[好歌] Goyte - Somebody I used to know

聖誕節逛街無意間在次聽到的歌,
之前就滿喜歡的,回家就特別把他找出來收藏


GOTYE FEAT. KIMBRA - "SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW" LYRICS

Now and then I think of when we were together
Like when you said you felt so happy you could die
I told myself that you were right for me
But felt so lonely in your company
But that was love and it's an ache I still remember

You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness
Like resignation to the end
Always the end
So when we found that we could not make sense
Well you said that we would still be friends
But I'll admit that I was glad that it was over

But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened
And that we were nothing
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger
And that feels so rough
No you didn't have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records
And then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
Now you're just somebody that I used to know

Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over
But had me believing it was always something that I'd done
But I don't wanna live that way
Reading into every word you say
You said that you could let it go
And I wouldn't catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know

But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened
And that we were nothing
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger
And that feels so rough
No you didn't have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records
And then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know

(Somebody)
I used to know
(Somebody)
Somebody that I used to know
(Somebody)
I used to know
(Somebody)
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
I used to know
That I used to know
I used to know
Somebody

[好文] 兩性關係/婚姻

為什麼還不結婚？
http://www.cheers.com.tw/article/article.action?id=5026233

交換彼此最舒服的讀心時刻
http://www.cheers.com.tw/article/article.action?id=5028276

Dec. 21 三年不辭職

在Cheers看到這篇文章...."三年不辭職"

http://www.cheers.com.tw/article/article.action?id=5021848&page=1

仁寶電腦創新設計本部副總經理陳禧冠說：「工作第1年是『瞎子摸象』﹔第2年才能上手﹔第3年後，才有機會在工作中創造價值，讓人家看到你。」

如果博士班就有如我第一份工作, 那麼三年的考驗一定要完成

今天Brita&Sarai都完成了他們的B&O talk, 基本上就是年終考核

對於預計在未來一年內就要畢業的她們, 這次的談話格外緊張

以通常在送審之後還要半年才能夠安排到口試的情況來看,

其實二月就要完成整份論文, 然而我目前還沒聽說有人如期完成的

Brita的老師跟她談及可能提出壓力太大寫作障礙等等說法來取得extension funding

但她說她不喜歡這麼做, 基本上就是說謊

儘管我們並非很混所以沒法如期完成, 但是或許push harder就可以了

但是在這個末期的節骨眼, 兩三個月的延誤算來是跑不掉了

拿了四年contract的她們,儘管也大約花了一年的時間在修課

但是相較於只拿了三年合約的我, 12/8的談話中對於明年的計畫....肯定也會讓我相當忙碌

Charles預計在明年的談話時我就已經可以準備把論文送審了

然後破天荒的如期畢業? 然而在明年年底前…

我還得要寫完這篇書摘, 兩篇referee report

我想要去交換(交涉中), 度假(回家過年),

想最後一篇論文的題目…然後完成它

再此期間完成經歷難產/擱置的第二篇論文

啊~~ 我不想要卡關, 更害怕中間再有個什麼writing block

我希望如期畢業, 不因下一個工作等著我, 而是一個人

我們都已經等待彼此太久了

而這或許也是我不時感到待不下去的原因

三年, 第一份工作, 完成一個project

我知道我現在的問題在於儘管對於整體的進度有所規劃

但是欠缺自己的想法, 對於下一個章節了無概念

這是為什麼我聽那些畢業的人說, 你可以行銷的長項就是

獨自規劃與掌握一個大型計畫的內容與時程

在這方面, 我仍是心虛的

最近有時有一點逃避的心理, 亟需扭轉

昨天貝貝跟我說, 他近來才知道他的funding來源可能會比預期的少

我擔心他要爭取不到第二期的助教缺, 錢 就會是一個直接的問題

或許我被荷蘭這裡的制度寵壞了, 天真的認定博士是工作, 是該受薪的

然而在多數地方並非如此, 光是學費就是一筆天文數字, 還有生活費要張羅

他總是跟我說不用擔心, 大不了去工作

我知道企業肯定會看重他的能力的

只是我不希望他是因此放棄唸博士的夢想的

或是還要擔心我到那兒會太無聊

我想比較可能的是找不到工作壓力大

儘管現在總想在畢業後好好放個假

屆時, 更不想要成為他的負擔

伴, 是要互相扶持的 不是嗎?

