tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50183148378812988852024-02-07T07:10:34.888-05:00Talk about consumptionBenoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-26952248975688511052013-09-09T12:15:00.000-04:002013-09-12T10:08:00.676-04:00A military strike on Syria is not the best responseIf indeed chemical weapons have been used, allegedly on orders from President al-Assad himself, World nations cannot sit idly and be, as US Secretary of State Kerry has said «<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/07/kerry-us-allies-syria-spectators-slaughter">silent spectators to the slaughter</a>». To do so would condone such actions and invite further violations of widely agreed upon conventions on the ban of such weapons, as affirmed in the <a href="http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/sbtwc/keytext/genprot.htm">1925 Geneva Protocol</a> and respected by all major world countries.<br />
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Does this necessarily mean that a military strike on Syria led by the US and France, with or without the support of a yet to be determined coalition and/or of the UN Security Council, is the best response to what may be construed as mass murder? <br />
<br />
The serious dangers of such an attack have been thoroughly explained in many media by very wise and knowledgeable people in that field of expertise. I am no military expert and have nothing to add to that debate; suffice to say that those dangers do exist and cannot be dismissed. I would rather focus on the objective of this planned retaliation and the way to best achieve it.<br />
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<![endif]--><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The objective pursued has been stated by administration
officials in France and the United States</span>: it is to «punish» President al-Assad for allegedly resorting to the use of chemical weapons against his own population.<br />
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From that standpoint, the truth of the matter is, a military strike will NOT «punish» President al-Assad; it will first and foremost kill lower rank military personnel of the Syrian army and innocent by standing Syrian civilians, both of which had no say in the matter. Let us also take into account the fact that high ranking army officers and/or government officials in Syria have most likely participated in this action. It is unlikely that a military strike will affect those people.<br />
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Other traditional courses of actions, such as a blockade or economic sanctions, either cannot be implemented or will not produce the desired effect, because the al-Assad regime has powerful international allies. In fact, I can only think of one effective way to «punish» the perpetrators and deter other tyrants from using such weapons in the future: to indict them in the <a href="http://www.icc-cpi.int/EN_Menus/icc/pages/default.aspx">International Criminal Court</a> in The Hague.<br />
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Some will say that what I propose is impossible, because one must first lay hands on those people before bringing them in front of the court. True, it cannot be done overnight. However, if enough evidence is accumulated for the UN Security Council to issue international arrest warrants, it will be impossible for those responsible for the alleged use of chemical weapons to travel outside Syria, except to sympathetic countries, without being immediately detained, forcibly or not. There have even been cases where war criminals were snatched by strike teams from countries in which they felt safe to be brought to trial. <br />
<br />
The system works: in July 2012, the International Criminal Court found <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/14/congolese-warlord-thomas-lubanga-convicted-of-war-crimes-as-international-criminal-court-hands-down-first-ever-verdict/">Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga Dyilo</a> guilty of war crimes and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2012/07/10/premiere-condamnation-de-cour-penale-internationale-quatorze-ans-de-prison-pour-thomas-lubanga_n_1661121.html">sentenced him to 14 years imprisonment</a>.<br />
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The European Union demands «<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/european-union-backs-strong-but-not-immediate-response-to-syrian-attack/2013/09/07/9761eadc-17d4-11e3-961c-f22d3aaf19ab_story.html">strong international response</a>» to the alleged chemical attack. I think that a trial in the International Criminal Court would satisfy the EU demand. In fact, I strongly believe that it is the only just and effective response to the alleged crime.<br />
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Let us not forget what Winston Churchill has said: «<a href="http://www.bartleby.com/73/1914.html">To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war</a>». In the long term, a diplomatic, also legal in this case, solution is always preferable to military intervention.Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-74389109097586178342013-04-26T14:18:00.000-04:002013-04-26T16:13:00.708-04:00Use of Social Networks in the Hospitality IndustryIn 2011, with a team of students from the Bachelor program in Tourism and Hospitality Management at the ESG UQAM School of Management, I led a study on the use of social networks in the hospitality industry. I thank those students for their collaboration: Julie Angibaud, Gabriel Comtois, Catherine Choquette, Virginie Côté, Marie, Carmel Dambreville, Jessica Della Ripa, Émilie Laborde, Virginie Lavergne-Mayer, Maxime Péladeau, Jean-Paul Thions et Kristel Young.<br />
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In the central districts of Montreal, those featuring the largest number of tourists, we contacted the 256 lodging establishments listed on this territory; amongst those, 84 agreed to respond to our questionnaire. True, this sample is relatively small in absolute terms, but it nonetheless represents over 32% of the companies in question, which is very significant.<br />
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This study reveals several interesting facts. First, unsurprisingly, as you can see in the chart below, Facebook, with 52.4% of respondents, is by far the most widely used social network in this industry, followed distantly by YouTube (28.0%), then by Twitter (19.5%) and LinkedIn (17.3%) almost tied in third place; Foursquare (7.5%), which attracts a very specific type of user, and some others are far behind.<br />
