ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004)

How happy is the blameless Vestal’s lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot;
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d.

The joy of guanxi

Smart moves from China (breakingviews.com)

China's economic strategy may be outsmarting Hank Paulson
and his US colleagues. Tariffs on steel exports will disarm critics
in Congress. But they will also make Chinese steel products
more competitive. Meanwhile its stake in Blackstone, while
questionable on investment grounds, buys Beijing more
influence in Washington. This looks like a good example of
guanxi, the Chinese technique of using connections to achieve
one's ends, in action.
Conventional economic theory holds that to maximise economic
growth and raise the living standards of its people, a country
should allow free movement of capital, permitting the exchange
rate to float upwards, while removing subsidies and tariffs,
domestic and international, which distort the price mechanism.
China is not doing that. Instead it keeps the renminbi exchange
rate artificially low. Although the currency has climbed
somewhat against the dollar, its trade-weighted exchange rate
has devalued in recent years. That has caused an excessively
large trade surplus, which would normally bring retaliation from
trading partners. China is now engaged in a two-pronged
strategy to lessen the chances of a sharp US response.
First, Beijing has imposed tariffs on steel exports. At first glance,
this move looks as if it is intended to disarm the lobbying of the
politically powerful US steel industry. The effect will be to raise
world steel prices. But this could actually advantage China's
domestic manufacturers which will enjoy lower steel costs. This
should benefit its fast growing automobile industry.
Second, the Chinese government is engaged in a "strategic
dialogue" with Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. This dialogue
should reinforce Paulson's own anti-protectionist beliefs.
Moreover, Beijing's substantial stake in Blackstone could turn
out to be a smart move. The buyout firm's partners are major
donors to New York Senator Charles Schumer, who is the
strongest advocate of tariffs on Chinese imports. Neutralising
Schumer is well worth $3bn.

Notting Hill

"For June who loves this garden,
From Joseph who always sat beside her
Some people do spend their whole lives together"

Some old movies are as nice as ever.

The aim is not just to win this trophy...

Not a big fan of Liverpool but they seem to have a good manager at the helm. Benitez. Impressed.

I feel we are going in the right direction but this final is just a stopping point on the way to where we want to be.

'A second Champions League final in three seasons shows what can be done but we want to achieve even more.

'This is going to be an important summer because we want to maintain our progress and keep going forward next season.

'Another European Cup would be very welcome but the aim is not just to win this trophy, it is to be stronger all round, so we can make a better challenge for the Premiership next season.'

I followed my heart today

Oh boy, I did the unthinkable today. Right after I woke up, I use Skype to inform the person. Never thought I have the courage to do that. Didnt sleep well last night because of that. And to my horror, I felt even more lost after doing that. But strangely, after a beer with my classmate this afternoon, I felt a sense of relief. I am almost certain I made the right decision and I am proud to say I did it!

Checks and Balances

Under communism, Ukrainian firms were run along autocratic lines. An individual director might be good or bad, plodding or inspired, but what he said was law for the firm. Firms in America or Europe are, in contrast, coalitions, prducts of the 18th century political theory of checks and balances that underlies the American Constitution. Standing behind the inspired inventor is an accountant asking what it will cost, a marketing director asking how pple will be persuaded to buy it. These are frustrating voices for the creative thinker or investor to hear and its sometimes tempting to think that the modern society would be better off without them. Inventors and entrepreneurs can often be seen on television bemoaning the pettifogging constraints of bankers, accountants and bureaucrats who prevented them from taking their creativity to truly great heights. They deserve as much skeptism as the politicians who bemoan the constraints placed on them by advisors, bureucrats and voters. A look at the mess made in the factory in Kiev in enough to dispel this fantasy

- Excerpts from The Company of Strangers - A natural history of economic life
by Paul Seabright

How will you go on when the applause dies down?

The Mountain

Why Climb? - Beyoond the Summit - Todd Skinner

We cannot lower the mountain, therefore we must elevate ourselves.

We climb the mountain not to stand on top, but to gain from the ascent. Choose your mountains according to what you desire to gain, and how that gain will contribute to your further ascent. True success is not defined simply by how far you go, but by how much farther what you have gained will allow you to go.

Success is often defined externally by traditonal currencies: money, fame, prestige, applause. But there hallmarks of success are frequently by products of true success, of doing something very well anbd to pursue the reward while trying to bypass the solid foundation of enduring success often results in a bad ending, as illustrated by the number of bankrupt companies in the news.

If you allow your success to be defined solely by a consensus of merit, your choice of mountains will be limited to only those others recognise and find valuable. You will be the thousandth to be carried up the easy route on Everest, rather than the first to climb some unnamed spire in outer Mongolia that will truly further your lifelong ascent. You will be applauded more for climbing Everest, but applause can be one of the greatest saboteurs of aspiration. To gain applause, all you need is to satnd a little higher than your fellow peers. You are given a sense of arrival, bringing your climbing to a standstill, while your lifelong ascent is asking for departures. And if all you seek is accolodes, how will you go on if the applause dies down?