Category: Essays

 

The graph below was so unintelligible to me that  I fled Economics after the first class in high school. I never looked back.

Not until I read “Basic Economics” by Thomas Sowell. It made all the difference.

Anyway, I digress…

The demand of goods and services and their supply decide the price that is charged for by the providers and paid for by consumers.

In any economy, supply has to increase to keep pace with the high demand for goods and services.

For providers of such goods and services, this is a good thing – it hopefully means more revenue (as long as they are operating at a profit).

Increased supply means owners of companies that produce these goods and services have to increase output. This can be done by automating processes and/or hiring more workers.

So, increased demand can lead to more work for the population.

What can lead to an increase in demand? Affluence and population growth are two things that come to mind.

Which brings me to the question – can either supply or demand be influenced selectively to affect an an economy?

The “Supply-siders” want to make it easier for business to produce goods and services with lower taxes and less regulation. They hope that  these measures will spur businesses to expand production which can lead increased hiring. The increase in the number of working people will only increase the number of people with demands for goods and services.

The “Demand-siders” want to leave more cash in the hands of consumers to increase demand. The belief is that an increase in demand will force businesses to produce more. This will hopefully necessitate hiring more workers. The increase in the number of working people will only increase the number of people with demands for more goods and services.

Ronald Reagan is famous for believing in the “Supply-Siders”. He cut taxes which were in the 60-70% range and created a rather friendly business environment. Many credit the turn-around to those “supply-side” policies.

Many contend that the policies of this present administration are on the demand side. The Stimulus package, unemployment benefits, payroll tax-cuts – these are all geared to stimulate more spending i.e. increase demand. The theory is the increased demand will in turn stimulate the supply side and with that the jobs will come.

For some reason, the theory does not seem to be panning out. Was the stimulus too little? Do we need more on the demand side or do we now switch over to the supply side? Is it one or the other?

Remember, I am not an economist…just someone with a lot of questions and very few answers.

Going back to the demand versus supply question, two thing skew the attempts of the “Demand-Siders”. Sure an increased demand leads to increased supply.

The problem is that the supply of goods especially is coming from outside the US – most manufacturers have moved jobs offshore. So that boost in hiring is seen outside the US.

Then is the issue of increased and improved productivity due to technology. A few workers can do a lot more.

Can we manipulate the supply side to improve the employment picture?

Well, we could create conditions in the US that attract manufacturing jobs back. Good Luck with that. Foxconn is the Chinese company that manufactures Apple’s iPad. The monthly wage there is between $168 to $176!

Beside, most corporations are very profitable even in these tough times – American corporations are sitting on some trillions of cash!

So, the answer may not be either on the supply side or the demand side.

Maybe the answer is in the creation of a whole new industry. An industry with jobs that cannot go offshore. An industry whose product or service can really revolutionize our lives.

The start of any plan, product, movement or innovation is a dream.

Then comes the ability to express that dream in terms that is clear to everyone.

People either gravitate to the the ideas in that dream or they just walk away.

The tenacious ones don’t give up but hang on to that dream.

Sometimes the dream is bold, sometimes it’s realistic, other times one wonders what the dreamer is smoking.

More importantly, the ability of the dreamer to draw others into his world plays an enormous role.

He or she can be so eloquent that his hearers are more enthralled by his words than the substance of it.

Now let’s take a further step and say the dream catches on.

We are now at the point where we need to turn words into deeds.

It’s at this crossroad that the successful ones move on and a majority of dreams die.

Can you elaborate the distinct steps you need to get us from Dream to Reality?

Many are the times in life where words have earned people a chance without any proof of the ability to deliver.

Some have delivered – through learning on the job.

Others have failed.

It is great to give dreamers a chance.

Some opportunities though are too costly to chance on dreamers without a plan.

The last part Richard Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen” is titled “Götterdämmerung”. In it, the Valkyrie Brünnhilde, a rather voluptuous lady, sings her aria to end the opera.

Hence the saying “It ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings”.

The German word “Götterdämmerung” is a translation of “Ragnarök” (old Norse), which in Scandinavian mythology refers to the destruction of the gods in a battle with evil, resulting in apocalypse!