年底, 15個月了

在一個有三位同事準備要畢業/在與老闆相鄰的的辦公室中

緊張,壓力大是正常的, 目標是明確的

只是, 我知道我該修正我的工作態度

然後更積極的成為我的計畫的主人

雜誌摘錄了幾項要點, 可以作為參考, 以下:

增強主體性、強化問題發現能力

新人剛進入企業，要盡快縮短適應期，本田有明在《3年不辭職》中指出，可朝增強「主體性」、強化「問題發現力」2點著手。

增強主體性的原則包括：

1. 主動發現自己該做的事。
2. 不要空等上司的指示及命令。
3. 展現積極投入工作的態度。

具體做法如下：

1. 養成在上午、午後工作開始之際，思考「自己工作定位」的習慣。
2. 以「我想這樣做，可以嗎？」的口吻向主管提案。
3. 如果遇到棘手難搞的工作，就當做是上天賜下來的禮物，樂觀地投入。
4. 就算是主管的指示，只要有疑惑或彼此想法不同，立刻不假思索地指出問題所在。
5. 就算不是自己負責的業務，只要有興趣的工作，就試著向主管表明意願。

強化問題發現力則包括：

1. 正確地分析現況。
2. 觀察目標後，找出問題所在。
3. 將問題轉化為提案的能力。

具體做法如下：

1. 再次整理出所處的職場有什麼工作目的與目標。
2. 隨手將令人在意的狀況記下來。
3. 試著思考造成現況的原因。
4. 如果有任何不懂，立刻與周遭的人討論。 

Dec. 20 超越自己, an hour run!

搬新辦公室(八月中)以來, 出門去運動慢跑的次數一隻手數完
11月同Suzi去跑了一次, 感覺還不賴 (不過也更加認識這個底心排外的荷蘭人)
在來就是上週12/13號加入纖瘦平時快速短跑的Anna一塊兒
(編著:在短跑意指5-7公里, 時速11-12公里的跑法….)
目標半小時的路程, 回頭計算約5公里從UCU到Uithof來回
速度算是有維持我自己平常慢跑的水準, 但是時間延長5分多鐘左右
最後一百, 我難得衝勁全無, 原速跑完, 那時就有一種挑戰自我成功的快感
不過疲憊感也是一點不減 (那天又特別冷)
倒是前天週日拖張敏去跑的痠痛緩了許多 (週一可是下樓梯就痛啊~~)
因次我們就約定了成為週二跑步的核心成員, 待Sarai下週加入

不料一個禮拜後, 週一她們竟說起明天要跑一個小時
我ㄧ整個傻眼, 心想: I thought I sign up for 30min run?!
她們一直叫我放心, 說會跑的很慢的……
可是我真的沒有跑過, 也沒有想過跑一個小時, 或是那是多長的距離
一問之下才知道, 原來四月復活節時要再次舉辦 Jaarbeurs Utrecht Marathon
而Sarai找到了一份挑戰半馬的訓練計畫書, 第一次就是一個小時的輕度慢跑
(話說計畫書的訓練條件是給原本就可以慢跑一個小時的人開始的)

This is not my level and do I want to train for half Marathon? 我自問著

雖說前一陣子才看到張鈞甯訓練半馬的影片非常感動
也覺得或許該有像這樣的一個目標來抵立自己, 想想有覺得太天方夜譚了

從未曾想過用跑步訓練自己，到與姐姐開始一起練跑。從第一次完成3公里，
8公里到15公里，甚至成功挑戰舊金山馬拉松半馬21公里的歷程。
張鈞甯每跨出一步，就多了一份自信；距離夢想，也更近一步。
挑戰自我是辛苦的，但汗水流盡之後，訓練的過程與完成的美好感受，練就鈞甯個人璀璨的勝利。張鈞甯用跑步，釋放自己。
現在的她不只是個演員，也是跑者！她做到了，你也可以。Just Do It
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQnwkf_uatY&feature=share

懷著忐忑的心情, 約五點出發, 我ㄧ整個下午都心神不寧
閃過不去的念頭, 喝很多水, 想著跑不下去該怎麼辦
直到換上衣服穿著粉紅羽絨衣出發, 心底只有完蛋了的念頭

四個人的隊伍, 兩前兩後, 我喜歡在後頭, 讓前頭的Suzi&Sarai控制速度
一開始的速度真的頗慢的, 我還能不太喘的跟她們說話
我們聊著近況, 被慫恿跑半馬, 開玩笑說還真該練習邊跑邊吃/喝水

一路跑到了學校邊陲的Olympos體育館, 我知道騎車過來都是好一段路了
心裡暗自覺得不妙
接著就離開了校區, 沿著路燈稀疏的小路跑, 身旁不時有下班的腳踏車經過
離開辦公室時天就已經全黑了, 此時更覺得應該別腳踏車燈在身上
在看到De Belt路牌前, Anna問了一個我很不願意去想或是聽到回答的問題:
“我們跑多久了”
在一會兒就半個小時了, Sarai說

