THE FUTURE OF THE NEWS IN THE DIGITAL ERA

Technical developments in the field of journalism and broadcasting are changing the shape of both media. Many of these developments are very welcome. However, there is a danger that the quality of journalism may fall and that part of society may disengage from news coverage. This may require a policy response but not necessarily the continued support of a single state-funded public service broadcaster.     

在动物园开车

除了将动物圈养在动物园,人类的另一大能事,便是在马路上,制造出另一个社会。喜欢站在路边看车流和行人,看久了,就看出些道道来,发现马路上各类车与人都遵循着一套独特的等级规则。就像人门经常把高楼林立的城市当作森林,我有时会把马路上的汽车、警察、行人幻想成森林里的动物,一个用不同的食物链组成的动物世界。     

风云变幻 挺立潮头——记广州中海地产15年

经历近15年的洗练，广州中海地产愈是危机时刻，愈是执著坚守，并以前瞻眼光制订了正确的发展战略，08年的中国地产北风劲吹，广州中海旗下的楼盘仍然获得热烈追捧，这有赖于广州中海发展战略的前瞻性，也有赖于广州中海精品策略的炉火纯青，还有赖于客户对广州中海品牌和产品的高度认同。     

IN A WORD OR TWO,PLACED IN THE MIDDLE: THE INVISIBLE HAND IN SMITH'S TOMES

We explore the conjecture, first hinted at by Peter Minowitz, that Smith deliberately placed his central idea, as represented by the phrase ‘led by an invisible hand’, at the physical centre of his masterworks. The four most significant points developed are as follows: (1) The physical evidence: the expression ‘led by an invisible hand’ occurs pretty much dead centre of the 1st and 2nd editions of The Wealth of Nations (WN), and of the final edition of the tomes containing The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS). (2) The rhetoric lectures show that Smith not only was conscious of deliberate placement of potent words at the centre, but thought it significant enough to remark on to his pupils, noting that Thucydides ‘often expresses all that he labours so much in a word or two, sometimes placed in the middle of the narration’. (3) The invisible‐hand paragraphs in TMS and WN both contend with Rousseau and hearken back to the Rousseau passages that Smith had translated and provided in his 1756 article on literature. (4) There are numerous and rich ways in which centrality and middleness hold special and positive significance in Smith's thought.     

THE IRON FIST IN THE VELVET GLOVE: MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION IN JAPANESE MANUFACTURING TRANSPLANTS IN WALES

This paper assesses the transferability of a Japanese form of manufacturing organization to an alien institutional environment - the Principality of Wales in the UK. After characterizing what we mean by a 'Japanese form of manufacturing organization' and the arrival of Japanese companies in Wales, we describe the forms of organization, day-to-day management and working practices which have been established. Our conclusion is that the Japanese form of manufacturing organization has been re-created on Welsh soil, and that any 'adaptations' are not such as to alter the fundamental features of the new organizational form.     

THE LIMITS OF REGULATORY REFORM IN THE EU

The regulatory impact assessment (RIA) may seem like a good mechanism for holding EU regulators to account as it requires them to compute costs and benefits of regulations before implementing them. However, it is too easy to use the RIAs to justify preconceived opinions. To achieve deregulation in the EU it is necessary to have a commitment to liberal markets and the concept of regulatory competition.     

THE BUS INDUSTRY IN DANGER

After seeking to placate the local government lobby while retaining the benefits of private enterprise, the Labour government's policy for bus services is slipping into a dangerous compromise which will neglect the market while seizing assets from commercial operators. Behind this lies a policy leading to the return of bus services to public ownership.     

DEVELOPMENT IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

The United Kingdom abolished domestic property taxation, the major autonomous revenue source for local authorities, in 1989 (Scotland) and 1990 (England and Wales). The introduction of a flat rate personal charge (called by the Government 'the community charge' and by its opponents 'the poll tax') aroused huge political controversy. The choice of a substitute tax, to operate from 1993, and based at least partly on property, was one of the major domestic issues in the recent General Parliamentary Election. This paper examines the background to the abolition of domestic property taxation and why it was such a key political issue, explains why the "community charge" failed and describes the immediate prospects.     

THE HOUSING MARKET IN 1993

What hope is there of a recovery in the housing market in the rest of 1993? Jonathan Morris, of economic consultant Lombard Street Research, analyses the influences that will affect the housing market.     

国际社交殿堂演绎名流人文风尚

回顾星河湾走来的足迹,惊奇地发现,那些绚丽的靓影仿若一个个生动的城市据点,驰骋出星河湾超越地产的国际社交殿堂的唯美篇章。篇章中尽是奢华流溢、名流汇聚、桂冠满枝,荣耀与品位,时尚与唯美,令人心驰神往……     

EDUCATIONAL EXPANSION: THE WORMS IN THE APPLE

Expansion of higher education can undermine rather than enhance the value of education for low income families. Less well qualified children of higher income families are the main beneficiaries of the expansion and the value of the qualifications of those who do not participate in higher education can be undermined. The most obvious practical policy that would expand educational opportunity for all would be to treat all adult students equally and give further education institutions and universities comparable, as well as greater, freedom from government control.