The Rising U.S. Trade Deficit With China And Why It Wont Go Away

During the latter half of 1998, Laura D'Andrea Tyson, former chairwoman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers and economics professor at Berkeley, wrote a highly-publicized commentary that questioned whether China would replace Japan as the antagonist in Americas trade deficit woes. She stated "As the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase, concerns mount that China will soon replace Japan as America's major trade headache. Such concerns are fed by an image of China as another Japan - a country pursuing a mercantilist development strategy based on closed markets, an undervalued currency, and a structural trade surplus." Highlighting Japans closed markets, undervalued currency, and perennial trade surplus, Tysons monograph calls into question whether China's trade practices will parallel the manic logic of mercantilism so vehemently practiced by Japan. This paper examines the burgeoning supremacy characteristic of modern Chinas export-oriented trade program and provides useful, suggestive commentary on how U.S. trade policy with China should be handled, drawing conclusively from the Japanese experience. Finally, the causes underpinning the rising U.S. import/export ratio with China will be investigated

Educating The Next Generation Of Computer Security Professionals: The Rise And Relevancy Of Professional Certifications

This paper discusses the recent ascent and proliferation of computer security professional certifications.  Based upon the premise that secure information technology not only underpins the current US economy but also represents a pivot point for future economic growth, it highlights the recent phenomenon of many information technology professionals complementing their Computer Science (CS), Information Systems (IS), and Information Technology (IT) degrees with highly specialized certification-based training to secure jobs that help to protect our national IT infrastructure.   It also raises the question as to whether the trend of narrowly-focused specialized training signals a possible shift away from traditional academic computer security programs.  If the present trend continues, the longer-term consequences for traditional academic degree programs could be dramatic.  However, from the short-term perspective of this study, the proliferation of certification programs as a source of supplementary education is viewed as a positive phenomenon, helping to mitigate the disastrous effects associated with the continuous onslaught of domestic- and international-sourced cyber-attacks that threaten our national economic livelihood

How Technological Determinism Shapes International Marketing

In the late 1990s, many firms - flush with cash from ‘irrationally exuberant’ investors - made huge investments in information and communications technologies (ICT) to extend market reach and increase revenues. Shortly after the dot com bust, only a few of these ardent technology adopters thrived, the technology investments of only a fractional few yielding substantive payoff. For many, it seemed all but certain that the concept of technological determinism was doomed. Through exploration of the (r)evolutionary role of ICT in global marketing strategies and positioning technology as an enhancer to the original four P’s of marketing, this paper develops a conceptual model integrating aspects of technological advancement within the context of international marketing strategy

China In The 21st Century: Will ICT Sustain Economic Growth?

The purpose of this paper is to stimulate critical thinking about China’s ability to consistently grow its economy by leveraging its information and communication (ICT) infrastructure in such as way as to prolong the competitive advantage it now enjoys from its ability to attract multinational corporations (MNCs) attention. The success of China’s transition towards economic and societal advancement is underpinned, to a large extent, by its total ICT investment.  A competitive ICT profile is an antecedent to innovation, making China’s intention to become a significant force in the global knowledge economy more viable. This paper interprets current evaluations of China’s innovation circumstances in light of factual and perceptual data that represents the nation’s ICT capabilities in the context of its standings with other nations

Information And Communications Technology: A Comparative View Of Technological Determinism

Misinterpretations by techno-centric managers hold that advances in information and communications technologies (ICT) are the prime causal factors in future business growth and that technology is an independent variable from which operational performance can be predicted. Technology pundits and economic futurists are convinced that the ‘new economy’ has indeed become reality as competitive pressures dramatically rise as a result of the increasing interdependencies forming among competing nations and firms. This competition has been made possible, in part, by the commercially viable World Wide Web and its superstructure known as the Internet. This paper scrutinizes the invaluable role played by information and communications technologies and the technological determinism they propagate

