Good News for Social Networking Sites Lovers

Good news for workers addicted to Facebook, Bebo, Yahoo! Messenger, and MySpace like me. A British think-tank says bosses should not stop their staff using social networking sites because they could actually benefit their firms.

The report by Demos said encouraging employees to use networking technologies to build relationships and closer links with colleagues and customers could help businesses rather than damage them. Author Peter Bradwell said that while companies were using specific systems to share information, online social networking sites could also play a role, helping with productivity, innovation and democratic working. However, he said there should be practical guidelines to limit non-work usage.

"Bans on Facebook or YouTube are in any case almost impossible to enforce; firms may as well try to put a time limit on the numbers of minutes allowed each day for gossiping," he wrote. The answer is not to close down staff access to social network platforms, nor is it investing blindly in collaborative platforms. Rather, they argue that their need to understand how, once we accept the implications of social networks, we can manage the new challenges and trade-offs.

His research concluded that trying to control the use of sites such as Facebook, which alone boasts more than 100 million users worldwide, could even harm organizations. "Smart" businesses recognized that social networking could not easily be separated from "professional" networking, he argued. "In today's difficult business environment, the instinctive reaction can be to batten down the hatches and return to the traditional 'command and control' techniques that enable managers to closely monitor and measure productivity," he said.

Allowing workers to have more freedom and flexibility might seem counterintuitive, but it appears to create business more capable of maintaining stability.

Robert Ainger, Corporate Director of Orange Business which co-produced the report, said it would be wrong of businesses to ignore the importance of networking in the current economic climate. "The report points out that the value of networking within an economic downturn is perhaps more important than ever and I believe it could mean the difference between a business collapsing or capitalizing on the tricky conditions," he said.

Stop Play Wii, but Vote!

The presidential race for the United States’ White House is entering its final stage, with the elections taking place on November 4. The two main candidates, the republican John McCain and the democrat Barack Obama have held debates about every topic on their campaign lists which were hosted by almost every kind of media in the US. As of now, the former candidate, Obama, leads the surveys and opinion poles and it looks like he might get the presidential chair in the White House.

Obama is a pretty young candidate and has appealed much more to the masses than the Vietnam veteran McCain. He also used almost every kind of advertising space to promote his campaign and the ideas he stands for. We reported that he even resorted to signing a contract with Electronic Arts for advertising space on the company's hit racing game Burnout Paradise. It really looked at the time that Obama would definitely have an innovative campaign on his side as opposed to the conservative McCain, one which might give him the advantage needed.

Now, as the final efforts for the presidential race are being made, Obama's campaign staff released a pretty interesting ad in which voting is promoted in order to “make history”. The public is encouraged to leave their comfortable couch or their Nintendo Wii and go out to vote for the fate of the United States.

The ad is very interesting and is a testimony to Nintendo, because Obama considers the Wii console as the simplest example of the gaming industry, one which might refrain people from voting. Other actions are encouraged as the main goal of the ad is to bring people out of their comfort zones and into the voting booths in order to decide the next president of the most powerful country in the world

With Hot coffee, We See a Warm Heart

Our judgment of a person's character can be influenced by something as simple as the warmth of the drink we hold in our hand.

In the current issue of the journal Science, Yale University psychologists show that people judged others to be more generous and caring if they had just held a warm cup of coffee and less so if they had held an iced coffee. In a second study, they showed people are more likely to give something to others if they had just held something warm and more likely take something for themselves if they held something cold.

The study builds upon earlier work by the authors that shows the physical distance between individuals also influences their social judgments about another person.

The research suggests that saying that someone is warm or that you feel distant from a friend or relative are more than simple metaphors. They are literal descriptions of emotions such as trust, first experienced during the intimate bond formed between mother and child during infancy.

"When we ask whether someone is a warm person or cold person, they both have a temperature of 98.6 " said John A Bargh, a professor of psychology at Yale and co-author of the paper with Lawrence E. Williams of the University of Colorado who received his Ph.D. from Yale earlier this year. "These terms implicitly tap into the primitive experience of what it means to be warm and cold."

Psychologists have long noted the importance of warm physical contact with caregivers in developing healthy relationships as adults. So Bargh and Williams decided to test the impact of warmth on the perceptions of adults.

To test their hypothesis about the importance of temperature, research assistants casually asked that the undergraduate test subjects briefly hold either a warm cup of coffee or iced coffee as they wrote down information. The subjects were then given a packet of information about an individual and then asked to assess his or her personality traits. The participants assessed the person as significantly "warmer" if they had previously held the warm cup of coffee rather than the iced cup of coffee. On personality scales unrelated to the trait of "warmth," the researchers found no difference in how participants who held an iced, versus hot, coffee responded.

