「華人戴明學院」是戴明哲學的學習共同體 ,致力於淵博型智識系統的研究、推廣和運用。 The purpose of this blog is to advance the ideas and ideals of W. Edwards Deming.

2009年5月30日 星期六

三頭六臂集 569-580

三頭六臂集

580
這種沒說名測量誤差的報導令人糊塗
.03 PPB 可卡因(古柯鹼)

579
John Dewey v Thomas Dewey

台灣某電視台有一宋美龄的影片
談一段史實 類似.....


578

文化統計似乎要有可以比較的 Cultural Statistics

eurostat pocket books
Cultural Statistics
我還是門外漢
577
今晨NTU的打掃阿姨還是一路清潔各TERMINALS\
還是碰到某東西 所以必須重新開機
不過知道他每週三橫掃一次

576

celebrated Leadership Academy?

紐約時報這篇值得所有管理學崇拜者反省
CONTROLLING INTERESTS
Principals Younger and Freer, but Raise Doubts in the Schools
By ELISSA GOOTMAN and ROBERT GEBELOFF
By some measures, the New York City principals who have come through the city’s celebrated Leadership Academy lag behind veterans who did not.



575
中古車 品質評価

參考 Toyota中古車品質評価

574

「馬屁」連環響/台酒廣告賀馬就職 永和橋拱九馬奔騰‎ - 12小時前
台北縣的永福橋出現「九」支拱形立柱,柱子上還鑲刻有金「馬」,被縣議員批為拍馬屁。(記者何玉華攝) 台北縣的永福橋出現「九」支拱形立柱,柱子上還鑲刻有 ...

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520馬總統就職一週年,國營事業台鹽公司也趁勢推出新產品,容量剛好就是520CC,還提供520瓶特價1元,也送給立委每人10箱,上面特別註明慶祝520,只不過綠營立委喝了之後調侃說,味道不特別,只是多了馬屁味。台鹽推出新產品,立委諸公先品嘗,但委員怎麼會講話這麼酸溜溜?原來台鹽出產的新礦泉水,包裝外觀最明顯的不是名稱,而是紅色大字520CC。不只容量520,台鹽還剛好提供520瓶,優惠1元,這一切都是為了慶祝馬總統就職一週年,不只討好馬總統,台鹽還大方送給立委每人10箱。台鹽拿人民錢拍馬屁,520就職值不值得普天同慶,恐怕還得先問問人民頭家同不同意。


573

Don't let standards impede employee innovation
TechRepublic - Louisville,KY,USAFor example, W. Edwards Deming used to do an exercise called the Red Bead Exercise to demonstrate the stability of predictive systems and how they can ...

572
姚師父(掏耳師)
總想起句郭總以前談越南的掏耳師之故事
571
百大維新

計畫2011年出版新經濟學在教育界之應用
台大的"百大維新 "將是一個案
570
[视频]北京:批发市场一次性口罩质量良莠不齐
央视国际 - Beijing,China
央视网消息(午夜新闻):鉴于目前的甲型H1N1流感情况,很多人在外出时选择戴上口罩来防范甲型H1N1流感病毒保护自己,但专家提醒,买口罩要到正规药店。 在北京一家大型 ...

一次性 應該是"用完即丟的"


569

Deming was tall, crew cut.
flattop, get a haircut, : crew cut


He also said people only called him a guru because they weren't sure how to spell "charlatan". charlatan, guru

Dr. Deming cited in the Atlantic

the Atlantic 是戴明博士愛參考的雜誌
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/current

查兩處提到他

The corporation has emerged as the dominant institution at the dawn of the 21st century and both Peter Drucker and W. Edwards Deming have arguably had as much influence on management as any thinkers.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200701u/d-e-list

Freedom of the Skies - The Atlantic (June 2001)


Holmes lived in Newport News, Virginia, near his work at NASA's Langley Research Center. When he took a business or personal trip that involved air travel, he would note the exact time he stepped out the door. He would glance at his watch at different stages of his journey: when he got to the airport, after he'd gone through the check-in line, after he'd found a seat on the plane, and after the plane had finally begun to roll. He would record the time the plane landed and would make a final entry when he reached the hotel, office, or meeting site that was his destination.

"You know W. Edwards Deming?" Holmes asked when he described this ritual to me, at our first meeting last year. Deming was an American consultant whose prime analytic tool in the study of how to increase productivity was taking minute measurements at each stage of a factory's production process. "My friends like to say, 'Deming would be proud!'"

The log was just the beginning. When the trip was over, Holmes would calculate the "great circle" distance (what most people would call "as the crow flies") between his starting point and his destination and compare it with the total time spent en route; the result was his effective travel speed, on what he calls a "doorstep to destination" basis. Holmes, himself a pilot, would then use flight-planning software to see how long the same trip would have taken in a variety of modest propeller-driven planes—not corporate jets, not million-dollar turboprops, but a typical Cessna, Mooney, or Beech Bonanza. These planes are much slower than mighty Boeing or Airbus jets, and he would allow time for refueling stops. His aim was to see exactly how modern the modern transportation system is.

****


2009年5月29日 星期五

Four Days with Dr. Deming 故事

去年此BLOG紀錄的是中文版
現在是英文版

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Dear HC,,

這兩天有機會讀到原文版 仍然覺得喜歡

因此上Amazon 查

二手書只要 1 美元 也開始提供國際郵寄服務 但是要價 12.45 美元

等第二筆 Google 廣告費入手 再去買幾本原文二手書!!

Best rgds
David Hsu
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Four Days With Dr. Deming: A Strategy for Modern Methods of Management

William J. Latzko, David M. Saunders 著 - 1995
With a Foreword written by Deming himself, this book promises to be the ultimate tool
for recreating the experience of learning the theories and methodologies...
不提供預覽
有書評
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我點下您的hyper link 發現國內華通書訊有此書 只要 元˙
Dear HC,,

Four Days with Dr. Deming 一本 39 nt,, 我ㄧ口氣買了三本

如果您有興趣 到時候送您一本

Best rgds
David Hsu
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煩你問她們存書多少 我考慮全買 哈
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其中 本寄 106 台北市新生南路3段88號2樓 鍾漢清先生
本寄 326 桃園縣楊梅鎮三民路2段197號 徐歷昌先生

2009年5月26日 星期二

如何紀念戴明』的雜思 2004

2004/10/13

『如何紀念戴明』的雜思


昨天是W. E. Deming 博士(1900-93)的冥誕。我在1995-
2002的這天或12月底,多會辦活動。不過,今年有朋友來問:「Dear HC,…… 今年十月有準備紀念戴明的活動嗎?」我無言以對。不過我們如果有心,可以自力救濟或自言自語一番。

我想全世界對於Deming 的了解都只是局部的。昨晚接到幾封DEN的通訊,上www.deming.org(內容充實許多了,讓我想起累積之功)。我從它轉美國國會圖書館中的100多boxes之DEMING檔案,看熱鬧/沉思。譬如說他約39歲時,在農業部編輯過重要的統計學講義(包括W. A. Shehart的名著和Nyman的統計推論)和十講的科學史和科學。他晚年的兩部曲之深意,還沒神真正深入地談(很巧,傍晚路過台大校園,有攤販,買本「轉危為安」(五折,2001年第9刷)。Deming是有深刻思想的人,他將最後一本書取名The New Economics,這絕對不是說說算了的事。

昨天白天想他的學說和其他不同進路者的差別;由於近日稍為讀JD的COLLAPSE一書之摘要。這讓我想起這主題的傳承淵源很早,比企管界在談的LIVING ORGANIZATIONS更深遠。企管界談大公司(公司最多500-600年)之「管理型資本主義」或「偉大的公司」等等,幾乎可以說連「中看」都談不上,更不用談「中用」了—所以它得出的結論,已經很少人用心思考。這是「市場兼組織」之近視特性和限制。同樣,20世人湯恩比等用「文明」做單位來談興衰之道…..現在JD用SOCIETY作單位……但願這approach是R. Merton所謂的middle-range theory—另外,經一世紀的努力,社會科學的資料庫發揮功能(如他舉的,用「嬰兒死亡率」最能預測…..)

不過,Deming 對於資本主義*自然有他的許多微言大義。當然我們可以從他與日本友人的合照;從他的聖樂作品了解另外一些面相。
-----

*這方面,姑且舉些拉雜記事為表相:
讀「全球最大NAND Flash製造廠三星電子高層昨天宣示,Flash市場進入GB(10億位元組)世代,2年內包括記憶卡、隨身碟等可攜式儲存媒體,市場上的主流規格都將提升到1GB以上,較目前成長2倍。」記一下昨天Jeff來訪談的一些事。這種GB東西,月前PDC公司來訪(設公司內部大學)見過。JEFF下周去名古屋參加Intelligent Transportation System展—談些近年來密切觀念的「企業定位-方向-製造 等之配合」,許多上市公司決策豪賭之「故意」。

Philips's Key Unit Under Pressure
Philips said its key consumer-electronics unit posted an operating loss amid heavy price erosion in Europe and it gave a gloomy outlook for its chip division. But the company's net surged on gains from IPOs in two affiliates.(華爾街日報)比較:△荷蘭飛利浦第三季財報出爐,該季淨利締造二○○○年第四季以來最佳紀錄,達到一一.七億歐元(一四.五億美元),明顯優於去年同期的一.二四億歐元,第三季營收由六九.九億歐元上升至七二.三億歐元。然而飛利浦預測,雖然第四季一向是傳統需求旺季,但該公司第四季半導體銷售額可能與第三季相差無幾,顯示半導體業第四季前景不如原先預期。 (<飛利浦第三季淨利報喜> 工商時報 2004.10.13)


包括來自三個方向的攻擊(THE TRIPLE THREAT)、「……改名為「富士康科技集團」(英文名FOX CONN)。富士康在展場打出的大屏幕,是其正在拓展的奈米開發計畫。 富士康展場更凸出的地標,顯示集團在大陸的勢力範圍,包括北京、山西太原、上海松江、杭州錢塘、山東煙台、深圳龍華、江蘇昆山等科技園。 富士康這次還用大字在展版上特別強調,「富士康沒有品牌,品質是我們的品牌,科技是我們的品牌,人才是我們的品牌」。 ……這些,都屬非關生命意義之東西……
--
「……. 佛像及一切神像都是崇敬、禮拜之象徵,只能供奉於寺廟,要收藏是匪夷所思的,當然更不可以評頭論足了。……山東青州的石雕佛像是很特別的例子。該地在東魏、北齊時期,佛教盛行,佛雕甚多。北朝之末,周武帝滅佛很徹底,青州的佛像都被埋葬了。他們不是偷偷埋,而是打碎後掩埋。若是過去,佛碎了再也不能供養,已無價值,發掘何用?哪裡知道,受了西方影響,這些碎片都有了新生命。很妙的是,斷了頭,這頭卻更有價值了!
  試想一座完整的佛像,固然可能有很高的藝術價值,但也許因體型太大,只有在廟中被膜拜,或放在博物館裏,供大家欣賞。一個中產的收藏家拿回家裡要如何處理?一座佛頭就不同了。頭以面部表情為主,是雕像的精華所在。而一座兩公尺高的雕像,其頭部不過一尺,斷下來,恰恰可以放在客廳的案几上。……佛的頭像是佛像還是藝術,你自己去琢磨吧!」(《法相與藝術之間》 文‧題字/漢寶德2004-10-13)

