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Thanx
for this. Didn't know about coltan or its relation to the
Congo.
The
url above provides a quick overview.
arthur
It's ironic that cellphones are such a blessing in the rich world, while
coltan, one of their principal ingredients, is a major reason for the
bloodbath in Congo.
Ed Weick
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2003 7:51
PM
Subject: [Futurework] Re: A Volvo
without tyres
Hi Keith!
Things are changing fast.
Ten years ago Finland was in very serious
trouble.
In 1945 Finland had to pay very large
reparations to Soviet (Russia). But Finland was allowed to do it by
delivering goods to Sovjet, and not money, and whole industries was
built in Finland to produce the finished goods to Soviet, and when the
reparations were paid Finland went on producing for Soviet, but now
Soviet paid for the goods, often in oil. And this was a good business for
Finland, because Soviet bought whatever that Finland was able to
produce, and bought half of Finland's export. But then Soviet collapsed ten
years ago, and half of Finland's marked's disappeared. The unemployment rate
in Finland became higher than 20%. But within few years Finland was
able to develop new markeds and new industries, Nokia is wellknown. And
today the situation of Finland is much better!!
Sweden, or Ericsson, did not predict the
development of the markets of cellphones (mobile telephones), and that
is the big problem of Ericsson. Ericsson thought that the big market for
cellphones would be professionals and other grown-up groups, and did not see
the very large, and dominant, market of young people. All young people has
cellphones, and because fashions change and because they lose their phones
they often buy several phones every year, while older persons buy one
phone which lasts for a longer time.
Ericsson did not get that dominant marked,
but Nokia did it, and Ericsson is losing money. But that problem is much
smaller than the problems of Finland ten years ago, and when Finland was
able to recover I am sure Sweden will too! Sweden is more than Ericsson!
There are ups and downs, and it is when it is downs that a welfare state is
import to keep the people healthy and fresh!
Tor
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2003 1:46
PM
Subject: A Volvo without tyres
Hi Tor,
Further
to our recent discussion as to whether Sweden can afford its high spending
on welfare or not I quote some paragraphs from a recent Economist report.
(Incidentally, about your own country, the report says that many
Norwegians thinks that oil-bloated success could smother other parts of
the economy, making you lazy, unenterprising and decreasingly able to
generate new value. I'm sure this doesn't apply to you, but this is what
the Economist thinks of some of your countrymen!)
Keith
Hudson
<<<<
Meanwhile Sweden, the region's biggest
economy, has gradually been slipping behind its Nordic neighbours in terms
of income per person. "Sweden has become the poorest in the neighbourhood.
Iceland, Norway, Finland and Denmark are richer and on a better
trajectory," says Magnus Henrekson of the Stockholm School of Economics.
Ericsson, the country's biggest telecoms-equipment company, is having a
rough time. It is shedding 60,000 jobs over three years, and in April
reported its eighth consecutive quarterly loss.
The city of
Stockholm boomed briefly at the end of the 1990s, mostly because of big
investments in technology companies and heavy spending on research and
development, but the shine is wearing off here too. Swedes worry about the
lack of new big companies. Small service firms do well, but Stefan Folster
of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise points out that every one of
Sweden's 50 largest companies was formed before 1970.
In the early
1990s Sweden's public sector became too dominant even for Nordic tastes,
with public spending in 1993 reaching 67.5% of GDP and the economy
shrinking by 5.2% between 1990 and 1993. Carl Bildt's Conservative
government introduced reforms to cut public spending which were carried
further by its Social Democrat successor. Since then, says Mr Pagrotsky,
the industry minister, "We've had fairly good development for ten years,
though we have not been fantastic."
But now he is worried about
adverse demographic factors. All the Nordic countries face an acute
problem with ageing populations, and Sweden also suffers a higher rate of
sick leave and absenteeism than other European countries. Mr Folster says
these problems are so widespread (especially in the public sector and
among women) that the proportion of people actually working is now the
same as in 1995, when Sweden was in recession. Already the Finns are
joking that: "The Swedish welfare state is like a Volvo without tyres: it
is a great car, but it doesn't
work."
>>>>
Keith Hudson, 6 Upper Camden
Place, Bath, England
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