In the second study, participants held heated or frozen therapeutic packs as part of a product evaluation study and were then were told they could receive a gift certificate for a friend or a gift for themselves. Those who held the hot pack were more likely to ask for the gift certificate, while those who held the frozen pack tended to keep the gift.

"It appears that the effect of physical temperature is not just on how we see others, it affects our own behavior as well," Bargh said. "Physical warmth can make us see others as warmer people, but also cause us to be warmer – more generous and trusting – as well."

The demonstration of the power of temperature on character assessment has been supported by recent brain imaging studies, Bargh noted. For instance, the experience of hot or cold stimulus has been shown to trigger strong activity in the insular cortex. Researchers have also implicated the same area of the brain in borderline personality disorder, a debilitating illness characterized by an inability to cooperate and near complete inability to determine whom to trust.

Unheard Voice

I have a story, forever untold,
I cradle it everyday,
With my heart's desire,
Though it hurts within.
As the light fades
And the day ends,
It is enriched further.
But my tired heart rests.
Deep down, it cries and sighs,
Pines to sneak beyond the closed doors,
But, it retires till eternity,
Alone, sinned and torn for life!

Opening Soon: Padang Restaurant on the Moon...

Originally published on my magazine with the title Saudagar Minang: Dari Urang Minang untuk Ranah dan Rantau.

Seandainya ada manusia di bulan, pasti di sana ada rumah makan Minang. Pameo ini muncul karena Rumah Makan Padang muncul sebagai simbol eksistensi budaya Minang, yang bisa ditemui dapat di temui di seluruh penjuru kota di Indonesia, bahkan di dunia.

Menurut Wakil Ketua DPD asal Minang, Irman Gusman menyebut sifat egaliter dan mandiri melekat kuat dalam diri urang Minang. Sehingga tidak banyak di antara mereka yang mau terikat dengan orang lain. Itulah mengapa banyak di antara para perantau Minang yang memilih bekerja atau berusaha sendiri, seperti berdagang atau menjadi sopir ketimbang bekerja untuk orang lain. Bahkan, sejak era 1970an, saudagar Minang di rantau menguasai perdagangan ritel dan garmen. Pasar Tanah Abang dan Blok M menjadi saksi adalah ‘daerah kekuasaan’ orang Minang.

Selain berdagang, mereka memiliki tradisi merantau. Pepatah 'karatau madang di hulu babuah babungo balun, marantau buyuang dahulu di rumah paguno balun' dipegang teguh oleh pria Minang yang telah cukup umur. Artinya, seseorang belum berguna atau bermanfaat sebelum melakukan petualangan (merantau). Menurut Irwan Sjarkawi, tokoh Minang yang sukses sebagai seorang entrepreneur, sedari kecil orang Minang harus menguasai tiga hal, yakni mengaji (berkaitan dengan pendalaman agama), memasak (berkaitan dengan kemampuan menghidupi diri sendiri), dan bersilat (berkaitan dengan kemampuan mempertahankan diri). “Perpaduan tiga hal ini menjadikan orang Minang menjadi perantau ulung,”kata Irwan.

Kalau dilihat dari aspek sejarah, kebiasaan merantau yang dilaksanakan para pria ini ada hubungannya dengan sistem matrilineal yang dianut etnis Minang. Kekayaan keluarga serta kamar yang ada dirumah gadang dibagi menurut jumlah anak perempuan sedangkan anak laki laki menghabiskan waktunya di surau atau mesjid dan lapau. Keadaan ini membuat keinginan merantau ke negeri orang cukup tinggi bagi lelaki Minang yang sudah cukup dewasa. ”Merantau merupakan suatu sarana ujian bagi anak lelaki minang untuk menempa jiwa, kegigihan dan keuletan serta dalam meningkatkan derajat kehidupannya,” ujar Firdaus HB, Sekretaris Jenderal FSSM sekaligus Ketua Panitia Pelaksana FSSM 2008.

Ikatan Emosi dengan Kampuang Halaman

Sejatinya, urang Minang dikenal dengan sistem kekerabatan Minang yang sangat kuat. Mereka memegang falsafah anak dipangku, kemenakan dididik, orang kampong dipertenggangkan. Ini menandakan mereka memiliki kewajiban dan beban yang lebih berat, karena ketika Minang rantau berhasil dia memiliki kewajiban untuk menyumbang keluarga dan kampung halamannya. “Urang Minang wajib bertanggung jawab dan ikut memikirkan terhadap kampungnya,” jelas Firdaus.

Ikatan emosional terhadap kampung halaman yang kuat membuat urang Minang perantauan selalu menyumbangkan baik finansial maupun pemikiran terhadap kampung halamannya. Melalui Forum Silaturahim Saudagar Minang (FSSM) ini, seluruh saudagar Minang dari penjuru dunia berkumpul selain dengan misi untuk memperluas jaringan bisnis, memberikan sumbangsih kepada ranah Minang juga menjadi perhatian khusus saudagar Minang.

