Discussion Question #2

So, a neutron walks into a bar and orders a martini.
Then looks up at the bartender and asks, "how much?"
To which the bartender replies ....
"No charge for you"

ha ha haha

Ok, that was not the DQ. 

First a few background comments, and then the actual question itself. 
A couple of days ago, Jacob commented to me that when he first looked at the book, well, to put it mildly, he was not impressed.  A big, fat, book about the shipping container!  But then as he started reading it, he apparently found it to be a neat discussion after all.  Thanks for that feedback, Jacob.  Feel free to give me your feedback at anytime, in any mode that appeals to you.  My teaching and learning depends, to quite a significant extent, on the explicit and implicit feedback from students.

I told Jacob that my only complaint with the book is that despite all the discussions on shipping routes, ports, and canals, there are no maps in the book, except that graphic on the port of NY.  And then I added that I remarked about it in my review of this book, which was published in the Professional Geographer, Volume 60, Number 2 (May 2008).  Now I am thinking that perhaps my book review will be a good reading for you--in a way to set up the overall theme of the book itself.  Click here for the PDF version of the book review; at about 1000-words or so, it is not a lengthy read at all.

Finally, to the DQ itself.  Hey, hey, wake up and read this :)

Your task is this: think about the chapters 1 through 4 that you have read by now.  Even if you have already watched the interview with the author, Levinson, I suggest re-watching it now that you have read the first four chapters.  As you think about the contents of these four chapters, I want you to read and think about Daniel Gross' piece on "logistics."
By the time you are done with all these, I bet you will be ready to engage us all in a fantastic discussion.  So, what are you waiting for? :)  Provide us your observations, and as we get a few posts, the later ones ought to try continue with the conversations.

I hope this is clear.  Let me know if otherwise.

Because of the Monday holiday, the deadline for this is NOT Tuesday, but Wednesday by 9:00 am.

Using the Monday holiday as a learning opportunity

Monday, January 18^th, is a holiday in memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Typically, I would use a few minutes of class-time the following Tuesday or Wednesday to talk about MLK, and to listen to a part of his “I have been to the mountain top” speech and engage in discussions. 

Of the few speeches of MLK that I have listened to, I rank this “I have been to the mountain top” speech even higher than his “I have a dream” and the “Beyond Vietnam” speeches, primarily because it was his final one, delivered the night before he was assassinated.

But, in this online class, we won't be able to listen to this together at the same time, and then share our thoughts on the speech, MLK, ...

So, your task is to:

1. Locate an audio file of that talk by searching for it on the web.  If you do not want to search, well, here is one.  You will also be able to read the transcript of the speech; listening to him without being distracted might be the best experience.
   For this assignment, you do not have to listen to the entire speech; it is more than 40-minutes long.  You can choose to do like how I would play the audio file in my classes

Almost the first seven minutes, up until MLK says “the cry is always the same—“I want to be free”. 

Then I would fast-forward to about 34 minutes into his speech, when he starts with “That’s the question before you tonight.” And then all the way until the end. 

2. After you have listened to these 16+ minutes, think about his message for a while, and write down your thoughts as they relate to the speech and MLK’s idea(l)s.
3. Email the class your thoughts before 9:00 am on Tuesday
1. This is a non-credit assignment, which means there will be no implications for the course grade if you do not participate in it.  
2. In order to encourage you to do this, how about if I made this an extra-credit assignment? Yes, that is what this is :-)
3. Keep in mind that you cannot merely respond to a fellow student's posting; it needs your original contribution.
1. Yes, of course, you may certainly engage us in discussions--but, only after you email us your thoughts.
   

My next tasks are to:

• Email you the Discussion Question #2, and
• Follow-up on your responses to DQ#1

BTW, are we all doing ok?  Any logistical issues to address?

Syllabus update, and more on "The world is bumpy"

Hey, I have updated the syllabus page.  I think we are in for an exciting term.

I had planned to do a video update, but then as I put together my talking points, I realized that a written mode is the one that will help when it comes to providing you with links if you decide that something is worth following-up. The idea here is that I don't bore the life out of you if all you want is a quick summary, and at the same time I provide you with more info should you want them ....
You folks had lots of interesting observations related to the non-credit task I had for you: your thoughts after reading "The world is bumpy"  Specifically, the task was to email the class about the following:

1. Is there anything in particular that grabbed your attention?

2. Is there any one specific item there that nags you because you don't quite get what the issue is?

I am really pleased that some of you took the non-credit task seriously, and provided significant feedback to the class.  In this note, I want to follow-up on your comments:

• Deglobalization: At this time, this is more a "worry" than a reality that countries will close their economies from the external world--at least with the industries they want to protect.  This worry is not because of any understanding that globalization caused this Great Recession.  Instead, it is a worry that protectionism could result in a nasty global depression.  If you find this fascinating, then click here for Paul Krugman's column from just a few days ago.
• Yes, Singapore is one of the countries that was hit hard by this Great Recession.  More here.
  
• Could it be possible that the rich countries and India and China will come out of this recession relatively ok, while the rest of the world go through more agonizing periods?  Well, India and China had slowing down of their economic growth, but no recession.  A recession means a decline in the country's economic output (GDP) for at least two consecutive quarters.  China and India experienced only a slow down, not a negative growth in the economy.  Many other poor countries also came out without a contraction in their economies.  Surprising, eh!  Professon Daniel Drezner writes:
  

  While this was a bad decade for America, it was actually a pretty great decade for large swathes of the globe.  China, Russia, India, Brazil, and much of sub-Saharan Africa recorded sustained levels of economic growth., for example.
  

• The impact of the recession (which is the trigger for the discussion on deglobalization) will be felt on migration as well.  Both in terms of voluntary decisions, and in terms of governments potentially tightening up their immigration policies.  Interestingly enough, work visas (H1-B) here in the US can be an indicator of the economic well being.
• On the comment on perhaps countries in Africa need to form their own equivalents of the EU, well, you might be excited all the more that serious efforts are underway.  Here is an example.
• On whether buying locally or globally is better, well, how about we wait on this until later this term when we are scheduled to discuss this?  You might be in for a surprising twist to the story :-)
• If we want to understand how this Great Recession happened, .... this is a tough one, and certainly outside the scope of this class.  It is a tough one because economists and policymakers are still grappling with it.  We do not yet have the luxury of being able to look back .... so, for now, it is a cacophony of explanations out there :-) There is going to be an "independent" Congressional commission too!  Anyway, click here if you are simply itching for a quick summary :)
  
• Finally, what does the "Doha Round" mean? Doha is in the Middle East--in Qatar.  You might be familiar with this country, which was a key base for the US before launching the Iraq War.  Back before 9/11, it was in Doha that the international community launched the attempt to negotiate rules for international trading.  It has been ongoing, not because of 9/11, but because it is easy for countries to point fingers at unfair practices of others, but is quite difficult for the same countries to admit to their wrongdoing and correct them.  Since then meetings have been held at other places, but the reality is that the talks have sort of stalled.  Even though the meetings are held at various locations (often at wonderful vacation spots!!!) it is still referred to as the "Doha" round ....
  

Any more thoughts? You ask, and I shall clarify.
Again, my idea in having that as an "intro" reading was to demonstrate that we have courses like this one in order to help students understand the world around us, so that you can be that much more productive--economically, and as citizens.  More power to you, eh!