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<span style="color: black;">The next table sums the purpose for which lodging establishments use social networks. We can see that even in this age of an interactive Web, the advertising function still dominates; thus, 93.2% of respondents say that they use social networks to «develop property awareness» and 72.7% use it to announce «last minute promotion». However, the next three elements fully take advantage of interactivity on the Web 2.0; thus, 68.2% of the respondents promote the posting of comments and an equal percentage the publication of pictures, while 45.5% initiate the creation of a community amongst their clientele. Three other uses are in line with traditional functions in the hospitality industry, that is announcing «exceptional properties» in a hotel chain (38.6% of respondents), «customer service» (36.4%) and a sub-function of the latter, «concierge extension» (27.3%).</span></div>
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Is a presence on social networks beneficial for establishments that adopt this practice? The final table summarizes the three main benefits mentioned by respondents of our study. First, in this era of fierce competition, 50.0% of respondents say that their presence on social networks helps to build customer loyalty. Second, while profitability, the excess of revenues over expenses, is a concern of every moment, 26.2% of respondents say that their presence on social networks helps to increase their revenues. Finally, while some accommodation facilities are struggling to fill their rooms, 26.2% of respondents say that their presence on social networks helps to raise their occupancy rate.<br />
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Hence, a presence on social networks is beneficial; yet, this practice is not widespread in the hospitality industry. In a coming post, I will discuss the type of institution that makes the most use of social networks and the reasons given for not using them.<br />
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Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-59628986026237651072011-05-02T06:57:00.003-04:002011-05-02T11:33:00.707-04:00Politics as consumer goodsThis is the English version of a <a href="http://benoit-consommation.blogspot.com/2011/05/le-politique-un-objet-de-consommation.html">blog post published yesterday in French</a>. I apologize for the short delay.<br /><br />This morning, electoral circumstances dictate that I deal with all of this is political, that is to say, public affairs, government practices, ways of governing, not forgetting the electoral process itself, in a consumption perspective.<br /><br />You are of course aware that our governments, without exception and at all levels, now manage public affairs, not with a view of ensuring the well-being of the many, but rather to make sure that they are re-elected.<br /><br />Also in view of ensuring their election, political parties, both the one in power and the opposition, support the interests of marginal ideological groups whose ideas are not shared by a vast majority of population. For a moment at least, those ideas are favoured by the media and consequently also, seemingly, supported by many people, but not necessarily be the majority of people.<br /><br />This does not correspond to what democracy should be, that is to say the free expression of the will of the people in electing their representatives to exercise political power and, by extension, to exercise it according to the well-being of a majority of people. In Western democracies, this majority has always been the middle class, heavily battered for at least twenty years.<br /><br />This said, how and why did this happen? In my analysis of politics as an object of mass consumption, I will focus today on a tool used to make marketing a product, the opinion poll.<br /><br />This exploration technique of expectations, beliefs, feelings and attitudes, was first used in the commercial sphere in the United States, with the obvious aim to develop markets. In the 1930s, the idea of using this technique in the political world begins to emerge and, on for the presidential election of 1936, George Horace Gallup founds the American Institute of Public Opinion. This will be starting point of the now famous <a href="http://www.gallup.com/home.aspx">Gallup Polls</a>.<br /><br />If the information collected by surveys were then, and still are very useful, to develop new products and make advertising claims amongst other things, it quickly became clear that the technique could also assist in the communication effort. Indeed, the disclosure of survey results through traditional media, social networks and even advertising can influence people's opinions by means of what I would call a chameleon effect.<br /><br />But in the political sphere, this chameleon effect influences the free choice of the voter. That is why France created a <a href="http://www.commission-des-sondages.fr/">Commission of surveys</a>. Unfortunately, if this commission originally prohibited the publication of poll results in the last week before the election, this constraint has been reduced to a single day in 2002. In such circumstances we cannot truly speak of democracy but rather of a semblance or perversion of democracy.<br /><br />In the context of the current election, we have seen a craze emerge for Jack Layton and, by extension, for the New Democratic Party. This enthusiasm has been fuelled amongst other things by the publication of poll results on a daily basis and a favourable coverage in most media for whom this phenomenon is a windfall.<br /><br />I was also swept away by this wave of sympathy and am therefore well placed to appreciate its power. This said, let us get back to democracy.<br /><br />Tonight, it is essential that a party which truly represents the will of Canadians be elected, with a minority or a majority of seats. Furthermore, in addition, it is important that this forty-first Parliament has within it a strong and responsible opposition, capable of representing the interests of all constituents, from coast to coast.