Author: Hafiz Noor Shams

For more about me, please read this.

Categories
Economics Liberty Society

[1299] Of don’t tread on me

Public domain.

Dedicated to Raja Petra Kamarudin, and liberty at large.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

p/s — pardon the low frequency of post. Work now demands extra labor.

But do not forget, DAP is organizing a forum on Negara Islam on Thursday, July 26 2007 at the Chinese Assembly Hall in Kuala Lumpur at 1930 hours.

Later on July 30 2007, Prof K.S. Jomo will be speaking at a talk at the same place:

Malaysia Economic Development Since Merdeka: Lessons for the Present and Future

Date: 30 JULY 2007 (Monday)

Time: 8.00PM-10.00PM

Venue: Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, No. 1, Jalan Maharajarela, 50150 Kuala Lumpur (Near Maharajarela Monorail Station)

Guest Speaker: Prof. KS Jomo

Jomo K. S. has been Assistant Secretary General for Economic Development in the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) since January 2005. He was Professor in the Applied Economics Department, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya until November 2004, and was on the Board of the United Nations Research Institute on Social Development (UNRISD), Geneva (2002-4). He is Founder Chair of IDEAs, International Development Economics Associates ( www.ideaswebsite.org)

Born in Penang, Malaysia, in 1952, Jomo studied at the Penang Free School (PFS, 1964-6), Royal Military College (RMC, 1967-70), Yale (1970-3) and Harvard (1973-7). He has taught at Science University of Malaysia (USM, 1974), Harvard (1974-5), Yale (1977), National University of Malaysia (UKM, 1977-82), University of Malaya (since 1982), and Cornell (1993). He has also been a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University (1987-8; 1991-2) and was Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore (2004).

He has authored over 35 monographs, edited over 50 books and translated 11 volumes besides writing many academic papers and articles for the media. He is on the editorial boards of several learned journals. Some of his most recent book publications include Malaysia’s Political Economy (with E. T. Gomez), Tigers in Trouble, Rents, Rent-Seeking and Economic Development: Theory and the Asian Evidence (with Mushtaq Khan)

Abstract: Malaysia as a nation turns into 50 this year. In commemoration of 50 years of nationhood, there has never a better time for Malaysians to reflect on the present, its origins in the past and what the future holds. The economic crisis that began in 1997 has reduced growth rates since.

Ten years after the crisis, how far has Malaysia recovered? What is the present situation of the Malaysian economic? Is FDI the solution for Malaysia’s economic stagnation? All these questions and many more will be addressed by Prof. Jomo. This discussion should open a debate on our shared future as a nation.

Language: English

ALL ARE WELCOME!

Categories
Politics & government

[1298] Of the crazy libertarian

Okay…:

RON PAUL, a libertarian Republican congressman from Texas, likes to say what he thinks. And among the things he thinks is that the census is a violation of privacy. He has opted out of the congressional pension programme. He claims never to have voted for a tax increase, or for an unbalanced budget, or for a congressional pay rise and never to have gone on a congressional junket. He wants to return to the gold standard. Most notably, he strongly opposes the Iraq war and has from the beginning. [Paul the apostate. The Economist. July 19 2007]

While I am currently backing Ron Paul, I do realize that a lot of the policies he supports are a tad too radical, even for libertarians, especially me. Still, with the Democrats leaning farther left, I think a radical is what we need to balance the see-saw.

Categories
Economics

[1297] Of finally, a real world Giffen good!

This has created a major buzz in the econ-blogosphere for a number of days now: the empirical evidence of the existence of Giffen good!