Sayangnya, karakter saudagar Minang yang cenderung egaliter dan mandiri, membuat saudagar Minang terkesan kurang kompak dan tidak memiliki jaringan yang kuat. Padahal jejaring merupakan kunci kekuatan sebuah bisnis. Untuk itu, pada 2007 Fahmi Idris, Basrizal Koto, Firdaus HB, Chairul Anhar, Johnny Swandi Sjam, Solihin Kalla, Asnawi Bahar, Basril Djabar, Irman Gusman, Rainal Rais, Sutan Zairin Kasim dan Irwan Sjarkawi bergabung untuk membentuk FSSM. Mereka berharap, jejaring yang terbentuk lewat forum ini bakal membentuk sinergi harmonis antarpebisnis Minang. “Kami memediasi supaya semua saudagar bisa saling bersinergi,” kata Firdaus. Nah, sinergi ini bakal mendongkrak kinerja bisnis yang berujung pada membaiknya kesejahteraan dan perekonomian masyarakat pada umumnya.

Sementara itu, kata Irwan, pembentukan forum saudagar Minang bila digerakkan dalam format dan manajemen yang baik akan membawa efek lebih baik. “Sinergi para saudagar, dalam bentuk modal kerja dan pemasaran, akan menciptakan kegiatan ekonomi yang lebih baik dengan intensitas yang lebih tinggi.,” tutur presiden komisaris PT Bakrie & Brothers Tbk. ini. Ia berharap forum silaturahim yang selalu dilaksanakan selepas Idul Fitri ini bisa menjadi ajang transfer of knowledge antarsaudagar yang saling menguntungkan.

Ia menambahkan tidak ada pembatasan skala dan bidang usaha bagi saudagar yang ingin bergabung. Selama si saudagar berasal dari ranah Minang, semua boleh bergabung. “Jaringan yang kuat tak akan pernah berhasil bila membatasi diri atau bersifat eksklusif.” tegas Irwan. Keberagaman ini justru akan menguntungkan sebelum terbentuknya kerjasama bisnis.

Salah satu contoh kegiatan digagas oleh Irman Gusman, Wakil Ketua Dewan Perwakilan Daerah (DPD) periode 2004-2009 yang juga turut membidani lahirnya FSSM. Pria kelahiran Padang Panjang 11 Februari 1962 ini akan mengundang sejumlah saudagar Minang untuk hadir dalam acara World Economic Islamic Forum (WIFE) 2009. “Acara tersebut akan dihadiri kepala negara dari berbagai negara, pemerintah dan pengusaha-pengusaha. Ini adalah kesempatan bagus untuk memperluas jaringan,” imbuh pria yang menggondol Master of Business (MBA) dari University of Bridgeport, Connecticut, AS ini.

Firdaus menambahkan ada beberapa hal yang akan dilakukan FSSM untuk memberikan kontribusi pada ranah Minang. “Target selanjutnya adalah membentuk jaringan kerja definitif di setiap provinsi,” kata direktur utama PT Kumala Wandira, sebuah perusahaan konstruksi. Maret lalu, Fahmi Idris, Ketua Penggagas sekaligus Dewan Pembina FSSM Pusat, mengukuhkan pendirian FSSM Riau.

Pemuda Sekarang Ogah Jadi Saudagar

Tentu saja, sebuah forum tak akan bermanfaat jika kegiatannya hanya kumpul-kumpul saja. Itu sebabnya FSSM membentuk pusat pendidikan bisnis, klinik bisnis, dan konsultasi kewirausahaan. Hal ini terinspirasi oleh tingginya jumlah pengangguran di Indonesia, khususnya di Sumatera Barat. Menurut data per 2007, ada 22.973 sarjana belum memiliki pekerjaan. Selain itu, FSSM juga merisaukan minimnya minat entrepreneurship dari pemuda Minang masa kini. Menurut survei yang digagas Dinas Tenaga Kerja dan Transmigrasi Sumbar pada 2006, sebanyak 74% pemuda Minang justru memilih menjadi Pegawai Negeri Sipil (PNS). “Kami berharap pelatihan entrepreneurship ini bisa menumbuhkan motivasi dan menginspirasi pemuda untuk menjadi pengusaha,” ungkap Irwan Sjarkawi.

Memang, membangkitkan kembali semangat berdagang pada generasi muda bukan perkara mudah. Namun, Irwan optimis proses pembinaan ini akan terus meningkat setiap tahunnya. Hingga saat ini, pelatihan ini telah menunjukkan hasil yang cukup bagus. Jumlah sarjana pengganggguran menurun dari 26.000 orang (2006) menjadi 22.973 orang. Irwan berharap, melalui berbagai pelatihan kewirausahaan yang diadakan oleh FSSM ini, dalam jangka waktu 8 tahun, angka ini terus menurun hingga menjadi kurang dari 5.000 orang.

