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Economics Sports

[744] Of things to watch: US-Malaysia FTA

United States and Malaysia are planning for a free trade deal . According to Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and Malaysia will announce plans on Wednesday to negotiate a free trade agreement, industry and congressional sources familiar with the decision said.

U.S. trade officials have previously said they were very close to launching talks with Malaysia, the United States’ 10th-largest goods trading partner.

U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman and Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz are expected to announce plans to begin negotiations at a joint news conference with U.S. lawmakers, one source said.

I wonder how the FTA would affect Malaysian automotive industry. And rivalry between palm and soybean oil industries would probably flare up during negotiation.

It wouldn’t be too far off if I suspect some sort of bullying by the United States’ representatives to occur. From what I read, the US trade representatives are notorious of that. Stiglitz made that even more vivid. Moreover, when US-Singapore FTA was discussed a number of years back, the United States representatives managed to convince the Singaporean government to legalize chewing gum – we all know about how much the Singaporean government hates chewing gum! Well, partly anyway – Singapore dragged its feet.

I support free trade. I even go farther and support free flow of trade and labor. Not in totality of course since sometimes, things need to be done on case by case basis but in general, I’m for free trade. However, most free trade agreements are only free in name and hardly fair at all. For instance, remember India’s offer last year? Thank goodness that has been flatly rejected.

For this very reason, it’s good to know that Rafidah Aziz will lead Malaysian team to the table. She might be unpopular but she has the experience to withstand or even counter United States’ pressure. I’ve problem imagining of whom would be more suitable for the job. Syed Hamid Albar? Maybe but Abdullah Ahmad Bawadi certainly can’t do.

p/s – oh, yea. Ajax 6 – 0 Sparta. PSV is next.

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Economics Photography

[743] Of economics, preference and rationality

I was about to blog something about microeconomics but ended up emailing my undergrad economics professor instead. Meanwhile, I dug up a pile of shit and found this written in one of my economics coursepacks:

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

It was taken from the coursepack itself. The full version is this – “Remember, economics defines rationality in terms of whether an individual acts sensibly given his or her preferences, not whether the preferences themselves are sensible.”

How true. That’s positive economics.

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Earthly Strip Politics & government

[742] Of Earthly Strip: PKR’s Demand

Youth division of Parti Keadilan Rakyat declares Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as the weakest of all five Malaysian leaders. Malaysiakini has a writeup on it. But, here’s how I see it:

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

Keadilan is going over its head. This one is a bluff – just like the party itself.

Categories
Earthly Strip Economics

[741] Of Earthly Strip: False Authority

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

Malaysian blogosphere is refreshing. Despite having little knowledge on a subject, suddenly, everybody’s an expert. When Public Works Department produces flawed bridge, everybody’s an engineer. When there’s inflation, everybody’s an economist. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?One important thing – opinion is not necessarily based on fact. Especially when it comes from false authorities.

Anyway, I heard there will be a protest over the recent price hike. These protesters must have a short attention span, given their inability to appreciate how prolonged subsidy is bad for Malaysia. Funny actually. People demand efficiency but when efficiency is introduced, some vehemently denounce that efficiency.

One frequent argument against price hike is this: public transportation in Malaysia needs serious upgrading before partial or complete removal of gas subsidy.

Well, question: where do you think the cash gonna come from? Answer: Resources from reduction of subsidy.

What? Surprised? Did you actually think money grow on trees? Do you actually think, we face unlimited resources? Wake up and smell the roses.

Categories
Activism Earthly Strip Economics Travels

[740] Of Earthly Strip: Jeff Ooi and DDoS

As you can see, I’m quite bored.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

I wonder who launched the attack, if it was an attack…p/s – hurrah for Prof. Johnson. LOL! At Econ:

Professor George Johnson received the Teacher of the Year Award from the Undergraduate Program Committee which bestowed the honor “by acclaim and unanimously.” Johnson received his award from Professor Jim Adams, director of Undergraduate Studies, during a surprise presentation at the end of his final Econ 102 lecture during the Fall term.

Yup. He played golf in lecture.

pp/s – as a supplement to [731] Of the great flood of Pasir Kumpal, read Pelf’s The great flood entry. Great pics.