iTV: A major opportunity for financial services,or not?

Interactive television has arrived, thanks to substantial technology investments that have been made by Sky and others. It is growing in importance as innovative interactive applications are developed for broadcast programmes (eg the BBCi service and Big Brother), and for advertising — and will develop further when broadband deployment gets to critical mass. Readers should not expect a television-variant of the world wide web, however. This was tried during 2000–2002 in the form of web look-alike, interactive ‘walled garden’ sites, and failed to attract critical mass footfall. The model has evolved and now revolves around interactive content synchronised with broadcast, which offers financial services companies an interesting new way to increase awareness and to differentiate the service presentation. Furthermore, over the next ten years, broadband is expected to usher in a new era of personalised television — in which specialised broadcasts (such as personal pensions advice programmes) can be made available on demand. The observations in this paper are mainly drawn from the UK, where digital television penetration is high; the lessons can be applied more broadly, however, and are relevant to any organisation thinking of promoting its service through entertainment channels.     

“以市场换技术”辨析

长期以来在招商引资和技术引进方面,存在着以市场换技术争论,文章从技术主要供应方跨国公司和技术引进方变化进行分析,认为市场准入与技术引进正在脱离联系,旧思路、政策、争论应该结束,提出在制定政策时要有突破某些束缚;进一步解放思想是制定新技术引进政策保障。     

Global economy gathering strength

Encouraged by a highly expansionary economic policy, the global economy is enjoying a rapid upturn. Utilisation of capacity is high in many sectors, particularly in the growth centres of the USA and East Asia, where China leads the field. With inflationary risks on the increase, most countries are now shifting the focus of economic policy. Fiscal policy in particular can be expected to provide little in the way of further stimulus. In addition, there has been a turnaround in interest rates in many countries. Yet how quickly can the monetary reins be tightened without jeopardising growth or endangering price stability?     

New ways of achieving debt sustainability beyond the enhanced HIPC Initiative

In 1996 the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative was launched by the Bretton Woods institutions to reduce the external debt burden of low-income countries (LICs) to sustainable levels in a reasonably short period of time because debt constitutes an obstacle to sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction. In some HIPCs, however, debt sustainability has been in danger despite debt relief under the HIPC Initiative. Debt relief is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for development. It can do no more than play a catalytic role. The question, then, is how to achieve debt sustainability beyond the HIPC Initiative.     

论卓炯经济理论的生命力

本文认为，卓炯虽然离开我们十多年，但是，卓炯经济思想仍然具有强大的生命力。卓炯在马克思主义经济理论研究上取得的成就，仍然处于理论前沿。卓炯的分工理论，不但是古今经济学家着迷的课题，还是20世纪80年代兴起的新兴古典经济学的理论基础。卓炯关于市场机制配置资源优化的市场经济理论，不但是古典、新古典经济学的理论核心，还是经济学永远绕不开的中心论题。卓炯提出的市场经济模式经受了改革开放实践的考验，继续放出夺目的理论光彩。继承和发展卓炯经济理论是广东经济学家的光荣和骄傲．是义不容辞的理论任务。     

济钢钢渣综合利用现状和建议

介绍了济钢钢渣综合利用的现状和国内比较先进的钢渣处理技术，对钢渣利用存在的问题提出了建议。     

There's something about saving …

The paper considers how people should plan their saving, given certain assumptions about inheritance and changes in household circumstances. The results are produced by a model that takes into account tax and state benefits as well as various private savings vehicles. It concludes that, for many households, saving for retirement through a ‘pension’ might not be optimum and that the best strategy is to vary the incidence and allocation of saving in response to changes in household circumstances.