我心裡頓時涼了半截, 原來這樣還不到半個小時…. >.<
也才意識到看來計畫跟上次一樣, 無特定路線跑30分鐘然後原路折返
而不是有什麼環形路跑計畫, 可以讓不知身在何處的我催眠自己快到了快到了

好在不久之後返程的signal就響了, 換Anna領隊
不知道是自知已跑了30分鐘還是速度真的變快了,
大約10分鐘回到Olympos的路程, 我的心跳開始有重負的感覺
Sarai在我前面不時問我還行嗎
然後鞋帶又很不配合的一連在Uithof校區內掉了兩次

我感覺這樣的練習, 其實心智上的磨厲比體力上的還要多
平時撐不下去一方面是因為速度快的多, 更重要的是沒有督促自己到極限
所以原定半個小時5公里的練習通常都在不到4公里20幾分時放棄
然後其實到最後速度也不怎麼樣, 可就是衝不下去
這就是我admire一直說不喜歡跑步但又持續長跑的Suzi的原因

最後五分鐘，真的很折磨人的
不過不同於上個禮拜，我還衝刺了五十公尺
與隊員擊掌, 心理開心的不得了，being proud of myself !
生平第一次啊!! 一連跑了一個小時8.96公里! 速度也不差
http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/sapuletesarai/7383e4gcskfk3dld

當下還真有種該報名半馬的感動, 持續這樣練習
然後可以跑上21公里也未免太酷了吧
(不過前提是根據訓練計畫我得自己在抽兩天做中強度的跑步訓練)

更重要的是, 在最近這種工作情緒低迷, 一事無成的挫敗感中
Accomplishing something的感覺正是我所需要的
好久沒有”完成什麼”的感覺, 真的要把我打敗了


感謝隊友的相伴與砥礪, 沒有她們, 我根本不可能想要去做這樣的事
也感謝Mark&Rhymer如此相信我可以, 幫我打氣
I did it and it feels so good :)

Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep

Do not stand at my grave and weep 

I am not there. I do not sleep. 

I am a thousand winds that blow. 

I am the diamond glints on snow. 

I am the sunlight on ripened grain. 

I am the gentle autumn rain. 

When you awaken in the morning's hush 

I am the swift uplifting rush 

Of quiet birds in circled flight. 

I am the soft stars that shine at night. 

Do not stand at my grave and cry; 

I am not there, I did not die.

在Desperate Housewives 第四季第10級老朋友離去時念的詩

最近時常想要寫信給你

最近時常想要寫信給你
可是卻遲遲沒有提筆

看完大仁劇的感想
其實覺得自己很幸福

儘管你是那麼嚜那麼的遙遠
沒法在我需要一個擁抱的時即時出現

我仍感覺著你
因你所做的一切  讓我相信
相信你會溫柔的待我
陪伴我  支持我  給我信心

在你身邊 牽著手的幸福
抱著你 在你胸膛感到安心


近來  好想逃離
因著壓力  因著想你
過了太久太久分隔兩地的日子
最挫折人的  是想到
要能夠在你身邊靜靜的休息一下竟是奢侈

我好想好想你  所以
幻想著一起生活的樣子
想同你有一個家
一起去選購第一套餐具


我知道要很努力 也想要好好完成這裡的學習
可是有時我真的好想要逃避
逃離沒有你的這裡

[新聞評論] 猛男不行，辣妹可以？

猛男不行，辣妹可以？

• 2011-12-13 01:20
 
• 中國時報
 
• 【黃長玲】

    　洪恆珠女士在私人宴會上，看猛男秀一事，經媒體披露後，成為選戰話題之一，而她的配偶蘇嘉全也在第一時間道歉。政治人物的妻子在私人宴會上看猛男，足以成為總統選戰話題，但是台北世貿的公開展場中，終年到頭，無論是哪一種類型的展覽，都有辣妹，卻是台灣社會習以為常的事。女人私下看猛男不行，男人公開看辣妹合理。台灣社會在性道德上的雙重標準，在蘇嘉全的道歉，及媒體的各種評論中表露無遺。

