as "the rise comes after two straight weeks of declines and brings the
number above the 1 million mark as the nation continues its slow
recovery from the effects of COVID-19." This data amplifies how troubled and devastated the U.S. economy has been due to the ongoing public health crisis which is clearly weighing on economic activity,
inflation, as well as employment/unemployment. With the re-opening of businesses, this is quite deplorable. The question now stands in whether the job market and the economy will quickly rebound and if a recovery is on sight or long awaited.
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
North Korea Introduced to Western-Style Capitalism
Andray Abrahamian recently wrote a new book, Being in North Korea, about exposing North Korea to western-style capitalism through a non-governmental organization he set up in Singapore. At seminars and workshops in both North Korea and Singapore, he managed to acquaint young North Koreans to some "principles of buying and selling, marketing, designing, doing research, mapping strategy and, finally, profiting and maybe even getting rich" in a very communist-dedicated country. While managing to teach these eager North Koreans about the basics of western-style capitalism, he also was able to covey some important messages such as "some things would not be possible without the internet" and that there should be a balance of content, "80% applicable, 20% bad news." In his book however, it is not clear where he did his writing, nor how much of what was taught was put into practice by North Koreans.
The book also goes beyond personal experiences from the author and tells the story of Orascom. Orascom is an Egyptian giant that came into North Korea to build the country's 3G network. The company was unfortunately unable to repatriate profits, so the arrangement fell through, leaving North Korea's 'first major investment by a renowned, global corporation' a failure. Being in North Korea is somewhat vague throughout in terms of business and human rights as to not step on the toes of the North Korean government, but it does make it clear that North Koreans do 'have a vague sense that they are missing out on something huge.' North Korea claims that they will 'break through the cutting edge,' but Abrahamian does not believe it will happen if its people are still cut off from the outside world's knowledge and information.
It makes me wonder if North Korea may break out of its socialist shell within my lifetime.
Rare Insights On Business In North Korea From Being In The Hermit Country