2009年5月23日 星期六

三頭六臂集 559-568

三頭六臂集


568

許老師

數周前 忠信跟我說些你開"博雅"課的一些花絮

我這幾天翻一下
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Daily Life [Six Volumes] A Tour through History from Ancient Times to the Present
知道其中引了"教科書"一段


Everyday life consists of the little things one hardly notices in time and space...through the details, a society stands revealed
The way people eat, or lodge at the different levels of that society are never a matter of indifference.
--Fernand Braudel, The Structure of Everyday Life (New Yorker: Harper and Row, 1979), 29


心想 也許考試只要求學生將這句翻譯 並記一下他們自己的日常生活 那就可以

一笑


教安

567

政治教育
Loyal opposition


566
鍾老師您好,我是於五月二十二日與您在公館巧遇的學生,
真的很高興與您談論有關品質的話題,
也希望以後有機會的話能夠聽您論述在品質方面的經驗與想法。

吳俊林
HC 感謝
有空就歡迎過來"辦公室"聊聊天


565


我們現有的管理哲學及建立在這哲學之上的管理方法,
已經走到了盡頭,現有種種有關經濟活動和人類行為
的基本假定已使我們有如身處一無形的監獄中。”
---Edward Deming

無盡的檢查、監督、勾稽、呈報和控制這些無謂的活動
和不必要的複雜性,使得工作者原有的創造力和熱情
折損殆盡,這種代價是無法估計的。”
---John O. Whitney, The Economics of Trust, N.Y.
McGraw Hill 1994

The economics of trust

(中央社記者張榮祥台南市23日電)台灣基督教長老教會今天建議民進黨主席蔡英文,民進黨不要只說別人,自己也要反省;蔡英文則說,信賴和誠信是民進黨最大的挑戰,民進黨要說到做到。

蔡英文下午在台南市新樓醫院和台灣基督教長老教會台南中會成員座談,坐在蔡英文旁邊的新樓醫院主任牧師許天賢對蔡英文說,民進黨應多些政治家,少些政客,不要內鬥內行,外鬥外行,不要把維護台灣主權拿來作秀。

許天賢表示,民進黨不要把長老教會當成民進黨的眷村、工具和鐵票,前總統陳水扁把錢匯到國外,就是不對,阿扁有錯,就要說出來,但他從未聽到民進黨表態過,民進黨要反省。

蔡英文未對陳水扁匯錢案一事回應,但她說,民進黨執政時,很多理想都做不到,現在民進黨要說到做到,能做到的事才說,有時候成功後再說。

蔡英文同時批評中國國民黨執政後,白色恐佈、威權時代及組織型態本質不變,利用司法案件羞辱民進黨的政治人物,阿扁就是最典型的例子,民進黨沒有一人未被司法或監察院調查。

蔡英文認為,台灣主權要靠總統馬英九保住是不可能的,美國和日本對中國有所求,態度也無法強硬,台灣不能靠國民黨來保護,得靠人民保護,本土力量要強而有力,民進黨一定要再執政一次,台灣和中國的關係,必須讓台灣人民決定。980523



564


Leading Voices - Michael Tiemann, Vice President of Open Source ...
Times Online - UK

Back in the 1940s, when General Motors was seen by many as the most successful and powerful post-war company, Alfred P. Sloan invited the innovative W. Edwards Deming up to Detroit to see if things could be done better.作者這段是時空錯亂啦 他倆應該沒見面過

Deming's report thrashed every aspect of GMs process, culture, and especially management, who treated the factory workers like nothing more than machine parts and labour as a whole as if it were the enemy.

Deming was kicked so far out of Sloan's office that he landed in Japan, where he taught a humbled Japanese workforce how to transform Made In Japan from a warning label to a world standard for excellence.

Twenty years after that the success of Deming's transformational thinking was obvious, and thirty years after his initial work he wrote Out of the Crisis. And today we see the difference between those companies who truly adopted these teachings versus those who merely pretended to.





563

國國家統計局副局長許憲春日前撰文﹐以出人意料坦率的口吻解釋了中國常用經濟指標存在的一些不同。

他的這篇非同尋常的文章看來是國家統計局提供更詳細、更透明的經濟數據的努力之一。中國領導人曾告誡統計局﹐他們需要這些數據以做出合理的決策。

這篇文章試圖解釋簡單地將中國的月度投資和支出數據相加為何不能得出國內生產總值的準確情況。需要處理的最為棘手的一個領域是家庭消費﹐這在中國通常是以月度零售額來衡量的。

2009 年前三個月的全國名義零售額比上年同期增長了15%。但國家統計局的數據顯示﹐同期物價出現了下跌﹐這意味著實際增長率更高﹐為15.9%。這個數據看來 顯示出在中國經歷20年來最嚴重的經濟低迷之際﹐消費還出人意料地出現了高速增長﹐這是因為受到了房地產和汽車銷售回升的推動。

但許多經濟學家一直覺得﹐零售額數據並不是反映中國家庭消費情況的可靠指標。許憲春本人也指出了這一眾所周知的不足之處﹐他說官方公佈的零售額數據包括一些不能被視為消費者支出的項目。

其中最重要的幾項一是以企業和政府機構為對象的零售額﹐這二者當然都不是消費者﹔二是建造住房用的建築材料﹐它其實應算作家庭投資的一部分。許憲春還說﹐零售額數據中也不包括用於教育和醫療等服務項目的支出﹐以及農村家庭所消費的自產產品。

許憲春在文章中寫道﹐與零售額相比﹐通過城鄉入戶調查得出的家庭消費開支數據能更好反映消費者支出情況。

而 家庭消費開支增長率要大大低於零售額增幅。許憲春說﹐國家統計局的家庭調查顯示﹐今年第一季度城市家庭的消費額實際增長了9.6%﹐農村家庭這一季度的消 費額增長了9.3%。根據統計局此前公佈的數據﹐上述增速快於2008年下半年﹐但卻不及2008年上半年﹐當時物價正快速上漲。

民間機 構的經濟學家對國家統計局家庭調查數據的準確性也有擔心﹕這一數據的調查面雖然很廣﹐但它似乎未能很好覆蓋到中國收入最高和收入最低的家庭。而且這一調查 得出的數據通常有很大波動性。不過﹐家庭消費開支數據看來確實更符合對消費的嚴格定義﹐至少更符合國家統計局對消費的定義。

許憲春在文章中說﹐國家統計局的初步估計顯示﹐國內生產總值(GDP)中消費者支出部分今年第一季度的實際增長率“不足9%”﹐顯然低於零售額的增長率。不幸的是﹐許憲春沒說此前幾個季度的消費者支出增長情況﹐這讓人難以瞭解消費者支出增長率的變化情況。

雖然許憲春是國家統計局的副局長﹐但他的文章還是附有一則免責聲明﹐稱文章只代表他的個人觀點﹐並不是國家統計局的官方看法。

Andrew Batson

(“中國日志”(China Journal)關注全球第一人口大國的發展變化﹐《華爾街日報》獲獎團隊數十位記者傾情獻稿﹐Sky Canaves主筆。歡迎讀者發送郵件至chinajournal@wsj.com或在下面評論欄中發表評論和建議。)
562

"外交部發言人陳銘政表示,WHA的大會名冊首次明文稱呼衛生署長葉金川及其他衛生署官員的 ..."

名稱不可"似" 哈哈

Minister
Minister, Department of Health(衛生署長)
(for Hong Komg, Taiwan, etc.)

NSA
IEEE(米国電気電子技術者協会)の標準化作業を統括するIEEE-SA(IEEE Standards Association)と,NATO(北大西洋条約機構)の規格「STANAG」の策定と管理を担当するNSA(NATO Standardisation Agency)は2009年5月15日,3年間の技術協力協定を締結したと発表した。 ...

561

517去聽一篇希臘悲劇與哲學之論文代宣讀
1435 出來只看到聽到 "姚文智"的麥克風
似乎比上回提早出發
而且也是捨羅斯福路就新生南路......
因此來不及為你們放鞭炮 敬禮

518 1400還是去報到
畢竟歷史的現場 不同
我特別注意周邊建物的skylines等等
警察局 (可能是違章建築合法)的屋頂最煞風景
可見 過去半世紀的執政者之美(醜)學修養

台上有都蘭的住民抗議"我們"消費它
因為它的原意類似 "all-one-team"精神
(心思多 思想複雜 不及備....)
即使兵疲馬亂
我還是要向所有的參與者敬禮

560
STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL 7/E 1996

Statistical Quality Control (Mcgraw Hill Series in Industrial Engineering and Management Science) (Hardcover)

by Eugene L. Grant (Author), Richard S. Leavenworth (Author)

Product Description
This title is a substantial revision of one of the leading textbooks designed for the statistical quality control course taught in departments of industrial engineering, operations research and statistics . While maintaining its already successful writing style and pedagogy, this title has also incorporated key organizational changes in order to reflect recent trends in the field. The text features large quantity of examples and student problems and a strong introduction to the proper use and misuse of control charts. In this edition several chapters were streamlined, and consolidations and profitability were brought forward in the text. There is new material on experimental design, a reduced emphasis on acceptance sampling, and enhanced attention to the managerial and organizational aspects of quality control. Free SPC expert software is packaged with the text for use as a statistical and graphical tool. Text plus 3.5" diskette. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author
1996 Engineering Multimedia Products

1996 No primary address Statistical Quality Control Industrial Engineering --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 714 pages
  • Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill College; 6th edition (January 1988)

  • Hardcover: 720 pages
  • Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education; 7th Ed edition (1 Mar 1996)

559

Toyota, Reality Collide
Toyota Motor's grim financial outlook is either too conservative or the world's dominant auto maker is losing its grip.

The company now has to remake itself to reflect shifting global demand.