Tidak hanya menyumbang secara finansial. Dalam rencana program kerja FSSM ini akan memediasi, memberikan konsultasi dan fasilitasi pembiayaan usaha mikro, kecil dan menengah). Namun, hingga saat ini berbagai program tersebut masih dalam tahap penggodokan. Umur FSSM yang masih seumur jagung, masih banyak yang harus dibenahi dan diatur agar dapat mengakomodasi tujuan awal berdirinya FSSM ini, sesuai slogan dari saudagar, oleh saudagar, untuk masyarakat ranah dan rantau.

Wrote by Atta, edited by me ;)

Amazing Cities of the World

Originally published on my magazine with the title:

Kota Paling Berpengaruh: Raksasa dengan Empat Huruf

Menyitir hasil survei Centers of Commerce Index yang dirilis MasterCard, akhir Juli 2008 silam, London masih menjadi kota paling berpengaruh dalam ekonomi global. Kendati demikian, masuknya tujuh kota di Asia dalam jajaran 25 kota berkekuatan terbesar ekonomi dunia, mengindikasikan bahwa kota-kota di Benua Kuning kian memegang peranan penting bagi ekonomi global. Kinerja pertumbuhan di Cina dan India telah menggeser peta kekuatan ekonomi lebih dekat ke wilayah Asia. Dua negara itu menyumbang sembilan dari 75 kota berpengaruh di dunia.

Sementara itu, Jakarta hanya bertengger di peringkat 68. Berada dibawah Kuala Lumpur (50), tetapi lebih baik ketimbang Manila (71). Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, economic advisor MasterCard Worldwide untuk Asia Pasifik menuturkan bahwa indeks pusat perdagangan dunia ini bisa menjadi petunjuk bagi perusahaan multinasional untuk mengenali dan menilai peluang investasi dan pasar di sebuah kota, bukan lagi level dunia.

Untuk menyusun indeks tersebut, tim menggunakan tujuh dimensi pengukuran, yakni stabilitas ekonomi, kemudahan berbisnis, aliran finansial, pusat bisnis, knowledge creation, tingkat kenyamanan, sistem politik dan hukum, serta kemudahan akses teknologi, transportasi, dan logistik.

London

Kota seluas 1.577 kilometer persegi ini masih menjadi kota paling berpengaruh dalam ekonomi dunia, tak beranjak dari tahun sebelumnya. Kota di bawah kepemimpinan Walikota Boris Johson ini merupakan rumah yang ramah bagi industri jasa keuangan, terutama di pusat bisnis Canary Wharf dan Westminster Abbey. Sekitar 300.000 orang bekerja di sektor finansial. Sementara itu, tujuh dari sepuluh perusahaan yang masuk daftar FTSE 100 serta Fortune 500 berkantor pusat di London.

Di kota ini terdapat Bursa Efek London (London Stock Exchange/LSE), salah satu dari bursa saham terbesar di dunia, dengan nilai kapitalisasi pasar sebesar US$4,21 triliun dan 3.200 perusahaan listed, per Oktober 2007. Tiap hari, di kota ini, ada perputaran uang senilai US$753 miliar. Dan, di kota ini pula, dolar AS dan euro lebih banyak diperdagangkan, ketimbang di New York dan kota-kota lain di Eropa.

Kota ini menjadi pilihan dari 480 kantor cabang bank asing, paling banyak dibandingkan ibukota negara lain di dunia. Menurut otoritas setempat, adanya kebijakan pro bisnis, seperti aturan penerapan pajak, pemerintah tidak mengintervensi bisnis, dan adanya infrastruktur transportasi yang bagus, menjadikan London banyak diminati investor. Bandara London Heathrow merupakan bandara tersibuk di dunia. Menurut catatan Biro Statistik Negara, London menyumbang sekitar 20% dari total GDP Inggris, tiap tahunnya.

New York

Kota ini memiliki pendapatan asli daerah (PAD) US$952,6 miliar, terbesar di seluruh AS. Sementara itu, sektor jasa finansial menyumbang lebih dari 35% dari PAD NY. Wilayah yang dipimpin Walikota Michael Bloomberg ini menjadi kantor pusat 44 perusahaan yang masuk daftar Fortune 500.

Pada dasarnya, di kota seluas 1.214 kilometer persegi ini ada dua pusat bisnis kelas wahid, yakni Lower Manhattan dan Midtown Manhattan. Di wilayah tersebut pernah berdiri megah World Trade Center, sebelum akhirnya runtuh akibat peristiwa 9/11, dan di Wall Street ada bursa ternama yakni New Yorks Stock Exchange (NYSE) dan NASDAQ. NYSE Euronext merupakan bursa saham terbesar di dunia dengan total nilai kapitalisasi pasar US$20,7 triliun, per Oktober 2007. Setidaknya, ada 2.764 perusahaan yang listed di “Big Board”. Sedangkan di NASDAQ ada 3.200 perusahaan yang listed, dimana sepersepuluhnya adalah perusahaan non AS, dengan total nilai kapitalisasi pasar US$4,39 trilun.

