New MMW for You

Medeski, Martin and Wood keep pushing the borders of jazz. Take a break and check out the home made video from the the second release of the Radiolarians series of live creations.

Want you kids to dig Coltrane instead of the Jonas Brothers? Start them out right with Let's Go Everywhere.

The Flu and You

Given my bride's role at the CDC I have received a flurry of calls and emails the past few days about the Swine Flu outbreak and its implications.

As an Art History major I plead ignorance in all matters medical, but I can offer up the following:

The CDC has an excellent website with all of the latest details about the Flu situation.

The deaths in Mexico are tragic, but as of this afternoon there are no reported fatalities anywhere else the virus has spread.

On an editorial note, I can personally attest to the fact that we have best and brightest working 24/7 to address the Flu outbreak here and around the world.

World Class Time Killers

As someone who spent many late nights on conference calls, conducted in a language I did not understand, I quickly learned to value of a good time killer.

Here are two great new opportunities for meaningful virtual daydreaming:

The new UN/Library of Congress developed World Digital Library is simply one of the most amazing websites I have ever seen. Using a time line or geographic parameters a user can access visual images, manuscript scans, fine art reproductions, etc. that chronicle a composite of world history. This is a new drug for Wikipedia obsessives like me.

Anyone sharing my fascination with the Heroic Age of Arctic Exploration will be blow away by the new Freeze Frame site presenting photography from various arctic expeditions from the 19th century to the present day. While the greatest treasure of arctic adventure, the photographs of Frank Hurley , is not yet on line, the images that are available are remarkable.

Enjoy, just don't let your boss catch you!

China, Friend or Foe?

Please check out the excellent article in today's WSJ regarding China's military expansion and its strategy of the "assassin's mace." Find more details about China's military in the CIA World Factbook.

Festival Fever!

We are just days away for this year's Inman Park Festival - the crown jewel of Atlanta's spring festival circuit.

Please come Intown to enjoy a tour of our neighborhood's historic homes, the city's funkiest parade (Saturday at 2 PM), and lots of live music, great food and unique crafts.

My pics for the weekend? Cowboy Envy and Randall Bramblett on Sunday and a falafel from the St. Joseph's booth in the food court.

Please drop a comment or email with any questions about the festival. Please also RSVP for our kid and parent-friendly after parade gathering on Saturday afternoon.

The Path to China’s Power

During last night’s Hale Institute discussion of his recent book, The Three Faces of China Power, John Hopkins Dean and China scholar David Lampton defined the platform of Might, Money and Minds China is utilizing to pursue its place as a dominant world power.

While China continues to modernize and expand its military, including pursuit of a deep sea navy, Lampton explains that Deng Xiaoping’s plan for China's modernization (globalization, urbanization and market creation) mandated staying out of the world’s troubles and using force, or the ability to use force, as selective instruments and assets of national identity.

This is a lesson from the USSR. By focusing on the coercive power of military might as its central priority, the Soviets scarified the development of their internal economy and became entrenched in an all consuming Cold War.

China’s role as a buyer of the world’s goods in another plank in its platform to acquire power. Lampton points out that with all of the rhetoric surrounding China’s trade imbalance with the US, China is a major importer of a wide variety of commodities and industrial goods.

Following the premise that the customer is always right, China wields influence and control by the money it spends and who it chooses to do business with. This extends from acquiring airplanes to the investments being made in Africa and Latin America to secure energy resources.

Finally,Lampton addressed the quest for the knowledge necessary to fuel China’s race for power. The crop of Chinese PhDs in hard sciences matriculating from US schools is a great indicator of China’s efforts to quickly obtain base knowledge in all fields.

A cautionary tale for business was offered in this discussion. A view of China as lacking the innovation, leadership and know-how to compete at any level in the world market is dangerous and naive. China is coming on strong and fast.

Dr. Lampton offers a fascinating view of China’s future. Rather China’s is able to stay on course on its route to power remains to be seen, but the events of the past 30 years suggest the government is indeed able to work towards big goals, all be it with some pain along the way.

Look to see how China’s power is addressed in the coming weeks as we approach the 20^th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests.

End of the Backlog?

An article in this morning's Wall Street Journal highlights the rapid decline in container shipping volume into the LA/Long Beach port system (see graph).

This decrease, a 32% decline year over year as of February, is attributed both to declines in factory shipments and the increased prowess of competing ports.

British Columbia's Prince Rupert Port is highlighted as a key emerging competitor to LA based on ease of modal transportation and shorter distance from Asian ports.

To be sure the LA port system will continue to be the epicenter for US importing from Asia, but perhaps we are now past the two week long backlogs, work stoppages and other issues that have plagued inbound shippments the past several years.

A Moment of Opportunity

China sage James Fallows has the cover story in this month’s Atlantic Monthly. In China’s Way Forward, Fallows address the slowdown in the Chinese economy and examines a standard premise that if China is unable to maintain a sustainable, manageable rate of growth it risks imploding.

Fallows believes, and illustrates with colorful examples, that the economic downturn can actually be a game changer. He submits that losses in the volume of low value added production of consumer goods is an important catalyst for the next phase of the Chinese economy, one focused on China.

A pursuit of design and technical innovation, along with a touch of consumerism, signals a China looking to move up the value chain and create and retain capabilities that have to date largely come from the outside world.

This is great reading. There is also a brief video associated with the article addressing the Currency Manipulator tag applied to China.

One Worth Reading

Like most folks I receive more trade publications than I can read and many that are not worth reading in the first place. A standout in the crowd is World Trade Magazine.

Ostensibly a journal for supply chain managers, the publication is a great resource for concise, well written insights into international business with a strong focus on China and Southeast Asia. Great reading for anyone involved in getting anything from point A to point B or business people looking for coming trends in logistics management and production coordination.

When a new issue arrives in my mailbox I automatically turn to the back page to enjoy Great Moments in World Trade. This is fun history you will be quoting to your friends.