An Essay on the Political Economy Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic as Twin Crises

The subject and purpose of this study is to examine the new type of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which has turned into a global epidemic, with an economic-political approach. There are twin crises in the form of a health crisis (high human deaths) and an economic crisis (recession). Trillion-dollar aid packages from governments and international financial organizations also show that this global public health crisis has created an economic crisis. In the context of these crises, G-20 countries that did not intervene in their transmission channels in a timely manner showed the worst situations. This epidemic, calculated with the SIR model, is global, but the measures are local. What makes a clean, masked, and socially distant life obligatory against the risk of contamination is that this epidemic locks or restricts the whole economy, especially trade, education, and tourism. Measures called “new normalization” have started to relax in order to prevent further increase in unemployment and poverty.

Macroeconomic Factors Determining the Growth of Pakistan

This study attempts to explore the relation ofExternal Debt, Terms of Trade, Education,Military expenditures, Consumer Price Index, and GrossDomestic Production of Pakistan throughout 1997-2019. Toestimate the targeted objectives of this research AutoRegressive Distributive Lags (ARDL) technique was used. Theresults revealed some facts that Military expenditures andeducation were essential to achieve the goal of the high growthrate of the economy in the form of Gross Domestic Production.So policymakers should adopt strong strategies. Educationshould be as skilled and technical as possible and producemilitary equipment to save foreign exchange. CPI, TOT, andExd should be properly regulated because of their negativeimpact on GDP. CPI affects the people, so fiscal policy shouldbe adopted. Without external debt, governments feel helpless,so breaking this trap is essential for dignity and development.The model has a dampening convergence towards equilibrium

MODERN TRENDS IN APPLICATION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL APPROACH IN THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF ENTERPRISE

Global transformational processes in the economy against the background of the systemic development of information technologies, as well as the forced acceleration of the transition of all processes and life support systems to digital format against the background of a global pandemic, led to the rapid development of entrepreneurial activity in the digital space. This transition is most observed in trade, education, as well as other sectors and spheres of the economy. Authors of this article, relying on a number of different studies of the DI (digitization index) of business over the past 5 years, conclude that there are a large number of unsolved problems in this process, despite the stable nature of this trend. Exploring the possibilities of the architectural approach as the most relevant way of transforming companies in the direction of digitalization, this article provides an overview of its three main schools. Using the accumulated theoretical research and experience in the practical implementation of business digitalization projects, the authors summarize main problems of implementing enterprise architecture management systems and determine main trends in further application of the methodology, clarify the concept of "enterprise architecture", "enterprise architecture management" and "architectural approach" in the context of their practical application.

Valuing Education: The role of soft power in Chinese engagement with Tonga

<p>The bilateral relationship between China and Tonga has existed for almost fifteen years, expanding from an initially limited scope to encompass trade, education, tourism, culture and defence. While China has rapidly expanded its official relationship with Tonga, this expansion has created tensions within Tongan society generated by fears of Chinese immigrants taking jobs and businesses. These tensions boiled over in 2006, as Tongans rioted in the capital Nuku’alofa against Chinese shopkeepers over perceived unfair competition. The aftermath of the Nuku’alofa riots has seen an increasing awareness from China of the need to educate Tongans to its presence in their country, and its goals on the world stage. This new awareness has resulted in China adopting a number of approaches to educate Tongans as part of its expanding engagement. Education has become a central plank of this new-found education campaign, with China introducing several programmes to expose Tongan students to its culture and values, including scholarships for tertiary students to study within China. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the correlation between China’s increasing political and economic engagement with Tonga, and the increasing use of education programmes such as scholarships to educate Tongans about China and its culture and values. To accomplish this, the political and economic ties between China and Tonga will be analysed, as will the soft power initiatives that China has undertaken. These will then be analysed to test whether or not the increase in soft power initiatives is due to the expansion of political and economic ties between the two countries. This will allow the use of soft power by China in Tonga to be compared to the trends evident in other South Pacific states, to determine whether Tonga is a unique case or whether China is undertaking these policies across the region.</p>

Valuing Education: The role of soft power in Chinese engagement with Tonga

<p>The bilateral relationship between China and Tonga has existed for almost fifteen years, expanding from an initially limited scope to encompass trade, education, tourism, culture and defence. While China has rapidly expanded its official relationship with Tonga, this expansion has created tensions within Tongan society generated by fears of Chinese immigrants taking jobs and businesses. These tensions boiled over in 2006, as Tongans rioted in the capital Nuku’alofa against Chinese shopkeepers over perceived unfair competition. The aftermath of the Nuku’alofa riots has seen an increasing awareness from China of the need to educate Tongans to its presence in their country, and its goals on the world stage. This new awareness has resulted in China adopting a number of approaches to educate Tongans as part of its expanding engagement. Education has become a central plank of this new-found education campaign, with China introducing several programmes to expose Tongan students to its culture and values, including scholarships for tertiary students to study within China. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the correlation between China’s increasing political and economic engagement with Tonga, and the increasing use of education programmes such as scholarships to educate Tongans about China and its culture and values. To accomplish this, the political and economic ties between China and Tonga will be analysed, as will the soft power initiatives that China has undertaken. These will then be analysed to test whether or not the increase in soft power initiatives is due to the expansion of political and economic ties between the two countries. This will allow the use of soft power by China in Tonga to be compared to the trends evident in other South Pacific states, to determine whether Tonga is a unique case or whether China is undertaking these policies across the region.</p>

