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城市土地空间和都市
Urban land
城市土地
Space and the city
空间和都市
Poor land use in the world's greatest cities carries a huge cost
糟糕的土地利用方式已经成为世界大都市不能承受之重
BUY land, advised Mark Twain; they're not making it any more. In fact, land is not really scarce: the entire population of America could fit into Texas with more than an acre for each household to enjoy. What drives prices skyward is a collision between rampant demand and limited supply in the great metropolises like London, Mumbai and New York. In the past ten years real prices in Hong Kong have risen by 150%. Residential property in Mayfair, in central London, can go for as much as 55,000 (82,000) per square metre. A square mile of Manhattan residential property costs 16.5 billion.
马克吐温曾建议说“都去买地吧”，但现在他们已经不这么做了。事实上，土地并非真的如此稀缺：仅一个德克萨斯州就能容纳整个美国人口，而且每户能有一英亩之多。在伦敦、孟买、纽约这种大都市里，地价飞涨的现实是疯狂的需求和有限的供给共同作用的结果。在过去10年里，香港的房地产价格上涨了150%。伦敦中心的梅菲尔区的住宅价格能飙至55000英镑每平米（相当于82000美元）。曼哈顿，一平方英里的的住宅价格为165亿美元。 Even in these great cities the scarcity is artificial. Regulatory limits on the height and density of buildings constrain supply and inflate prices. A recent analysis by academics at the London School of Economics estimates that land-use regulations in the West End of London inflate the price of office space by about 800%; in Milan and Paris the rules push up prices by around 300%. Most of the enormous value captured by landowners exists because it is well-nigh impossible to build new offices to compete those profits away.
即便是在这样的城市里，稀缺性也是人为造成的。从法律层面上对建筑的高度和密度进行限制，降低了供给，也助推了房价。伦敦经济学院的一项最新学术分析表明，土地使用管理条例令伦敦西区办公用房的价格上涨了800%，令米兰和巴黎的上涨了约300%。巨额资产掌握在现有的土地所有者手中，因为在这里建新办公楼引入竞争、分享收益，是几乎不可能的事。
The costs of this misfiring property market are huge, mainly because of their effects on individuals. High housing prices force workers towards cheaper but less productive places. According to one study, employment in the Bay Area around San Francisco would be about five times larger than it is but for tight limits on construction. Tot up these costs in lost earnings and unrealised human potential, and the figures become dizzying. Lifting all the barriers to urban growth in America could raise the country's GDP by between 6.5% and 13.5%, or by about 1 trillion-2 trillion. It is difficult to think of many other policies that would yield anything like that. 一潭死水的房地产市场所带来的社会成本是巨大的，因为它影响了这里的每个人。高昂的房价迫使务工者搬到更便宜但生产力更低下的地方。根据一项研究结果显示，如果不是因为对建筑业的严格限制，旧金山湾区的就业应该比现在多五倍；再加上损失的收入和未能实现的人的潜力，这个数字能把你吓晕。如果能扫清美国境内所有限制城市增长的阻碍因素，那么
国家GDP将会增加6.5%~13.5%，即10亿~20亿美元。这是任何其他政策都难以产生的巨大影响。
Metro stops
停滞的都市
Two long-run trends have led to this fractured market. One is the revival of the city as the central cog in the global economic machine. In the 20th century, tumbling transport costs weakened the gravitational pull of the city; in the 21st, the digital revolution has restored it. Knowledge-intensive industries such as technology and finance thrive on the clustering of workers who share ideas and expertise. The economies and populations of metropolises like London, New York and San Francisco have rebounded as a result.
两个长期趋势致使房产市场变得如此令人抓狂。其一是，城市的复兴成为了全球经济运转中必不可少的中心环节。在20世纪，糟糕的交通削弱了城市的吸引力；到了21世纪，数字革命修复了这一缺陷。像科技、金融这种知识密集型产业只有在人们能互相交流思想和专业技能的地方才能繁荣兴旺。伦敦、纽约和旧金山这样的大城市，其经济和人口之所以能复苏，正是得益于此。
What those cities have not regained is their historical ability to stretch in order to accommodate all those who want to come. There is a good reason for that: unconstrained urban growth in the late 19th century fostered crime and disease. Hence the second trend, the proliferation of green belts and rules on zoning. Over the course of the past century land-use rules have piled up so plentifully that getting planning permission is harder than hailing a cab on a wet afternoon. London has strict rules preventing new structures blocking certain views of St Paul's Cathedral. Google's plans to build housing on its Mountain View campus in Silicon Valley are being resisted on the ground that residents might keep pets, which could harm the local owl population. Nimbyish residents of low-density districts can exploit planning rules on everything from light levels to parking spaces to block plans for construction.
然而，这些城市失去了一项它们曾经有过的能力：扩张以容纳所有想要移居进来的人们。一个不错的理由就是：19世纪晚期无限制的城市扩张成为了犯罪和疾病的温床。那么第二个趋势就显而易见了：城市绿化带的泛滥和分区管制。纵观整个上世纪，政府出台了数不清的土地使用法规，以至于获取一个规划许可比在雨天的下午打出租还要困难。伦敦严格控制新建任何构筑物，以防止圣保罗大教堂的景观被破坏。Google计划在其所有的山景城园区建造房屋，却以“居民可能会养宠物、并且这会令当地猫头鹰的数量减少”为理由遭到拒绝。低密度社区Nimbyish的居民可以拿规划法规做挡箭牌为所欲为，从要求亮度水平到停车空间再到阻止一切建设。
A good thing, too, say many. The roads and rails criss-crossing big cities already creak under the pressure of growing populations. Dampening property prices hurts one of the few routes to wealth-accumulation still available to the middle classes. A cautious approach to development is the surest way to preserve public spaces and a city's heritage: give economists their way, and they would quickly pave over Central Park.
很多人认为，这样也不错啊。日益增长的人口已经令大城市的道路和十字交叉口不堪重负。被抑制的房地产价格虽然令一部分人的财富积累受到损失，但对于中产阶级来说仍然是可以
承受的。发展一定要慎重，要百分之百确保公共空间和保护城市遗产：如果把决策权交给经济学家，他们一定会以迅雷不及掩耳之势把中央公园铺成水泥大道。
However well these arguments go down in local planning meetings, they wilt on closer scrutiny. Home ownership is not especially egalitarian. Many households are priced out of more vibrant places. It is no coincidence that the home-ownership rate in the metropolitan area of downtrodden Detroit, at 71%, is well above the 55% in booming San Francisco. You do not need to build a forest of skyscrapers for a lot more people to make their home in big cities. San Francisco could squeeze in twice as many and remain half as dense as Manhattan.
然而，这些理由经不起本地规划会议的仔细斟酌。房屋所有权不是人人均等的。很多家庭被高房价挡在充满活力的地区之外。都市区的房屋所有权比例在日渐式微的底特律都达到71%，这一数字比日益兴旺的旧金山的55%要高得多，这可不是巧合。你不需要建造一片摩天大楼的森林来容纳越来越多在大城市安家的人们。旧金山的面积即便折叠两次，其人口密度也才只有曼哈顿的一半。
Property wrongs
歧路上的房地产
Zoning codes were conceived as a way to balance the social good of a growing, productive city and the private costs that growth sometimes imposes. But land-use rules have evolved into something more pernicious: a mechanism through which landowners are handed both unwarranted windfalls and the means to prevent others from exercising control over their property. Even small steps to restore a healthier balance between private and public good would yield handsome returns. Policymakers should focus on two things.
为了平衡不断增长且生产力强的城市中的社会利益与增长所附加的私人成本，人们想到了分区规范这个办法。但是，土地使用法规已经演变成了一个极为有害的机制：土地所有者一方面能躺着吃天上掉下来的馅饼，一方面还能光明正大地阻止任何人染指他们的不动产。现在即使能在健康地平衡公私利益方面迈出一小步，都将获得相当可观的回报。政治决策者应该把精力放在两方面。
First, they should ensure that city-planning decisions are made from the top down. When decisions are taken at local level, land-use rules tend to be stricter. Individual districts receive fewer of the benefits of a larger metropolitan population (jobs and taxes) than their costs (blocked views and congested streets). Moving housing-supply decisions to city level should mean that due weight is put on the benefits of growth. Any restrictions on building won by one district should be offset by increases elsewhere, so the city as a whole keeps to its development budget.
第一，他们应该确保涉及城市规划的决策是自上而下制定的。当决策权在本地政府手中时，通常对土地使用的限制会更加严格。就单个街区而言，大量都市人口是弊（受阻碍的视野和拥挤的街道）大於利（就业和税收）。而将住房供应量的决定权交给城市政府，则更能全面地考虑城市发展所带来的好处。如果一个街区对建设作出限制，就要以另一个街区增加建设作为补偿，因此城市作为一个整体就可以确保其应有的开发预算。
Second, governments should impose higher taxes on the value of land. In most rich countries,
land-value taxes account for a small share of total revenues. Land taxes are efficient. They are difficult to dodge; you cannot stuff land into a bank-vault in Luxembourg. Whereas a high tax on property can discourage investment, a high tax on land creates an incentive to develop unused sites. Land-value taxes can also help cater for newcomers. New infrastructure raises the value of nearby land, automatically feeding through into revenues—which helps to pay for the improvements.
其次，政府应该对地价征收重税。在大部分发达国家，地价税只占总收入中很小的一部分。地税是很有效的手段，因为你很难像藏钱一样把土地塞进卢森堡的银行保险柜里以逃避纳税。对不动产课重税会影响投资，而对土地课重税则会刺激人们开发尚未被使用的土地。地价税也有利于新来的居民。新建的基础设施能够增加附近土地的价值，然后自动转变成收入——反过来能补偿基建翻新的费用。
Neither better zoning nor land taxes are easy to impose. There are logistical hurdles, such as assessing the value of land with the property stripped out. The politics is harder still. But politically tricky problems are ten-a-penny. Few offer the people who solve them a trillion-dollar reward.
鉴于还有很多前期困难亟待解决，想要实施更好地分区规划或开始征收地税并不是件容易的事，比如如何刨除土地上面的房产而单独计算地价。政治方面也是个问题，但这些困难都不值一提，因为这些问题一旦解决，将会带来难以计数的丰厚回报。
托利党巨人退休才华横溢国会议员告别
Bratain
英国
A Tory titan retires
一托利党巨人退休
William, it was really nothing
威廉，真的没关系
The Conservatives bid farewell to a talented parliamentarian
保守党向一名才华横溢的国会议员告别
THE high esteem in which William Hague is held was evident on March 26th even amid the Conservative leader of the House of Commons's shabby last act. To mark the end of the parliament, which also concluded his 26-year-long career as an MP, Mr Hague launched a surprise, failed, bid to oust the speaker, John Bercow, who many Tories dislike. It was typical of the Tories' bungling in Parliament; but, MPs tutted, also an unseemly exit for one of its best performers of modern times.
就算这位下议院保守党领导人在3月26号的最后一举显得低劣，威廉·黑格享有的崇敬还是显而易见的。为了标记议会的结束，也将他26年的议员生涯画上句号，黑格让人们大吃一惊，他企图将不受托利党人欢迎的约翰·伯科赶下台，但失败了。这是托利党人在议会拙劣之举的典型，但对于近代最佳演员之一的黑格来说，引得议员们嘘声一片，这也是一个不体面的退场。
They were wrong. Because the 54-year-old Yorkshireman was following party orders—and that,
even more than his laconic drawl and brilliance at the dispatch box, epitomises his career. The episode was also typical of the sort of orders Mr Hague has often had to follow, as an absurdly young Welsh secretary under John Major, as his successor as party leader, and, between 2010 and 2014, as foreign secretary.
他们错了。因为这位54岁的约克郡人执行的是党的指令——这一举甚至超越了他简洁、慢吞吞的调子和在政务上的傲人之处，成为了他政治生涯的标志。这一插曲也是黑格经常需要遵从的典型指令，无论是作为约翰·梅杰手下年轻得不可思议的威尔士事务大臣，或是梅杰的继任党派领导人，还是作为2010到2014年间的外事大臣，都是如此。
So what did he achieve? In an interview in his parliamentary office, Mr Hague names, without hesitation, a law he got passed in 1995 to outlaw discrimination against the disabled as his proudest legislative achievement. His spell as party leader (“I don't regret taking the leadership on, or giving it up; somebody had to do it”) is harder to enthuse about. After a stab at forging a kinder Conservatism—which remains elusive—he fell back on Euroscepticism, was humiliated in the 2001 election and resigned. That he remained an MP was an act of courage, which he burnished with dazzling speeches and unshakable loyalty to his successors. David Cameron, who took the helm in 2005, called him the Tories' deputy leader in all but name.