Chinas ICT: Progressing Toward Maturity From A Global Perspective

This paper assesses the information and communications technology (ICT) factors governing Chinas economic expansion and its ability to sustain this expansion in the context of competing nations with similar infrastructures. This assessment utilizes a variety of selected metrics that capture the status of ICT capability of China. It provides a glimpse into the countrys ability to become a significant force in the global knowledge economy by highlighting the nations overall competitiveness rankings, juxtaposed to the standings of other nations. The timeliness of this work is noteworthy, since the success of Chinas transition towards economic and societal advancement is underpinned, to a large extent, by its total ICT investment. If a positive outcome is achieved, Chinese manufacturers will be able to adroitly weave themselves into the global supply chain by leveraging the countrys burgeoning ICT infrastructure

Trade Deficits Always Matter

As America grapples over what to do in order to avoid the perils associated with manifest U.S. economic growth that has been characterized as ‘barely enough to forestall another recession,’ the nation is mired in economic limbo due to, among other causes, the absence of a clearly stated international trade agenda, limited new trade deals, and a lack of concentration on economic growth. Without fiscal clarity, the ability for the U.S. to withstand the burgeoning recessive pressures may prove futile. Meanwhile, China’s economy continues to rise, albeit slowly, no doubt reflecting the persistent U.S. slowdown. Europe, not surprisingly, remains in turmoil as European Union naysayers’ predictions of dismantling a system designed to prevent abysmal economic performance through uniting various entitlement-minded societies has not yet been vanquished by the positive effects of raising taxes and capital productivity while lowering pensioners’ and social program benefits. The battle for supremacy in this newly dubbed ‘G-Zero’ world hence remains unclear as governments decide what policies to effectuate and which to eradicate. In the past, economists have downplayed the corrosive effect that continuous ballooning international trade imbalances would have on economic growth. Finding a meaningful solution to the overall affects that running a persistent trade deficit with other nations has on a national economy has considerable implications. For those economic historians who have studied the U.S. - Japanese trade deficit, for example, a solution to the question of whether a trade deficit is sustainable remains high on the list of questions for which the answers are not altogether clear. Furthermore, the politicians and their supportive economic advisers provide prescriptive advice to the nation's leaders on how to shape trade policy with China, for example, would be enormously benefited by a better understanding of the trade deficit in historical context (say, with Japan) as they shape future trade relations of the U.S. What policy is best for the U.S. economy? Do trade deficits indeed matter

Modeling Determinants Of Debt Default In International Finance: Isolation, Magnitude, And Prediction

The current Argentine debt crises scenario is representative of a climate of financial irresponsibility that does not show signs of waning and has regretfully become a permanent feature of the international financial landscape.This ongoing study examines the evolution of irresponsible borrowing and lending behavior. Through the development of interpretive graphical models, the study hopes to demonstrate the predictability of defaults and to help in the detection of their timing and magnitudes. The isolation of these two factors may assist the global financial community to develop strategies to forestall and/or soften the impacts associated with financial catastrophes of this type

China In the 21st Century: Will ICT Sustain Economic Growth?

The purpose of this paper is to stimulate critical thinking about China’s ability to consistently grow its economy by leveraging its information and communication (ICT) infrastructure in such as way as to prolong the competitive advantage it now enjoys from its ability to attract multinational corporations (MNCs) attention. The success of China’s transition towards economic and societal advancement is underpinned, to a large extent, by its total ICT investment. A competitive ICT profile is an antecedent to innovation, making China’s intention to become a significant force in the global knowledge economy more viable. This paper interprets current evaluations of China’s innovation circumstances in light of factual and perceptual data that represents the nation’s ICT capabilities in the context of its standings with other nations

Modeling Creativity For The Multinational Firm

Much has been written about the proliferation of the modern multinational corporation (MNC) as a primary driver of globalization [Bhagwati, 2004; Rugman and Verbeke 2004; Wolf. 2004]. A common theme shared by all MNCs expanding into foreign markets is the notion of how best to manage the knowledge assets of the firm from all perspectives in order to achieve maximum performance while concomitantly increasing the ability of the firm to innovate while expanding. This paper examines the processes of idea creation within multinational corporations in parallel with the role that information and communication technology (ICT) plays as a driver of that innovation