    　身體的展演是複雜的議題。然而，無論展演者是誰，以什麼方式呈現，也無論觀賞者或消費者是誰，以什麼方式感受，在父權體制的視野中，往往都被限縮在非常狹窄範圍內。在主流社會的道德規訓中，對於女性情慾的恐懼、迴避、排斥與壓抑，非常反諷的使得女性的身體除了成為情慾的載體外，似乎別無可能。任何一個女性的身體，無論是在什麼場域出現，除了散發情慾訊息或接收情慾訊息外，其他的可能性，諸如使人產生安全感、使人產生信賴感、使人感到溫暖、或是使人感到力量，在父權的凝視下都變得不可能或不重要。被限縮得那麼狹窄的女性身體意義，在商業媒體的推波助瀾下走向標準化，因此公開場合中辣妹應運而生，也無所不在。然而，猛男也是如此嗎？

    　洪恆珠及其友人看猛男秀一事，真正值得這個社會思考，並且持續討論的，是我們究竟用什麼態度來面對身體和情慾，面對與身體和情慾有關的消費行為。這次的猛男秀，在性別意義上既鬆動了父權體制，也複製了父權邏輯。觀看者是女性而非男性，而表演者是男性及跨性別者，都是父權社會所不習慣見到的，也不符合父權社會的身體展演邏輯或是情慾實踐想像。在我們這個社會，女性脫衣男性觀賞是常態，但是男性脫衣女性觀賞就很值得大驚小怪。至於情慾實踐，只要不是異性戀的情慾實踐，對於主流社會而言，最好都是眼不見為淨。

    　雖然這次的猛男秀鬆動父權體制的某些規範，但是它也複製父權邏輯，因為就展演及消費形態而言，它與男性消費者所習見的場景，並沒太大不同。表演者在表演過程中，進行的是辛苦的體力勞動，且要以誇張方式來取悅消費者。當這個社會的男性與女性一同以舊有的形式來消費其他人的身體時，性別體制雖然可能被鬆動，但是身體消費中的階級意涵卻可能更為凸顯，而身體消費中所涉及的權力及支配議題，也可能在大家一起消費的過程中，更被掩蓋。

    　我們這個社會對於消費女人的身體向來習以為常，但是當人們開始也消費男性的身體時，是會讓我們更嚴肅的面對身體消費的現象，還是讓我們對身體消費更見怪不怪？涉及身體及情慾的消費，是否有可能以不同的形式出現？是否有可能更為多元平等？這些都是值得深思的問題。在整個社會並不打算深入討論這些問題，並且還持續大量消費女體的情形下，對於洪恆珠的苛責，不僅對當事人不公平，也顯現責難者的偽善。（作者為台大政治系副教授，婦女新知基金會常務監事）

Dec. 9 Lack of confidence or inability?

Woman tends to have less confidence in themselves, Mark said. 

Getting a printing, I ran into Mark and had a short chat.
I told him I my stress, in which he know now only have another 2 weeks to finish my half-chapter loading task. I guess my twisted facial expression (partly due to the cold air in the hallway), he reads me.

I told him that not knowing what I want and can do after graduation stresses me out. I want to prepare for my future, but not knowing what future me wants creates a barrier for my preparation. For this, the thought is on top of my head like a dark cloud that just wouldn't go away and keeps me under great stress.

I told him I had to ask my boss explicitly why he find me functioning well, while I don't, and that obviously my boss had no idea I am going through quite some stress in the process. I told him I don't think I can tell my boss that I couldn't help but question about what is the value of doing research and writing paper. This is as if questioning what a professor has taken up as a career. I think professors usually have limited answers when you ask them what are the options outside academia a PhD has after graduation.

Mark told me, its fine to put that in front of a Dutch professor's face. I hope so cus I sort of did not so long ago.

I told him that when I talk to Hu, I sense that she envy me being given additional task from Charles. Sometimes, yes, I do find the confidence to say that, yes, I am still Charles favorite student. But I also know what is attached to all this trust - it's the expectation. However, I don't know what my boss expect of me most of the time. So, I have to raise the bar of expectation high hoping to meet his expected expectation. And this is very tiring and stressful.

Mark said that he knows that I am an easily stressed person. But I should look on the positive signal of all this. For I have presented my paper in conferences, wrote a referee report (and another two in the short future) and ask to collaborate with others in writing a book chapter (well, half of a chapter).... ect. These all indicate that at least Charles believes I can do it.

When you cannot recognize what you are capable of doing, trust those who handed you the task, because at least he think/believe you can do it. 

I know and I should be very happy being given all this credit (trust and believe) in the ability to do all this, especially when I don't know if I am able to do all this. In addition, I know all these sort of like side-project thing is good for me in the sense that I get to train myself to read a wider range of topics during my training. So, on the one hand, I question if my training is sufficiently challenging for me to entitle a doctoral title after another 20month training; on the other hand, I doubt my ability in fulfilling the task I am given.

