The thrust to free trade: Conviction or fashion

Recently many developing countries flocked to free trade because the forces that led policymakers to resist trade reforms in the past have weakened. Apart from obvious external pressures from lending institutions, developing countries may simply have seen that cooperation promises more benefits than conflict in the area of international trade. The ideological debate between market forces and government planning has been decided in favor of market forces. However, another possibility not much considered is that trade reform is in vogue and this provides the motivation for following suit. Thus, trade reform can precipitate a cascade effect (Hirshleifer's term) of countries queuing up to adopt trade reform policies. A country is more likely to favor the notion of trade reform if two or more other countries have already successfully moved in that direction.     

Numbers don't lie—do they?

It's easy to forget that behind every number is a person trying to impress, mislead, or please an interviewer.     

“私人定制”高管薪酬

正最好的公司绝不会让薪酬成为被诟病的话题。要给崭露头角的人传达这样一个信号:"你与众不同,所以我们给你尽可能高的奖励。"在比较好的公司,董事会和CEO都会着力组建现有或潜在的领导班子,他们也总会在推进人才发展计划时配套以相应的薪酬战略。但也有不少公司对薪酬体系存有错误的看法:他们认为,先把智囊团组建起来再想"钱"的事。如果董事会纵容甚至自己也持有这种想法,那么公司组建起来的人才系统必然是二流的。