那他到底获得了什么成果呢？在他的议员会议室里进行的一次采访里，黑格毫不犹豫地将1995年他推动通过的一项禁止歧视残疾人的法律视为他最值得骄傲的立法成就。他作为政党领导的魅力（“我不后悔扛上领导的担子，或者将它卸下来，总有人要做这件事”）更难笼络人心。在试图创造一个更为温和的保守主义（仍令人难以捉摸）后，黑格又回到了欧洲怀疑主义，在2001年的选举中颜面全失随后辞职。他仍留任议员实属勇气之举，他用言辞闪闪发光的演讲和对继任者不可动摇的忠诚来修饰了这一行为。2005年掌权的大卫·卡梅伦称其为托利党非名义上的实际代理领导。
This made Mr Hague the most powerful foreign secretary since Tony Blair, a globe-trotting prime minister, emasculated the job. Even in a time of cuts—which Mr Hague ensured were lighter at the Foreign Office than they might have been—he had an opportunity to strengthen his office (“the best job in the world”) and Britain's place in the world. He did not really take it.
这使得黑格成为了最有权威的外事大臣，因为托尼·布莱尔这位游历世界的总理无法胜任这份工作。即使在预算削减的时期（黑格保证外事办公室的削减程度比想象中轻），他仍有机会加强办公室的力量（“世上最好的工作”）并提升英国在世界上的地位。他并没有把握住这个机会。
He did some excellent things—restoring confidence to a department he found to be “shockingly” demoralised, including through a renewed emphasis on learning languages and other lapsed skills. He also expanded its operations, opening 20 missions, especially in India and China, the focus of a commercial push. He was also bold, early on, supporting Mr Cameron's championing of the Arab spring, including the intervention in Libya in 2011. Mr Hague describes their failure to win parliamentary support for strikes on Syria's regime in 2013 as one of his “worst experiences”. 他做了一些了不起的事：重塑这个他发现道德”惊人“沦丧的部门的信誉，包括重新强调学习语言和其他失效技能的重要性。他还扩大了部门的运作范围，新派出了20个驻外使团，特别是在印度和中国这些商业动力的中心。早些时候，他也十分大胆地支持卡梅伦对阿拉伯之春的拥护，还包括2011年对利比亚的干预。黑格认为他们在2013年没能赢得议会对叙
杂 志 案 例 分 析
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Digest Of The. Economist. 2006(8-9)
The mismeasure of woman
Men and women think differently. But not that differently
IN THE 1970s there was a fad for giving dolls to baby boys and fire-engines to baby girls. The idea was that differences in behaviour between the sexes were solely the result of upbringing: culture turned women into ironers, knitters and chatterboxes, and men into hammerers, drillers and silent types. Switching toys would put an end to sexual sorting. Today, it is clear why it did not. When boys and girls are born, they are already different, and they favour different toys from the beginning.
That boys and girls—and men and women—are programmed by evolution to behave differently from one another is now widely accepted. Surely, no one today would think of doing what John Money, of Johns Hopkins University, did in 1967:
amputating the genitalia of a boy who had suffered a botched circumcision, and advising the parents to bring him up as a girl. The experiment didn't work, and the consequences were tragic. But which of the differences between the sexes are “biological”, in the sense that they have been honed by evolution, and which are “cultural” or “environmental” and might more easily be altered by changed circumstances, is still fiercely debated.
The sensitivity of the question was shown last year by a furore at Harvard University. Larry Summers, then Harvard's
president, caused a storm when he suggested that innate ability could be an important reason why there were so few women in the top positions in mathematics, engineering and the physical sciences.
Even as a proposition for discussion, this is unacceptable to some. But biological explanations of human behaviour are making a comeback as the generation of academics that feared them as a covert way of justifying eugenics, or of thwarting Marxist utopianism, is retiring. The success of neo-Darwinism has provided an intellectual underpinning for discussion about why some differences between the sexes might be innate. And new scanning techniques have enabled researchers to examine the brain's interior while it is working, showing that male and female brains do, at one level, operate differently. The results, however, do not always support past clichés about what the differences in question actually are.
Differences in behaviour between the sexes must, in some way, be reflections of systematic differences between the brains of males and females. Such differences certainly exist, but drawing inferences from them is not as easy as it may appear.
For a start, men's brains are about 9% larger than those of women. That used to be cited as evidence of men's supposedly greater intelligence. Actually, the difference is largely (and probably completely) explained by the fact that men are bigger than women. In recent years, more detailed examination has refined the picture. Female brains have a higher percentage of grey matter (the manifestation, en bloc, of the central bodies of nerve cells), and thus a lower percentage of white matter (the manifestation of the long, thin filaments that connect nerve cells together), than male brains. That, plus the fact that in some regions of the female brain, nerve cells are packed more densely than in men, means that the number of nerve cells in male and female brains may be similar.
Oddly, though, the main connection between the two hemispheres of the brain, which is known as the corpus callosum and is made of white matter, is proportionately smaller in men than women. This may explain why men use only one side of the brain to process some problems for which women employ both sides.
These differences in structure and wiring do not appear to have any influence on intelligence as measured by IQ tests. It does, however, seem that the sexes carry out these tests in different ways. In one example, where men and women perform equally well in a test that asks them to work out whether nonsense words rhyme, brain scanning shows that women use areas on both the right and the left sides of the brain to accomplish the task. Men, by contrast, use only areas on the left side. There is also a correlation between mathematical reasoning and temporal-lobe activity in men—but none in women. More generally, men seem to rely more on their grey matter for their IQ, whereas women rely more on their white matter.
American exceptionalism
The world's biggest insurance market is too splintered
KANSAS CITY, Missouri, is known more for its historical role as a cattle town than as a financial hub. But it is to this
midwestern city, America's 26th largest, that regulators and insurance executives from around the globe head when they want to make sense of the world's largest—and one of its weirdest—insurance markets.
For it is in Kansas City that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is housed. It oversees a market accounting for one-third of premiums written worldwide. Outside Kansas City, the market becomes a regulatory free-for-all. Each of America's 50 states, plus the District of Colombia, governs its insurance industry in its own way.
In an increasingly global insurance market, America's state-based system is coming under strong pressure to reform. Insurance has changed dramatically since the NAIC was set up in 1871, with growing sophistication in underwriting and risk management. Premiums in America have ballooned to $1.1 trillion and market power is increasingly concentrated in the hands of big players (some of them foreign-owned) that are pushing for an overhaul of the state-based system. “It's an extremely expensive and Byzantine process,” says Bob Hartwig, an economist with the Insurance Information Institute, a research group.
Though a fiercely political issue, congressional support for simplifying the system is gaining ground. Both houses of Congress are looking at proposals to change the state-based system. Big insurers favour a version that would implement an optional federal charter allowing them to bypass the state-bystate regulatory process if they choose. A similar system already exists for banks.
Proponents of the changes see more efficiency, an ability to roll out products more quickly nationally and, ultimately, better offerings for consumers as a result. Yet some consumer groups favour state-based regulation. They believe it keeps premiums lower than they otherwise would be. Premiums as a percentage of gross output are lower in America than in several other countries.
The political headwinds are strong: insurance commissioners are elected officials in some states (California, for instance) and appointed by the governor in others. The industry is also split: most of the country's 4,500 insurers are small, and many of them have close ties with state-based regulators, whose survival they support. But even these forces may eventually be overcome.
Elsewhere in the industry in America, there are other calls for reform. In a backdoor form of protectionism, American
reinsurance firms have long benefited from a regulation that requires foreign reinsurers writing cross-border business into America to post more collateral than they do. “If you operate outside the borders of the US, they don't trust you one inch,” laments Julian James, head of international business at Lloyd's of London, which writes 38% of its business in America.
The collateral requirement was established because of worries about regulatory standards abroad, and the financial strength of global reinsurers. Today regulatory standards have been tightened in many foreign markets. A majority of America's reinsurance cover now comes from firms based abroad, including many that have set up offshore in Bermuda (for tax reasons) primarily to serve America.
Too hot to handle
Dell's battery recall reveals the technology industry's vulnerabilities
THERE is the nail test, in which a team of engineers drives a large metal nail through a battery cell to see if it explodes. In another trial, laboratory technicians bake the batteries in an oven to simulate the effects of a digital device left in a closed car on a sweltering day—to check the reaction of the chemicals inside. On production runs, random batches of batteries are tested for temperature, efficiency, energy density and output.
But the rigorous processes that go into making sophisticated, rechargeable batteries—the heart of billions of electronic gadgets around the world—were not enough. On August 14th Dell, a computer company, said it would replace 4.1m lithium-ion batteries made by Sony, a consumer-electronics firm, in laptop computers sold between 2004 and last month. A handful of customers had reported the batteries overheating, catching fire and even exploding—including one celebrated case at a conference this year in Japan, which was captured on film and passed around the internet. The cost to the two companies is expected to be between $200m and $400m.
In some ways, Dell is a victim of its success. The company was a pioneer in turning the personal computer into a commodity, which meant squeezing suppliers to the last penny, using economies of scale by placing huge orders, and running efficient supply chains with little room for error. It all created a volatile environment in which mistakes can have grave effects.【经济学人,杂志,案例】
Since lithium-ion batteries were introduced in 1991, their capacity to overheat and burst into flame has been well known. Indeed, in 2004 America banned them as cargo on passenger planes, as a fire hazard. But the latest problems seem to have arisen because of the manufacturing process, which demands perfection. “If there is even a nano-sized particle of dust, a small metal shard or water condensation that gets into the battery cell, it can overheat and explode,” says Sara Bradford of Frost & Sullivan, a consultancy. As the energy needs of devices have grown rapidly, so have the demands on batteries.
The computing industry's culture is also partly to blame. Firms have long tried to ship products as fast as they possibly can, and they may have set less store by quality. They used to mock the telecoms industry's ethos of “five-nines”—99.999%
reliability—because it meant long product cycles. But now they are gradually accepting it as a benchmark. That is partly why Microsoft has taken so long to perfect its new operating system, Windows Vista.
Compared with other product crises, from contaminated Coca-Cola in 1999 to Firestone's faulty tyres in 2000, Dell can be complimented for quickly taking charge of a hot situation. The firm says there were only six incidents of laptops overheating in America since December 2005—but the internet created a conflagration.
Keeping the faith
Mixing religion and development raises soul-searching questions
WORLD Bank projects are usually free of words like “faith” and “soul.” Most of its missions speak the jargon of development: poverty reduction, aggregate growth and structural adjustments. But a small unit within the bank has been currying favour with religious groups, working to ease their suspicions and use their influence to further the bank's goals. In many developing countries, such groups have the best access to the people the bank is trying to help. The programme has existed for eight years, but this brainchild of the bank's previous president, James Wolfensohn, has spent the past year largely in limbo as his successor, Paul Wolfowitz, decides its future. Now, some religious leaders in the developing world are worried that the progress they have made with the bank may stall.
That progress has not always been easy. The programme, named the Development Dialogue on Values and Ethics, faced controversy from the start. Just as religious groups have struggled to work with the bank, many people on the inside doubted if the bank should be delving into the divine. Critics argued that religion could be divisive and political. Some said religion clashes with the secular goals of modernisation.
Although the bank does not lend directly to religious groups, it works with them to provide health, educational and other benefits, and receives direct input from those on the ground in poor countries. Katherine Marshall, director of the bank's faith unit, argues that such groups are in an ideal position to educate people, move resources and keep an eye on corruption. They are organised distribution systems in otherwise chaotic places. The programme has had success getting evangelical groups to fight
malaria in Mozambique, improve microcredit and water distribution in India, and educate people about AIDS in Africa. “We started from very different viewpoints. The World Bank is looking at the survival of a country, we look at the survival of a patient,” says Leonardo Palombi, of the Community of Sant'Egidio, an Italian church group that works in Africa.