Such a change is long overdue. It is only because Toyota's competitors have performed so dismally, especially in the U.S., that it has been able to avoid making tough decisions -- such as consolidating vehicle platforms in order to cut component and production costs; shifting manufacturing plants out of pricey Japan and closer to other major markets; and seizing upon swelling demand in developing economies that it risks ceding to the likes of General Motors, Volkswagen and Hyundai.

On Friday, the world's largest auto maker forecast a $5.5 billion net loss in the year ending next March. Revenue will fall as it sells 14% fewer cars, many at a lower price.

It will cut $8 billion in costs to keep the projected red ink from worsening.

Honda is targeting a 9% decline in unit sales, and a small profit. It is possible Toyota has made an ultraconservative forecast and isn't factoring in enough of a lift from coming Japanese government tax incentives for scrapping old cars, or the possibility that a weaker yen will lift results.

But even in the troubled U.S. market, where Toyota has been walloping Detroit's once-Big Three for years, weakness has emerged recently. Ford's April sales outpaced Toyota's for the first time in more than a year.

In China, where the market is growing so fast that just about everyone is gaining share, Toyota's sales fell in the January-March quarter.

Toyota's strengths include its Prius hybrid, its stalwart small and midsize cars, and its financing arm.

The company made apparent on Friday, though, that its weaknesses will dictate its future for now.

James Simms

田汽車(Toyota Motor)黯淡的財務預期要麼是過於保守﹐要麼這家全球最大的汽車廠商就正在失去控制。

豐田汽車現在必須作出改變﹐以反映不斷變化的全球需求。

Associated Press
豐田59年來首次出現年度虧損
豐 田汽車早該進行這一改變了。只是因為競爭對手表現不濟﹐尤其是美國汽車廠商﹐豐田汽車才得以避免進行艱難的決策──例如合併汽車生產平台以削減部件和生產 成本﹔將製造工廠移出成本高的日本﹐轉移到接近其他主要市場的地方﹔抓住發展中國家不斷增長的需求﹐否則就可能拱手讓給通用汽車(General Motors)、大眾汽車(Volkswagen)和現代汽車(Hyundai)等競爭對手。

豐田汽車上週五預計﹐截至明年3月的當前財年可能淨虧損55億美元。這家世界上最大的汽車製造公司預計﹐隨著銷量可能下滑14%和銷售價格的下跌﹐當年收入也將隨之下降。

豐田汽車計劃削減成本80億美元﹐以避免預期虧損進一步擴大。

豐田的競爭對手本田汽車(Honda)預計今年汽車銷售數量將下滑9%﹐但會略有盈利。豐田汽車可能作出了一個極為保守的預期﹐而且沒有充分考慮一些利好因素﹐諸如日本政府為淘汰舊車提供稅務激勵﹐或是日圓走低提振公司收益的可能性。

但即便在陷入困境的美國市場﹐豐田汽車近期也出現了頹勢。多年來﹐豐田汽車一直在美國市場壓著前底特律三巨頭。福特汽車(Ford)的4月份銷量一年多以來首次超過了豐田汽車。

在迅猛發展的中國市場﹐幾乎每個廠商的市場份額都在增長。但今年第一季度﹐豐田汽車的中國市場銷量出現了下滑。

豐田汽車的強勁實力包括了普瑞斯(Prius)混合動力車﹐可靠的小型車和中型車以及旗下的金融部門。

不過﹐上週五該公司的業績預計明確顯示﹐其弱點暫時將決定其未來。

James Simms


2009年5月17日 星期日

『台灣戴明圈:2008年東海戴明學者講座』 再續前緣X





新書:『台灣戴明圈:2008年東海戴明學者講座


台灣戴明圈

── 2008年東海戴明學者講座

A Taiwanese Deming Circle (1964-2008)



目錄
致謝
序言(王晃三博士)7
開場白:故事、寓言(鍾漢清) 11
台灣戴明圈的故事(鍾漢清) 15
簡介戴明、威廉‧謝爾肯巴赫先生(鍾漢清) 23

第一部
導言:戴明到日本(鍾漢清) 35
戴明與台灣(簡記)(鍾漢清) 45
《1950 年戴明博士對日本高階經營者演講》 53
品管九講 譯者序言(劉振) 64
品管九講 品質管制與企業發展(小柳賢一) 67
日本品質管制之回顧(戴明) 74
日本的成就(戴明) 80

第二部
導言 (鍾漢清) 91
《戴明博士四日談》中文版導言(鍾漢清增修) 102
一首值得傳唱的史詩:《轉危為安》(鍾漢清) 109
運用戴明循環(鍾漢清) 118
鳥瞰 Lean/Six Sigma 運動 (1979-2008) (鍾漢清) 128
簡談實驗設計(鍾漢清) 153
由戴明理念談實驗設計之應用(蔡坤祥) 158
西式管理風格必須改弦更張(戴明) 163
戴明博士到 HP,團隊合作(鍾漢清) 172

第三部
2008 年東海戴明學者講座 185
主講人:威廉‧謝爾肯巴赫先生簡介 188
講座之一 193
講座之二 227
講座之三 252

尾聲 Epilog 2008 年戴明淵博知識系統之旅 275

附錄
第四部 東海…人物
播種季 286
東海大學和 英國 Essex 大學的點滴 288
從東海第七宿舍讀司馬賀先生談 30 年的緣份 294
慶祝東海 IE 創立四十年 鍾漢清 297
前進英國省錢大作戰 - Less $ can be more 300

難忘的師長
引言:從漢寶德老師談其他老師 305
陳其寬老師 310
高禩瑾院長 314
劉振老師 322
劉振老師紀念獎 Liu Cheng Award 328
紀念 吳玉印(Yuin Wu)老師 330
王錦堂老師 334
張忠樸先生 338

全世界最老牌的電子大廠之一,今年一百一十五歲的飛利浦,正在嘗試變「簡單」。

二○○四年九月,在全球六十多個國家設有據點的飛利浦,同步拿下用了快十年的口號「Let's make things better!」(讓我們做得更好!),換上「sense and simplicity」(合理與簡單)。

二○○三年,飛利浦宣布從「生產導向」轉為「行銷導向」。於是,飛利浦開始針對每年貢獻營收八成,二十五歲到四十五歲,高教育水準、高收入的族群,做全球訪談調查,了解在他們心中,究竟在意哪些事情。

調查結果顯示,大約有三成的家用網路產品遭到退貨,因為消費者不知道怎麼用。接近過半的消費者,曾經猶豫到底要不要買數位相機,因為他們覺得產品實在太複雜了。

三年前上任,飛利浦有史以來第一位行銷長芮安卓(Andrea Ragnetti)在《應變力》一書提及,二十年前,人們相信科技會讓世界更好,但二十年後,科技似乎讓生活愈來愈複雜。過多的資訊、不斷出現的新科技產品,使得消費者對「複雜」的科技產生恐懼感。

「因此,『簡單』成為消費者最嚮往的事,」芮安卓說。

飛利浦瑕疵電蚊燈召回率低 標檢局籲即停用 【11:45】

〔中央社〕飛利浦公司召回瑕疵電捕蚊燈商品。經濟部標準檢驗局指出,目前全台召回率僅13%;已要求業者採取更積極回收措施。標檢局提醒消費者,應立即停用相關商品,並儘速辦理退貨。

消費者於4月間使用飛利浦「PHILIPS愜意生活捕蚊燈」(型號:IST503)發生自燃事件,造成家中客廳裝潢和部分家具遭燒毀。標檢局指出,經查該型號商品係飛利浦公司已發布召回訊息的瑕疵商品。

經取樣測試,標檢局確認該商品固定電擊網的絕緣材質耐燃性不符合要求,並於1月間函請業者於1個月內回收該款商品。

據飛利浦公司向標檢局回報,截至目前為止,該款瑕疵電捕蚊燈商品已自經銷商端回收 611台,消費者端召回1141台,總回收及召回1752台,總回收及召回率約為13%。

鑑於召回率偏低,標檢局於 5月15日邀行政院消保官、飛利浦公司、各通路商、經銷商開會研商,要求業者再採取刊登平面媒體、製作召回公告DM、提供各通路商(賣場)公告、置放於電器販賣場所明顯處等更積極回收措施,以確保消費者權益。

標檢局同時提醒消費者,應立即檢視家中是否有該款捕蚊燈商品;若有則應立即停止使用,並儘速聯絡飛利浦公司服務專線(電話:0800-231099)辦理退貨。

Tea with us.

Jill /Peter/ HC
週二05.19 PM8:00, 在學長新生南路office,

台灣戴明圈 2008
小聚分享!
基正

昨天我請Peter熊先生將去年聚會比較難忘的事寫下來 今年出版 他說你的印度之旅令人印象深刻
他說這是你的演講之一寶
我們要問你有無文本文章


三頭六臂集 549
auditing 一下台大參考書處(和全館)的"思高聖經 "
(主要參考處此書 其他多處 有)
主要找轉危為安OOC第一章引言

http://www.sbofmhk.org/tchi/Resources/sbofm_bible/sbofm_bible_content.php?book=25&chapter=38&check.x=6&check.y=6


第一篇上主的訓言(38-40:5)

第三十八章

上主發言 9:2
創 1:1
耶 10:12
38:1 上主由旋風中向約伯發言說:
38:2 用無知的話,使我的計劃*模糊不明的是誰? 42:3
友 8:12
依 40:13
38:3 你要像勇士束好你的腰,我要問你,請指教我!

*一般翻譯成"旨意"

****
1/1
論文題目: Supplier quality awards and competitive advantage: An empirical test of Deming's chain reaction model (W. Edwards Deming)
論文編號: 3108832
論文作者: Wayhan, Victor Brian
學位名稱: PhD
畢業學校: UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON (0087)
畢業年份: 2003
論文頁數: 151
指導教授: Khumawala, Basheer
原始資料: DAI-A 64/10, p. 3758, Apr 2004
主題分類: BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, MANAGEMENT (0454);ENGINEERING, INDUSTRIAL (0546)
論文摘要: Research findings concerning the relationship between Total Quality Management (TQM) and subsequent financial performance have often been contradictory and controversial; results most likely due to methodological limitations and differences between the studies. The current study seeks to remedy many of these limitations, while determining the nature of the relationship between an effective TQM program and subsequent financial performance. Is this relationship direct (with no intervening variables) or indirect (with one or more intervening variables)? These two major hypotheses (direct or indirect) were tested utilizing a sample of suppliers that have won U.S. supplier quality awards from major OEMs such as Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Boeing, and Texas Instruments. The direct relationship was tested through a doubly (multivariate) repeated measures (longitudinal) research design, utilizing growth in revenue, growth in assets, gross profit, and return on assets as the financial performance dependent measures. The indirect relationship was tested utilizing a theoretical model proposed by Edwards Deming, commonly referred to as the Chain Reaction Model, which argues that TQM primarily impacts subsequent financial performance indirectly through related direct product cost reductions and productivity enhancements. This research found no statistically significant, direct relationship between an effective TQM program and subsequent financial performance, although it was shown how different, less robust data analysis techniques could have arrived at the opposite conclusion. Alternatively, this research provided empirical validation for Deming's Chain Reaction Model by demonstrating that TQM does impact subsequent financial performance through two intervening variables—direct product cost reductions and productivity enhancements. This finding, however, must be tempered by the fact that the TQM effect size was small (less than 5%). In addition, this research successfully tested several variants of Deming's model that provide enhance explanatory power over the original configuration—providing useful extensions of Deming's theoretical work.

