Forget exemptions, drop ‘Buy American’ all together

According to the CBC, Canada should expect an “imminent” exemption to the ‘Buy American’ provision in the US stimulus bill. Canadian government officials expect:

The White House will use its discretionary power to exempt Canada from the clause very soon. In return, Canada would simultaneously announce that its provincial and municipal doors are now wide open to U.S. companies.

While this is positive news and I firmly believe open and free economic relations with Canada are paramount, I must also express my disappointment that the Obama administration is still maintaining the ‘Buy American’ provision at all. Trade allows for growth, it allows for prosperity, and for maintained stability (political and economic). Any efforts put in place to hinder trade further, ‘Buy American’ in particular, threatens that growth and stability.

The US should drop the ‘Buy American’ language and provisions outright. Protectionism and economic isolation do not suit us. We are a nation built on open markets and international trade. We grew because we worked to foster global interdependency, creating mutual benefits and growth. Turning our backs further will only hinder both our fragile economy and the global market, stunt growth and threaten both political and economic stability. ‘Buy American’ does not only hurts us, but everyone.

Who should host the 2016 Olympics?

On Friday the world of sports will turn its eyes and ears to Copenhagen, where, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will vote to decide who will host the 2016 Summer Games. In the final running are the cities of Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid, and Rio de Janeiro.

It is my opinion that the host city should be Rio de Janeiro. Why? Well, it’s about time. To date, not a single Olympiad (summer or winter) has been hosted in South America. The other three potentials have all been host nations in the past, some multiple times. The US has hosted the games more than any other individual nation, eight times.

The Olympics would give Rio an opportunity like no other. The games would be economically beneficial for the city and for Brazil as a whole. Like Barcelona in the past, Rio could use the Olympics to help improve standards of living, infrastructure, business development, and encourage investment.

Not only would it make history, but allowing Rio to host the games would send a strong message. South America, Brazil in particular, is a growing global economic and political player. They deserve to be treated and recognized as such. It’s time to take a chance and give Rio the opportunity to show the world what South America can do.

Who do you think should host the games? Vote here.

Obama snubs (kinda) UK’s Brown

While at the UN President Obama met with the leaders of China and Russia. However, BBC and the Guardian are reporting that the White House “rejected repeated requests from Britain for a formal meeting between President Barack Obama and Gordon Brown”.

The two did manage a few moments of “conversation in a kitchen at the United Nations”. The White House insists that there is no “trouble in the bilateral relationship between the United States and UK”.

A White House spokesman also added:

President Obama and Prime Minister Brown enjoy a terrific relationship, they speak regularly on a range of the most difficult challenges facing our two nations and meet frequently.

Facebook and the politics of geography

Good news for Facebook, they have the world’s attention! Bad news, Syria may block access to the site as a boycott, protesting Facebook’s decision to list the Golan Heights as part of Israel as opposed to Syria.

In the beginning, Facebook played it safe, or so they thought. They followed the standard model of listing the region as ‘occupied territory’ and highlighted the region as Syria. However, a small group of 2,500 Facebook users protested, insisting the region be regarded as Israel. Facebook caved.

Now Syria is calling for an Arab boycott of the site and may ban it all together within their borders.

Your move Facebook …

UPDATE: Facebook to allow individuals registering in the Golan Heights to choose either Israel or Syria for their geographical network.

Too many banks in Denmark?

That’s the message Danske Bank’s CEO Peter Straarup is sending. Straarup thinks that the number of banks in Denmark is too high. His hope and belief is that the number will be halved (at least) from 130 to 80 as a result of the financial crisis. Though, ideally he would like there to be even less:

If we end up with 60 banks, it would be good. If we compare ourselves to Sweden, we shouldn’t have more than 20 banks.

Basically, Straarup feels there should be less competition for him and his bank. I’m sure many of the smaller banks he wants to see disappear wouldn’t mind him doing the same. Straarup wants there to be less for his own sake.

But, what about the consumer? The Danish consumer deserves choice. The fewer the banks, the less options there are. Competition allows for better services, rates, and options for consumers. Eliminating that and hindering competition is the opposite of what needs to be done in order to rebuild consumer confidence and financial well-being.

Adidas and Puma declare peace!

Puma and Adidas, the two sportswear companies based in Herzogenaurach, Germany, are set to end their 60 year feud.

The two companies were founded by brothers who, in the 1920’s, worked together to make shoes. However, following WWII and what is likely to have been political differences, the pair split and founded their own companies on opposite sides of the river (literally).

In the spirit of peace and cooperation, on September 21st, the employees of both companies are to meet, shake hands, and enjoy a rousing match of soccer.

So it’s true. Soccer can fix anything!

UPDATE: Check out BBC’s video of match day.

Cross posted from my tumblr

Congress’ rich and famous

The 50 Richest Members of Congress

Roll Call calculates net worth based on the minimum assets and minimum liabilities listed in each lawmaker’s annual financial disclosure report.

See the story for details

See the full chart here

via Roll Call

Cross posted from my tumblr

The Swiss take the cake

Switzerland knocks US down a notch

According to the recent rankings in The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010 from the World Economic Forum, the US economy is no longer the world’s most competitive market. Switzerland is now number one, with the US just behind. This is the first time in the report’s history (since 2004) that the US has not come out on top.

The report cites a “weakening in its financial markets and macroeconomic stability” from the financial crisis as the primary reasons for the US’s fall to second place.

Singapore, Sweden, and Denmark complete the top five.

Explore the full interactive report here.

Notable mention – Canada has maintained its top spot in banking with the world’s soundest banks.

Whose culture owns Ekeko?

That is the debate currently deepening a rift between Bolivia and Peru. Both nations claim cultural heritage and ownership over Ekeko.

Ekeko is the god of abundance and prosperity, or the ‘good luck’ god in Andean culture, which includes both Bolivia and Peru.

Bolivia has gone as far as to request the UN recognize their cultural heritage over Ekeko via their Alacita festival, which is a celebration honoring the ‘good luck’ god. On top of that, the Bolivian culture minister threatened to sue Miss Peru for wearing an Ekeko costume in the Miss Universe 2009 competition.

Unlike Bolivia, Peru’s Culture Minister Cecilia Bakula says “Ekeko is a popular expression of the whole high plateau region which straddles Peru, Bolivia and a small area of Chile.” Bolivia disagrees and has announced plans to take their fight to UNESCO (the United Nations cultural group). It is unsure where that might eventually lead.

The Andean nations share many cultural similarities. After all, their modern national lines do not reflect their deep regional roots.

Lonely online? Buy a few friends!

Forget what your parents told you — friendship can be bought, after all!

uSocial, an Australian marketing firm, has launched a service selling friends and fans to Facebook members. They also offer a similar service for Twitter users, and have been known to sell votes on Digg and artificially inflate content for clients on StumbleUpon, Propeller, and yahoo! buzz. The firm specializes in online marketing and says it has recognized the growing importance of advertising on social and user driven sites.

How does it work?

The company offers packages for Facebook, the world’s number one social networking site, that start at 1,000 friends up to 10,000 friends at costs ranging from $177 to $1,167.

“All we do is send them a welcome message or friend request from the client. If they decide to go ahead and add that person as a friend or a fan then they will; if not, then they won’t.”

In recent months uSocial has been hitting a lot of friction, both Twitter and Digg have tried to have them shut down. Neither company is very happy with uSocial’s spam like nature.

hat tip: Epicenter