For all Ghanaians, yesterday felt like the end of the world! It felt like we battled evil and lost.

Wait! I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s rewind to February 8, 2008. Superbowl XLII. The undefeated New England Patriots are playing the 12-pont underdog New York Giants. It’s the 4th quarter and the Patriots are up by 4 with 75 seconds to go. The Giants have the ball on their 40-yard line for a third-and-five. Eli Manning, the Giants quarterback, avoids a sack and floats the ball to Tyree who makes an improbable catch against his helmet for the first down. The Giants go on to win. An improbable upset! Just before the ball was snapped by the Giants on the third-and-five, the Patriots players (who already thought they had the game won) were talking smack to the Giants players on the field. They were so sure of their win they even invited the Giants to their after-game party! They had forgotten one important lesson in sports:

It ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings!

Since Uruguay beat Ghana yesterday, the talk has only been about Suarez’s “hand of the devil”. Well, I contend that the Black Stars rather than Suarez committed a cardinal sport’s sin yesterday – they forgot that the fat lady had not sang yet!

The Black Stars are a young team. One thing youth brings is confidence and sense of invincibility. These traits can lead to a false sense of security.  Young teams are also impatient and have mental lapses. They forget to wait for the fat lady to sing.

Watching the stars play, one noticed a certain swagger and an attitude that projected the sentiment “We belong! Deal with it!” Maybe it was from winning the Under-20 tournament. Maybe it was because they were playing on the African continent or came so close to winning the African Cup.

Then was their inability to score. It was not so much as an inability as a lack of patience to develop the goal. They were trying to score from 100 miles out! It was almost like a guy who gets the chance to be with the woman of his dreams and comes even before he can get his boxers off!
 They needed to calm down.

Lastly were the mental lapses, which ultimately led to their demise.

After their first goal against Uruguay, they played as if they had already won the game. They should have been prepared for that Forlan free kick! Towards the end of the game, they recovered their game and pushed till finally Suarez had to punch the ball to prevent a goal against Uruguay. From that point till then end of the game, one saw what happens when you don’t wait for the fat lady.

When athletes, who thought they had the game won, realize they haven’t, there is often not enough time to recover mentally. At that point, the game is lost. That is what happened to the Stars. When Suarez was red-carded and the Stars awarded a penalty, they assumed they had already won the game! But the fat lady hadn’t sung yet!

Gyan’s kick was taken in haste. It was almost like “Let me get this over so we can party!” Well guess what? It hit the bar and an unlikely opportunity had been squandered.

Anyone who watches enough competitive sports could predict what was going to happen during the penalty shoot-out.  As young a team as the Stars were, they didn’t have the mettle and time to recover mentally.

The Uruguayans on the other hand battled till the very end. They made no assumptions and prevailed. I totally hate Suarez too, but harbor a certain admiration for the risk he took. After all it paid off.  We may curse Suarez all we want. We may criticize FIFA for not instituting goal-tending all we want. At the end of the day, the Uruguayans played to win and the Stars didn’t.

As we Ghanaians lick our wounds, lament our loss and curse Suarez, let us also appreciate what the Stars did. They brought much honor to their name and to Ghana.  Let us also hope that individually the players learnt a lesson from this debacle. Let us hope that in 2014, we have a team which will wait till the fat lady sings.

I was born in Ghana, became a man in Germany and made a home in the US. However, no matter how far I go, I never forget my origins – Ghana, Africa.

Why?

Because there is a bond that pulls all Africans together and to the continent.

It is a bond forged by pain and suffering, disease and hunger, exploitation and colonialism, tribal strife and inept leaders.

This bond is not static. It waxes and wanes. It grows and sometimes looks like it’s on it’s death bed.

The bond reaches far. It reaches into the hearts of immigrants all around the world – living rooms in the US, England and Australia. It reaches Darfur. It reaches the pirates in Somalia and rival factions in the Congo.

This bond has stood the test of time because it is nurtured. It is nurtured by family and friends, love and charity, the warmth of helping one another and encouragement. We cry with each other and share the joys too.

Perhaps though, its strongest sustenance is hope. The hope of something great. The hope of rising above the impediments that liter our way. The hope that it can be better. The hope that this time, it is different.