Tokyo

Menurut studi PricewaterhouseCoopers, Tokyo memiliki GDP sebesar US$1.191 miliar, terbesar di dunia untuk ukuran kota. Sementara itu, menurut survei Economist Intelligence Unit, Tokyo merupakan kota dengan biaya hidup termahal di dunia selama 15 tahun terakhir. Kendati demikian, di wilayah seluas 2.187 kilometer persegi ini merupakan kantor pusat dari 50 perusahaan yang termasuk daftar Global 500 dan tempat bernaungnya Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), terbesar kedua di dunia untuk nilai kapitalisasi pasar. Per Oktober 2007, nilai kapitalisasi pasarnya sebesar $4,63 triliun. Pada Juli 2008, TSE dan LSE mengumumkan kerjasama berbentuk joint venture, di mana TSE akan berbasis pada Pasar Investasi Alternatif (Alternative Investment Market, AIM) LSE.

Pasca Perang Dunia II, sejumlah perusahaan memindahkan kantor pusatnya dari Osaka ke Tokyo, dengan alasan memiliki akses dengan pemerintah. Selain itu, Tokyo memiliki infrastruktur transportasi lebih baik, termasuk memiliki Bandara Haneda untuk penerbangan domestik dan Bandara Internasional Narita yang berada di perfektur Chiba, di luar Tokyo.

Singapura

Negara kota dengan luas 707,1 kilometer persegi ini merupakan tempat mencari nafkah ribuan ekspatriat dan sepuluh ribuan pekerja asing berkerah biru. Perusahaan multinasional banyak memilih Singapura sebagai kantor pusat untuk region Asia Pasifik. Selain karena posisi yang menguntungkan, kebijakan pemerintah yang pro bisnis dan kemudahan infrastruktur membuat Singapura menjadi tujuan utama investasi.

Pada dasarnya, karena wilayah yang cukup mungil, perekonomian negara kota ini sungguh bergantung pada sektor jasa dan kegiatan ekspor-impor. Hal ini menjadikan Singapura sebagai pelabuhan tersibuk dari sisi tonase. Wilayah ini juga memiliki bursa efek (Singapore Exchange Limited, SGX), yang merupakan hasil merger dua institusi finansial paling wahid di negeri itu yakni Stock Exchange of Singapore (SES) dan Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX), pada akhir 1999. Hingga Juni 2007, ada 722 perusahaan listed di SGX dan memiliki nilai kapitalisasi pasar SGD773 miliar.

Chicago

Kota seluas 606,2 kilometer persegi ini merupakan rumah bagi tiga pusat keuangan, yakni Chicago Stock Exchange, Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), dan Chicago Mercantile Exchange ("Merc"). Oleh karena pengaruh Chicago School of Economics, kota ini memiliki pasar perdagangan dengan kontrak khusus, seperti emisi karbon (Chicago Climate Exchange) dan ekuitas (US Futures Exchange). Setidaknya, 12 perusahaan yang masuk daftar Fortune 500 dan 17 perusahaan dalam FT 500 berbasis di kota ini.

Selain berjaya dalam sektor jasa keuangan, kota ini juga basis industri manufaktur, printing, media massa, makanan, dan kesehatan, seperti Baxter International dan Abbott Laboratories. Dari sisi kemudahan transportasi, kota ini memiliki Bandara Internasional Midway di sisi selatan dan Bandara Internasional O'Hare di sisi utara. Untuk energi, sekitar 75% energi listri Chicago dipasok dari PLTN. Kota ini memiliki GDP sebesar US$443 miliar dan menurut riset UBS, Chicago berada di peringkat ke-16 kota terkaya di dunia.

Hongkong

Pemerintah yang berkuasa di wilayah seluas 1.104 kilometer persegi ini menerapkan kebijakan pasar bebas dan pajak rendah, selain berjanji untuk tidak melakukan intervensi dalam pasar finansial. Hal ini membuat Hongkong tercatat sebagai the most free economy di dunia selama 14 tahun terakhir versi Index of Economic Freedom. Hongkong pun menjadi pilihan bagi perusahaan multinasional untuk menempatkan kantor pusat wilayah Asia Pasifik. Selain itu, Hongkong Stock Exchange merupakan bursa efek terbesar keenam di dunia dalam nilai kapitalisasi pasar, yakni mencapai US$2,97 triliun, per Oktober 2008. Wilayah yang dipimpin Sir Donald Tsang ini memiliki sistem transportasi yang baik, termasuk jaringan MRT, tram, bus, dan kapal ferry.

