Life inside the North Korean bubble

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8701959.stm This is a great article and video about North Korea.

"As we arrived at Pyongyang's airport our mobile phones were confiscated and throughout our stay in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea there was no access to the internet. At the hotel our government minders had booked rooms alongside ours, and on the one occasion that we tried to leave without them we were reported and reprimanded. From exchanges with our minders, we also learned that our rooms were bugged. But then we were not being singled out, the entire country lives in a bubble of unreality, cut off from the outside world and watched by an army of informers."

 This is a must read for all economists...

Guidelines for debaters

As the first KS debate nears I thought that it would be useful to post the format of the debate.


Guidance for the Chairperson

1. Bring the house to order
2. Welcome to the debate
3. The motion to be debated this afternoon is “This House believes that celebrites are morally obliged to be good role models”.
4. I would now like to invite our first speaker Mr/Miss ??????? to speak in favour of the motion
5. Thank you, I would now like to invite our second speaker Mr/Miss??????? to speak against the motion
6. Thank you, I now call upon the third speaker Mr/Miss ??????? to speak in favour of the motion
7. I now call upon the fourth speaker Mr/Miss ??????? to speak against the motion
8. Thank you to all the speakers for their eloquence and passion
9. I now open the debate to the floor
10. Can I remind you that you must raise your hand if you wish to speak, wait to be recognized, stand and offer your comment – you must address any question through the Chair.
11. Thank you, due to time constraints I invite one last question or comment before we move to closing remarks
12. I now invite the first speaker Mr/Miss ?????? to speak in favour of the motion and offer his/her team’s closing remarks
13. I now invite the second speaker Mr/Miss ??????? to speak against the motion and offer his/her team’s closing remarks
14. Thank you to all speakers - we shall now move to formal voting procedures
15. Please allow me to remind you that the motion to be voted on is “This House believes that celebrites are morally obliged to be good role models”.
16. Those in favour of the motion please raise your hand …COUNT
17. Those against please raise your hand…COUNT
18. Abstentions please raise your hand….COUNT
19. I declare the motion CARRIED/ DEFEATED
20. Applause

 

Art and politics in China - 60 yrs of communist ideals

This is a audio slideshow produced by the BBC which marks the 60th anniversary of communist rule.

Click here to view the AUDIO SLIDESHOW

Chairman Mao Zedong declares the People's Republic of China 1st October 1949

Hello

Hello to all of you,

From its beginnings as a mere discussion in our economics class, the Keynes society has finally become a reality. A platform for St.Christopher’s budding economists to actually get together and further their knowledge and understanding of the world around them from the view of an economist.

Following week 1 where we explored the various schools of economic thought we felt that it was time that we really put some theory into application with our first Keynes Society debate, trying to answer the question ‘ communism or capitalism, which delivers the perfect society’, the debate promises to be an interesting one, bringing some of St.Chris’s brightest economists head to head.

We’ll keep you updated,

Ak

p.s. for those attending heres a good video to start you off;

The Launch of the Keynes Society

For a long time I have wanted to launch the Keynes Society. The Society aims to spark and nurture economic interest among students at St Christopher’s. Keynes was a British economist born in the late 18th Century whose work focussed on the role of government in managing the macro economy.

The weekly meetings will be used to discuss economic theory and policy to deepen students’ understanding of economic issues around the world. A key aim of the society is to prepare students for their undergraduate studies of economics.