However, after the talk with Mark, I know I should have a little more faith and confidence in myself and move on! Though Rhymer had been very supportive, he had forgotten to remind me of this and say he have confidence in me.

I am very grateful to have these people in my life encouraging me along the way.

Dec. 8 Fly off the cliff

 

影片的開始, 挪威的峽谷映入眼簾
我去過很像的地方, 他叫 Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock area)
剛到那兒的時候, 雙腳其實會有點軟
一則因為剛爬了約一個小時的石頭路
猶記是三百公尺的落差, 單程3.8公里的山路
一則是望眼放去的景致與站在懸崖邊上的心悸
是個斷崖, 峽灣的水是寶藍色的

坐在崖邊我無語的感受
我從不曾想過, 跳下去飛翔

睡前的拋下
像一片落葉躺在搖籃裡左右飄盪而下
在白日夢裡
是騎著掃帚的女巫, 在月前靜坐剪影

這段影片, 是另一種飛行的想像
http://vimeo.com/32875422
順向風讓他貼著崖邊而下
是需要一點勇氣的是吧.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Preikestolen_Map.jpg

Dec. 8 B&O meeting

H: So what do you think I function/perform well?
C:

• Comments you give in the conferences show you are following and being critical on the topic presented.
• I get things done.
• From the first paper, you show that you are very detailed in your research and you have improved  on your writing skill. Though there is still room for improvement on:
• information intensity
• giving a clearer focus (on what is important and what less)

C: What do you think about teaching? will you get some feedback/comments?

It is nice to get some good comments but also be prepared to get some nasty ones. You note that you cannot please everyone of your own teaching and presentation style. But it is good to know where you can improve 

--------------------------------------------------

Charles said that he is surprised to see that I mentioned the word stress several times in the reflection report.In his idea, the first two paper is pretty much done. The plan is to finish another paper by December 2012 (and pretty much the whole thesis), sent it  to the committee and organize a date for defense (and all that). Exchange should also be conducted sometime next year. The next piece will be more policy oriented.

I said that sometimes I feel I can read and learn but unable to produce for a whole day. The output flow seems to be blocked and I know providing output should be my function around here. Charles said that it is ok if you sit and read for a whole day, as long as this situation don't continue for a whole month. Sometime the output will only come about at a later time.


我如果跟他說我function的不太好,想要quite, 他可能會是最surprised的人吧.
話說, 工作不到一年半就不行了, 我是不是一個爛草莓呢?

------

最近Rhymer在期末考, 然而晚上的加洲時光他的笑容卻比我要多
我知道他相當擔心我, 因此給了我他滿滿的笑容, 逗著我

我說, 我在想明天跟老闆攤牌
他說, 這樣就啟不是斷了選擇權
想想又說, 而且你現在打包也來不及了, 還是先續約再說吧

是啊, 幾個禮拜前我就在跟他說我想把家裡的東西賣一賣
不喜歡房間滿滿的, 或許更深層的原因就是我心底隨時準備要落跑
而顯然過多的家當是我沉重的負擔, 而年底了, 也實在有點來不及 //.\\

或許是因為不知道自己畢業後能做什麼
所以對於現在的自己格外沒有自信
也因著懷疑是否完成現在所做的事情就符合博士頭銜
所以對於畢業後頂著這樣一個帽子格外焦慮

Romer: Just write!

David Romer's Rules for Making It Through Graduate School and Finishing Your Dissertation

"Out in Five"

• Don't clutter up your life with other activities; just write.
• Don't carry out a thorough and comprehensive search of the literature; just write.
• Don't attempt to make sure that every page you write shows the full extent of your professional skills; just write.
• Don't write a well-organized, well-integrated, unified dissertation; just write.
• Don't think profound thoughts that shake the intellectual foundations of the discipline; just write.
• If you don't have a paper started by the spring of your third year, be alarmed.
• If you don't have a paper largely drafted by the fall of your fourth year, panic.
• Have three new ideas a week while you are getting started.
• Don't try to game the profession, work on what interests you.
• Good papers in economics have three characteristics:
• A viewpoint.
• A lever.
• A result. 

The Euro debt crisis

The Euro debt crisis 

Date: 1 December
Time: 5 till 7 PM
Venue: The Auditorium

On the first of December we have a special session to compromise about the European Debt Crisis. Three economists give Will Their opinion on the Causes and consequences of the current crisis. The speakers are: Tim Legierse (USE alumni and senior international economist at the macro-economy Rabobank Netherlands), Niels Gilbert (USE alumni and economist at the Economic and Research Division of the Dutch Central Bank) and Marc Schramm (USE International Economist). We look forward to seeing you there!