****
濬哲
翻譯PROFOUND KNOWLEDGE


幽深的。如:「壑」。書經˙舜典:「哲文明,溫恭允塞。」孔安國˙傳:「,深。」晉˙陸機˙日出東南隅行:「高臺多妖麗,房出清顏。」

For a man who sells the chip "brains" that power millions of TVs, cameras and other gadgets, Levy Gerzberg found himself surprisingly unplugged last fall. In just a few short weeks, business virtually stopped.

He still marvels at the speed of the collapse. "I think about it today, and ask, 'Why did it happen so fast?' " says Mr. Gerzberg, CEO of chip designer Zoran Corp.

The reason is now starting to become clear. The world's complex "just in time" manufacturing supply chains are making it increasingly tough for Zoran, and any other single link in the chain, to know what's going on just a few links away. Sometimes, Zoran itself doesn't even know how its own chips are used: One batch it thought was destined for DVD players instead turned up in digital picture frames.

The recession has exposed a harsh side effect of the supply-chain system. Because modern industry rewards suppliers with the leanest inventories and fastest reaction times, when economic crisis struck, tech companies up and down the line contracted as sharply as possible in hopes of being the ones to survive.


*****

Clarity Is Missing Link in Supply Chain
The world's complex "just in time" manufacturing supply chains are making it tough for any single link in the chain to know what's going on just a few links away.
Phred Dvorak/The Wall Street Journal

Quick technology cutbacks blindsided Angelo Grestoni's machine shop.

Forced to guess at demand for their products in a plummeting market, everyone hit the brakes, hard. An examination of the electronics supply chain -- from retailers all the way back to makers of factory machinery -- shows that, at almost every stage, companies were flying blind as they cut.

"We're still not sure what happened," says Angelo Grestoni, owner of a California machine shop that mills aluminum parts for chip-making machines. He is many steps away from Zoran on the chain, but his clients, too, evaporated around the same time. Today Mr. Grestoni employs 150 people, down from 600 just 18 months ago.

The cumulative result: The tech pullback may have been overdone. In March, Best Buy Co. said it could have sold more electronics equipment in the three months ended Feb. 28, but its suppliers' deep cuts made it tough to keep shelves stocked. Suppliers "all decided to build a lot less," says Best Buy merchandizing chief Michael Vitelli.

As the contraction raced down the supply chain, its effects became amplified. Rick Tsai, CEO of chip manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., has said that, in last year's final quarter, consumer purchases of electronics gear in the U.S. fell 8% from the prior year. But product shipments fell 10%, and shipments of the chips that go into the gear dropped 20%.

The speed of the cuts are a big change from previous economic slumps. As recently as the early 2000s, companies compiled orders only monthly or quarterly; now they often do it every week. Their quicker reflexes this time kept their inventories from swelling dangerously, as happened last time, supply-chain experts say.

This has consequences for economic recovery. Although U.S. gross domestic product fell 6.1%, on an annual basis, in the first quarter, nearly half of that was due to inventory reductions. Since consumer spending actually grew 2.2%, some factories might need to increase output, economists say.

Production is starting to snap back, at least a little. Taiwan Semiconductor, or TSMC, in March boosted first-quarter earnings, and Zoran last month reported a jump in forecast orders.

Still, "It's easier to turn the switch off than turn it back on," says David Pederson, Zoran's vice president of corporate marketing. Growth forecasts also get muddied because several of Zoran's customers may be optimistically competing for the same manufacturing contract, he says, and they can't all win it.

[global supply chain]

Zoran is the kind of niche firm spawned by the widely dispersed global tech industry: It designs specialized video- and audio-processing chips for products such as cameras, TVs and cellphones. Its customers are mainly little-known Asian companies -- rent-a-factories, basically -- that manufacture the world's gizmos on behalf of brand-name giants like Toshiba Corp.

Complexities in the global supply chain make it tough to divine broad market trends, says Randy Bane, an economist for Applied Materials Inc., which makes factory equipment used to build chips like Zoran's. Applied Materials had a loss of $133 million in its fiscal first quarter and a loss of $255 million in the second quarter, ended April 26 -- its first quarterly losses since 2003. It told employees to take four weeks of unpaid leave in the first half of this year, something it's never done before.

Just a decade ago, the supply chain had far fewer links, Mr. Bane says. Chip sales were driven largely by personal computers, and just a handful of companies were bellwethers for the industry. Today, everything has a chip in it, dramatically multiplying the complexity. Behavior is "much more difficult to predict," he says.

At one end of the information flow are retailers such as Best Buy. For the U.S. market, it sends orders to its suppliers once a week, along with private forecasts for the coming 52 weeks, based on sales at its 1,000 U.S. stores and broader economic data. Manufacturers scrutinize reports like these to decide what parts they need to order.

The system is geared to respond quickly to changes in consumer behavior. But that puts risk on suppliers' shoulders.

Take DVD players: Best Buy orders them about six weeks before it wants them on shelves. However, a player's guts may take twice that long to make -- forcing gadget makers and their suppliers further down the chain to guess at demand for the various pieces.

Companies all along the supply chain live in mortal fear of piling up inventory. Profit margins are razor thin, and unsold inventory only loses value as newer technologies hit the market.

Last fall, as the financial crisis struck Wall Street in full force, shoppers at Best Buy became an endangered species. By early October -- the deadline to place orders for the all-important Thanksgiving shopping season -- Mr. Vitelli, the merchandising chief, abandoned Best Buy's prior forecasts and slashed orders to electronics giants such as Japan's Toshiba and South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co.

Demand was shrinking so rapidly, he says, he wasn't even sure how deeply to cut. "You actually had to pick a number with no knowledge whatsoever, because nobody knows anything," he recalls. For the three months ended Nov. 29, Best Buy's net income fell 77%.

If Best Buy felt ambushed, its suppliers had even less insight into consumer demand. The slashing began.

Two or three links down the chain, chip designer Zoran quickly felt the pain. Even before last fall's crisis hit, Zoran's customers were getting nervous, executives say. When Best Buy and other retailers cut their orders in October, it turned into a rout.

"Everyone was looking at others, asking, 'How much money do they have? Can they survive?' " recalls Mr. Gerzberg, Zoran's CEO.

Manufacturers cut deeply, then cut some more. Shipments of audio-visual products such as TVs and MP3 players fell 19% in November, 21% in December and 58% in January, the Consumer Electronics Association says. Zoran's fourth-quarter revenue fell 42%, the steepest drop since the company went public in 1995.

"There was a lot of guessing going on," says Mr. Pederson of Zoran. "Everybody under-bet to a certain extent."

The effects ricocheted across Asia. In Japan, the economy shrank at an annualized pace of 12.7% in the final three months of last year, the fastest drop in nearly 35 years.

In China, many of Zoran's factory customers furloughed their workers, says Mr. Gerzberg. In recent months, some 20 million Chinese migrant workers have lost their jobs.

Zoran doesn't actually make the chips it designs. Instead, it subcontracts with TSMC. Zoran slashed its chip orders -- as did many of TSMC's hundreds of other customers.

TSMC's chip factories fell quiet, says Rick Cassidy, head of North American operations. In December, its plants ran at an estimated 35% of capacity, the lowest in at least eight years, according to market researcher iSuppli Corp.

In subsequent months, TSMC asked around 20,000 of its workers to take as many as five days of unpaid leave a month. In January and February, TSMC said revenue fell 58% from a year earlier. And it said it will slash its 2009 purchases of factory equipment by some 20% from a year earlier. Across Taiwan, plunging demand for electronics led to record declines in Taiwanese industrial output.

"Usually the guy at the rearmost end suffers the most," says Morris Chang, TSMC's chairman.

In Santa Clara, Calif., those cuts came as a rude shock at the offices of Applied Materials, which builds factory equipment used to etch circuits and bake chemicals onto semiconductors.

As recently as last summer, Applied's in-house economist, Mr. Bane, had expected second-half business to grow. Instead, it laid off 2,000 workers and asked all remaining 12,000 employees to take unpaid leaves.

Mr. Bane gives presentations on what's happening in the market to some of Applied's immediate suppliers -- including Mr. Grestoni, the owner of the California machine-tool shop who's had to lay off hundreds of his employees.

In fact, Applied is one of Mr. Grestoni's biggest customers. One of Mr. Grestoni's shops, D&H Manufacturing Co., won Applied Materials' supplier-excellence award for 2007 and 2008.

The downturn is brutalizing Mr. Grestoni's business. He's now sitting on a year's supply of some products, rather than the typical three months. "We've got millions of dollars of inventory we can't sell, and we're paying storage fees on it," he says.

One recent morning, Mr. Grestoni walked by empty rows and stilled machines at D&H. In one section stands six powerful milling machines in which sharp, whirling blades carve blocks of metal. Fifty people used to work there. Today, only one remains.

He paused by a pile of aluminum blocks, each roughly the size of a microwave oven. One has large round holes milled out of the center, for wafer-processing chambers. "In October, we get an order to do six of these," he says. Then, the customer delayed the order. "You're looking at 60 grand here."

Mr. Grestoni expects sales for his three machine shops this year to total less than $50 million, compared with $100 million in a typical year.

There are a few hopeful signs. Best Buy has seen improved sales. Zoran on April 28 said it expects business to pick up in coming months, even though first-quarter sales fell 37%. And TSMC ended its factory furloughs in April.

But Mr. Grestoni is still waiting. "We've probably hit the bottom," he says. "Now the question is, how long are we going to stay here."

—Ian Johnson and Ting-I Tsai contributed to this article.