Although the work continues, those involved in Mr Wolfensohn's former pet project now fret over its future. Some expect the faith unit to be transferred to an independent organisation also set up by Mr Wolfensohn, the World Faiths Development Dialogue, which will still maintain a link with the bank. Religious groups are hoping their voices will still be heard. “If we are going to make progress, faith institutions need to be involved. We believe religion has the ability to bring stability. It will be important for the bank to follow through,” says Agnes Abuom, of the World Council of Churches for Africa, based in Kenya.
Like religious groups, large institutions such as the bank can resist change. Economists and development experts are
sometimes slow to believe in new ideas. One positive by-product of the initiative is that religious groups once wary of the bank's intentions are less suspicious. Ultimately, as long as both economists and evangelists aim to help the poor attain a better life on earth, differences in opinion about the life hereafter do not matter much.
Stand and deliver
For the first time since the epidemic began, money to fight AIDS is in plentiful supply. It is
now time to convert words into action
KEVIN DE COCK, the World Health Organisation's AIDS supremo, is not a man to mince his words. He reckons that he and his colleagues in the global AIDS establishment have between five and seven years to make a real dent in the problem. If they fail, the world's attention span will be exhausted, charitable donors and governments will turn to other matters and AIDS will be
relegated in the public consciousness to being yet another intractable problem of the poor world about which little or nothing can be done.
For now, though, the money is flowing. About $8.9 billion is expected to be available this year. And, regardless of Dr De Cock's long-term worries, that sum should rise over the next few years. Not surprisingly, a lot of people are eager to spend it.
Many of those people—some 24,000 of them—have been meeting in Toronto at the 16th International AIDS Conference. An AIDS conference is unlike any other scientific meeting. In part, it is a jamboree in which people try to out-do each other in displays of cultural inclusiveness: the music of six continents resonates around the convention centre. In part, it is a lightning conductor that allows AIDS activists to make their discontent known to the world in a series of semi-official protests. It is also what other
scientific meetings are, a forum for the presentation of papers with titles such as “Differing lymphocyte cytokine responses in HIV and Leishmania co-infection”. But mostly, it is a giant council of war. And at this one, the generals are trying to impose a complete change of military strategy.
When AIDS was discovered, there was no treatment. Existing anti-viral drugs were tried but at best they delayed the inevitable, and at worst they failed completely. Prevention, then, was not merely better than cure, it was the only thing to talk about. Condoms were distributed. Posters were posted exhorting the advantages of safe sex. Television adverts were run that showed the
consequences of carelessness.
Ten years ago, though, a new class of drugs known as protease inhibitors was developed. In combination with some of the older drugs, they produced what is now known as highly active anti-retroviral therapy or HAART. In most cases, HAART can prolong life indefinitely.
That completely changed the picture. Once the AIDS activists had treated themselves, they began to lobby for the poor world to be treated, too. And, with much foot-dragging, that is now happening. About 1.6m people in low- and middle-income countries, 1m of them in sub-Saharan Africa, are now receiving anti-AIDS drugs routinely. The intention, announced at last year's G8 meeting in Scotland, is that the drugs should be available by 2010 to all who would benefit from them.
However, those on drugs remain infected and require treatment indefinitely. To stop the epidemic requires a re-emphasis of prevention, and it is that which the organisers have been trying to do.
Man, deconstructed
The DNA that may have driven the evolution of the human brain
ONE of the benefits of knowing the complete genetic sequences of humans and other animals is that it becomes possible to compare these blueprints. You can then work out what separates man from beast—genetically speaking, at least.
The human brain sets man apart. About 2m years ago it began to grow in size, and today it is about three times larger than that of chimpanzees, man's closest relative. Human intelligence and behavioural complexity have far outstripped those of its simian cousins, so the human brain seems to have got more complex, as well as bigger. Yet no study has pinpointed the genetic changes that cause these differences between man and chimp.
Now a group of scientists believe they have located some interesting stretches of DNA that may have been crucial in the evolution of the human brain. A team led by David Haussler of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in California, compared the human genome with that of mammals including other primates. They reported the results in Nature.
The researchers looked at the non-human genomes first, seeking regions that had not changed much throughout evolutionary history. Regions that are untouched by normal random changes typically are important ones, and thus are conserved by evolution. Next the researchers found the equivalent regions in the human genome to see if any were very different between humans and chimps. Such a sudden change is a hallmark of a functional evolutionary shift.
They found 49 regions they dubbed “human accelerated regions” (HARs) that have shown a rapid, recent evolution. Most of these regions are not genes as commonly understood. This is because they code for something other than the proteins that are expressed in human cells and that regulate biological processes. A number of the HARs are portions of DNA that are responsible for turning genes on and off.
Intriguingly, the most rapidly changing region was HAR1, which has accumulated 18 genetic changes when only one would be expected to occur by chance. It codes for a bit of RNA (a molecule that usually acts as a template for translating DNA into protein) that, it is speculated, has some direct function in neuronal development.
HAR1 is expressed before birth in the developing neocortex—the outer layer of the brain that seems to be involved in higher functions such as language, conscious thought and sensory perception. HAR1 is expressed in cells that are thought to have a vital role in directing migrating nerve cells in the developing brain. This happens at seven to 19 weeks of gestation, a crucial time when many of the nerve cells are establishing their functions.
Without more research, the function of HAR1 remains mere speculation. But an intriguing facet of this work is that, until now, most researchers had focused their hunt for differences on the protein-coding stretches of the genome. That such a discovery has been made in what was regarded as the less interesting parts of the human genome is a presage of where exciting genomic finds may lie in the future.
Keeping it real
How to make digital photography more trustworthy
PHOTOGRAPHY often blurs the distinction between art and reality. Modern technology has made that blurring easier. In the digital darkroom photographers can manipulate images and threaten the integrity of endeavours that rely on them. Several
journalists have been fired for such activity in recent months, including one from Reuters for faking pictures in Lebanon. Earlier this year, the investigation into Hwang Woo-suk showed the South Korean scientist had changed images purporting to show cloning. In an effort to reel in photography, camera-makers are making it more obvious when images have been altered.
One way of doing this is to use image-authentication systems to reveal if someone has tampered with a picture. These use
computer programs to generate a code from the very data that comprise the image. As the picture is captured, the code is attached to it. When the image is viewed, software determines the code for the image and compares it with the attached code. If the image has been altered, the codes will not match, revealing the doctoring.
Another way favoured by manufacturers is to take a piece of data from the image and assign it a secret code. Once the image file is transferred to a computer, it is given the same code, which will change if it is edited. The codes will match if the image is authentic but will be inconsistent if tampering occurred.
The algorithm is the weapon of choice for Hany Farid, a computer scientist at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. Digital images have natural statistical patterns in the intensity and texture of their pixels. These patterns change when the picture is manipulated. Dr Farid's algorithms detect these changes, and can tell if pixels have been duplicated or removed. They also try to detect if noise—the overexposed pixels within the image that create a grainy effect—was present at the time the photograph was taken or has been added later.
However, forgers have become adept at printing and rescanning images, thus creating a new original. In such cases, analysing how three-dimensional elements interact is key. Long shadows at midday are a giveaway. Even the tiny reflections in the centre of a person's pupil tell you about the surrounding light source. So Dr Farid analyses shadows and lighting to see if subjects and surroundings are consistent.
For its part, Adobe, the maker of Photoshop software, has improved its ability to record the changes made to an image by logging how and when each tool or filter was used. Photoshop was the program used by the journalist fired by Reuters; his
handiwork left a pattern in the smoke he had added that was spotted by bloggers. Thus far the internet has proven an effective check on digital forgery. Although it allows potentially fake images to be disseminated widely, it also casts many more critical eyes upon them. Sometimes the best scrutiny is simply more people looking.
Collateral damage
Why the war in Iraq is surprisingly bad news for America's defence firms
WHEN Boeing announced on August 18th that it planned to shut down production of the C-17, a huge military cargo plane, the news sent a shiver through the American defence industry. As it winds down its production line at Long Beach, California, over the next two years, Boeing will soon begin to notify suppliers that their services will no longer be needed. It had to call a halt, because orders from America's Defence Department had dried up and a trickle of export deals could not take their place. The company would not support the cost of running the production line for the C-17 (once one of its biggest-selling aircraft) on the off-chance that the Pentagon might change its mind and place further orders.
The wider worry for the defence industry is that this could be the first of many big programmes to be shut down. A big part of the problem is that America is at war. The need to find an extra $100 billion a year to pay for operations in Iraq means there is pressure to make cuts in the defence budget, which has been provisionally set at $441 billion for the fiscal year beginning in October. American defence budgets involve a complicated dance starting with what the Pentagon wants, what the White House thinks it should get and, finally, what Congress allows it to get away with. Although the armed forces' extra spending on
ammunition, fuel, provisions, medicines and accommodation in Iraq does not strictly come out of the same budget as new weapons, the heavy bill for fighting eventually leads to calls to save money on shiny new equipment.
Earlier this month, for example, the Congressional Budget Office expressed “major concerns” about Future Combat Systems, a $165 billion project to upgrade all of the army's vehicles and communications networks. The scheme is the Pentagon's
second-biggest development programme and is intended to give the soldiers on the ground access to real-time battlefield
information from sources such as satellites and unmanned aircraft. But the programme was initially expected to cost about $82 billion, half the latest estimate, and critics are also worried about how well it will work and whether it will be delivered on time.
Last week the army issued a glowing progress report on the project and insisted that Boeing and Science Applications
International Corporation, the lead contractors, are on schedule. This was welcome news to defence contractors worried that the grandiose project might fall victim to pressure for budget cuts. Even so, the prospects for many other big weapons programmes are less rosy.
The problem is not just the cost of the fighting in Iraq, but also its nature. The shift in the style of warfare, towards such
“asymmetric” conflicts, means that there is now less demand for big-ticket weapons systems. Things were simpler in the cold war, when the Pentagon spent about $150 billion a year on new weapons. That fell to around $50 billion after the fall of the Berlin Wall. America's 15 main defence contractors reacted by consolidating into today's top five. When he became president, George Bush promised to increase defence spending, and he has done so: the procurement budget is back up to nearly $160 billion, despite the
Our interactive overview of global house prices and rents
全球房价和租价互动概貌
SCARCELY has one bubble deflated when another threatens to pop. While America's housing bust—the crash that began the global financial crisis—is near an end, adjustments elsewhere are incomplete. In a few countries, like China and France, values look dangerously frothy. There is always trouble somewhere. And because buying a house usually involves taking on lots of debt, the bursting of this kind of bubble hits banks disproportionately hard. Research into financial crises in developed and emerging markets shows a consistent link between house-price cycles and banking busts.
一个泡沫很少在另一个泡沫行将破灭时自行减退。当美国房地产泡沫破裂（房地产暴跌导致全球金融危机）接近尾声之时，其他地方的一些调整措施尚在进行中。在一些国家——如中国和法国——房地产价格看上去依然是危险的泡沫。总会有地方有麻烦。并且，买房通常涉及承担大量贷款，这种类型的泡沫破裂之后，对银行造成的冲击会相当的大。对发达和新兴市场的金融危机的研究表明，房价周期与银行萧条有一致的联系。
The Economist has been publishing data on global house prices since 2002. The interactive tool above enables you to compare nominal and real house prices across 20 markets over time. And to get a sense of whether buying a property is becoming more or less affordable, you can also look at the changing relationships between house prices and rents, and between house prices and incomes.
《经济学人》自2002年以来就开始发布全球房地产价格数据。您可以使用上面的互动式工具来比较不同时间段20个市场的房地产名义价格和实际价格。并且，对于购买物业是变得容易了还是难了，您可以看看房价和租价、房价与收入之间变化的关系，来作出自己的判断。
Insurance 保险业
经过两年下滑，全球保险业于2010年恢复增长。根据瑞士再
保险提供的数据上，2010年保费收入按实值计算达4.3万亿
美元，整体上增长了2.7％。按总量计算，富国主宰市场，但
增长集中在新兴市场。占全球市场份额四分之一多的美国去
年保费名义上小幅上涨，但考虑到通胀因素，实际下跌。新
兴市场的保费实质增长11％。中国保险市场虽然仍不及美国
的五分之一，但它是去年增长最快的大市场，保费实际总额
增长超过四分之一。
After two years of decline, the global insurance industry returned to growth in 2010. Overall, insurance premiums rose by 2.7% in real terms to $4.3 trillion in 2010, according to Swiss Re, a reinsurance firm. Rich countries dominate the market by volume, but growth was concentrated in emerging markets. In America, which accounts for more than a quarter of the world market, premiums rose slightly in nominal terms last year, but fell after adjusting for inflation. Emerging-world premiums rose by 11% in real terms. China’s insurance market, though still less than a fifth the size of America’s, was the fastest-growing big market last year, with total premiums surging by more than a quarter in real terms.