---------------------------------------------------------------

I went to the Campus Activity on 1^st December on the topic of the Euro Debt Crisis. The motivation is simple. As an economist, we are often asked about our comments in crisis. However, most people do not know that though we are able to reason and picture the reasoning behind the storm, not all of us are financial economist and that economist is not the same as financial specialist. Therefore, I often have no good answer on what is the solution to the crisis we see or could perhaps only give reply that works in theory.

The speech consists of three parts given by three economists from university, government and private bank. I was most impressed by Tim Legierse, who works in Rabobank as a senior international economist of the macro-economy. Tim started his speech with a Greek fable of the ants and cricket. In the story the ants gather food and store them for winter, while the cricket plays the violin and enjoy his summer. When the winter arrives, the cricket is cold and starving so he went to the ants’ home and begged for food. The ants tell him, we have worked hard in the summer to store all the food we need to live through the harsh winter but you didn’t. The ants refused to share their food and the cricket died.

What does this fable tell us? Yes, the moral lesson is that we should save in good times and prepare for the worse time.

How is this story linked to the world today? With some twist and stretch, think of the Western European countries (Taiwan) as the ants and the southern European countries (USA) as the cricket. The summer is ones working life and the winter is ones retired life. We all work and save while we can for our retired times, for which we are unable to work and mostly consume. The saving is also slightly different. For the ants they stock and store "grains", we modern human save in monetary terms, as if saved to buy machinery that will produce for us at a later time. Money does just this, as a mean of storage, remember?

For those country that saved more, they lend the extra money to those that consume more at a given period. This is done in exchange for future consumption with their saving. While the country that spent more in the initial period is expected to repay their loans (grains lend earlier) by careful use of the loan for investment (seeding) which is expected to produce more in the later period to repay their debt.

Now we see that during the Ants work-life, the Ants saved to the Cricket and expect to be able to withdrawn from them when the they retried. However, now it has come to the time when the Ants find the cricket had not invest their savings carefully and might default. The Ants can force the Cricket to repay, which they cannot but just go bankrupt; or the Ants can extend the deadline for repayment and work longer expecting the Cricket to repay in the future.

This is perhaps the trap most Ants find themselves into. The only option is to deferred their debt collection, while worrying the Crickets repay their debt with a devaluing currency. This is as if you get all the grains back, but now all the grains are only 1/2 of its original size.

This is a trap, but what do you do?

一場思辨之旅

[哈佛開放式課程] 正義：一場思辨之旅

http://www.myoops.org/main.php?act=course&id=2258

Dec. 1 我不吃這一套

在受不了B自以為她在容忍我們, 卻不知道我們也以直容忍著她
當著我的面說我們都很髒, 打掃也不乾淨是怎樣?
你是多愛乾淨? 我暑假回來的時候浴室地板頭髮多到看不到磁磚
忘了到垃圾也不是第一次, 我提醒你妳就衝著我罵
你不在, 我難道還要每天查寢確定每一個室友有沒有回來
確定誰有 誰沒有煮飯來決定這禮拜該誰打埽嗎?
你不要丟也不要倒垃圾說清楚很好, 最好廁所浴室都永遠不要用,
這樣省的我還要關心你在不在, 確定每一個要不要輪值打埽齁


那天我淋雨騎車回家, 決定早早上床, 關燈從被窩中去廁所遇到B提醒她
她在我開始跟R說話時把我從床上挖起來叫訓我, 其中有一句她這麼說

B: 我年紀比你大, 我不要你跟我說我可以做什麼不可以做什麼

今天跟媽咪聊天, 說到跟室友的不愉快.
我跟媽咪說: 她不知道我最不吃年紀這一套

媽咪說說: 你不是不吃這一套, 你是不吃很多套.


媽咪這一句真是一真見血啊.
是, 我是很多套都不吃的

If you want to argue, make sure you have all the points against me.
要嘛就說服我, 不然我不會輕易讓你用什麼年紀輩分指著鼻子罵的.
同樣都是房客, 你憑什麼

珍惜你的簡單時刻

"我們年紀越大，世界就變得越「灰色」。越來越少絕對的對或錯，越來越少有不做任何犧牲的輕鬆選擇。

......簡單來說，我們越老，生活中簡單但純淨的時刻就越少。"

 "我們多數人每天日復一日盼望著週五到來，渴望下次薪水能夠越早發越好，在開會時把眼睛閉上，希望接下來3小時能夠快轉。通常每天生活是痛苦、挫折和沈悶的，我們最終閉上眼睛並希望這天和明天快過。但有時候打開你的眼睛真的很重要，盡量要有開闊的視野，因為我們很容易忘記生活中這些非常簡單但是純淨的時刻，那提醒了我們什麼是重要的。

我們閉上眼睛時間太長的話，我們的生活將會在我們缺席的情況下過去。"

from 商周 2011.11.21 BY Joel Chung  "珍惜你的簡單時刻"
http://www.businessweekly.com.tw/blog/article.php?id=738&p=2

這段話令人感觸很深, 這樣的感覺其實也滿可怕的.