Write to Phred Dvorak at phred.dvorak@wsj.com

*****哈哈 這排名不用這樣緊張
在最新公布的國際競爭力排名中,台灣從去年的 1 3 名大幅衰退至 23 名,同時被大陸超越過去。

競爭力輸韓! 蕭:問題在品牌、通路

聯合新聞網 - ‎3小時之前‎
針對國際洛桑學院調查,台灣競爭力排名下降10名,韓國上升4名。馬英九總統表示,韓國是因為沒有意識形態,對於有利的方向就大力投入,這才是台灣經濟發展未來要走的路。副總統蕭萬長說,台灣企業總體表現確實比韓國差,韓國去年整體經濟成長率是正2.2%,台灣只有0.1%, 馬 ...

台灣競爭力退10名尹啟銘:研議改進措施

自由時報 - ‎6小時之前‎
〔中央社〕經濟部長尹啟銘今天受訪時對近日瑞士洛桑管理學院將公布「2009年世界競爭力年鑑」,台灣退步10名做出回應。他強調,要先對細部項目研議後,再就退步項目研擬改進措施。 有媒體提早報導瑞士洛桑管理學院公布「2009年世界競爭力年鑑」排名,台灣從去年的第13名, ...

競爭力下滑十名 梁國源:結構性因素應一併檢討

鉅亨網 - ‎3小時之前‎
2009年洛桑管理學院全球競爭力調查中,台灣的名次比去年下滑十名,成為二十三名,韓國則是上升四名,排名第二十七,對此,寶華綜合經濟研究院院長梁國源表示,由於韓國的出口表現不只是在金融海嘯時比台灣好,在景氣繁榮是也是如此,因此,政府應該一併探究原因,才有助於 ...

台灣國際競爭力一蹶不振?江丙坤:兩岸關係改善 就能互相拉抬

鉅亨網 - ‎20小時之前‎
台灣在最新公布的國際競爭力排名中大幅衰退,同 時再度被中國大陸一舉超越,外界憂心台灣競爭力是否 因此一蹶不振?海基會董事長江丙坤表示,目前兩岸關 係已逐漸回溫,6 月更將開放陸資來台投資,這對台灣 經濟有很大助益,更能進一步帶動國際競爭力向上提升。 ...

台灣競爭力退10名 尹啟銘:研議改進措施 【12:05】

〔中央社〕經濟部長尹啟銘今天受訪時對近日瑞士洛桑管理學院將公布「2009年世界競爭力年鑑」,台灣退步10名做出回應。他強調,要先對細部項目研議後,再就退步項目研擬改進措施。

有媒體提早報導瑞士洛桑管理學院公布「2009年世界競爭力年鑑」排名,台灣從去年的第13名,退到今年的第23名,退步10名。

尹啟銘指出,經濟部還沒做過相關研究分析,由於這項競爭力評比是由各種細部指標構成,需要研究哪些細部指標是退步的,然後才能針對退步項目研議改進措施。

媒體詢問,退步主因是政府部門效能太差。尹啟銘說,「那要看是政府哪一個部門的效能太差?」

他強調,要做細部指標研究,且這項評比,每年都不斷調整中,細部指標有數百項之多;因此還是要等政府研究子指標後,再研擬改進措施。

2009年5月16日 星期六

三頭六臂集 541-558

三頭六臂集


558
經濟觀察報》統計數字打架 前景霧煞煞

大陸經濟是好轉?還是嚴峻?統計數據會說話,可是,統計數字出現「打架」的時候,就會造成一片迷惑,不只經濟學家迷惑,連大陸官員也迷惑,經濟觀察報專文點出這個數字打架的現象。

「迷惑的資料,迷惑的解讀」,這是4月宏觀經濟資料公布後的實際情況。

企業並未從水深火熱中走出,但在經濟學家眼中,宏觀經濟資料正在逐步走好。同時,各種宏觀經濟資料「打架」現象增多。在經濟刺激計劃下,地方和中央在資料之間也存在很大的衝突。

對於同一組資料,由於解讀角度和方法不同,判斷和預期就會迥異。雖然唱多者越來越多,但不少接受採訪的官員都表示,經濟好轉不等於轉好。經濟V型反轉說法或許受到挑戰,經濟可能需要在底部盤整一段時間。

3月在國家統計局一些官員下到地方去做調研時,很多企業對未來預期非常樂觀,然而,最近一些到企業做調查的經濟學家反映,部分企業的信心再次受到打擊。

企業利潤和稅收是反映微觀企業經濟情況最根本的指標之一,第一季全國稅收收入同比下降10.3%,4月全國財政收入年增率更是下降了13.6%,這些資料反映企業仍舊在水深火熱之中。

但在經濟學家眼中,越來越多的宏觀經濟資料開始走好。4月公布的消費資料、固定資產投資總額增幅都超過預期,物價指數、外貿降幅雖然仍在下滑,但下滑幅度在收窄。

越來越多宏觀經濟資料轉好,但宏觀資料打架現象在增多。

在去年5月之前,工業增加值和城鎮固定資產投資走勢趨於一致,但之後工業增加值同比增速開始下滑,並從去年12月開始急劇下滑,但同期城鎮固定資產投資增加很快。

在今年4月,資料打架現象繼續增加,4月工業增加值低於3月,當月全國發電量同比減少3.55%,較3月的2%降幅繼續下滑,但固定資產投資卻創下超出30%的新高。

4月外貿統計不很樂觀。海關總署5月12日發布的數字顯示,前四個月外貿進出口總值同比下降24.3%,海關總署在沒有對資料進行季節性調整基礎上就公 布:4月一般貿易進出口、出口和進口環比增長分別為12.3%、8.3%和16.4%。但之後商務部公布的出口環比卻是下降了5.5%。

4月社會消費品零售總額達人民幣9,343.2億元,比去年同期增長14.8%,增速比3月上升0.1個百分點,但消費者物價指數卻在繼續下跌。

與此同時,很多接受調查的消費者反映,他們並沒有感到日常消費品價格出現下降。

信貸統計資料同樣讓人疑惑。一位接近央行的人士說,在4月31日前,他知道各家銀行放貸額也不過人民幣800億,但月底一下子增加到近6,000億。

宏觀資料統計間的背離和製造的迷惑越來越多,這種現象還出現在地方和中央之間。在地方,經濟刺激計劃後,統計數字大躍進成為一個習慣,一些關注宏觀經濟的經濟學家指出,第一季各個地方GDP加權總數達到18%,實際上第一季國家統計局公布的GDP為6.1%。

唱多的人越來越多,卻是各自彈著琵琶。對同一組資料,由於解讀角度和方法不同,帶來判斷和預期就會迥異。

「3月當8.3%的工業增加值出來時,當時很多人不放心,認為統計肯定有問題,但從4月7.3%的工業增加值來看,總體上可以判斷回升是有基礎的。」大陸國務院發展研究中心宏觀經濟研究部研究員張立群說。

亞洲財富論壇理事董先安也預期工業生產增速最早在5月就會重拾升勢,他認為,第三季工業生產增長率可能會上升至年同比10%以上,進而使實際GDP增長率提高至9%左右。

但燕京華僑大學校長、經濟學家華生卻表示,4月統計資料反映國內經濟仍在復甦的初期,仍然不穩定,需求不足的壓力還在持續。

從投資資料上看,4月固定資產投資同比增長34%,比3月加快3.7個百分點,如果剔除物價,實際增速比3月上升5個百分點。董先安認為,越來越多投資人達成復甦共識,企業預期根本性改變。中信證券諸建芳認為,政府主導的投資繼續高增長,而私人投資也有所跟進。

國家資訊中心經濟預測部副主任祝寶良對投資資料持懷疑態度,「我不相信4月投資會有30%這麼高的增長速度,這些投資可能包括企業的兼併破產和搬遷資料。」

國金證券王曉輝也認為,目前投資分佈冷熱不均,政府投資和工業投資依然強勁,房地產投資仍然低迷,外商投資出現負增長。目前工業投資的快速增長加劇未來經濟調整的風險。

在關於消費者物價指數(CPI)和工業品出廠價格指數(PPI)的趨勢判斷上,經濟學家卻出奇的一致,未來兩季中國將會走出通縮時代。

「好轉不等於轉好」,不少接受採訪官員表示,目前經濟V型反轉趨勢受到挑戰,經濟可能需要在底部左右盤整一段時間,現在經濟調整時間和幅度都看不清楚。



557

W. Edwards Deming once said, 'In God we trust. All others must bring data.'
這次的data 是使用ie的explore 不過它的速度可能只是firefox的三分之一

556
2009/5/17
H-P, seeking to revive the sagging desktop-computer business, has tried to woo consumers with sleek personal computers with glossy, touch-sensitive screens.
我在1986年加入台灣的MOTOROLA當QRA經理我的德州工程師拿的就是這類的HP 排小PC
555
"After Dewey, What?" by
Jerome Bruner
"After Dewey What?" Saturday Review, pp. 58-59; 76-78; June 17, 1961
There was a chapter in it by Bruner, "After Dewey, What?". Bruner quoted one of Dewey's "five articles of faith" from Dewey's "My Pedagogic Creed" (1897): ...
I came across a book entitled Dewey on Education (1966) edited by R. Archimbault, Brown Prof. I think I used to wait on him at the Brown Faculty Club (Beth). There was a chapter in it by Bruner, "After Dewey, What?". Bruner quoted one of Dewey's "five articles of faith" from Dewey's "My Pedagogic Creed" (1897): "Education being a social process, the school is simply that form of community life in which all those agencies are concentrated that will be most effective in bringing the child to share in the inherited resources of the race, and to use his own powers for social ends. Education, therefore is a process for living and not a preparation for future living"(p. 211). I know we have seen the last part of this quote before. Dewey's belief that education is a necessary "process for living" makes me reflect on how important the schooling part of that process is for our children. If we don't make the "organic connection" between the child and the curriculum or learn how to motivate them, then we have not fulfilled our responsibility to them.