Women in politics女性从政
A noticeable number of females related to leaders are now in high political office
相当数量的一些与领导人有关的女性现居政治高位
YINGLUCK SHINAWATRA, whose party won Thailand’s general election and who is the country’s presumptive prime minister, is far from the only female relative of a former leader to have taken over the family political mantle (Yingluck is the youngest sister of Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister ousted by the army in 2006). As our table shows, there are at least 20 such figures now active in politics, including three presidents or prime ministers and six leaders of the opposition or presidential candidates. (The region most receptive to female dynastic leaders seems to be South Asia. Two of the last three presidents of the Philippines have also been related to former presidents.) Historical figures are not available for comparison, but it is hard to think of any period when so many such women hold high political office. A remarkable number are daughters or other relatives of former strongmen: they are influential in Ghana, France, Peru, South Korea, Guatemala, Kazakhstan and Italy. Perhaps women are thought best able to soften an authoritarian family brand, and make it more acceptable in a democracy.
英拉·西那瓦所在的政党赢得泰国大选，据信她将成为总理。不过作为接过家族政治重任的前领导人的
女性亲属，她远非独一无二（英拉是他信最小的妹妹，后者在2006年被军队剥夺了权力）。正如《经济学人》表格所示，至少有20位英拉式的人物现在活跃在政治舞台上，包括3位总统或总理、6位反对党领袖或总统候选人。（对女性王朝领导人最为接纳的地方似乎是南亚。菲律宾最近3位总统中，有两位都与前总统有关）。尚没有历史数据可以拿来比较，不过很难想象哪一个时期有如此之多的女性居于政治高位。相当数量的一些女性是前政治强人的女儿或者其他亲戚：她们在加纳、法国、秘鲁、韩国、瓜地马拉、哈萨克斯坦和意大利颇有影响力。可能人们认为女性最能软化独裁主义家族烙印，使其在民主国家更能被接受。
Europe’s social media hotspots
欧洲社交媒体的热点地区
Which Europeans are the most enthusiastic, and the most fearful, social networkers
哪些欧洲人最热衷社交网络，哪些欧洲人最害怕社交网络？
WEB users in Germany are less likely to visit social networking sites than any of their European neighbours, according to a new study of internet habits published by the European Commission. Only 37% of German internet users make use of such services, compared with 80% in Hungary. Indeed, internet geeks in the EU’s eastern member states seem the most smitten by networking sites, with Latvia, Poland, Slovakia and Cyprus registering similarly high proportions of users.
A similar report in 2010 found that Europeans are increasingly concerned about online data privacy. Viewed as a whole, EU citizens are now split over whether to worry about the misuse of personal data on social networking websites. Curiously, the Commission has also found that European countries with high percentages of social network users tend to have low percentages of online shoppers (and vice-versa). The suggestion that friending and spending are largely incompatible may be a cause for concern for social networks that still struggle to extract steady revenues from their mammoth memberships.
根据欧洲委员会(European Commission)最新发布的一份互联网行为习惯的研究报告，德国的互联网用户比起其它欧洲国家的网民较少访问社交网站。只有37%的德国网民使用这类服务，而匈牙利的比率是80%。此外，欧盟东部成员国的互联网极客们似乎受社交网站的吸引最深，拉脱维亚、波兰、斯洛文尼亚和塞浦路斯都有类似的高比例社交网站注册用户。2010年的一份类似报告发现欧洲人对于在线数据的隐私变得越来越担心。尽管欧盟居民被看作是一个整体，但是现在对于是否该对社交网站上个人信息的滥用担忧却出现了不一致的意见。有趣的是，该委员会还发现，社交网络用户比例高的欧洲国家其网购人数比例往往较低（反之亦然），暗示出交友和花钱在很大程度上不相容，这也许是社交网络要担心的一个问题（社交网络仍然在竭力从数量庞大的会员中攫取稳定的收益）。
Commercial-property prices
商业地产价格
Soaring property prices played such an important role in the financial crisis—fuelling ever more borrowing—that recovery is unlikely to be robust until the sector peps up. Figures from the Bank for International Settlements suggest that commercial property might at least be reaching an inflection point. Except in Ireland, where the dire state of banks is likely to curtail credit for
some time, and Canada, which peaked late, prices are dropping gradually, if at all. American commercial-property prices have stopped falling, which may bode well for the residential market, where the subprime crisis originated. But future interest-rate rises in America and Europe could yet strangle any recovery.
飞涨的房地产价格通过更进一步地刺激借贷对金融
危机起了推波助澜的作用，房地产业如果不能振兴，
经济复苏就不可能有强劲的势头。国际清算银行的数
字表明，商业地产价格可能至少正在接近转折点。爱
尔兰和加拿大除外，前者银行的恶劣状态可能会使其
在一段时间内缩减信贷，后者的价格达到高峰值的时
间晚一些，目前价格还在逐渐下降。美国的商业地产
价格已停止下降，这可能是引发次贷危机的住宅市场
的好兆头。但是，美国和欧洲未来利率的上升有可能
会抑制地产业的恢复。
The world's biggest banks
全球最大银行
尽管在全球金融危机中遭受重创，但根据一级资本排
名，美国银行在世界最大银行年度排行榜上仍据统治
地位。据《银行家》，按照该标准，在危机期间收购
了美林证券公司的美国银行于2009年取代摩根大通
成为世界最大银行。另有三家美国银行名列十强。不
过，最大并不意味着最盈利。去年，中国工商银行名
列全球银行业绩榜首。在全球最盈利十大银行中，中
美各有三家。世界第三大银行花旗集团去年同时跃升
为第三大亏损银行。
Despite their prominent role in the global financial crisis, American banks still dominate an annual list of the world’s biggest, ranked by their tier-one capital. According to the Banker, Bank of America, which bought Merrill Lynch during the crisis, became the largest bank in the world by this measure in 2009, displacing JPMorgan Chase. Three other American institutions make the top ten. Being the biggest does not, however, mean being the most profitable: ICBC, a Chinese bank, topped that global league table last year. America and China each have three banks among the world’s ten most profitable. Citigroup, the third-largest bank in the world, also ran up the third-largest losses last year.
Overheating emerging markets
过热的新兴市场
Which emerging economies are at greatest risk of overheating?
哪一个新兴经济体过热的风险最大？
THIS chart, based on an analysis by The Economist, ranks 27 economies according to their risk of boiling over. We take each economy’s temperature using six different indicators: the inflation rate, the unemployment rate relative to its ten-year average, GDP growth relative to trend, excess credit (the growth in bank lending minus the growth in nominal GDP), real interest rates, and the forecast change in the current-account balance in 2011.
根据《经济学家》的分析，该表将27个经济体按照失控风险排了座次。在测量各个经济体的热度时，一共用到6个不同的指标：通货膨胀率、（某年）失业率与10年平均失业率之比、（某年）GDP增长率与GDP趋势增长率之比、超额信贷（银行借贷的增长率和名义上GDP增长率之差）、实际利率以及2011年经常账户余额变化的预期值。
Countries are first graded according to the risk of overheating suggested by each indicator (2=high risk, 1=moderate, 0=low). For example, if the growth in excess credit is more than 5% it scores 2 points, 0-5% 1 point, and below 0% nil. The scores from each indicator are then summed and turned into an overall index; 100 means that an economy is red-hot on all six measures.
根据由每一指标表明的过热风险，国家首先被评分（2分表示高风险，1分表示中等风险，0分表示低
Digest Of The. Economist. 2006(6-7)
Hard to digest
A wealth of genetic information is to be found in the human gut
BACTERIA, like people, can be divided into friend and foe. Inspired by evidence that the friendly sort may help with a range of ailments, many people consume bacteria in the form of yogurts and dietary supplements. Such a smattering of artificial additions, however, represents but a drop in the ocean. There are at least 800 types of bacteria living in the human gut. And research by Steven Gill of the Institute for Genomic Research in Rockville, Maryland, and his colleagues, published in this week's Science, suggests that the collective genome of these organisms is so large that it contains 100 times as many genes as the human genome itself.
Dr Gill and his team were able to come to this conclusion by extracting bacterial DNA from the faeces of two volunteers. Because of the complexity of the samples, they were not able to reconstruct the entire genomes of each of the gut bacteria, just the individual genes. But that allowed them to make an estimate of numbers.
What all these bacteria are doing is tricky to identify—the bacteria themselves are difficult to cultivate. So the researchers
guessed at what they might be up to by comparing the genes they discovered with published databases of genes whose functions are already known.
This comparison helped Dr Gill identify for the first time the probable enzymatic processes by which bacteria help humans to digest the complex carbohydrates in plants. The bacteria also contain a plentiful supply of genes involved in the synthesis of
chemicals essential to human life—including two B vitamins and certain essential amino acids—although the team merely showed that these metabolic pathways exist rather than proving that they are used. Nevertheless, the pathways they found leave humans looking more like ruminants: animals such as goats and sheep that use bacteria to break down otherwise indigestible matter in the plants they eat.
The broader conclusion Dr Gill draws is that people are superorganisms whose metabolism represents an amalgamation of human and microbial attributes. The notion of a superorganism has emerged before, as researchers in other fields have come to view humans as having a diverse internal ecosystem. This, suggest some, will be crucial to the success of personalised medicine, as different people will have different responses to drugs, depending on their microbial flora. Accordingly, the next step, says Dr Gill, is to see how microbial populations vary between people of different ages, backgrounds and diets.
Another area of research is the process by which these helpful bacteria first colonise the digestive tract. Babies acquire their gut flora as they pass down the birth canal and take a gene-filled gulp of their mother's vaginal and faecal flora. It might not be the most delicious of first meals, but it could well be an important one.
Zapping the blues
The rebirth of electric-shock treatment
ELECTRICITY has long been used to treat medical disorders. As early as the second century AD, Galen, a Greek physician, recommended the use of electric eels for treating headaches and facial pain. In the 1930s Ugo Cerletti and Lucio Bini, two Italian psychiatrists, used electroconvulsive therapy to treat schizophrenia. These days, such rigorous techniques are practised less widely. But researchers are still investigating how a gentler electric therapy appears to treat depression.
Vagus-nerve stimulation, to give it its proper name, was originally developed to treat severe epilepsy. It requires a
pacemaker-like device to be implanted in a patient's chest and wires from it threaded up to the vagus nerve on the left side of his neck. In the normal course of events, this provides an electrical pulse to the vagus nerve for 30 seconds every five minutes.
This treatment does not always work, but in some cases where it failed (the number of epileptic seizures experienced by a
patient remaining the same), that patient nevertheless reported feeling much better after receiving the implant. This secondary effect led to trials for treating depression and, in 2005, America's Food and Drug Administration approved the therapy for depression that fails to respond to all conventional treatments, including drugs and psychotherapy.
Not only does the treatment work, but its effects appear to be long lasting. A study led by Charles Conway of Saint Louis University in Missouri, and presented to a recent meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, has found that 70% of patients who are better after one year stay better after two years as well.
The technique builds on a procedure called deep-brain stimulation, in which electrodes are implanted deep into the white
matter of patients' brains and used to “reboot” faulty neural circuitry. Such an operation is a big undertaking, requiring a full day of surgery and carrying a risk of the patient suffering a stroke. Only a small number of people have been treated this way. In contrast, the device that stimulates the vagus nerve can be implanted in 45 minutes without a stay in hospital.
The trouble is that vagus-nerve stimulation can take a long time to produce its full beneficial effect. According to Dr Conway, scans taken using a technique called positron-emission tomography show significant changes in brain activity starting three months after treatment begins. The changes are similar to the improvements seen in patients who undergo other forms of antidepression treatment. The brain continues to change over the following 21 months. Dr Conway says that patients should be told that the antidepressant effects could be slow in coming.
However, Richard Selway of King's College Hospital, London, found that his patients' moods improved just weeks after the implant. Although brain scans are useful in determining the longevity of the treatment, Mr Selway notes that visible changes in the brain do not necessarily correlate perfectly with changes in mood.
