Easter Trip

So I am leaving in 8 hours to go up to the Blue Mountains (they are fairly close to Sydney). That being said I am writing this on my next door neighbor's computer and will probably not experience the joy of sleep for at least a few hours. Go on... (copyright@ Gabriel Murphy)

I am on his computer becuase mine is under control of some nasty spyware/ possible virus, so yeah I will deal with that once I get back.

So I have an essay proposal due tomorrow for my macroeconomics class on the topic of my choice. Luckily I have already done the bulk of my initial research. Now I just have to organize everything and clean it up. My topic: What are the negative effects of globalization on developing countries? The short answer: alot.

Condensed version: Prior to the last wave of globalization, developing countries began to shift their resources and focus on the production of a concentrated (1-4 in most cases) number of goods that had high export value (either raw materials or commodities, which are extremely volatile in price). Then other developing countries begin to invest in the same/ similiar goods because they saw that money was to be made. Then globalization enters the picture and the combination of over supply (simple supply and demand dictates that an increase of supply without an increase in demand lowers the price of a good) and opening up markets led the bottom to fall out of these formerly lucrative goods(no longer have any price protection). So these commodities now have dropped heavily in value. The developing countries that invested so much in the production of these economies can no longer sustain themselves (lower price equals lower revenue). So they turn to the World Bank/ IMF for loans.

The prevalent ideology was the Washington Consensus which included the conditions that the country fully open their markets and push towards privatization (very poor overview of Structural Adjustment Policies>SAP). The problem is that pushes the developing country into an even worse position. It exports its goods at a relatively low price and imports its needed goods at a high price. Then the country has to spend what little revenue it has on servicing the debt from the loan. This money is then not able to be spent on health, education, and infrastrucutre. The spiral continues and gets much worse. By almost any measure (appx 7 ways to measure income distribution) the poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. Joseph Stiglitz, a former head of the World Bank decried these unilateral trade practices (starting in 2000).The World Bank has just released an official review of policy and determined that it needs to change course. In contrast, the IMF pushes for more of the same. So that is a brief overview. The big question is what is an effective solution to this problem, researching to see what others have already put forward and seeing if I can add anything useful to that.

So I have to actually right the proposal now and pack for my trip. Timer is at 8 hours, yeah I am a procrastinator.

Stoked for my trip. We will be doing a lot canyoning. Well most people are thinking what is canyoning? A sport where you start at the top of canyon then rappel, swim, run until you reach the bottom. This is my first time, but I am excited for it.

Then I fly back friday afternoon and then friday night I jump into start up camp. Basically, business people and programmers are brought together. In 48 hours, your team brainstorms, designs, and launches an internet busienss then pitches it to investors. So excited for that.

Crossfit has been going well. I found three churches semiclose to where we will be so I will be in one for Easter. Yeah I am going to go work now, cheers.

Happy Easter, please keep me in your prayers.