554

昔日ALFRED SLOAN退休 經銷商集資成立基金感謝他
Los Angeles Times leads with the news of 1,100 General Motors dealerships being put on notice, via letters sent overnight Thursday, that the company would not be renewing their licenses. As many as 500 more could get the ax soon, which--along with nearly 800 dealerships terminated by Chrysler yesterday--amounts to about 100,000 jobs lost.
553
The New York Times leads with an analysis of how the wave of foreclosures that reached New York last is breaking particularly hard on minority homeowners. Defaults occur three times as often in mostly minority census tracts as in mostly white ones, often those targeted by banks for subprime loans, subprime loans, leaving them wide open for damage when the market collapsed


census: West's Encyclopedia of American Law (Full Article) from ...
A census tract, known in the UK as an enumeration district, is a small unit of
area used in collecting, recording, and reporting census data. ...
552

蔣介石父子的墓園,不應由政府預算支出----
一個大溪子弟,大溪老街上的沉思

我走在大溪老街上,低頭思考,「兩蔣墓園,不應全民買單」,
這就是我心中,一項公平正義的「台灣價值」。
我要參選桃園縣長,這就是我的一項政見:
「蔣介石父子的墓園,不應由政府預算支出」



551

acerbic wit of Dr. Deming...acerbic
其他SURMISE/INTERJECT 博士都用過

550

國際能源署質疑中國經濟數據可信度
國際能源署對中國經濟數據的可信度提出了質疑﹐認為中國第一季度經濟增長6.1%的官方數據與中國當季石油需求下降3.5%的情況不符﹐與異常疲軟的電力需求也不相吻合。
The question of whether China is presenting a too rosy growth picture came from an interesting corner: the International Energy Agency.

549
auditing 一下台大參考書處(和全館)的"思高聖經 "
(主要參考處無此書 其他多處 有)
主要找轉危為安OOC第一章引言
http://www.sbofmhk.org/tchi/Resources/sbofm_bible/sbofm_bible_content.php?book=25&chapter=38&check.x=6&check.y=6



第一篇上主的訓言(38-40:5)

第三十八章

上主發言9:2
創 1:1
耶 10:12
38:1上主由旋風中向約伯發言說:
38:2用無知的話,使我的計劃*模糊不明的是誰?42:3
友 8:12
依 40:13
38:3你要像勇士束好你的腰,我要問你,請指教我!


*一般翻譯成"旨意"

The Book of Job

約伯記

Job 1:21 (KJV)

21... Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

548

中午才在書攤上看到SONY公司前最高主管的十年回憶錄
馬上聽到該公司去年虧10億美金 今年預計虧12億

Sony Sees Losses Growing This Year
Sony reported a $1 billion loss for the latest fiscal year, forecast another unprofitable year and said it will step up cost cuts as electronics sales slump.



547

大量製造論文

最近之知道某教授平均一周論文一篇 號稱品質也不錯
其實台灣的數據統計都只是"量" 談不上質

如果比國際"水準"不足 就關起門來說我校"全國第一"
嘿嘿 了不起

546
BAGHDAD — Five American service members were killed at a counseling center on an American military base in Baghdad on Monday, gunned down by a fellow soldier who was later taken into custody, military officials said.
美國國防部長在自相殘殺案之後 提數億元軍隊"心理輔導"預算

這又是間接 遲來的仁慈.....

545
我昨天出NTU圖書館忘記將証換回
發現時已近關門時刻
所以我必須改變
台中的約會
一大早去換 辦事者說 以前這種情形要罰200元
我想出另外的FOOL-PROOF法
不過她沒反應

544

"面對NCC開放155家小功率電台執照的事情,復興電台表示,能讓小眾發聲是一件好事;但也希望政府能有效控管,避免品質低落。 復興電台記者黃采瑛表示,對於NCC開放155家小功率電台執照的事情,基本上政府可以讓許多小眾發聲就是一件好事,這也意味著作品可以更加多元化; ..."

評:政府是無法控制"品質的啦

543

週三
徐歷昌 DESIGN FOR MANUFACTUABILTY

今早 David 來台北 順便請我午餐(諸君或許知道馬政權或有心激起全國菜籃子再進股市 David當然大發...)
姑且不談他的論文 它或許很專業
不過 我聽到許多有用資訊
譬如說 網路上 Juran Quality Handbook 整本 (第二次聽到 上兩三周Kevin請我們在台中晚餐也說過)
Microsoft 有免費的網路Sync

我們談Asus 譬如說 它的網站關於 netbook pc 已令人"不知所措"
我說在WSJ 讀過施先生承認他們內部競爭之惡果 錯
David說 網路上還沒改過 讓潛在消費者很可能困惑---
各位也許聽過新聞昨天某國小姐候選人答孔夫子是 confusion之父


542


賀洪禎國老師退休雜誌 2005-2009

2009 無意中讀到當年他copied的幾篇文章 覺得做為一位商專的老師 他可以說是很肯向學生介紹數十本世界名著之好老師

2008補 當天楊澤博士認為我竟然選這一本小說來"讚詞" 真是......

541
妳仔細拿出去年海報 看看 一定可以找出些黑點
橫條上則有類似輪子碾過痕約十公分
***

學長

收到囉!
我會把此訊息轉達給小七知悉,請他特別留意,且這次我也會請負責印刷的廠商注意,因為不確定學長您所描述的問題是出在我們設計本身的檔案,還是印刷廠那邊的問題,所以謝謝學長您提供的訊息,這次我兩邊都會特別交代一下的,謝謝。

2009年5月15日 星期五

三頭六臂集 458 鄭南榕等等

諸君:

http://blog.roodo.com/michaelcarolina

感謝阿K提供照片(我喜歡這張油桐花,姿態既沈靜,又自信恣揚)
感謝萬能的L3幫忙轉檔(否則我還得重新打字,嗚嗚嗚…)

您誠摯的
卡洛玲子


三頭六臂集



值得一讀的台獨前輩回憶錄

邱永漢

"我的青春.台灣 我的青春.香港"

朱佩蘭翻譯, 台北: 不二,1996 出版.

nylon, synthetic,



458

為 Nylon 和 Asapulu等
台灣的先烈 痛哭失聲
之後 請做些 好事
*****
特刊主題為「好國好民」,邀集十多位當年《自由時代》雜誌的記者編輯、學者、部落客寫專論,內容 .... 鄭南榕(1947-1989)殉道20周年暨鄭南榕紀念館開館10周年系列活動 ...

自由時代 「好國好民-紀念鄭南榕殉道二十周年專刊」





歡迎至鄭南榕紀念館╱基金會免費索取
或附回郵信封( 印刷品掛號40元)寄至本會


鄭南榕紀念館╱基金會

開放時間:週二至週六 上午十點至下午五點

地址:台北市民權東路三段106巷3弄11號3樓

(近捷運木柵線中山國中捷運站出口)

-----
下個星期五是「424刺蔣事件」的第39週年。
兩個多星期之前,在4月7日當天,
昔日的刺客黃文雄為南榕自焚20周年,在墓園發表演講。
這兩位刺客和烈士(這些字眼絕非他們兩位合身的標籤)
多年來一直是我的典範。同樣,我也不採取標籤字面上的意義。

刊載Peter─他的朋友不分老幼都這樣喊他─剛修訂的講稿完整版,
搭配小友維昭設計的紀念T shirt圖案。
謹此略表對他們兩位的敬意,和對新世代的期盼。

http://blog.roodo.com/michaelcarolina/archives/8753479.html

Enjoy Reading
-------------------------
Michael Lin 林世煜

*****
鄭南榕開始在他的雜誌上大打廣告,原來我們所定的名稱,已被他改為「五一九綠色行動」。我看了,就問他:「咦?不是講好的千萬人抗議戒嚴運動嗎?聽起來氣勢多磅礡!」

鄭南榕就拿著那份廣告稿,一邊指著,一邊對我解釋道:「政治的口號越簡短越好。五一九,就是要告訴人家五月十九日;綠色,就是代表和平;行動,就是一場示威。翻成英文就是『519Green Action』。」

Capitalism’s Fault Lines

戴明博士


Capitalism’s Fault Lines


fault line, “the antics of crooks and fools”

Published: May 14, 2009

“This recession,” President Obama said recently, “was not caused by a normal downturn in the business cycle. It was caused by a perfect storm of irresponsibility and poor decision-making that stretched from Wall Street to Washington to Main Street.” Richard A. Posner is having none of it. A perfect storm, yes: but a storm of responsibility and reasonable decision-making. The Crash of ’08 happened because businesspeople and consumers did what markets and society expect them to do. Don’t blame capitalists or, for the most part, government. Blame capitalism.

Skip to next paragraph
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

On the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Sept. 16, 2008.

A FAILURE OF CAPITALISM

The Crisis of ’08 and the Descent Into Depression

By Richard A. Posner

346 pp. Harvard University Press. $23.95

It comes as something of a surprise that Posner, a doyen of the market-oriented law-and-economics movement, should deliver a roundhouse punch to the proposition that markets are self-correcting. It might also seem odd that a federal appellate judge (and University of Chicago law lecturer) would be among the first out of the gate with a comprehensive book on the financial crisis — if, that is, the judge were any other judge. But Posner is the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s successor as the country’s most omnivorous and independent-minded public intellectual. By now, his dozens of books just about fill their own wing in the Library of ­Congress.

In “Catastrophe: Risk and Response” (2004), he took up the problem of low-probability, high-impact events. The financial meltdown certainly qualifies. In this compact and bracingly lucid volume, he offers a simple, but not simplistic, primer: “a concise, constructive, jargon- and ­acronym-free, nontechnical, unsen­sational, light-on-anecdote, analytical examination of the major facets of the biggest U.S. economic disaster in my lifetime and that of most people living today.”

If you read the newspapers, you will not see much in “A Failure of Capitalism” by way of unfamiliar particulars. Cheap money and an inrush of foreign capital fueled a lending boom, which poured credit into the housing market. As prices went up, up, up, even risky mortgages seemed safe and everyone piled in, including banks. Financiers relied on securitization and complicated financial instruments to dilute the attendant risk, but the result was to spread that risk through the financial system, making it impossible to locate. When the housing bubble popped, everyone was holding bad debt, but no one was sure how bad or even how much. With banks suddenly looking undercapitalized, lenders stopped lending and started selling assets to raise cash. The faster everyone ran for the exits, the faster asset prices fell, dragging banks’ balance sheets down with them. Credit markets seized up, depressing the economy, causing more mortgage defaults and asset-price deflation, further weakening banks, further paralyzing credit, depressing the economy still more. . . . Repeat ad nauseam.

You know that story, and Posner tells it well, with a particular flair for showing how dozens of moving parts interacted. Being Richard Posner, however, he is not content to be an amiable guide through the thicket. His real interest is in finding and detonating grenades in the underbrush.

One is right there on the title page, which flaunts the D-word. The current crisis, Posner maintains, is a depression. True, it is not (we hope) a great depression. But the typical postwar recession is a partly self-correcting disinflationary contraction that soon subsides, often leaving the economy healthier. The present downturn is a self-sustaining deflationary contraction whose costly aftereffects will linger for years. The Great Depression led to World War II. Today’s depression presumably won’t be that bad, but it may cause a huge loss of output, an immense increase in the national debt, a swing to excessive regulation, a nasty bout of inflation, a decline in America’s economic and geopolitical power, and increased political instability abroad.

