Documenting as Method: Photography in Southeast Asia

Documenting as method is a proposition for a way of writing photography and a way of making photographic work. The proposition unfolds through a portfolio of selected writings, centring on Photography in Southeast Asia: A Survey (2016). The portfolio also includes a journal essay, a book chapter, a profile essay and one curatorial text. As a way of writing photography, documenting entails three trajectories: (a) ethnography and oral history, (b) archiving and mapping, and (c) Asian inter-referencing. It is a method that I developed to historicise, with equal care and concern, the multitude of photographic practices in Southeast Asia. It works against the binary of art versus photography, and the prevailing tendency towards a linear historiography in order to valorise a particular practice. As a way of making work, documenting consists of three overlapping approaches: (1) documenting as looking and thinking, (2) documenting as cataloguing, and (3) documenting as world-making. It foregrounds the affect of the photographic encounter in which the photographer and the photographed person(s) meet to perform and experience their desires, which may or may not result in the making of photographs. To put the proposition of documenting to use, I attempt a revisionist account of salon photography in Southeast Asia. Documenting as method allows me to surface the agency of individual practitioners without losing sight of salon photography’s relationship with political power during the shifting processes of nationalism, decolonisation and cold war. It helps me foreground Chineseness, which intersected the nation-building process, as an additional factor in the praxis of salon photography. As a way of making work, documenting offers a method for me to unpack the spectre of Chineseness through my photographic encounter with the Chinese Muslims in Indonesia. The experience of making work also informs the proposition of documenting as method

Active optical clock based on four-level quantum system

Active optical clock, a new conception of atomic clock, has been proposed recently. In this report, we propose a scheme of active optical clock based on four-level quantum system. The final accuracy and stability of two-level quantum system are limited by second-order Doppler shift of thermal atomic beam. To three-level quantum system, they are mainly limited by light shift of pumping laser field. These limitations can be avoided effectively by applying the scheme proposed here. Rubidium atom four-level quantum system, as a typical example, is discussed in this paper. The population inversion between $6S_{1/2}$ and $5P_{3/2}$ states can be built up at a time scale of $10^{-6}$s. With the mechanism of active optical clock, in which the cavity mode linewidth is much wider than that of the laser gain profile, it can output a laser with quantum-limited linewidth narrower than 1 Hz in theory. An experimental configuration is designed to realize this active optical clock.Comment: 5 page

China’s Trade Surplus with the United States: The Role of Exchange Rates

International Relations/Trade,

Impacts of Sugar Free Trade Agreements on the U.S. Sugar Industry

We use a multi-region GTAP model to study the implications of a global sugar free trade agreement on the U.S. sugar industry. In general, the sugar net importing countries such as the former Soviet Union, Japan, and the United States would reduce sugar production and increase their net imports from the world market. By contrast, the sugar net exporting countries such as Australia, Brazil, and Thailand would increase their sugar production and increase their net exports. Under a scenario where import tariffs and export subsidies are completely eliminated, U.S. sugar production would decrease by 2.8%. This is in contrast to some of the previous studies, which argued that the U.S. sugar production would increase slightly annually. U.S. import prices would decrease by 21.9% and U.S. domestic sugar prices would decrease slightly by 0.8%. U.S. net imports of sugar of sugar would increase 478.1 million US dollars.International Relations/Trade,

Implications of Growth in China for the U.S. and Other Countries

We investigate the effects of China's economic growth on various sectors in the United States and other countries and regions, using a multi-region Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model. The results indicate that all countries and regions, except South Korea and South Asian countries, would benefit from China's rapid economic growth. The welfare gain varies significantly across the countries and regions. Hong Kong and Taiwan would benefit the most from mainland China's economic growth in terms of per capita welfare gains. U.S. bilateral trade balance with China would improve in the sectors of grain and other primary agricultural products, but it would deteriorate in the sectors of textiles and high-tech manufacturing products.International Development,

Economic Growth under Globalization: Evidence from Panel Data Analysis

It has been controversial among economists about the impacts of globalization on growth, and the debate over the issue has intensified in recent years. In this study, we employ reliable panel data and an empirical growth model derived from production theory to investigate the effects of globalization on economic growth. The estimation results strongly suggest that economic globalization has a significant positive effect on economic growth for all countries. However, China and India would gain the most, followed by developed countries, and other developing countries would gain the least. Other important determinants of economic growth include capital, human capital, and technology.Globalization, Economic growth, Measure of Economic Globalization, International Development, F15, F43,

Determinants of the U.S. Trade Balance in Consumer-Oriented Agricultural Products

This study investigates the factors behind the growing U.S. trade deficit in consumer-oriented agricultural and food products by using reliable panel data and an empirical trade model derived from international trade theory. The results indicate that per capita income in the United States appears to be the most important determinant for the growing U.S. trade deficit. Increases in per capita income and trade liberalization in foreign countries improve the U.S. trade balance. U.S. foreign direct investment abroad in food processing, a strong U.S. dollar, and NAFTA are found to have negative effects on the U.S. trade balance.Consumer-oriented products, trade balance, trade deficit, exchange rate, International Relations/Trade,

Implications of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement for Agriculture and other Sectors of the Economy

This paper examines the effects of the U.S.-Korea free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) on various sectors of the economy in the two countries using a general equilibrium model. Additional analysis focuses on the agricultural sector. Our analysis indicates that the increase in U.S.-Korea bilateral trade volume in recent years has been through intra-industry trade of high-technology products. Under the KORUS FTA, the bilateral trade volume would increase for virtually all the sectors, and GDP and social welfare would improve for both countries. However, producers of textile products in the United States and producers of agricultural and food products in South Korea would suffer from the FTA. This agreement could benefit U.S. agriculture, but the benefits could be greater in the long run as duties on beef and other meat products are eliminated.Korea, Free trade agreement, Trade creation, Trade diversion, International Relations/Trade,