Like a clarion call, nothing gets this bond going more than hope.

So when the Black Stars made to the round of 16 as the only African team, there was hope. The hope fed the bond and the bond grew.

For the first time in it’s 80-year history, the FIFA World Cup comes to Africa. It is really symbolic that it is being held in South Africa. By the end of the first round of games, 5 of 6 African teams are out, including the Bafana Bafana of the host nation, South Africa. The Black Stars of Ghana are left standing, alone.  That also by itself is deeply symbolic, then Ghana was the first sub-Saharan nation to win independence from colonial rule.

Before the games started, I am sure all the African teams hoped to make their countries as well as the continent proud.  And all Africans, on the continent and abroad, hoped for the same.  But only one team seems to believe it more than all the others.  The Black Stars. And with their performance so far they have engendered a lot of hope in Ghana and on the continent.

…and are feeding the bond!

I rooted for Ghana in the Word Cup match against the US not because I don’t like the country I live in now. Far from that! I love the US! It’s just that Ghana and the continent of Africa needed this win more.

Many years ago Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president said “The independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked with the total liberation of Africa.” Back then (and even now), that was a bold statement and many a critic berated him for it. Nkrumah however recognized how important and symbolic the Ghanaian independence was. It had spurned hope and the hope was feeding the bond. He realized that on this continent of pain and suffering, no one country was an island. We need each other. That is why the bond is essential.

That is why the success of the Black Stars is so important.

The continent needs it.  A proof that we can measure up, if just for a few weeks. A proof that if we set our minds and spirit to it, we can achieve success. A proof that given the chance, like the prepared, we seized it. A proof that in spite of wars, disease, hunger, famine and bad leadership, we can rise above it all. The continent needs that spirit, if just for a few weeks. Then that can change  and save lives.

The US has this spirit. It permeates every aspect of life here. This nation is a “Can-Do” nation. Africa could use a dose of that.

That is why I rooted for the Black Stars.

Technology has always changed our lives here on earth, sometimes totally disrupting it. Look what DVDs did to VHS. Lately, the progress has been so swift that keeping up is sometimes head spinning. There is also the tendency to look at the most recent developments as luxurious. That is where I tend to differ. The following story might explain why.
After going through the security check at the airport today, I got to my gate and couldn’t find my iphone! My initial thought – I left it at the security check point. It’s 30 min to board! I rushed back to the TSA folks. Well, none of them had seen it. One lady was actually quite helpful – she called my number and rescanned my bags. No phone! I retraced my steps to the gate – no phone! It’s 15 min to boarding time!
Plan B – I whipped out my Macbook Pro, bought a day’s pass for the T-Mobile Hot Spot and logged on to my MobileMe account. There are apps there to locate the iphone, lock it, wipe it clean or send a message to the phone and have it alarm at the same time if one looses it. I tried locating it but the GPS position was vague. So I activated the alarm and sent a message: “I lost this phone. If you find it please bring it to gate ..”
Two minutes later, I see a TSA lady walking up with the phone. I had left it in one of the trays and someone had stacked other trays on top of it. The alarm had alerted them.
A thank you and a hug later, I’m praising Steve Jobs, Apple, technology and the power of the internet.
Who said technology is a luxury?

I

I fell in love with the idea of an electronic reader several years ago when I got my first PDA and loaded a few books on it. For an avid reader, it was awesome to be able to read anywhere without carrying the load. I yearned for an e-reader with the size of a real book.
Sony released a reader but the reviews were mixed so I held off. Then came the Kindle. My excitement grew. Just as I was about to pull the trigger, the rumor started that Apple was going to possibly release an e-reader this year. Now being a believer in all things apple, I decided to wait.
Today, it finally happened!
The iPad is here and I cannot wait till I have one in my hands.
I think all these developments spell the doom of the book as we know it and that is not so bad. Sure, the publishing industry will loose jobs. However, think of all the trees that will be saved. You can literally carry your entire library with you (those heavy textbooks!) Revisions to textbooks will be downloaded  – no need for publishing another book. You can buy books on the fly. It might actually simplify getting published. There won’t be stacks of newspapers, journals and magazines to go through. I could go on….
Maybe in a few years we will look back and wonder where all those records, VHS-tapes and books are!

