World Trade Organization (WTO)

The WTO is the "official title of the multi-lateral trading system and the organization underpinning this system since 1995."  It is also the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations.  Their man purpose is to "open trade for benefit of all."  It was established in 1995 and grew into a strong system that promoted economic growth.  If there is an idea for improvement, decisions are taken by consensus among the members of the WTO.  The WTO has many responsibilities however, their main activites include:

:reducing obstacles to trade
:monitoring trade policies among group members
:economic research
:promoting the WTO and trying to get other countries to join

The development of the WTO was based mainly on negiotations.  The WTO not only protects trade, however, it protects consumers and the spread of disease. 

http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/whatis_e.htm

The Gold Standard Act

From 1870 to 1914, mosst currencies were in terms of gold.  Gold was used as the common denominator for all currencies, which meant that all currencies pegged at a fixed rate to gold.  There were a few different kinds of gold standards, such as Gold specie, Gold exchange, and the Gold bullion standards. 

GOLD SPECIE STANDARD- monetary unit associated with circulating gold coins.

GOLD EXCHANGE STANDARD- circulation of coins only made of silver.

GOLD BULLION STANDARD- gold coins do not circulate, however, gold bullion sold at a fixed price.

Since many of the banks had a huge inflow of gold, the central banks created gold reserves. 

 In 1934, the Gold Reserve Act made it illegal for people to have ownership of gold, unless it was in the form of jewelry.( President Roosevelt)  Circulation of gold coins were no longer available and the federal reserve and illuminati had full control of everything gold.

What we use today?

Today almost every country uses fiat money.  Fiat money is intrinsically useless only for a use of medium exchange.  The value of money today is set by the supply and demand from the economy.  (goods or services)

http://economics.about.com/cs/money/a/gold_standard.htm

non tariff barriers

Non Tariff Barriers are "barriers that restrict imports but usually not in the form as a tariff."  There are six types of NTB such as, Subsidies, import quotas, Vers, local content requirements, antidumping, and administrative policies.   The most popular type of NBT are the import quotas because foreign goods can still be imported if tariffs are paid.  In 2008, India was ranked 71st in (ETI) because of the trade barriers placed upon them. Even though India meets the needs of many exporters and importers, the flow of goods across borders was being handled by corrupt practices.  Antidumping and administrative policies are effective tariff barriers.  They are used for consumer protection, sanitation, and safety which today, seem to interfere with market access and developing countries, such as India.

http://www.business-standard.com/common/news_article.php?leftnm=3&autono=326530

Outsourcing

"Outsourcing refers to a company that contracts with another company to provide services that might otherwise be performed by in-house employees." I think outsourcing is an important topic in the world today because many companies are having their numbers and paper work handled by other companies around the world.  I think it is a great idea to have the small issues taken care by other companies because the business can focus on other important issues.  Outsourcing allows the business to have lower over head and the cost of hiring somone to do the work saves the business money.  Even though there are disadvantages for outsourcing such as, lack of communication between consumers and company, there are much more advantages. 
My family owns a fishing business in which they buy fishing products from a retailer who has his products manufactured in Thailand.  He travels there every year to see his products and what kind of designs they come up with.  The resources to make the fishing lures is cheaper in Thailand than it would be in the United States. Also, the cost of labor is very cheap.  If I owned a company, I would definetly outsource my manufacturing as long as I was providing my customers with a quality product. 
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-outsourcing.htm

DQ 3

What is culture?  Culture is "the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another."  Cultures have many layers, such as regional, ethnic, and religous.  Many different companies in the world have different cultures.  Culture seems to affect many people and ideas all over the world.  In the article "Scientific beliefs vary by culture" show how each country views flu experts, evolution, and other scientific topics differently.

In the article in says that Americans are more likely to trust flu experts than Europeans.  It is interesting to see the cultural views because each country could have their own evidence to back up their decision.  I would like to know why Europeans do not trust flu experts because they could have a really good reason.

"Another striking difference was in trust in flu pandemics experts -- 69 per cent of American respondents said they trust what scientists say, compared to only 31 per cent of European respondents. Scientific American ties the difference to the Geneva-based World Health Organization's handling of the outbreak and controversy over the billions of dollars' worth of vaccines and antiretroviral drugs ordered up to combat the virus that turned out to be milder than initially thought. "
I agree to what the Europeans think about the flu because the flu pandemic was less milder than what the United States said it was going to turn out to be.  Each culture around the world have many good ideas and opinions.  It does not mean that if you are from the United States that everything scientists do could be right.  This article shows that it is good to be open to other opinions from other countries/cultures because they could offer other countries valuable information. 
http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Scientific+beliefs+vary+culture+says+global+poll/3566792/story.html

Democracy DQ 2 and Chapter 2

After watching the video about the young women in the jean factory, the owner of Lifeng expressed that everyone is equal and business in the factory is excellent.  Even though business is good, are employees happy working in such an environment? Dictatorship is defined as a politcal system in which one person or party exercises abosulute politcal control over the population.  The type of dictatorship that China still practices is communist totalitarianism.  Using that type of dictatorship sets the country up for huge politcal risk.  Chaos, protests, and breakdowns happen all over the world because of their politcal system.  " But put them all together, and they should make headlines, since their plight goes to the heart of the frustration of living in a ‘people’s democratic dictatorship’ where justice is as much an agency of the state as the police themselves." (written by Peter Foster 2009).  Many people in China are upset but the government keeps throwing them in all sorts of directions.