Nobody knows why stimulating the vagus nerve improves the mood of depressed patients, but Mr Selway has a theory. He believes that the electrical stimulation causes a region in the brain stem called the locus caeruleus (Latin, ironically, for “blue
place”) to flood the brain with norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter implicated in alertness, concentration and motivation—that is, the mood states missing in depressed patients. Whatever the mechanism, for the depressed a therapy that is relatively safe and long lasting is rare cause for cheer.
The shape of things to come
How tomorrow's nuclear power stations will differ from today's
THE agency in charge of promoting nuclear power in America describes a new generation of reactors that will be “highly economical” with “enhanced safety”, that “minimise wastes” and will prove “proliferation resistant”. No doubt they will bake a mean apple pie, too.
Unfortunately, in the world of nuclear energy, fine words are not enough. America got away lightly with its nuclear accident. When the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania overheated in 1979 very little radiation leaked, and there were no injuries. Europe was not so lucky. The accident at Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986 killed dozens immediately and has affected (sometimes fatally) the health of tens of thousands at the least. Even discounting the association of nuclear power with nuclear weaponry, people have good reason to be suspicious of claims that reactors are safe.
Yet political interest in nuclear power is reviving across the world, thanks in part to concerns about global warming and energy security. Already, some 441 commercial reactors operate in 31 countries and provide 17% of the planet's electricity, according to America's Department of Energy. Until recently, the talk was of how to retire these reactors gracefully. Now it is of how to extend their lives. In addition, another 32 reactors are being built, mostly in India, China and their neighbours. These new power stations belong to what has been called the third generation of reactors, designs that have been informed by experience and that are considered by their creators to be advanced. But will these new stations really be safer than their predecessors?
Clearly, modern designs need to be less accident prone. The most important feature of a safe design is that it “fails safe”. For a reactor, this means that if its control systems stop working it shuts down automatically, safely dissipates the heat produced by the reactions in its core, and stops both the fuel and the radioactive waste produced by nuclear reactions from escaping by keeping them within some sort of containment vessel. Reactors that follow such rules are called “passive”. Most modern designs are passive to some extent and some newer ones are truly so. However, some of the genuinely passive reactors are also likely to be more expensive to run.
Nuclear energy is produced by atomic fission. A large atom (usually uranium or plutonium) breaks into two smaller ones,
releasing energy and neutrons. The neutrons then trigger further break-ups. And so on. If this “chain reaction” can be controlled, the energy released can be used to boil water, produce steam and drive a turbine that generates electricity. If it runs away, the result is a meltdown and an accident (or, in extreme circumstances, a nuclear explosion—though circumstances are never that extreme in a reactor because the fuel is less fissile than the material in a bomb). In many new designs the neutrons, and thus the chain reaction, are kept under control by passing them through water to slow them down. (Slow neutrons trigger more break ups than fast ones.) This water is exposed to a pressure of about 150 atmospheres—a pressure that means it remains liquid even at high temperatures. When nuclear reactions warm the water, its density drops, and the neutrons passing through it are no longer slowed enough to trigger further reactions. That negative feedback stabilises the reaction rate.
Can business be cool?
Why a growing number of firms are taking global warming seriously
RUPERT MURDOCH is no green activist. But in Pebble Beach later this summer, the annual gathering of executives of Mr Murdoch's News Corporation—which last year led to a dramatic shift in the media conglomerate's attitude to the internet—will be addressed by several leading environmentalists, including a vice-president turned climatechange movie star. Last month BSkyB, a British satellite-television company chaired by Mr Murdoch and run by his son, James, declared itself “carbon-neutral”, having taken various steps to cut or offset its discharges of carbon into the atmosphere.
The army of corporate greens is growing fast. Late last year HSBC became the first big bank to announce that it was
carbon-neutral, joining other financial institutions, including Swiss Re, a reinsurer, and Goldman Sachs, an investment bank, in waging war on climate-warming gases (of which carbon dioxide is the main culprit). Last year General Electric (GE), an industrial powerhouse, launched its “Ecomagination” strategy, aiming to cut its output of greenhouse gases and to invest heavily in clean (ie, carbon-free) technologies. In October Wal-Mart announced a series of environmental schemes, including doubling the
fuel-efficiency of its fleet of vehicles within a decade. Tesco and Sainsbury, two of Britain's biggest retailers, are competing
fiercely to be the greenest. And on June 7 some leading British bosses lobbied Tony Blair for a more ambitious policy on climate change, even if that involves harsher regulation.
The greening of business is by no means universal, however. Money from Exxon Mobil, Ford and General Motors helped pay for television advertisements aired recently in America by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, with the daft slogan “Carbon dioxide: they call it pollution; we call it life”. Besides, environmentalist critics say, some firms are engaged in superficial “greenwash” to boost the image of essentially climate-hurting businesses. Take BP, the most prominent corporate advocate of action on climate change, with its “Beyond Petroleum” ad campaign, highprofile investments in green energy, and even a “carbon calculator” on its website that helps consumers measure their personal “carbon footprint”, or overall emissions of carbon. Yet, critics complain, BP's recent record profits are largely thanks to sales of huge amounts of carbon-packed oil and gas.
On the other hand, some free-market thinkers see the support of firms for regulation of carbon as the latest attempt at【经济学人,杂志,案例】
“regulatory capture”, by those who stand to profit from new rules. Max Schulz of the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, notes darkly that “Enron was into pushing the idea of climate change, because it was good for its business”.
Others argue that climate change has no more place in corporate boardrooms than do discussions of other partisan political issues, such as Darfur or gay marriage. That criticism, at least, is surely wrong. Most of the corporate converts say they are acting not out of some vague sense of social responsibility, or even personal angst, but because climate change creates real business risks and opportunities—from regulatory compliance to insuring clients on flood plains. And although these concerns vary hugely from one company to the next, few firms can be sure of remaining unaffected.
Testing times
Researchers are working on ways to reduce the need for animal experiments, but new laws may
increase the number of experiments needed
IN AN ideal world, people would not perform experiments on animals. For the people, they are expensive. For the animals, they are stressful and often painful.
That ideal world, sadly, is still some way away. People need new drugs and vaccines. They want protection from the toxicity of chemicals. The search for basic scientific answers goes on. Indeed, the European Commission is forging ahead with proposals that will increase the number of animal experiments carried out in the European Union, by requiring toxicity tests on every chemical approved for use within the union's borders in the past 25 years.
Already, the commission has identified 140,000 chemicals that have not yet been tested. It wants 30,000 of these to be
examined right away, and plans to spend between €4 billion-8 billion ($5 billion-10 billion) doing so. The number of animals used for toxicity testing in Europe will thus, experts reckon, quintuple from just over 1m a year to about 5m, unless they are saved by some dramatic advances in non-animal testing technology. At the moment, roughly 10% of European animal tests are for general toxicity, 35% for basic research, 45% for drugs and vaccines, and the remaining 10% a variety of uses such as diagnosing diseases.
Animal experimentation will therefore be around for some time yet. But the hunt for substitutes continues, and last weekend the Middle European Society for Alternative Methods to Animal Testing met in Linz, Austria, to review progress.
A good place to start finding alternatives for toxicity tests is the liver—the organ responsible for breaking toxic chemicals down into safer molecules that can then be excreted. Two firms, one large and one small, told the meeting how they were using human liver cells removed incidentally during surgery to test various substances for long-term toxic effects. th
PrimeCyte, the small firm, grows its cells in cultures over a few weeks and doses them regularly with the substance under
investigation. The characteristics of the cells are carefully monitored, to look for changes in their microanatomy.Pfizer, the big firm, also doses its cultures regularly, but rather than studying individual cells in detail, it counts cell numbers. If the number of cells in a culture changes after a sample is added, that suggests the chemical in question is bad for the liver.
In principle, these techniques could be applied to any chemical. In practice, drugs (and, in the case of PrimeCyte, food
supplements) are top of the list. But that might change if the commission has its way: those 140,000 screenings look like a lucrative market, although nobody knows whether the new tests will be ready for use by 2009, when the commission proposes that testing should start.
Other tissues, too, can be tested independently of animals. Epithelix, a small firm in Geneva, has developed an artificial
version of the lining of the lungs. According to Huang Song, one of Epithelix's researchers, the firm's cultured cells have similar microanatomy to those found in natural lung linings, and respond in the same way to various chemical messengers. Dr Huang says that they could be used in long-term toxicity tests of airborne chemicals and could also help identify treatments for lung diseases.
The immune system can be mimicked and tested, too. ProBioGen, a company based in Berlin, is developing an artificial
human lymph node which, it reckons, could have prevented the near-disastrous consequences of a drug trial held in Britain three months ago, in which (despite the drug having passed animal tests) six men suffered multiple organ failure and nearly died. The drug the men were given made their immune systems hyperactive. Such a response would, the firm's scientists reckon, have been identified by their lymph node, which is made from cells that provoke the immune system into a response. ProBioGen's lymph node could thus work better than animal testing.
Another way of cutting the number of animal experiments would be to change the way that vaccines are tested, according to Coenraad Hendriksen of the Netherlands Vaccine Institute. At the moment, all batches of vaccine are subject to the same battery of tests. Dr Hendriksen argues that this is over-rigorous. When new vaccine cultures are made, belt-and-braces tests obviously need to be applied. But if a batch of vaccine is derived from an existing culture, he suggests that it need be tested only to make sure it is identical to the batch from which it is derived. That would require fewer test animals. All this suggests that though there is still
some way to go before drugs, vaccines and other substances can be tested routinely on cells rather than live animals, useful progress is being made. What is harder to see is how the use of animals might be banished from fundamental research.
Anger management
To one emotion, men are more sensitive than women
MEN are notoriously insensitive to the emotional world around them. At least, that is the stereotype peddled by a thousand women's magazines. And a study by two researchers at the University of Melbourne, in Australia, confirms that men are, indeed, less sensitive to emotion than women, with one important and suggestive exception. Men are acutely sensitive to the anger of other men.
Mark Williams and Jason Mattingley, whose study has just been published in Current Biology, looked at the way a person's sex affects his or her response to emotionally charged facial expressions. People from all cultures agree on what six basic
expressions of emotion look like. Whether the face before you is expressing anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness or surprise seems to be recognised universally—which suggests that the expressions involved are innate, rather than learned.
Dr Williams and Dr Mattingley showed the participants in their study photographs of these emotional expressions in mixed sets of either four or eight. They asked the participants to look for a particular sort of expression, and measured the amount of time it took them to find it. The researchers found, in agreement with previous studies, that both men and women identified angry expressions most quickly. But they also found that anger was more quickly identified on a male face than a female one.
Moreover, most participants could find an angry face just as quickly when it was mixed in a group of eight photographs as when it was part of a group of four. That was in stark contrast to the other five sorts of expression, which took more time to find when they had to be sorted from a larger group. This suggests that something in the brain is attuned to picking out angry
expressions, and that it is especially concerned about angry men. Also, this highly tuned ability seems more important to males than females, since the two researchers found that men picked out the angry expressions faster than women did, even though women were usually quicker than men to recognize every other sort of facial expression.
Dr Williams and Dr Mattingley suspect the reason for this is that being able to spot an angry individual quickly has a survival advantage—and, since anger is more likely to turn into lethal violence in men than in women, the ability to spot angry males quickly is particularly valuable.
As to why men are more sensitive to anger than women, it is presumably because they are far more likely to get killed by it.
Most murders involve men killing other men—even today the context of homicide is usually a spontaneous dispute over status or sex.
The ability to spot quickly that an alpha male is in a foul mood would thus have great survival value. It would allow the
sharp-witted time to choose appeasement, defence or possibly even pre-emptive attack. And, if it is right, this study also confirms a lesson learned by generations of bar-room tough guys and schoolyard bullies: if you want attention, get angry.
The shareholders' revolt
A turning point in relations between company owners and bosses?
SOMETHING strange has been happening this year at company annual meetings in America: shareholders have been voting decisively against the recommendations of managers. Until now, most shareholders have, like so many sheep, routinely voted in accordance with the advice of the people they employ to run the company. This year managers have already been defeated at some 32 companies, including household names such as Boeing, ExxonMobil and General Motors.
This shareholders' revolt has focused entirely on one issue: the method by which members of the board of directors are elected. Shareholder resolutions on other subjects have mostly been defeated, as usual. The successful resolutions called for directors to be elected by majority voting, instead of by the traditional method of “plurality”—which in practice meant that only votes cast in favour were counted, and that a single vote for a candidate would be enough to get him elected.