This paper provides the first rigorous, empirical evidence of the existence of Giffen behavior, i.e., a situation in which consumers respond to an increase in the price of a good by demanding more of it. We begin by examining several theoretical approaches to the Giffen phenomenon and show that in each case Giffen behavior is closely associated with poor consumers’ need to maintain subsistence consumption in the face of an increase in the price of a staple commodity. We then present evidence on the existence of Giffen behavior among extremely poor households in two provinces of China. In order to obtain an unbiased estimate of the key price elasticity, we conducted a field experiment in which we randomly subsidized households’ primary dietary staple (rice in Hunan province and wheat flour in Gansu province). Using consumption data gathered before, during and after the intervention, we find strong evidence of Giffen behavior with respect to rice in Hunan province. We also find evidence for Giffen behavior in Gansu with respect to wheat; however, the evidence is less robust than for Hunan, due to the (unanticipated) failure of at least two of the theoretical conditions that appear necessary for Giffen behavior. Restricting the Gansu sample to households that meet these conditions provides stronger evidence of Giffen behavior. [Jensen, Robert. Miller, Nolan. Giffen Behavior: Theory and Evidence. NBER. July 2007]

Previously, many believed that while Giffen goods were theoretically possible, it did not occur in the realm of reality. As it turns out, economics is not science fiction after all.

Can anybody say Nobel Prize?

Categories
Economics

[1296] Of why Tesco and Carrefour are selling Hairy Potty at a discount?

The news:

KUALA LUMPUR: As avid fans of Harry Potter await the highly-anticipated finale scheduled to be released for sale at 7.01am today, a price war has brought about an unexpected twist — four major bookstore chains have decided to not sell the book.

MPH, Popular, Times and Harris bookstores have decided to withdraw the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows novel from their shelves in protest against Tesco and Carrefour’s move in selling the novel at a much cheaper price of RM69.90. The retail price of the book is RM109.90. [Harry Potter and the ugly price war. The Star. July 21 2007]

One word: traffic.

Both retailers may not make any profit out of those books in particular but the traffic the books attract would more than make up any loss.

This same tactic is utilized by all similar retailers on certain vegetables. They do not make profits on those vegetables but the traffic those greens bring get other goods moving.

Categories
Liberty Politics & government

[1295] Of a vote for MCA, et al, is a vote for Islamic state

What seems to be ancient history now, there was a time when DAP and PAS as well as PKR chanced sitting together amicably to face a general election. With an ambition to setup an Islamic state, PAS became the bane of DAP. BN played their cards well by employing guilt by association fallacy and DAP performed badly in that election. Come 2007, this is the chance for DAP — or even PKR if they have the balls — to turn that table against BN.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said:

Islam is the official religion and we are an Islamic state. [Malaysia Not Secular State, Says Najib. Bernama. July 17 2007]

I personally disagree with that assertion but I am tired of playing the same game over and over again that by now, I do not feel the urge to rebut the DPM’s statement. I nevertheless take comfort in knowing that many in the blogosphere, from Jeff Ooi to Haris Ibrahim have done a good job in rebutting the DPM. So, if I were to rebut the DPM again, it would be a redundant work. Instead, I wish to share a delightfully marvelous politically strategic opportunity to create a major schism between members of BN.

Of course, of course. The non-Malay, non-Muslim members of the Barisan Nasional have no doubt condemned or at least begged to differ with Najib’s statement. If they, MCA, MIC, Gerakan, etc, really disagree with Najib and by extension UMNO, they should sever their political ties with UMNO. Words mean nothing without action.

Yet, it is unrealistic to have them to distance themselves from UMNO. Power attracts and things like this are not strong an impetus for them to refrain from tasting the honey that UMNO provides, the honey that makes slaves out of them.

The real gold mine is the supporters of MCA, et al. These people need to be convinced that a vote for MCA, et al, is a vote for Islamic state. The association of MCA, et al, with UMNO itself is suffice a reason to convince those supporters that MCA and others within BN are supporting the formation of an Islamic state.

Do you hear me?

This is the golden opportunity to undress the facade of harmony projects by BN. It is the crack for the alerted to make benefit of. Hear ye, hear ye. There is a crack; large enough a crack and race-based political parties will be obsolete!

Repeat after me: say no to Islamic state. Say no to MCA. No to MIC. No to anything that is BN. A vote for them is a vote for Islamic state where liberty will be disrespected with sheer impunity.