A typical recession is a market correction, usually of inflation or other economic imbalances; a depression is a market failure. And it is a failure (here is grenade No. 2) that the market is powerless to prevent. “An interrelated system of financial intermediaries” — a banking system, broadly defined — “is inherently unstable,” Posner writes. Think of it as “a kind of epileptic, subject to unpredictable, strange seizures.”

Populists and libertarians will hate this book, though I wouldn’t want to predict which group will hate it more. A perfect storm of irresponsibility? Hardly. The crisis came about precisely because intelligent businesses and consumers followed market signals. “The mistakes were systemic — the product of the nature of the banking business in an environment shaped by low interest rates and deregulation rather than the antics of crooks and fools.”

Were a lot of people reckless and stupid? Of course! But that cannot explain why the whole system crashed, since a lot of people are always reckless and stupid. The problem, fundamentally, is that markets cannot, and rationally should not, anticipate their own collapse. “A depression is too remote an event to influence business behavior.” Any single business can rationally guard against its own bankruptcy, but not the simultaneous bankruptcy of everybody else. “The ­profit-maximizing businessman rationally ignores small probabilities that his conduct in conjunction with that of his competitors may bring down the entire economy.”

During the housing bubble, for example, sitting out the mortgage boom meant forgoing large profits. “Even if you know you’re riding a bubble and are scared to be doing so,” Posner writes, “it is difficult to climb off without paying a big price.” So people made decisions that were individually rational but collectively irrational. To see the crisis through populist spectacles, as President Obama does when he attributes it to “irresponsibility,” is to misunderstand the whole problem by blaming capitalists for a failure of capitalism.

And so — here is the part libertarians will hate — markets, entirely of their own accord, will sometimes capsize and be unable to right themselves completely for years at a stretch. (See: Japan, “lost decade” of.) Nor can monetary policy be counted on to counteract markets’ tippy tendencies, as so many economists had come to believe.

Alas, economists and policy makers got cocksure. They thought they had consigned depressions to history. As a result, they missed warning signs and failed to prepare for the worst. “We are learning,” Posner writes, “that we need a more active and intelligent government to keep our model of a capitalist economy from running off the rails.”

By doing what, exactly? Posner thinks laissez-faire economics has nothing relevant to say. The rest of the economics profession is all over the map. The system of financial regulation will need an overhaul, but Posner argues that the time for that is not now, in the heat of crisis. Anyway, no one is sure what to do. He halfheartedly suggests a few reforms but concedes they are “pretty small beer.” If pressed, I suspect, he might also acknowledge some 20-20 hindsight in his insistence that the government should have prepared for an event that hardly anyone thought ­possible.

By the last page, not a single lazy generalization has survived Posner’s merciless scrutiny, not one populist cliché remains standing. “A Failure of Capitalism” clears away whole forests of cant but leaves readers at a loss as to where to go from here. In other words, it is only a starting point — but an indispensable one.

Jonathan Rauch is a senior writer with National Journal and a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution.

2009年5月12日 星期二

三頭六臂集 528-540

三頭六臂集


540

日行一善--早上David還在介紹他的論文 Design for Manufactuability中的員工提案制

我向NTU圖書館的管理員說 應該爭取語音系統幫助她們CHECK 來賓證件
她說 想得美.....

539

這或許只是中國特色
'也许我看到的一些细节,在别的客人来说并无大碍,但 这些确是又一家标准化建造的奢华酒店的不标准特色,这真的有这么重要吗?是的,和我一同在行政酒廊欣赏 夜景的一位中国客人说,他最喜欢的还是广州丽思卡尔顿酒店,因为只有那里的客房提供新鲜的茶叶,而非茶包——真正的酒店玩家在乎细节。' 茶叶茶包
538

Storytelling by Claudia Royal, Broadman Press, 1955
教育人行道 13號 On Educating, No. 13
537

國民黨技法
ㄓㄧ 台北縣長升格
之二
東華大學校長可以當十六年校長

最近到花蓮旅行
聽說東華大學校長可以因為合併教育大學可以重新任期八年
總共當十六年校長
這類似天方夜談

536
亞洲區大學榜》港大第1 北大第10 台大哈 哈ㄚ

我們一貫的立場是學校排名沒意義
台灣的各級管理單位都不願意或能夠去了解這一套制度根據的比較印象方式
535

"據英國《新科學家》雜誌網站報道,喬治·華盛頓大學流行病學家洛內·西蒙森認為,甲型H1N1流感病毒「對溫暖的天氣似乎並不敏感」。他說,這種病毒與1918年的西班牙流感病毒有相似之處。西班牙流感分為兩波,相對溫和的第一波就發生在春夏兩季。

報道認為北半球夏季減緩不了疫情蔓延的另一個理由是:數據表明,這次流感疫情從今年4月開始在墨西哥首都墨西哥城等地迅速蔓延,而墨西哥城今年4月的氣溫介於11攝氏度與26攝氏度之間,平均氣溫甚至高於倫敦等城市的夏季氣溫。

目前關於流感疫情的發展趨勢主要有3種預測:第一種是夏季到來後,流感流行趨緩甚至消失,到秋冬時再現,不過屆時已有足夠疫苗應對;第二種是這種病毒的毒性越來越弱,流行時間長,但致死率低;第三種是病毒發生變異,傳染力和毒性加強,導致很多人死亡。"


534
台灣的九成"確診"鬧劇 如此不堪
衛署挨批擺烏龍 葉金川:寧被罵也要料敵從嚴
鉅亨網 - Taipei,Taiwan
中央流行疫情指揮中心今天凌晨公佈國內出現新流感「極可能病例」首例,不過,經病毒基因序列比對,隨後又宣布排除感染新流感,引發外界痛批衛生署擺烏龍、造成不必要恐慌,對此,衛生署長葉金川強調,兩名疑似感染者症狀與H1N1極相似,為避免訊息延遲公佈,有疫情擴大 ...
查看此主題下的所有報導
衛生署搞烏龍發燒母女家屬怨草率 【10:00】
自由時報 - Taipei,Taiwan
〔本報訊〕衛生署昨天半夜宣布一對返國母女染上H1N1新型流感病例,但經過確認後,母女倆只是染上一般的流行性感冒。而病患家屬在折騰了一夜後,竟然發現是烏龍一場,批評官方的作為太過草率。 衛生署昨日午夜12點宣布,一對5月5日由美國搭機返台的母女,可能是國內首 ...


533
大部分讀者可能搞不清楚這些"專利"是怎回事

Tackles the 'arbitrary hour-based scheduling paradigm'

IBM files patent for shorter meetings



532
wsj
國正在著手改進其飽受非議的統計制度。眼下的經濟低迷使官方對這個全球第三大經濟體狀況的描述存在的差距面臨更嚴苛的審視。

為 將來的統計打造更好基礎的任務落在馮麗君(音)這樣的一批人肩上。今年49歲的馮麗君是一名公務員﹐身著深色套裝﹐帶著茶色眼鏡。在這次的中國經濟普查中 ﹐她被選為一個調查小組的負責人。中國政府正在對從計劃經濟時期沿襲下來的粗糙的統計制度進行改革﹐這次大規模普查將是此項改革的一個核心組成部分。

最近幾個月來﹐中國政府宣佈今年仍將實現8%的經濟增幅﹐從而使人們對中國統計數字可信度的擔心變得突出了。中國宣佈上述預期目標﹐就是希望描繪出一幅在全球衰退的背景下中國經濟仍繼續前進的祥和景象。

一些外界經濟學家稱﹐中國目前的下跌態勢比那些重要數字描述的情況要嚴重得多﹕2008年四季度中國國內生產總值(GDP)較上年同期的增幅達到6.8%﹐而諸如建築、汽車銷售、稅收收入和電力生產等指標卻在下滑。

這方面的分歧讓人想起1998年經濟下滑期間發生的類似情形。統計部門最後宣佈當年GDP增長7.8%﹐許多體制外經濟學家認為﹐這個數字太高了﹐跟其他疲軟的指標不一致。

這個插曲讓中國官方統計數字的可信度蒙上了陰影。它顯示經濟數字的政治意義催生出篡改數字的動機。

中國統計部門官員在為他們工作的準確性辯護。國家統計局總統計師李強在接受採訪時說﹕人們有懷疑是正常的。許多人也懷疑美國政府的統計數字。但作為從事統計工作的人﹐我可以說沒有人在干涉我的工作。

在這次經濟普查中﹐馮麗君的任務是在她所在的北京西北部一個有20萬人口的地區﹐收集並檢查每家商業企業的詳細財務報告。她首先從稅務局和公用事業部門拿到了企業名單﹐不過﹐她手下的調查員們不得不一家一家地走訪分佈在大街小巷的許多小企業。

她在接受採訪時說﹐對有些公司我們得打10到20次電話﹐而且每天都要上門找它們。如果我們不停地打電話﹐這些公司最終能感覺到。

中國政府能夠組織起這項需要大量人員的行動﹐表明它具有可投入統計的資源。這項全國性普查計劃從大約800萬家企業和組織以及4,000萬個體經營者獲得完整的財務數據。

過去十年來﹐中國的統計工作已取得了很大進步﹐但要在一個有13億人口的國家辨別出趨勢是一項艱巨的挑戰。這項普查每5年才進行一次﹐而面對越來越複雜的中國經濟﹐即使更頻繁的調查仍會漏掉關鍵部分。官方在統計國有企業的產值方面仍比統計私有企業和家庭的相關數字更擅長。

去年﹐隨著經濟開始下滑﹐統計部門承受的壓力也在加大。在去年10月初的一次講話中﹐國務院副總理李克強對統計局官員說﹕我們的統計基礎仍很薄弱﹐統計數字的質量仍有待進一步改善。11月份﹐統計局就舉行了有關改善經濟分析、更好地為決策者提供參考的研討班。

這輪經濟衰退以來﹐中國國家統計局一直試圖提供更多、更好的信息。它更頻繁地發佈食品價格指數﹐並承諾提供有關產值、就業和工資的更詳細的數字。針對虛假統計報告的新的處罰措施現在也在實施。

但真正的考驗在於﹐上級部門是否允許發佈那些顯示中國經濟出現動盪的在政治上不合時宜的數字。

也有跡象顯示﹐中國政府對負面經濟消息的態度更開放了。隨著去年工廠開始出現倒閉現象﹐有關官員要求1月份對外出務工人員的情況進行特別調查﹐最後公佈了令人震驚的數字﹕大約有2,000萬人失去了工作。

香港科技大學經濟學家、曾就中國統計問題有過著述的穆嘉(Carsten Holz)說﹐中國已經成為這樣的一個大國﹐我們期待看到一些常態和一些符合國際標準的情況。我會把它(中國統計部門)描述為一個相當專業的官僚機構﹐但最後階段是講政治策略的。

Andrew Batson


531
2008 5月或6月某天在香港機場看到以前的老長官 胡定華夫婦
我們已20幾年沒見面
他說我已滿頭白髮啦


前幾天在報上看到章青駒博士內定世界先進董事長
他也是如此
或許曹興誠先生也是如此


今天看到Alpha 吳春發先生 我 Philips的同事
真的 大家都變樣子了

530

Google 最近將新聞提示之萬國語整合起來
Förbättringsprojekt ala Dilbert!
IDG.se - Stockholm,Sweden
Eller för att säga det som W. Edwards Deming sa, "It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory". Vill du tipsa en vän om detta blogginlägg? ...