Several companies, led by Pfizer, a drug giant, saw defeat looming and pre-emptively adopted a formal majority-voting policy that was weaker than in the shareholder resolution. This required any director who failed to secure a majority of votes to tender his resignation to the board, which would then be free to decide whether or not to accept it. Under the shareholder resolution, any candidate failing to secure a majority of the votes cast simply would not be elected. Intriguingly, the shareholder resolution was defeated at four-fifths of the firms that adopted a Pfizer-style majority voting rule, whereas it succeeded nearly nine times out of ten at firms retaining the plurality rule.
Unfortunately for shareholders, their victories may prove illusory, as the successful resolutions were all “precatory”—meaning that they merely advised management on the course of action preferred by shareholders, but did not force managers to do anything. Several resolutions that tried to impose majority voting on firms by changing their bylaws failed this year.
Even so, wise managers should voluntarily adopt majority voting, according to Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, a Wall Street law firm that has generally helped managers resist increases in shareholder power but now expects majority voting eventually to “become universal”. It advises that, at the very least, managers should adopt the Pfizer model, if only to avoid becoming the subject of even greater scrutiny from corporate-governance activists. Some firms might choose to go further, as Dell and Intel have done this year, and adopt bylaws requiring majority voting.
Shareholders may have been radicalised by the success last year of a lobbying effort by managers against a proposal from regulators to make it easier for shareholders to put up candidates in board elections. It remains to be seen if they will be back for more in 2007. Certainly, some of the activist shareholders behind this year's resolutions have big plans. Where new voting rules are in place, they plan campaigns to vote out the chairman of the compensation committee at any firm that they think overpays the boss. If the 2006 annual meeting was unpleasant for managers, next year's could be far worse.
Intangible opportunities
Companies are borrowing against their copyrights, trademarks and patents
NOT long ago, the value of companies resided mostly in things you could see and touch. Today it lies increasingly in
intangible assets such as the McDonald's name, the patent for Viagra and the rights to Spiderman. Baruch Lev, a finance professor at New York University's Stern School of Business, puts the implied value of intangibles on American companies' balance sheets at about $6 trillion, or two-thirds of the total. Much of this consists of intellectual property, the collective name for copyrights, trademarks and patents. Increasingly, companies and their clever bankers are using these assets to raise cash.
The method of choice is securitisation, the issuing of bonds based on the various revenues thrown off by intellectual property. Late last month Dunkin' Brands, owner of Dunkin' Donuts, a snack-bar chain, raised $1.7 billion by selling bonds backed by,
among other things, the royalties it will receive from its franchisees. The three private-equity firms that acquired Dunkin' Brands a few months ago have used the cash to repay the money they borrowed to buy the chain. This is the biggest intellectual-property securitisation by far, says Jordan Yarett of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, a law firm that has worked on many such deals.
Securitisations of intellectual property can be based on revenues from copyrights, trademarks (such as logos) or patents. The
年会创意邀请函
尊敬的园区企业：
为做好我园就业推荐工作，加强学校与用人单位的联系与合作，更好地为用人单位选聘优秀人才提供服务，搭建毕业生与用人单位洽谈交流、双向选择的平台，多丽·福田国际电子商务产业园与福田区人力资源服务中心将联合深圳大学、广东东软学院举办“2016年创意人才专场招聘会”，诚挚邀请园区有人才需求的企业莅临参会。
会议时间地点：
1、时间：2016年5月13日-15日，(上午9：00-12：00,下午14：00-18：00)
2、收费标准：##园区企业参加一律免费
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会议事项：
一、单位(首次)办理招聘提交以下资料：
1、营业执照副本复印件;
2、组织机构代码复印件;
3、介绍信;
4、经办人身份证复印件;
5、企业招聘信息;以上资料均加盖本企业公章。(统一上交至运营中心人才项目组)
二、企业预订参加本次专场招聘会时间：##2016年5月6日----2016年5月9日(展位有限，订完即止)
三、人才专业：英语、日语、广告学、传播学、经济学、交通运输、物流管理、国际经济与贸易、会计学、金融学、信息管理与信息系统、电子商务、工商管理、人力资源管理、市场营销、行政管理、服装设计与工程、艺术设计、工业设计、动画、材料科学与工程、物理学、化学、食品科学与工程、信息与计算科学、电子信息工程、通信工程、计算机科学与技术、软件工程、建筑学、城市规划、土木工程、工程管理、交通工程、机械设计制造及其自动化、电子科学与技术、光信息科学与技术、生物科学、工商管理(高尔夫管理方向)、测控技术与仪器、光电信息工程、视觉传达艺术设计、环境艺术设计、产品外观设计、动漫、游戏设计、新媒体等。
年会创意邀请函 [篇2] ## 尊敬的影视艺术培训学校负责人：##中国影视高考培训联盟成立的宗旨是扶持正规影视高考培训机构的成长，壮大影视高考培训机构的规模，树立影视高考培训行业的良好口碑，健全影视高考培训招生教学的机制，优化影视高考培训的教学体系，使影视高考培训成为文化艺术产业中一支不可或缺的力量。
中国影视高考培训联盟是中国艺考界专业性、非赢利性合作组织，其目的是提升影视高考整体品牌价值，扩大影视高考培训的社会影响力，联合中国影视高考培训机构的力量，共建平台、共享资源、共谋发展。我们知道，艺考培训是高校选拔优质生源的前站，优秀、高素质的生源是影视高考培训机构树立品牌的基础，也是高校选拔人才的标准。我们成立中国影视高考培训联盟，就是从根本上严把招生标准关，在求生源数量的同时，也严格把握和控制生源质量，这也从根本上为高校减少了招生资源的浪费，对培训结构和招生院校都是双赢的事情。
中国影视高考培训联盟第一届年会已于2016年5月在济南顺利召开，山东、河南、河北、安徽、江苏、四川、陕西、北京8个省份的数十家培训学校的负责人热情参会，山东商报、济南时报、都市女报等济南本地的媒体进行了跟踪报道，在影视高考培训界引起了很大的反响。
第二届年会已于2016年3月23日顺利于北京召开。第二届年会的主题，旨在探讨影视高考培训招生模式的多元化及培训课程的纵深发展，解决目前影视高考培训存在的普遍问题，让影视高考培训机构的的招生及教学更加科学化及系统化，从而推动影视高考培训学校专业、快速的发展。
2016年，近百位影视传媒高考培训行业的未来精英将再次聚首，共同探讨新的竞争格局下影视高考培训行业的发展之道！让我们共同打造更具影响力的影视高考培训精英交流平台，为影视高考培训行业的发展、成熟贡献力量。
作为中国影视高考培训联盟第三届年会的承办城市——郑州，不但具备优越的区位优势，“得中原者得天下”，国内外知名教育机构都在郑州设有分支机构；同时，依托于全国最大的教育人口大省，郑州本土教育培训行业发展也是全国培训行业的范本。年会承办方——郑州格林编导私塾、商丘羿翔培训学校、洛阳新航路艺术培训学校，盛情邀请全国影视艺术培训行业的高校招生领导和影视高考培训的同仁参会！
郑州欢迎您！校长同仁亲临现场，互相交流学习，答疑解难，更会有惊喜收获！
中国影视高考培训联盟秘书处
2016年3月
年会创意邀请函 [篇3]___________小姐/先生:
仰首是春、俯首成秋，xx公司又迎来了它的第九个新年。我们深知在发展的道路上离不开您的合作与支持，我们取得成绩中有您的辛勤工作。久久联合、岁岁相长。作为一家成熟专业的xx公司我们珍惜您的选择，我们愿意与您一起分享对新年的喜悦与期盼。故在此邀请您参加xx-xx公司举办的新年酒会，与您共话友情、展望将来。如蒙应允、不胜欣喜。