Paris

Kota seluas 89,6 kilometer persegi ini menjadi pusat bisnis dan budaya dunia. Menurut studi firma akuntan PricewaterhouseCoopers, GDP Paris yang mencapai US$628,9 miliar, terbesar kelima di dunia. Nilai ini menyumbang seperempat dari GDP Perancis. Kota ini merupakan basis dari 37 perusahaan yang termaktub dalam Fortune 500, terutama di pusat bisnis La Défense yang diinisiasi pemerintah Perancis pada 1958. Pusat bisnis seluas 3,5 kilometer persegi ini terbentang di antara segitiga emas Opéra Garnier, La Défense, dan Val de Seine. Paris juga menjadi rumah bagi organisasi internasional macam UNESCO, OECD, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) dan organisasi informal Paris Club. Belakangan, ekonomi Paris menuju industri layanan nilai tambah (TI, jasa keuangan, dsb) dan manufaktur teknologi tinggi (elektronika, optik, otomotif, aeronautika, dsb).

Frankfurt

Kota di pinggir sungai Maine ini memiliki populasi 670.000 jiwa (sensus 2008), terpadat ke-5 di Jerman. Kota seluas 248,3 kilometer persegi ini memiliki tiga pilar penting dalam ekonomi, yakni jasa keuangan, transportasi, dan trade fair. Selama berabad-abad, Frankfurt telah menjadi pusat bisnis Jerman. Kota ini menjadi rumah bagi Bank Sentral Eropa, Bank Sentral Jerman, Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, FWB), dan Frankfurt Trade Fair. Setidaknya, lebih dari 300 bank internasional dan nasional memiliki kantor di kota ini.

Dari sisi transportasi, kota ini memiliki infrastruktur yang handal, di antaranya Bandara Internasional Frankfurt, salah satu bandara tersibuk di dunia dan hub penerbangan untuk wilayah Eropa dengan 54,2 juta penumpang per 2007. Selain itu, kota ini memiliki Stasiun Pusat Frankfurt dan Frankfurter Kreuz, stasiun kereta api tersibuk di benua Eropa. Dari sisi perdagangan, tiap tahun pemerintah kota menggelar Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung dan Frankfurter Buchmesse, pameran kendaraan dan buku terbesar di dunia.

Seoul

Kota seluas 605,25 kilometer persegi ini adalah ibukota Korea Selatan, sekaligus pusat bisnis negara tersebut. Lima perusahaan yang termasuk daftar Fortune 500, di antaranya Samsung, LG, dan Hyundai memiliki kantor pusat di kota ini. Kendati Seoul hanya mengambil 0,6% dari luas wilayah Korea Selatan, tapi bisa menghasilkan 21% dari GDP negara. Oleh karena keterbatasan lahan, pemerintah setempat menggagas hunian dan pusat bisnis menjulang vertikal, seperti Korea Finance Building, World Trade Center, Seoul Star Tower, maupun Lotte World 2 Tower setinggi 800 meter yang tengah dibangun. Sebagai hasil diversifikasi jaringan transportasi kota, Seoul kini memiliki sistem transportasi terbaik di Asia. Sementara itu, Bandara Internasional Incheon terpilih sebagai salah satu bandara terbaik di dunia versi IATA dan Airports Council International.

Amsterdam

Kota seluas 219 kilometer persegi ini dulunya merupakan pusat perdagangan berlian di abad ke-12. Lalu, menjelma menjadi pusat keuangan, hingga kini. Tujuh perusahaan yang tergabung dalam Fortune 500 berbasis di kota itu, di antaranya Philips, Shell, ABN AMRO, dan ING. Kendati banyak firma kecil yang berdiri di tepi kanal tua, sebagian di antara mereka direlokasi ke pinggir kota, seperti ke Zuidas. Di wilayah ini, berdiri gedung World Trade Center dan kantor Accenture. Di kota ini, Amsterdam Stock Exchange (AEX) kini Euronext Amsterdam juga masih kokoh berdiri. Selain infrastruktur yang memadai, stabilitas ekonomi dan politik, dan kemudahan berbisnis yang ditawarkan pemerintah setempat membuat investor asing tertarik untuk berbisnis di tempat ini. Setidaknya, tiap tahun, ada 100 investor mendirikan usaha di Amsterdam dan sekitarnya, karena tertarik dengan lokasi yang dekat dengan pelabuhan dan Bandara Internasional Schiphol, hub bagi penerbangan Eropa.