FOREIGN TRADE, EDUCATION, AND INNOVATIVE PERFORMANCE: A MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS

This study analyses the innovative performance of 5,273 companies across 64 different economic sectors and 32 different regions in Colombia. We assess the effects of education and open economy variables on the innovative performance of firms by analyzing firm, sectoral, and regional level determinants. The study takes the multilevel approach of the innovation process considering the structure and behavior of innovation systems in developing countries. We furthermore focus on technology transfer from foreign trade and the role of education in the process of innovation. We find that education and open economy variables have a significant relationship with innovation performance at the firm and regional levels. We finally conclude that Colombia has a fragmented innovation system with a weak institutional structure, and low interaction between policymakers, industry, universities, research centers.

Tobacco industry’s ‘behind the scenes’ tactics in Singapore

BackgroundTobacco companies have maintained a profitable business in Singapore, despite its strong anti-tobacco climate and commitment to protect public health policymaking from tobacco industry interference in line with Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Article 5.3. This study describes how tobacco companies influence policymaking in a highly regulated environment such as Singapore’s, where there is a strong government commitment to Article 5.3.MethodsAnalysis of internal tobacco industry documents detailing the industry’s lobbying activities in Singapore, retrieved via snowball searches in the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents Library. Subsequently, we conducted one-on-one interviews with key informants from sectors mentioned in the documents (academia, arts, government, public health, media, trade, education) to fill gaps in information and provide context to events described in the documents.ResultsIn the 1980s and 1990s, tobacco companies observed that, to influence policy within Singapore’s ‘hostile’ environment, they needed to use ‘behind the scenes’ tactics, targeting influential individuals at social functions or industry-sponsored events. Tobacco companies used arts and education sponsorships primarily for political purposes, to gain visibility with policymakers. Tobacco companies cultivated relationships with academic researchers and the media to avoid smoke-free legislation in the 1990s and, in the 2010s, appear to have used similar tactics to challenge Singapore’s e-cigarette ban.ConclusionsCountries with a strong commitment to Article 5.3 should consider the tobacco industry’s potential interference in policymaking beyond relationships in the government sector, particularly in academia, arts, education and the media, and the more subtle or indirect manners in which these relationships are built.

Evaluasi Pelaksanaan Webinar Pusdiklat Perdagangan Dengan Menggunakan Text Mining: Analisis Saran Peserta Webinar

The Trade Education and Training Center (Pusdiklat Perdagangan) participates in the development of competencies and skills of the Indonesian people. One of contribution is organizing webinars through the learning management system (LMS) Kudagang. As an education and training center that organizes infographic webinars, Pusdiklat Perdagangan hopes to provide the best service. Therefore, evaluation is a mandatory thing that must be done. The infographic became a webinar topic that was given to participants, both academics and professionals. To provide optimal service, Pusdiklat Perdagangan evaluates webinar activities through participant suggestions. The purpose of this study is to identify things that need to be addressed and improved in the implementation of future webinars so that the quality of services provided is optimal and identify topics and webinar materials that are really needed by the community. Suggestions from participants in the form of text are processed and analyzed using text mining. The data analysis consisted of two parts: (1) analysis of suggestions regarding the webinar activities; (2) suggestions for the next webinar topic. The results of the analysis of participant suggestions indicate several things that need to be improved in the implementation of the webinar, including the audio quality, the practice duration, the technique in delivering material, and the role of the host in guiding the webinar activities. The webinar topic suggestions given by the participants to Pusdiklat Perdagangan are advanced infographics, social media management, public speaking, effective communication, and how to write scientific articles

IMAGINING SWEETER AUSTRALIA-INDONESIA RELATIONS

Australia�s relationship with Indonesia has been a bit like the board game �Snakes and Ladders�. Incremental progress in the relationship (up the ladder) is easily undone (down the snake) over a range of misunderstandings including issues like beef, boats, spies, clemency, Timor and Papua. Both countries have considerable overlapping interests. They both have to find a way to deepen and broaden the bilateral relationship to prevent this cycle from continuing to recur. In considering how to do that, understanding how they got here is important. Bilateral and multilateral engagement, on trade, education, and security including through IA-CEPA, links like the Ikahan network, additional New Colombo Plan engagement and a MANIS regional maritime cooperation forum may help make that happen.