II

Did anyone get the ipad yet?
I played with it for about an hour on Saturday.
Did not get one yet ‘cos am waiting for the 3G version.
Man does it rock or what.
The screen’s resolution is awesome and the processor really fast.
It fits really well in your hands but has some heft to it.
It’s potential will be seen with time.
I don’t think it replaces you laptop but it fills a niche.
Whether it displaces the laptop or not will be seen with future versions.

It is not an iphone without the phone or a big Ipod touch. Get one in your hands and you’ll realize what it is  – a new way of personal computing!

Say you travel a  lot…well, keep that laptop packed away if you want to watch a movie.
Watch it on the ipad with it’s 10 -12 hours of battery life!
Have a presentation?
Get the pages app (the apple equivalent of PowerPoint) and the VGA cable, hook your iPad to the projector and voila!
So you do some photography and need to show your work?
Well, there is an Ipad for you.
You are going on a looo-nnnn-g road trip, say from DC to Miami.
Stick that Ipad in your kid’s hands and there is total silence for 10-12 hours.
Imagine rounding on your patients with an Ipad connected to the hospital database.
You can pull up Xrays, labs, echos etc.
Read a lot? What about your whole library on your iPad.
The cool thing is you can use iBooks from Apple as well as the Kindle app from Amazon to get books.
Wake up in the morning and pull up all the news immediately – WSJ, NYT, the Post.

I think Jobs has a product that is going to revolutionize the laptop/netbook sector.

III

In about a week, I will be sworn in as a US citizen in the courthouse in downtown Lexington. This is the culmination of a 13 yearlong journey.

I should be excited because after all I get to be a citizen of a great nation with endless opportunities. Like an orphan, I should be happy that I have wealthy parents who are going to adopt me.

Unlike the orphan though, I have been able to observe my prospective parents for a number of years and what I see troubles me.

It’s not the economy; it’s not even terrorism, race relationships or gender politics. It is the unwillingness of those in power to understand each other, try to see things the other person’s way. It is almost a total aversion to finding the middle ground.

The political landscape is as contentious as it’s ever been.  Liberal can’t stand conservative. Republicans are at the throat of Democrats. Either you are with us or against us. Whatever the other person believes in is bad for the country. And on and on it goes.

The political process in this country has been turned into a zero sum game. And so at one point or the other, the country is swung to extremes – right or left.

Like a couple on the verge of divorce, the other cannot do anything right.

I am reminded of the movie “War of the Roses” starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. In what was akin to a divorce death match, we watched the tragedy of 2 people who refused to find a middle ground.

At the moment, I look at the US and can help but think, “Oh God, I am being adopted by the Roses!”

Whatever happened to finding a compromise? Respecting the other point of view? Working together for the good of the country. Sometimes neither the conservative nor liberal view is right. Sometimes, it’s just common sense! However because the political process is seen as a zero-sum game, party affiliations, ambition, power lust and ideology is trumping common sense increasingly!

The malignancy is spreading to the news media, radio talk show hosts even the common American. For the last few months, I have been asking friends and co-workers which party I should vote for after my naturalization. Ask a Democrat and Republican this question simultaneously, stand back and watch them transformed into Gladiators!

The sad bit is, I have grown to love my adoptive parents-to-be. In the time I’ve known them, they have given me a lot of opportunities to make a lot of my life. I’ll love to give back to them but at this rate, I wonder if there will be any recipients.

In most biological systems, the normal is in the middle and the control mechanisms (under healthy conditions) always force the system back to the middle. Disease results when the system escapes the control mechanism and swings to one or the other extreme.

Maybe we need to learn from nature. Maybe what is needed is a third middle-of the –road party that can keep things in focus by forcing the Republicans and Democrats to the middle. Maybe Congress shouldn’t vote on major issues but the people in referenda. Maybe Senators shouldn’t stay in Washington that long. Whatever the case I pray reason wins at the end of the day.

Come Friday, I’ll don my suit and tie and drive to the courthouse to get sworn in. I hope I don’t get home to find my adoptive parents swinging from the chandelier!

God save the USA!