International Trade

Perhaps it is better to start from 4 proposition that my professors said that any international trade economist should be able to answer when being wake up at the middle of the night, as a summarize for this topic.

1.Heckscher - Ohlin proposition
A county will export the good which uses the relatively abundant factor of production relatively intensively. 

• eg. China will export labor intensive product since China have relatively abundant labor for this good as compared to the rest of the world.

2. Rybczynski proposition

Given final goods prices, an increase in the endowment of a production factor leads to an increase in the production of the good that uses this factor intensively and a reduction in the other good, see Rybczynski (1955).

• eg. Increasing capital stock increases the production possibility of both goods (manufacturing and food), ie. the production possibility frontier (PPF) shift outwards. Given the final good price (ratio) of the two goods, the increase in production of the capital intensive good will increase while the production of the labor intensive good will decrease. 

3. Stolper - Samuelson Theorem:
In the long run, when all factors are mobile, an increase in the relative price of a final good will increase the real earning of the factor used intensively in the production of that good and decrease the real earning of the other factor. 

• eg. For two countries where the original final price (ratio) is different, if the free trade price ratio falls in between the two prices (Pma/Pfa > Pm/Pf > Pmb/Pfb), for country a, the relative price of the manufacturing good is cheaper in free trade, and the price of food is higher and country a will therefore produce more food, in which the country is relatively more endowed with labor, the factor of production for food. 
• Consequently, country b start to produce more manufacturing goods than in autarky. However, the rise in the relative price of manufacturing goods in country b leads to a rise in the rental price and a fall in wage rate, since the production of more manufacturing goods increases the demand for capital and therefore raises the rental prices; while the rental rate fall in country a. 
• In both countries, the relatively abundant factor of production gains from international trade and the relatively scarce factor of production loses form international trade. 

4. Factor price equalization theorem --Samuelson

Suppose two countries are engage in free trade, having identical technologies but different factor endowment. If both countries produce both goods and factor intensity reversal (FIR) do not occur, then the factor prices (w,r) are equalized across countries. 

• This result do not occur when there is only one sector in the economy.
• When there are two sectors, the labor abundant country can produce more and export the labor intensive good. In this way, the labor can still be fully employed while paying the same wage as the capital abundant country. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gain from trade

• when there is differences in technology and endowment.
• Pro-competitive effect, basically reduce the abuse of market power by domestic firms. 
• Increase in variety, trade increase the extent of the market and for consumers who enjoy the love of variety, trade is welfare increasing. 
• Horizontal intra-industry trade: country simultaneously import and export goods classified in the same sector and at the same stage of processing. 
• Vertical intra-industry trade: country trade for product under the same sector category but are goods at different stages of processing. This is mainly made possible with increasing ability to organize fragmentation of the production process into different stages. 


• Grubel-Lloyd index (1975): measuring the extend of intra-industry tradehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grubel%E2%80%93Lloyd_index
• GL<1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trade patters in the Ricardian model are determined by comparative advantage, the level of wages across countries is determined by absolute advantage.







References:

§         Acemoglu, D. (2009), Introduction to Modern Economic Growth, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.

§         Marrewijk, C. van (2011), Macroeconomics: Fundamentals, Dynamics, and Policy, mimeo, Utrecht University School of Economics

§        Feenstra, R.C. (2004),  Advanced International Trade: Theory and Evidence, Princeton University Press.

.

Reading "Agglomeration Economics", by Edward Glaeser

Agglomeration economics are the benefits that come when firms and people locate near one another together in cities and industrial clusters. These benefits all ultimately come from transport costs savings: the only real difference between a nearby firm and one across the continent is that it is easier to connect with a neighbor. Transport cost must be interpreted broadly, and they include the difficulties in exchanging goods, people and ideas. The connection between agglomeration economies and transportation costs would seem to suggest that agglomerations should become less important, as transportation and communication cost have fallen. Yet, a central paradox of our time is that in cities, industrial agglomerations remain remarkably vital, despite ever easier movement of goods and knowledge across space.