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stronger universities 資源必須合作互通之說法

Posted Thursday, May 7, 2009, at 6:43 AM ET The Washington Post leads with, while the Wall Street Journal banners, more leaked results from the so-called stress tests on the country's 19 largest financial institutions. When the results are officially unveiled today at 5 p.m., it will mark the first time that the government explicitly divides the nation's banks into those that are stronger and those that are weaker.

讀這 想起Simon 喜歡用 stronger universities 資源必須合作互通之說法

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許達然老師
"您寄來的三本新地文學收到了
真謝謝
您的大作漢唐女士的文章督略讀過 很精采
說實話 我可能是初次讀這刊物 真慚愧....."

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收到 品質月刊 翻一下就束之高閣
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沒去開王老師主持的會
舊書攤 日本工業設計全書 1983
在台大圖書館前看20分鐘的日本片

2009年5月8日 星期五

Imports v exports / deflation v inflation

有空複習經濟學嗎 ?

Economics focus

Opening the floodgates

May 7th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Imports can be as useful to developing countries as exports are


Illustration by Jac Depczyk

PAUL KRUGMAN, who won last year’s Nobel prize in economics for his work on trade, wrote in 1993: “What a country really gains from trade is the ability to import things it wants. Exports are not an objective in and of themselves; the need to export is a burden that a country must bear because its import suppliers are crass enough to demand payment.”

This view does not dominate the public debate. Most are thrilled by the idea of export growth, but cower at the prospect of more imports. Such prejudice certainly prevailed in India in 1991, when the IMF foisted tariff cuts on the economy as one of the conditions attached to a $2.5 billion bail-out package. Pessimists fretted that a flood of imports would destroy Indian industry.


For a group of American economists*, however, that sudden trade liberalisation has provided an unusually clear lens through which to study the way that commerce affects the economy. This is precisely because it was externally imposed. That the government had to hew to the IMF’s diktats and slash tariffs across the board gave industries little scope to jockey for exemptions. This made the researchers confident that tariff cuts, and not differences in industries’ ability to lobby the government, were responsible for changes in India’s trade patterns after liberalisation.

As part of those reforms, India slashed tariffs on imports from an average of 90% in 1991 to 30% in 1997. Not surprisingly, imports doubled in value over this period. But the effects on Indian manufacturing were not what the prophets of doom had predicted: output grew by over 50% in that time. And by looking carefully at what was imported and what it was used to make, the researchers found that cheaper and more accessible imports gave a big boost to India’s domestic industrial growth in the 1990s.

This was because the tariff cuts meant more than Indian consumers being able to satisfy their cravings for imported chocolate (though they did that, too). It gave Indian manufacturers access to a variety of intermediate and capital goods which had earlier been too expensive. The rise in imports of intermediate goods was much higher, at 227%, than the 90% growth in consumer-goods imports in the 13 years to 2000.

Theory suggests several ways in which greater access to imports can improve domestic manufacturing. First, cheaper imports may allow firms to produce existing goods using the same inputs as before, but at a lower cost. They could also open up new ways of producing existing goods, and even allow entirely new goods to be made. All this seemed to hold in India. For example, its prolific film industry had continued to make some black-and-white films into the 1970s, in part because of the difficulty of importing enough supplies of colour film. But proving whether the theory applies in practice requires more detailed data, not just about how much firms produced but what they produced, and how all this changed over time.

Most attempts at addressing these questions have foundered because such information is not available. But with India, the researchers were helped, perversely enough, by highly restrictive industrial policies that the country had introduced in the 1950s. These included rules that required companies to report to the authorities every little tweak to their product mix—a burden for firms, but a gold mine for researchers. Happily, the economists found that the data backed up the theory: lower import tariffs did lead to an expansion in product variety through access to new inputs. They found that about 66% of the growth in India’s imports of intermediate goods after liberalisation came from goods the country had simply not bought when its trade regime was more restrictive. These new inputs caused the price of intermediate goods to fall by 4.7% per year after 1989. And detailed data linking inputs to final goods showed that the imports led to an explosion in the variety of products made by Indian manufacturers; the average firm made 1.4 products before liberalisation, but by 2003, this had increased to 2.3. The increases in variety were largest for industries where the input tariffs were cut most, and these industries also saw increased spending on research and development. Overall, the new products that Indian companies introduced were responsible for 25% of the growth in the country’s manufacturing output between 1991 and 1997.

Slash and churn

But one aspect of India’s experience after trade liberalisation did not conform to what the researchers had expected. Normally, as new products are introduced, some older ones stop being made. This “churn” in the market is part of what makes people uncomfortable about lower trade barriers, because it may cause difficult adjustments for some workers or companies. But the Indian variant of creative destruction seemed unusually benign. The researchers found that firms rarely dropped products. One reason for this may be the diversity of India’s economy: there is always a segment lower down the economic pecking order which is happy to buy products that richer consumers scoff at.

This may be unique to countries like India where many levels of development co-exist. But Penny Goldberg, one of the authors, thinks that the methods used in the studies on India can be applied to many other countries where trade has been similarly liberalised and which have good data on firms, such as Colombia and Indonesia. She notes that one of her co-authors, Amit Khandelwal, visited a Coca-Cola bottling plant in China, and noticed that all the machinery was either Japanese or German. China, of course, is known as a big exporter. But it may never have achieved this success without access to a range of imports.


*“Multi-product firms and Product Turnover in the Developing World: Evidence from India”, by Penny Goldberg, Amit Khandelwal, Nina Pavcnik and Petia Topalova. (Forthcoming in the Review of Economics and Statistics.) Other papers available at http://www.princeton.edu/~pennykg/


*****

The greater of two evils

May 7th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Inflation is bad, but deflation is worse


MERLE HAZARD, an unusually satirical country and western crooner, has captured monetary confusion better than anyone else. “Inflation or deflation,” he warbles, “tell me if you can: will we become Zimbabwe or will we be Japan?”

How do you guard against both the deflationary forces of America’s worst recession since the 1930s and the vigorous response of the Federal Reserve, which has in effect cut interest rates to zero and rapidly expanded its balance-sheet? On May 4th Paul Krugman, a Nobel laureate in economics, gave warning that Japan-style deflation loomed, even as Allan Meltzer, an eminent Fed historian, foresaw a repeat of 1970s inflation—both on the same page of the New York Times.

There is something to both fears. But inflation is distant and containable, while deflation is at hand and pernicious.

Dragged down by debt

Fears about deflation do not rest on the 0.4% decline in American consumer prices in the year to March. Although this is the first such annual decline since 1955, it is the transitory result of a plunge in energy prices. Excluding food and energy, core inflation is 1.8%. Rather, the worry is of persistent price declines that characterise true deflation. With unemployment nearing 9%, economic output is further below the economy’s potential than at any time since 1982. This gap is likely to widen. House prices are not part of America’s inflation index but their decline is forcing households to reduce debt (see article), which could subdue economic growth for years. As workers compete for scarce jobs and firms underbid each other for sales, wages and prices will come under pressure.

So far, expectations of inflation remain stable: that sentiment is itself a welcome bulwark against deflation. But pay freezes and wage cuts may soon change people’s minds. In one poll, more than a third of respondents said they or someone in their household had suffered a cut in pay or hours. The employment-cost index rose by just 2.1% in the year to the first quarter, the least since records began in 1982. In 2003, during the last deflation scare, total pay grew by almost 4%.

Does this matter? If prices are falling because of advancing productivity, as at the end of the 19th century, it is a sign of progress, not economic collapse. Today, though, deflation is more likely to resemble the malign 1930s sort than that earlier benign variety, because demand is weak and households and firms are burdened by debt. In deflation the nominal value of debts remains fixed even as nominal wages, prices and profits fall. Real debt burdens therefore rise, causing borrowers to cut spending to service their debts or to default. That undermines the financial system and deepens the recession.

From 1929 to 1933 prices fell by 27%. This time central banks are on the case. In America, Britain, Japan and Switzerland they have pushed short-term interest rates to, or close to, zero and vastly expanded their balance-sheets by buying debt. It helps, too, that the world has abandoned the monetary straitjacket of the gold standard it wore in the 1930s.

Yet this anti-deflationary zeal is precisely what alarms people like Mr Meltzer. He worries that the price of seeing off deflation is that the Fed will be unable or unwilling to reverse itself in time to prevent a resurgence of inflation.

Fair enough, but inflation is easier to put right than deflation. A central bank can raise interest rates as high as it wants to suppress inflation, but it cannot cut nominal rates below zero. Deflation robs a central bank of its ability to stimulate spending using negative real interest rates. In the worst case, rising debts and defaults depress growth, poisoning the economy by deepening deflation and pressing real interest rates higher. Central banks that have lowered rates to nearly zero are now using unconventional, quantitative tools, but their efficacy is unproven. Given the choice, erring on the side of inflation would be less catastrophic than erring on the side of deflation.

That said, there is a legitimate concern that when the time comes to raise interest rates, the Fed may hold back because of political pressure or fear of fracturing financial markets. The Fed was too slow to raise interest rates after its deflation scare in 2003. Yet that is best addressed by strengthening the Fed. Barack Obama should nominate credible, independent people to the two vacant seats on the Federal Reserve Board, and bat away suggestions that the 12 reserve-bank presidents, who are not confirmed by Congress, lose their say in monetary policy. Congress should let the Fed issue its own debt, which would give it scope to tighten monetary policy without disorderly sales of the illiquid private debt it has taken on.

Affirming the Fed’s political independence and equipping it with better tools would help the central bank combat inflation when the time comes. It would also lessen the risk that it tightens prematurely just to demonstrate its resolve.

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