Jakarta

Bila dibandingkan dengan kota-kota Asia lainnya, Jakarta masih “bangga” bisa bertengger di posisi 68 dari 75 kota paling berpengaruh di dunia. Adanya pusat bisnis, terutama di segitiga emas Sudirman-Kuningan-Thamrin, yang di dalamnya terdapat Bursa Efek Indonesia, sejumlah kantor bank asing, dan Bank Indonesia, membuat kota seluas 740,28 kilometer ini cukup menjadi incaran investor. Dari sisi transportasi, meski belum sempurna, Jakarta sudah memiliki sistem jaringan transportasi massal macam TransJakarta dan jaringan jalan raya/tol. Jakarta juga memiliki pelabuhan dan bandara internasional Soekarno-Hatta, kendati secara de jure berada di kawasan Tangerang.

Ari Windyaningrum

The End of America

by Glen Allport*

"Trends which cannot continue, don’t." — Attributed to Warren Buffett and others

The most obvious trend which cannot continue today is the maintenance of prosperity in America by means of ever-increasing debt and monetary inflation. The America we grew up in, the America we are used to – in terms of not only prosperity but also world dominance, freedom and human rights at home, respect around the world, and in other ways – that America is already gone, and we are living in the vapors and shadows of its corpse.

Americans and indeed people everywhere will increasingly be asking themselves who caused the epic financial collapse that has already destroyed trillions of dollars in wealth, slowed the economies of nearly every nation on Earth, and generated a surge in unemployment and homelessness in America and elsewhere. I have written about the causes previously; see, for example, Destruction by Paradigm: How the United States wrecked the world’s most robust economy and impoverished its own people from March of 2007 (especially section 3) and will not discuss them in detail here.

The free market (something we don't actually have) has been set up as the fall guy, but the true culprit is government coercion and its results – our unconstitutional central bank; the unconstitutional abandonment of the gold standard; corporatism and resulting corruption of the regulatory process, to name a few highlights. The current nightmare has been over a century in the making, so don't expect it to be solved anytime soon, like "in your lifetime."

Repair of the damage, assuming it ever happens, will take far longer than that.

It is worth noting that repair could happen much faster, if a return to something approaching genuine freedom could be engineered. I don't see that as being in the cards, however, although I would be thrilled to be wrong.

More likely, the problems currently scaring us to death are just the start of an epic descent into Hell, a cautionary event that will be studied and retold for a thousand years and more, assuming the human race survives that long. I am sorry to be so downbeat, but I can only call it as I see it. Today's situation will appear cheerful in comparison even a year from now, and not only financially.

This global financial crisis was not only foreseeable, it was actually foreseen and described years ago – not by government bureaucrats (other than former OMB head David Walker), not by politicians (other than Dr. Ron Paul [video of Paul speaking after the bailout bill passed, 4 min 14 sec]), not by most of the talking heads on television, not by most financial commentators, but instead by those few observers who have at least some understanding of Austrian economics and whose careers do not involve boosting the corrupt, corporatist system that has been devouring America for decades.

The people most recently responsible for creating this problem are now telling us that they know how to fix the problem – and the fix, naturally, involves taking incomprehensibly vast sums of money from the American public and handing that money to the banks and other institutions and connected, wealthy individuals who were the immediate, proximate cause of the problem.

Yeah, that'll work.

I opened the file for this column almost two years ago, then put it aside and forgot about it. After last week's breathtaking betrayal of the American public by Congress and the President, I decided to return to this column and finish it. As a reminder that today's crisis has been building for years, here is the opening section I originally wrote:

As I begin writing this (on December 4th, 2006 ) everything seems fine.

It isn’t.

By the time you read this, the problems may or may not be apparent to most Americans.

On Friday, December 14, 2006 , the U.S. federal government is scheduled to release the annual Financial Report of the United States , which – unlike the budget figures constantly reported in the news – uses industry-standard GAAP accounting. This is the type of accounting your business uses; the deficit and other numbers we usually see about our government’s finances are generated by, essentially, cash flow analysis. These figures do not account for liabilities that are building up, including future obligations for Social Security, Medicare, and so on.

The difference is stunning.

What is the budget deficit for fiscal year 2006?

We’ve been told it is "only" $248.2 billion – actually an enormous number, a frightening number for any thinking person. With 300 million men, women, and children in the U.S. including perhaps 125 million adults with jobs in the private sector, $248.2 thousand million (there being a thousand millions in a billion) means the new federal debt created this year amounts to roughly $2,000 for every business owner and non-government employee in the country. That’s not total federal debt: it’s just NEW debt for 2006, as reported by the federal government. Even counting infants, children, the retired, students, the unemployed, and government employees (who are, of course, paid with tax dollars), the new debt adds over $800 to each person’s federal debt load.

Bad, right?

Wait until you see the real numbers.

And indeed, as you know, the real numbers were horrible – and have only gotten worse.

Speaking of "the real numbers", the amount of government debt Americans have recently been saddled with is vast beyond comprehension. As you look at the chart below, keep in mind that a trillion is a thousand billion. United States total GDP is about $13.78 trillion, and world GDP is roughly $65.61 trillion, according to (shiver) the CIA factbook site.