If transportation costs are so low, then why has the urge to agglomerate remained so strong?

Measuring agglomeration: price, wage, quantities

Urban economists infer urban success from high local wages, robust real estate prices, and growth in the number of people within an area. If a place is doing well, then employers should be willing to pay more for workers in that area, people should be willing to pay more for access to that place, and more people should move to that area. The logic of the spatial equilibrium is that since people can move freely within a nation, they must be indifferent between different locales. This indifference implies that high wages must be offset by high prices or low amenities; otherwise, people would flock to high-wage areas. High housing prices reflect high wages, high amenities, or both.

However, the spatial equilibrium concept only gives us one-half of the labor market equilibrium that determines area wages. The other half is labor demand –the willingness of firms to pay for their workers. So, shile high wages must reflect something bad about an area, like high prices or poor amenties, high wages must also reflect something good about an area that makes firms willing to tolerate a high cost of labor. Firms wouldn’t continue to locate to NY or the San Francisco Bay region unless those areas were productive enough to offset the cost of expensive workers.

Neoclassical economics tells us that wages reflect the marginal product of labor. In standard Cobb-Douglas formulation of the producer’s problem, where most capital is mobile, the high marginal product of labor in a given area must either reflect a high productivity level or an abundance of non-traded capital inputs to production. Wages, therefore, can be interpreted as telling us about the core determinants of urban productivity, and high wages in an area are usually interpreted as meaning that the area is unusually productive.

One of the facts that supports the existence of agglomeration economies is the strong relationship between density and high wages. This fact is mirrored in the strong relationship between area density and per capita gross metropolitan product (GMP). The fact is quite statistically robust, but the causal chain in the relationship is difficult to infer. Does the density-productivity relationship mean that the dense place become more productivity or that productive places attract more people? The need to tease out the direction of causality in this relationship motivates the first chapter in this volume.

One possibility is that dense places are more productive because they attract more skilled workers. Glaeser and Mare find little evidence that this is the case in US cities, but the selection of the skilled into cities seems to be much stronger in France.

Chapter 1. Estimating agglomeration economies with History Geology and worker effects. --- Pierre-Philippe Combes, Gilles Duranton, Laurent Gobillon, and Debastien Roux

Productivity and wages are higher in larger cities and denser areas. This fact was first noted by Adam Smith (1776) and Alfred Marshall (1890) and has been confirmed by the modern empirical literature on this topic (see Rosenthal and Strange, 2004 for review). The measured elasticity of local productivity with respect to employment density is typically between 0.04 to 0.10. (fig 1 show the positive relationship between mean log wages (also TFP) and employment density.)

Two fundamental identification problems must be dealt with. First, density and measure of productivity (wage or TFP) may be simultaneously determined. This could happen because more productive places tend to attract more workers and as a result become denser. And alternative explanation, albeit equivalent form tan econometric perspective, is that there may be a missing local variable that is correlated with both density and productivity. We refer to this issue as the endogenous quantity of labor problem. Since Ciccone and Hall (1996), a standard way to tackle this problem has been to use instrumental variables (IV).

The second major identification problem is that more productive workers may sort into denser areas. This may occur for a variety of reasons. For instance, skilled workers may have a stronger preference for high density, perhaps because density leads to better cultural amenities. Alternatively, the productivity benefits of high density may be stronger for skilled workers. These explanations suggest that it is not only dneisty that we expect to be simultaneously determined with productivity but also the characteristics of the local workforce. To make matter worse, we expect characteristics that are not usually observed by the statistician, such as ambition or work discipline, to matter and to be spatially unevenly distributed. For instance, French university professors may have similar observable characteristics everywhere, but a disproportionate fraction of the better ones are working in or around Paris. We refer to this problem as the endogenous quality of labor problem. Since Glaeser and Mare (2001), a standard way to tackle this problem has been to use the longitudinal dimension of the data.

One may also be concerned that density affects productivity in a myriad of ways, directly and indirectly (see Duranton and Puga, 2004). Denser markets allos for a more efficient sharing of indivisible facilities (local infrastructure), risk, and the gain form variety and specialization. Next, denser markets also allow for a better matching between employers and employees, buyers and suppliers, partners in joint projects, or entrepreneurs and financiers. This can occur through both a higher probability of finding a match and a better quality of matches when they occur. Finally, denser markets can facilitate learning about new technologies, market evolutions, or new forms of organization. Some of these mechanisms (matching) may have instantaneous effects, while other (learning) may take time to materialize.