Love and Money in China

A spate of Chinese films

, plays and television shows have recently raised the question: 

What is love in an age of breakneck economic growth? 

Many personal stories seem to confirm that the ideal mate is the one who can deliver a home and a car, among other things; sentiment is secondary.

However widespread this mercantilist spirit, not everyone thinks it is a good thing.

Many Chinese were shocked this year when a female contestant on a popular TV dating show, “If You Are the One,” announced: 

“I’d rather cry in a BMW than smile on a bicycle.” 

But others insisted that the contestant, Ma Nuo, now popularly known as “the BMW woman,” was merely expressing a social reality.

Rocketing property prices in recent years have contributed to such feelings, 

with many people in Beijing and other cities accepting the idea that a woman will pursue a relationship with a man only if he already owns an apartment.

Feng Yuan, a 26-year-old who works in a government education company, tried to set up a friend with a man she thought suitable.

“When she heard he didn’t own an apartment, she refused even to meet him,” recalled Ms. Feng. 

“She said, ‘What’s the point? Without an apartment, love isn’t possible.”’ 

Read more detail about this topic at Economy Watch

The economic growth estimation for 2010 and projection for 2011-2013

Phnom Penh, Cambodia: The following is an overview of the economic growth estimation for year 2010 and projection for 2011-2013.

The economic estimation for year 2010 is based on economic performance and trend of the year 2009. Major principals used in the projection for economic performance in 2011-2013 is based on production function in real economic sector, effective tax rate in the fiscal policy and money velocity in the monetary policy.

According to primary estimation of National Institute of Statistics of the Ministry of Planning, it illustrates that real economic growth rate will be 0.1% at constant price and its deflation index will be 2.6% in 2009. The growth supported by good performance in agriculture and service sectors at especially the garment sector which dropped by -9.0%. In the year 2010, the Economic and Public Finance Policy Department (EPFPD) of the Ministry of Economy and Finance estimated that the real economic growth rate will approximately flourish by 5% at constant price and its deflation index will be 4.8%. The real economic growth rate will, in the period of 2011-2013, increasingly average by 6.3% per annum and its deflation index will be 2.7% by projection. The estimated and projected results are based on the significant economic data trend as bellows:

A.      Economy by sectors includes agriculture sector, industry sector, and service sector.

B.      Investment

C.      Inflation and Exchange rate

D.      Budget Implementation

E.       Currency situation

F.       Foreign Trade

Real GDP Growth and Projection 2004-2013 (% change)

To see more detail explanation, please download full document here.

Source : Ministry of Economy and Finance

Ten "First Impressions" of US Political Economy

I just read an article from Economy Watch with the title of Ten "First Impressions" of US Political Economy. I think it's so interest about US. To see full article, please click here.

US Political Economy - Hard to See As A Whole.

Windows Phone 7 Hands on Demo

Windows Phone 7 was unveiled to the world yesterday at the Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona, Spain, marking a new stage in the evolution of Microsoft’s vision for smartphones. Joe Belfiore, the VP in charge of the program management and design for the next generation of Windows Phones, emphasized that Windows Phone 7 represented a new way for the Redmond company to look at its audience. In this context, with the Windows Phone 7 Series of devices and the underlying operating system, the software giant is attempting to produce more than a mobile platform, namely a complete, cohesive and expandable phone experience.

“We are super-excited to bring the design and user experience and feel of the phones really forward. We like to think that what we're doing is building and delivering a different kind of phone that's modern and takes advantage of people's complex lives and their personalities to deliver something that's unique and individual. And we think about two parts to this. (…) First, we want a smart design that puts the user at the center of their experience and moves beyond the phone as a PC-like item, that moves beyond separate applications and brings together some of the key things that are most important to people,” Belfiore stated.

Microsoft presented an ample demonstration of Windows Phone 7 at MWC 2010, but also provided additional content for end users. The video embedded at the bottom of the screen, featuring Belfiore is essentially a demonstration of a prototype phone like the devices that end users will be able to buy ahead of the 2010 holiday season. Belfiore covers a variety of topics, including the new user experience, social networking integration, Internet Explorer browsing, media, email and texting, GPS and maps, Bing Search integration and hardware.

“And then second, we wanted to design integrated experiences, which become destinations for your most common tasks, things like pictures, and music and video, and productivity, so that users have one simple place to go and access their Web services, access the functionality in their applications, access the data on their phones. Those are the fundamental ideas behind this new user experience,” Belfiore added.

Source: softpedia

Office 2010 Generally Available in June 2010

The next iteration of the Office System is now approximately five months away Microsoft confirmed to Softpedia. At the start of this week, you were able to read a report on a remark from Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer, in which the CEO indicated that Office 2010 would be out in only a couple of months. I contacted the Redmond company on the matter and I’ve got a clarification on this topic. It appears that customers won’t be able to purchase the successor of Office 2007 in the coming two or three months. This is what a Microsoft spokesperson had to say when I asked whether there was any truth to Ballmer’s remark: “We expect Office 2010 and related products to be generally available in June 2010.” In this regard, customers will only be able to purchase Office 2010, Visio 2010, SharePoint 2010 and Project 2010 in June 2010. This deadline is also a confirmation of info already available since the release of Office 2010 Beta Build 14.0.4536.1000.

Microsoft said in the early stages of Office 2010’s development process that it would have the productivity suite out by mid-2010. At the Nashville Technology Council at the Trevecca Nazarene University on January 20, 2010, Ballmer made it seem that Office 2010 would be available much sooner: “You'll see the new version of Office, which comes out here in just a couple of months. It not only works on your PC but it will work through any Web browser and down onto the phone in new and rich ways.”

Still, GA in June 2010 means that Microsoft will release Office 2010 to manufacturing much sooner, months ahead, in fact. Microsoft dodged my question related to the RTM deadline for Office 2010, and Ballmer could have referred actually to the RTM of the next version of the productivity suite.

Information offered by Wzor indicates that the software giant might be planning to release Office 2010 to manufacturing sometime in April 2010. The date is approximately a couple of months away, as Ballmer noted in Nashville a week ago. One thing is for sure at this point in time, Office 2010 will be available for purchase in June 2010, according to Microsoft.

Office 2010 Beta 14.0.4536.1000 is available for download here.

Source: softpedia