$2.092 trillion is a significant percentage of America's entire Gross Domestic Product – and remember, this is NEW debt, not previously-created federal debt (presently over $10 trillion) and not current unfunded liabilities such as Social Security and Medicare, which are perhaps another $100 trillion (other figures are available; use a search engine and pick whatever number you prefer – they're all impossibly large). This is debt on a dizzying scale; debt on a scale that absolutely cannot and will not ever be repaid, except (possibly, if the government survives long enough) in near-worthless, inflated dollars.

Returning to "the real numbers" that America is drowning in: If $248.2 billion is roughly $2,000 for every American with a non-government job or business, how much is $2,000 billion? Answer: over $16,000 per American with a non-government job or business. Again, that is just new debt created recently for the bailouts. Jennifer Barry (she of the chart shown above) points out that:

"Despite Bernanke’s assurances to the contrary, these bailouts mean tremendous inflation of the money supply. The U.S. can no longer avoid hyperinflation- -it is here. The effects can hardly be overstated when the reserve currency of the world is debased so rapidly.

Empires disintegrate and social upheaval occurs. Dollar depreciation is not apparent to the masses yet, but once the realization occurs, the social effect will be explosive. I believe this is why a U.S. Army brigade from the 3rd Infantry Division has been given orders to patrol America “to help with civil unrest and crowd control.

"The dollar is doomed but most people don’t know it yet."

This is what putting government in charge of the money supply gets you. The American dollar may not plunge to the levels reached by the Zimbabwean dollar, but it will plunge in value; the only questions are how fast and how far. For that matter, the US dollar has already plunged in value, having lost about 97% of its value since the Federal Reserve was created in 1913 – when a $20 bill could be exchanged, by law, for a one-ounce gold coin. (You can check how much gold a $20 bill will buy today – "almost none" is a good guess – at 321gold.com). For that matter, the Constitution' s Section 10* still requires that our money be gold and silver (the section has never been repealed) – just another example of the lawlessness that has increasingly characterized our government over time.

For a short refresher course on the topic with focus on the current financial crisis, here is Ron Paul on CNN recently (video, 5 min 31 sec).

The financial crisis now underway is just one element in a major, multi-pronged threat to love and freedom here at home and around the world. As is typical in a crisis, government's response has been to take more money and power from the people and gather that money and power to itself. Tyranny advances crisis by crisis, and this effect is so powerful that governments have often created crisis events rather than wait for one to appear on its own. Whether the present crisis has been engineered purposefully, as some believe, or is entirely the result of clueless and corrupt behavior on the part of government regulators, investment bankers, elected officials, and others, the result is the same: a screaming financial emergency that is being milked for all the money and power the elite can get from it.

For an in-depth look at how severe is the immediate danger to our lives and liberty, I highly recommend this recent interview with author Naomi Wolf (27 min 52 sec, and well worth the time), in which she discusses why strong, direct action is needed NOW to prevent a complete descent into tyranny. By "direct action" she means, among other things, arresting George W. Bush immediately. Ms. Wolf's sense of urgency is palpable and well-supported, and she describes a number of things Americans can do to oppose and possibly prevent the collapse of freedom in America . She is cautiously optimistic, an attitude bolstered by her finding that tyranny has in fact been thwarted by citizen action more than once in history.

Ms. Wolf is the author of a book with the same title as this column, which outlines her research into the methods historically used to impose fascism in formerly free (or relatively free) nations. The reader will see immediately that these ten steps have already been used to one extent or another in the United States , especially since 9/11/2001 :

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy.

2. Create secret prisons where torture takes place.

3. Develop a thug caste or paramilitary force not answerable to citizens.

4. Set up an internal surveillance system.

5. Harass citizens' groups.

6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release.

7. Target key individuals.

8. Control the press.

9. Treat all political dissidents as traitors.

10. Suspend the rule of law.

Wolf's book (the full title is The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot) explains how the above pattern was followed in Hitler's Germany , Mussolini's Italy , and in other places. Frighteningly, it is a plan that works, and America 's federal government has been visibly following this plan for several years now.

Once again, Wolf believes that the present level of destruction can be reversed – that the American republic has not yet been ended with certainty. This is a refreshingly positive view, although I have difficulty sharing it. She stresses, however, that unless a large number of Americans begin to effectively oppose the destruction of their liberties, and quickly, "the end of America " will no longer be a warning but rather a fait accompli.

Note:

Article 1, Section 10 reads: "No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility." [Emphasis added]

* Glen Allport co-authored The User's Guide to OS/2 from Compute! Books and is the author of The Paradise Paradigm: On Creating a World of Compassion, Freedom, and Prosperity. He maintains paradise-paradigm. net. This is one in a series of columns on the human condition.