地点：
时间：
年会创意邀请函 [篇4]开发区各日资企业：
本年度承蒙各企业、各位同仁鼎力协助，开发区管委会的各项工作得以顺利开展，在此深表谢意！
为答谢各位一年来的支持和帮助，管委会拟于如下时间在开发区文化广场大剧院举行一年一度的开发区日资企业忘年会。正值辞旧迎新繁忙之际，恳请各位拔冗参加。 企业忘年会邀请函范本另外，本次忘年会将异于往年，拟以欣赏中日两国文艺节目的形式举行，请各位一如既往地积极参加。
时间：2016年12月18日（星期二）1４：０0-18：５0
会费：免费
人数：各公司包括总经理在内10人以内
主办单位：大连开发区管委会
协办单位：开发区管委会办公室
会 序: 14：00～16：20 “大连之恋”日本人摄影展（图书馆） 14：00～16：20 规划馆自由参观（当日免费）
16：20～16：40 入场
16：40～17：20 发言（张军主任、日企代表）
17：20～18：30 文艺演出
18：30～18：50 摄影留念
咨询热线：8761-1527 3924-0010 8761-2826
联系人：綦柏林（qi bolin） 孙雅薇 杨丽丽
大连开发区招商一局
年会创意邀请函 [篇5]尊敬的##杨超
先生／女士
您 好！
2016年全球蔓延的金融危机，给人类带来了从未有过的严峻考验，同时也为世人提供了新的经济调整时机和统筹规则后的发展机会。全球gdp的下降让人们更加注重在经济发展中更注重科学、创新、和-谐、人才四个方面的综合发展。在此，中国将以强势的内需动力和创新智慧，在全球金融危机蔓延的经济环境下，不但能走出困境，而且将在全球范围内，经济的率先复苏与发展。
第六届中国策划年会即将在上海召开，将引领我们走近上海世博会的智业商机，有着非比寻常的意义，也突显了中国智业的发展已进入了一个新的时期和转折，其特点是更加的国际化、人文化、科学化和社会化。上海是中国经济坐标，坐拥长江三角洲的经济中心，代表着中国国际化进程以及中国中产阶级、社会达人的生活圈，这里聚集着众多的智慧型人才和新型人才，代表了中国企业发展的先进理念和社会发展的强劲动力，放眼瞭望，黄浦江畔，智慧无所不在。
2016中国策划年会的大会主题：##飙中国智慧风，握经济之脉搏，创智业之风采。今年在大会的组织上更加的地域化和标志化，在成功举办五届策划年会的基础上，首届举行“中国智慧经济论坛”。届时，各级政府领导、全国知名企业家、各界策划精英等、将共同研讨智业经济的未来。
此次盛会的分论坛包括：开幕式、大师讲坛、、策划新锐论坛、鸡尾酒会、港澳投资与内地项目对接洽谈会、第六届诸葛亮策划奖颁奖晚会，将为中国从事各行智业的公司、企业提供寻求到更新、更快、更广的发展空间机会。
仁者乐山，智者乐水，智业强，中国强，让我们在这江-山-如-此-多-娇的中国大地上，共同描绘我们策划智业的美好蓝图。第六届中国策划年会，中国智业的汇聚，期待您和您团队的到来！
诚挚邀请您出席此次盛会！
清华大学
中国策划协会中国文化创意产业研究中心澳门商报中外新闻社
大会主题：##飙中国智慧风握经济之脉搏创智业之风采 主办单位：##中国策划协会 ##清华大学中国文化创意产业研究中心 ##中外新闻社 ##澳门商报 承办单位：##北京福思通策划咨询有限公司 ##上海壹展览道策划有限公司 支持单位：中国策划协会福建省管理委员会中国策划协会广东省管理委员会
中国策划协会江苏省管理委员会
中国策划协会黑龙江省管理委员会
中国策划协会上海管理委员会
中国策划协会食品专业委员会
中国策划协会茶专业委员会
中国策划协会古玩工艺品专业委员会
中国策划协会体育专业委员会
中国策划协会健康专业委员会
中国策划协会传统文化专业委员会
中国策划协会婚庆专业委员会
中国国际友好文化节组委会
美国国际企业家协会
四平市策划协会
青海策划师协会
盐城市营销策划行业协会
甘肃省策划咨询协会
湖南湘潭市不动产业商会
特别支持单位: 东方早报世博日报北京市昌平区旅游局中国民族书画研究院中华觉醒文化教育研究院中国国画创作院修水神茶 战略合作伙伴：商图网 协办单位：中南广告策划机构北京东方智慧文化发展中心东莞市华南品牌策划有限公司北京万事福运营销策划工作室徐州广大营销策划机构宁波三赢传媒策划机构艾美企业品牌策划有限公司 北京市龙鼎视讯经济咨询中心北众文化（北京）有限公司黑龙江全家福商务经纪代理有限公司 上海律动企业咨询有限公司上海谋必盛国际企业形象策划有限公司 天津渡源文化传播有限公司沈阳觉醒文化教育咨询有限公司 媒体支持：中央电视台北京电视台央视网络电视中国教育电视台阳光卫视北京移动电视
东盟电视台凤凰卫视中央人民广播电台
国际商报经济观察报南方周末南方都市报财经时报新京报中美邮报第一财经日报21世纪经济报道《新营销》杂志《新财经》杂志大公报《环球游报》中国经济时报
网络支持：新浪网搜狐网中华网北京旅游联盟网
大会##指定官方网站:中国策划协会网 ###url#
活动时间：2016年12月12日 活动地点： 上海 参会参评对象：城市领导；国有、民营、外资、合资等企业董事长、ceo、总裁、总经理等高层管理者；从事房地产、旅游、咨询、策划、广告、传媒、营销、公关、品牌等领域的企业领导及专业人士；各类新闻工作者，科研机构的学术专家、学者；各类驻华机构代表和企业界人士、港澳台地区及海外知名企业界人士等。
拟邀领导及嘉宾##(##排名不分先后##)##：王文元：全国政协副主席
郎志正：国务院参事
余斌：国务院发展研究中心
李季：中国文化创意产业研究中心主任
孟晓苏：中国房地产开发集团 总裁
史泽鄱：中华全国工商业联合会（正局）巡视员
王忠明：国务院国资委研究中心主任
胥和平：国家科技部政策研究室主任
崔永安：中国国际友好文化节秘书长
刘梦熊：香港特区政府中央政策组成员智富能源金融集团执行董事
李明德：中国社会科学院旅游研究中心副主任
顾强：国家发改委中小企业司非国有经济处处长
徐浩然：远东集团副总裁
孔令涛；孔裔创意产业集团
刘宗明：任美安药业（中国）控股有限公司总裁
李庚：奥运经济研究会 副会长
何慕：联纵智达集团 董事长
刘永炬：北京方圆润智营销策划有限公司首席咨询策划顾问
叶茂中：北京叶茂中营销策划机构董事长
贾丽军：卓越形象品牌传播机构ceo兼品牌创意总监
李光斗：华盛时代机构ceo
韩进军：北京泰成普信管理咨询有限公司 总裁
李兴国：北京联合大学应用文理学院广告研究所所长
石岩：北京实力场策划有限公司董事长
陈放：北京创意村营销策划有限公司董事长
赵 强: 《销售与市场》、《中国经营报》专家团顾问
徐希燕：中国社会科学院工业经济研究所副研究员
路长全：北京赞伯营销管理咨询有限公司 董事长
林显鹏：北京体育大学体育经济与产业教研室主任教授
丁吉林：著名品牌营销策划专家
孙先红：内蒙古蒙牛乳业（集团）股份有限公司副总裁
贾新光：中国汽车工业咨询发展公司首席分析师
大会组织机构：顾问:郝盛琦：原中共中央顾问委员会 秘书长
王定烈：原中国人民解放军空军 副司令
余斌：国务院发展研究中心 ##宏观经济研究部部长
李保国：中国名牌战略推进委员会 副主任
李明德：中国社会科学院旅游研究中心 副主任
孟晓苏：中国房地产开发集团 总裁
胥和平：国家科技部政策研究室主任
李季：中国文化创意产业研究中心主任;
包月阳：《中国经济时报》社长兼总编辑
王京忠：新华社《半月谈》杂志社主任
宋晖：《科技创新与品牌》杂志社 社长
韦燕：《中外新闻社》社长总编辑
大会组委会：大会主席：孟晓苏（中国房地产开发集团理事长）
执行主席：梁喜英
副 主 席：田亮（澳门商报总裁）
李季（中国文化创意产业研究中心主任）
倪连存（中国经济时报社长助理）
李万佰 （北京市昌平区旅游局局长）
李炯炀（中南广告策划有限公司董事长）
大会主任：梁卫国（中国策划协会副会长）
大会秘书长 ：李海凤(中国策划协会副会长兼秘书长)
大会总策划 ：丁吉林（中国策划协会常务副秘书长）
大会副主任 ：曾国华刘宗明刘元昊罗广金徐子杰杨东来
大会总设计 ：郑胜军
现场总指挥 ：唐海燕
行业公关顾问：刘亚军
标准化顾问：孙旭东
大会法律顾问：钱卫清
传统文化顾问：陈勇先
执行副秘书长：彭首清朱辉王连珠张媛雪絮方峰成智张源清石晶
史富华陈迪克周高洪钱佳闻
演艺总监 ##： 白湘（中国策划协会副秘书长兼）
秘书处执委：杨阳杜京龙张金娜高飞李艳妮张立云宋江王 静【经济学人,杂志,案例】
大会活动主要内容：l##开幕式
l##中国经济智慧论坛
l##策划新锐论坛
l##大师讲坛
l##世博晚宴
l##颁奖晚会
l##会议展览
l##会议宣言
中国“诸葛亮”策划奖奖项设置 特别奖项： 建国六十周年中国策划功勋人物 2016##中国文化产业突出贡献奖 个人奖项 ##： 2016##中国十大策划专家2016##中国十大城市策划专家 2016##中国十大服装品牌策划专家 ##2016中国十大房地产策划专家 2016中国十大广告策划专家2016中国十大旅游策划专家 2016中国十大营销策划专家2016##中国十大最具创意策划人 2016##中国十大最具实战策划人2016##中国十大网络策划人 2016##中国十大最佳图书出版策划人2016##中国优秀经纪策划人 机构奖项： 2016##中国十大最具创意策划机构2016##中国十大最具影响力策划机构 2016##中国十大最具执行力策划机构2016##中国十大最佳图书出版策划机构 案例奖项： 2016##中国十大最佳策划金牌案例2016##中国十大最佳策划案例 企业奖项； 2016中国企业##品牌杰出##策划人物奖2016中国最具创新力企业 专家评审团：李万佰 李光斗 李兴国 王璞 ##丁吉林 朱玉童 陈放 路长全 参选资格：在全国各地通过媒体投放，实地执行的策划方案（包括文案稿件、视觉稿件和媒体发布记录复印件），均可报名参加评选。本次年会对行业专家提名奖项，必须是优秀策划人才，并有优秀案例及专家推荐函，经综合评审、予以通过，方可颁发。
评审原则：以案例为评选依据专家推荐(免去初审)企业上报自愿参评专家评审注重对优秀策划作品的大众传播，强调策划的科学性和创新力公平、公正进行评选,参选作品一律要经过专业评审(包括社会效益、经济效益、行业贡献的综合考评)。 参选与送评要求：①统一以企业或公司名义参选，只可投稿属于自己版权的策划方案，并注明策划方案的主要负责人和策划主管人，参选方的方案内容要保证真实，送评人文责自负，自留底稿；所送案例有关商业机密和真实性文责自负。组委会拥有对参评案例的使用权（要求不予公开的除外）。每个策划方案只能在一个奖项中参选，要求健康向上、体现社会价值、无损害国家尊严和违反法律的内容。
②请准备参评稿件的企业或个人，认真填写参选表格一式两份（从协会领取或网站下载）。个人准备附件材料：附参评方案的负责人和参选人个人简历（150-200字）；两寸白背景免冠彩色照片二张（扫描数据：33mm*48mm*300dpi[像素/英寸]）6寸生活照一张；曾在各级媒体上发表过的参选人的报道文章复印件；曾受过表彰的证书复印件。参加机构奖评选，附须提供企业简介（200-300字）和形象标识与图片、策划业绩、策划效果评估、图文参考资料。
③投稿方式，一律采取提供彩色（a4纸）打印稿附加同样内容的刻录数据光盘（vcd/dvd均可）的形式为标准。方案中的部分影视作品在选送影片光盘时，附彩色打印说明图片，图片要求清晰、有说明文字。参加评选的方案文字需精炼拟10000字左右，系列稿件（不超过3套），要按次序标明，否则视为送选无效。
④所有参选的策划方案，恕不退稿，请参选的企业或公司自行留存。主办单位有权利将符合参加评选的（获奖和未获奖）方案，用于奖项宣传、发表、转载、制作成印刷品或出版物，也可用于教学或其他的用途。
⑤请用正楷字体认真填写《参选表格》，一同邮寄或亲送至大会秘书处。对表中所列内容有不清楚之处，请及时向活动征评办公室咨询。投稿时限自2016年8月1日—2016年11月30日截止（邮戳或快递件显示的时间为准，费用投稿方自负）。
⑥大会组委会组成专家评审团按科学的评选标准对参评者进行初评、复评、总评，、组委会在收到材料后进行审核，够条件者，通知进入正式评选程序，不符合以上要求的稿件，并在第一时间通知投稿方。若时间许可，送选方有权修改后，重新送选，逾期作自动弃权处理。
⑦年会将于11月30日前（受不可抗力影响或出现特殊情况除外），提前向获奖者寄发正式获奖通知，邀请获奖者赴沪参加颁奖大会。
⑧评选结果，以评审团和大会综合评选后的公布结果为准，活动的一切解释权属于中国策划协会。
⑨本次活动将评出“个人奖项” “机构奖项” “案例奖项”“企业奖项”四大类别，授予参加本次活动的单位和个人，以表彰其业绩和对中国策划业所出的贡献。
注：以上资料在报名时间内特快专递到组委会，案例电子版发至：e-mail: #url# 参选费用：报名和初评一律不缴费。收到正式入围通知后须交纳参评费、宣传费及成果展示费（详见入围通知） 获奖宣传：1、在媒体进行多种形式的报道及奖项名单公布(因过截止日期无法刊登宣传，后果个人自负)；
2、获奖者参加颁奖典礼，届时邀请政府官员、经济学家、策划同行为获奖单位与个人颁奖并合影；
3、为获奖单位与个人颁发珍藏纪念意义的精美奖牌和证书
4、邀请所有获奖者参加本届策划年会，除参会外，符合条件者将邀请为主旨演讲嘉宾，与中外著名学者、专家、政府高层智囊、企业策划专家同台对话。
5、获奖单位和获奖个人照片、简介入编大会《会刊》，在大会活动时发送；
6、获奖案例优先推荐在本次的支持单位上发表。
7、获奖单位和个人名单及获奖案例、论文，将在中国策划协会网站上公布；获得案例奖、机构奖、策划专家的单位或个人，符合对中国策划业做出突出贡献和通过中国策划协会专家评审团审核通过的特邀为“中国策划协会理事单位”、个人理事或专家顾问，各项分别颁发证书。获得专家奖的个人将在中国策划协会网站《策划专家推荐》一栏给与推荐。
8、凡参评获奖者，优秀案例选送收入中国策划网案例总库；免费赠送2016中国策划年会门票、资料、全程活动光盘，优秀案例选编入《中国策划系列丛书》。
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第1篇：我的大学读书计划
秉承中华名族热爱读书的优良传统，全面落实科学发展观，遵循“严以律己 力求上进”的原则，结合实际出发，计划接下来的大学三年多读书、读好书、求上进。不再像往日那样茫然不知所措，虚度时光。
具体作法如下：
㈠ 在读书数量上，结合兴趣爱好和实际发展需要，重点攻读：经济学、管理学、心理学、逻辑学、法学、社会学六大类丛书。以及专业对口的相关书籍。以保证学时的丰富性。
㈡ 在读书作息时间安排上，科学合理的安排作息时间。正所谓：“一年之计在于春，一天之计在于晨”充分利用好优良的环境条件，加强对自身的约束力，坚持早起，少睡懒觉。多运动多读书。
㈢ 在读书质量上，要求自己不可走马观花，而是读与思的有力结合。研磨消化，吸收掌握。乃至领悟出新，挖掘其源自本质的精神价值。力求在今后的学习、工作、生活中学以致用。
以上为我的大学生你读书计划，具体实施即刻开始，并希望得到室友及朋友的高度支持和监督。助我更好的发展。
第2篇：我的大学读书计划
这段时间，我经常在了解关于大学的一些内容，同时也在规划自己的大学生活，在这相对宽松的东西生活中，读大量的书是很有必要的。古语有云：“书中自有黄金屋，书中自有颜如玉。”知识是人类进步的阶梯，是传播人类智慧的媒介。在大学里，书籍是帮助我们探索未知，形成人生观、世界观的重要工具。我们应充分利用大学四年来陶冶培养自己，与书籍为友，自己的知识，启迪自己的思想，拓宽自己的视野，感悟人生的真谛。
考虑到我们是学经济管理类的，作为大学的读书计划，在我的计划中经济管理类自然是不会少的，如：
《有效的管理者》-----现代管理学之父彼得-德鲁克
《领导力21法则》《360度领导力》------约翰-麦克斯韦尔
《从优秀到卓越》《企业长青:联系公司的成功概念》----吉姆-科林斯
《杰克-韦尔奇自传》----杰克-韦尔奇
等等一些管理学方面的经典，用来完善我们的知识体系，对自己所学的专业有更深入的认识和了解。当然，阅读范围如过仅限于此，未免过于狭隘，我比较喜欢看一些文学名著，所以会选择性的看一些，如：
《飘》-----米切尔
《平凡的世界》----路遥
《复活》----列夫-托尔斯泰
《悲惨世界》----雨果
等之类的，用来满足自己的阅读需求。
当然了，为充分利用这大好的读书机会，拓展自己的视野，也有必要去了解各个方面的知识，如励志类、历史类、心理类以及各种报刊杂志等，多了解时事信息。
但我认为读书最重要的不在于数量而在于收获，否则只会浪费时间做无用功。
“读万卷书，走万里路”，书籍为我们打开了一个更广阔的世界。在这个世界里，我们可以听到各种不同的声音，领略不同的文化。原我们在读书的路上都能“博闻强识，多思多问，取法乎上，持之以恒”！！！
第3篇：我的大学读书计划这段时间，我一直在了解大学的一些内容，同时在规划自己的大学生活，在相对宽松的大学时光中，读大量的书是必不可少的。记的前一段时间，我在新东方上课，有一个老师给我们说，新东方的总裁俞敏洪上大学时读了500本书。这之前我也听说过，我一直在怀疑他这500本书是不是一本书只有几页，要不就是向陶渊明那样一目十行，不求甚解，当然，跟据他八万的词汇量来看，也许他只有超出常人的能力。总之，大学时多读一些书是必不可少的。那个老师后来又说，他上大学只读了7本书，第一本是《第三帝国的兴亡》（记得老俞当初第一本读的也是这个，第二本是《平凡的世界》……但在读每一本书时都有新的收获。其实我倒是比较认同他的，读书不在于多少，关键在于收获，否则只是在浪费时间做无用功。当然，如果有老俞那本事，多读一些书也未尝不可但考虑到大学还有很多更重要的是要做，我还是不跟他摽了。我从网上找了一些别人推荐的大学要读的书从中选了一些比较好的，更适合的，考虑到我是学会计的，又找了一些经济管理类的，作为大学的读书计划，同时也分享给大家，希望对大家有帮助。
励志类：《致加西亚的信》
《人性的弱点、人性的优点》
《世界上最伟大的推销员》
《高效能人士的七个习惯》
文学类：《文化苦旅》
《平凡的世界》
《行者无疆》
《金庸作品集》
《红楼梦》
历史类：《史记》
《资治通鉴》
《剑桥插图中国史》
《第三帝国的兴亡》
《历史研究》
《世界文明史》
《中国近三百年学术史》
《罗马帝国衰亡史》
《中国人史纲》
《万历十五年》
《第二次世界大战的起源》
《全球通史》
科学类：《万物简史》
《时间简史》
《科学史》
《中国科学技术史》
《科学与人类行为》
经济类：《经济学原理》 曼昆，为大一学生而写，引用大量案例和报刊文摘，与生活贴近。
《经济学百科全书》
《资本论》
《国富论》
《凯恩斯文集》
管理类：
彼得·德鲁克代表作：《卓有成效的管理者》高级管理者必读经典之作
《管理的实践》将管理学开创成为一门学科
《管理：任务，责任，实践》为学习管理学的学 生提供的系统化教科书
《成果管理》
《21世纪管理的挑战》
《旁观者：管理大师德鲁克回忆录》
《管理学》 哈罗得·孔茨，世界级经典教材
《营销管理》 菲利浦·科特勒经典教材，一印再印，风靡全球。任何一位营销人，不管他涉世未深，还是资历深厚，都受到该书直接的或者间接的影响。
传记类：《曾国藩书信全集》
《胡雪岩全传》
其实，这些书或是我知道的名作，或是别人推荐给我的，不一定全是精华，也肯定没有囊括所有精华，当然，我以后还会不断修正，更新。借此我把它共享给大家，希望对大家有所帮助，同时也欢迎大家提供更好的读物。
第4篇：我的大学读书计划2015年对于我们伟大的祖国来说是不平凡的一年，是昂扬奋发的一年。奥运会就要在北京成功举办，多么令人振奋和自豪的事情啊！我作为伟大祖国肌体上的一个细胞，我的2015也应该象日益强盛的祖国一样与时俱进，奋发图强。
我 是一名教师，教书育人十八个年头，培育的是耳不闻、口难语的聋哑儿童。我从不因为自己是特殊教育工作者而放松对美德和知识的追求，更不因为学子没有桃李满 天下而郁郁寡欢。当一个人的思想和能力得到充分地施展，用自己的创造力回馈社会奉献人民的时候，他必然是快乐和充实的。我觉得人生自由为贵：自由的思想， 自由的身体，自由的发展空间，
财富论坛邀请函
萌生希望的4月，最适合去播种梦想。在这个芬芳四溢的季节里，中国竹纤维服饰第一品牌“欧林雅”，又迎来了采撷甜蜜的时刻。4月25-4月26日，欧林雅财富论坛将与年度加盟商表彰会、秋冬新款订货会同步召开，绝对盛况空前，让您不虚此行!
在本次盛会上，您将看到2016年优秀加盟商现场表彰，品鉴2016年欧林雅秋冬新品的t台秀，参加为您定制的欧林雅财富论坛，欣赏多姿多彩的湖湘文艺汇演，更有种种神秘惊喜在现场接连引爆……
这是一次属于成功者的狂欢，这是一次属于同行者的畅谈。我们预备了精致客房与特色美食，我们定好了五星级会场，我们邀请了重量级嘉宾——此时此景，全体欧林雅人诚挚邀请您出席本次会议，您的见证对我们意义重大，您的参与将使全场生辉!
那么，我们约定：4月25日，长沙通程盛源大酒店，不见不散!
2016年4月25日
长沙通程盛源大酒店
财富论坛邀请函 [篇2]_________机构：
今年上半年受宏观调整影响,机构投资者的整体表现差强人意,圈内人士普遍将此归咎于对调控力度及影响估计不足.但这不应仅仅被当作集体失语的理由,而更应该成为摆在机构投资者乃至整个资本圈面前的一道难题.我们所要思考、所要做的正是探索如何在中国具体条件下，对宏观大势作出判断并正确制定选时大策略！
金秋9月，《新财富》杂志将举办“2016新财富投资论坛暨最佳分析师颁奖典礼”。届时，基金、券商、企业、机构、qfii精英将齐集一堂，共同把脉2016－2016年的经济走势。
拟邀请的演讲嘉宾有：
中银国际控股有限公司董事、首席经济学家 曹远征
高盛亚太区董事总经理 胡祖六
摩根大通董事总经理、首席经济学家 龚方雄
瑞银证券亚洲有限公司执行董事、瑞银投资研究中国研究部主管 张化桥
瑞士信贷第一波士顿董事兼亚洲区首席经济分析师 陶冬
东骥基金管理有限公司董事总经理 庞宝林
中信资本(香港)董事总经理 何绰越
圆桌论坛嘉宾：
部分券商、基金、上市公司的董事长、总裁、副总裁
《新财富》杂志社
2016年9月6日
财富论坛邀请函 [篇3]您好！
金博瑞理财规划师俱乐部第一期专题讲座成功召开之后，我们又在为打造以“俱乐部”为平台的“培训后服务”品牌而努力，特请北京专家再次来讲座，邀您一起来听听理财的前沿理论，听听专家怎样教您理财。借此“知识通道”，让您享受我们的服务，与您共提升。
主讲专家：北京金融界专业人士
讲座专题：私募资金管理
讲座地点：石家庄市水源街市委党校
讲座时间：2016年10月14日下午2：00-5：00
为了给您预留座位，请您在2016年10月12日下午18：00之前将传真回执回传至0311-85331996或e-mail至：#url#，真诚期待您的参与！
财富论坛邀请函 [篇4]我们非常荣幸地邀请您参加2016年1月4日由##华侨大学经济与金融学院
（edp）中心举办的第18届闽商财富经济论坛——十八届三中全会解读及2016年经济形势分析。
关键之年 决胜之年！
把握宏观经济发展脉络
洞悉未来经济发展趋势
实现企业发展与经济坏境相对接！
2016年既是十八届三中全会之后中国在关键经济领域真正实施深层次改革的启幕之年，也是中国经济改革35年来由增量改革向存量改革全面切换的关键之年。
华侨大学经济与金融学院edp中心特邀请中国科学院教授、国家经贸委、国家发改委培训课程主讲教授，清华大学、北京大学等高校客座教授李帆，莅临华侨大学为闽南企业家解读十八届三中全会改革重点，分析2016年经济发展趋势，帮助您在关键之年，掌握命脉、持一以万、决胜千里。
主讲专家：李帆教授
主办单位：华侨大学经济与金融学院
协办单位：华侨大学经济与金融学院edp中心
时 间：2016年1月4日（星期六）##地 点:
华侨大学陈嘉庚纪念堂
财富论坛邀请函 [篇5]尊敬的____________女士/先生：
您好！
21世纪不再是一个快鱼吃慢鱼的时代，而是一个快鱼吃快鱼的时代。成功，将不仅仅只取决于你的能力和努力，而且更重要的是取决于你的选择与观念。中国战略研究会为了适应时代的变化，帮助需要成功的人——您，置身于成功趋势的潮流里，让你成为中流砥柱，傲视群雄！
本研究会决定将于2016年12月30日在北京市政协召开“趋势经济”财富论坛，届时，将会邀请到国家著名经济学博士吉美先生主讲。
想实现成功愿望的您，仅需凭此邀请函即可免费入场；或者参考邀请函末尾的联系方式，请予王秋怡女士取得联系，并得到确认。您便能够近距离的接触成功人士，共同交流与分享。此外，中国战略研究会将会举办一系列此类讲座，敬请关注！
诚挚的邀请您的光临！与成功者同行，成者更上一层楼，学者所获亦必丰！
联系方式：
组委会联系人：王秋怡
电话：13810026681
邮箱：
支持：北京市政协
主讲嘉宾：中国战略研究会张副会长、国家著名经济学博士吉美先生
时间：2016年12月30日（周六）
地点：北京市政协会议厅
财富论坛邀请函 [篇6]尊敬的企业家朋友：
这里是中国首家真正能够推动中国民营企业快速落地成为行业标杆的实操系统，揭露商业运营的本质规律和发展趋势，为您带来前所未有的思维冲击和商业智慧。
本次论坛我们将核心探讨：
1. 新世纪企业商业模式设计、企业运营系统设计、企业零固定成本运作，让企业运营稳健盈利
2. 企业如何零风险与政府、银行融资；
3. 房产开发商如何不花钱建设完项目，并保障利益及拥有社会意义；
4. 企业如何建立资产运营，到资金运营，到资本运营的螺旋上升系统；
5. 企业如何创建风险投资，破解项目成长的资金需求阶段密码、科学投资；
6. 企业如何创建资本，金融，生态系统的法则及策略；
7. 企业家吸引，掌管十亿百亿的条件和特质；
8. 中证美联项目孵化实操案例分享，让您获得企业实现升级转型、二次创业的商业秘诀。
9. 如何成为投资型企业家，实现真正的财务自由和幸福人生，建立永远富有的家族系统。
10. 行业整合与企业上市系统规划，优秀企业项目，将有38亿元风投资金及多家全国著名投资
机构对接机会，另有行业专家免费为企业进行咨询诊断。
欢迎您，莅临参加！
主办方：北京中证美联投资管理有限公司杭州分公司
活动时间：2016年3月9-10日9：30 -17：30
报到地点：浙江歌山品悦大酒店会议厅九溪厅（杭州市滨江区江虹路1537号）
参会人员：票价10000元/人
报名截止时间：2016年3月8日下午17：00前，逾期不予保留
中证美联投资管理有限公司 e-mail: #url# 电话：0571-28282330