<br /><br />Excluding marginal formations without representation in parliament, four parties are running: Conservatives, Liberals, New Democratic Party and Bloc Quebecois. As publicly admitted by many of its supporters, the Bloc Québécois has lost its "raison d'être" in Ottawa. Like many, I thus exclude that party of my choices and hope that the vast majority of Quebecers will do the same. The presence of this party in Ottawa is one of the reasons for the political instability plaguing Canada since 2004. Even if you want the creation of an independent Quebec, which is not my case, it is not in Ottawa that you must send members of parliament. It is even in your interest that Canada be politically stable.<br /><br />This leaves three parties. Depending on the issues, I have affinities with all three and am aware of the fact that none of the three is perfect. To determine which of the three overall best represented my position, I used <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/votecompass/">CBC’s Vote Compass</a>. I found this tool to be very useful to restore some rationality in what has become an emotional debate without major issues.<br /><br />Today, I will vote for the party ideologically closest to my beliefs.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.elections.ca/home.aspx">I thus first urge you all to vote</a>. It is not only your right, but an important responsibility. Furthermore, I encourage you not to vote for a political party in view of blocking one party or another, the Conservatives or the Bloc in today’s context. This kind of "strategic" vote is harmful to democracy and may also produce undesirable results that you may not have anticipated. I invite you to vote for one of three pan Canadian parties, the one with which you are the closest in terms of ideas and orientations. This is the only way democracy will prevail.Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-35369147572715082872010-09-04T14:06:00.000-04:002010-09-04T14:07:22.064-04:00Human slavery to technologyIn the conclusion of <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.cifort.uqam.ca/en/duguay/html/consommation_techno.htm">Consumption and New Technologies – In the Hyper World</a>, I wrote:<br /><br />«Technological tools can nonetheless be very useful to humanity, provided that we properly direct their development and use. Humans are too often made to serve machines, or at least forced to adjust their life or behaviour to them, whereas machines should adapt to humans and be useful to mankind. »<br /><br />Here is an example of what can happen when humans become enslaved to technology.<br /><br />On Monday, August 30, I made a purchase for which I had a $5 coupon, but did not have my coupon with me. I still bought the item because the dealer assured me I had to return to the store to get coupon refunded, without specifying a precise date to do so.<br /><br />On Friday, September 3, I phoned the store to inquire about opening hours that evening, and specify the object of my visit (coupon refund). I was then told that it was impossible to refund the coupon, its expiration date being September 1st.<br /><br />I then explained that the purchase having been made on August 30, the coupon’s validity date had been respected. The clerk answered that there was absolutely no recourse, because the coupon’s bar code having been disabled in the computer, the cash register’s scanner could no longer read it.<br /><br />Well aware of the fact that manual procedures can often work around this kind of technical difficulty, I asked to speak to the store manager. On a rather arrogant tone, inappropriate with a client, he dryly replied that he couldn’t do anything because that’s the way the computer system had been programmed.<br /><br />In the end, I mentioned the fact that I had been a loyal customer for many years and informed him that I would buy elsewhere from now on if I did not get satisfaction. He responded that I'd probably be better served in another store. This response is mind-boggling when you realize how difficult it is to acquire new customers.<br /><br />You’ll notice that I deliberately omitted to mention the type of product and store name. This incident could likely have happened elsewhere, given retailers’ heavy reliance on technology. The crucial point here is that the inflexibility of a technology should never hinder a merchant from satisfying a customer, provided the latter has good reason to be dissatisfied, and manual procedures should always exist to circumvent technological flaws.Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-57740030413544828372010-06-27T08:20:00.000-04:002010-06-27T08:21:54.764-04:00Do you know your rights regarding price accuracy?The following applies in the province of Quebec (Canada).<br /><br />In principle, the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) requires merchants to label the price on each article, but allows for exceptions. For example, because of the increasingly popular use of optical scanners, retailers are no longer required to label each article; several avail themselves of this exemption, but are still subjected to a number of constraints that include, amongst others, mandatory display of each article’s price on the shelf and of a sign about the <a href="http://www.opc.gouv.qc.ca/WebForms/SujetsConsommation/BiensPersonnels/CellulairesElectronique/IndicationExactitudePrix_En.aspx">Price Accuracy Policy</a>.<br /><br />This policy includes measures to compensate the consumer in the event of any inconsistency between the price on the shelf, and that charged by the register.<br /><br />If the product price is $10 or less, the merchant must give you the item for free.<br /><br />If the product price is more than $10, the retailer must sell you product at the price displayed on the shelf and further give you a $10 discount.<br /><br />Buyers beware!Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-37879774141973792882010-06-08T07:00:00.000-04:002010-06-08T07:01:34.315-04:00Successes and pitfalls of technologyTechnology has invaded workplaces, homes, vehicles, portable devices of all kinds, etc. Many will say it has freed man. This is true, from one point of view; appliances greatly facilitate household chores. It has also allowed man to express his creativity far more easily; inexpensive software now allows people with limited aptitude for drawing to create dazzling presentations and websites. The illustrations they create compete with those drawn by professional designers before the personal computer era. Cars have enabled the development of North America as we know it today, by giving greater freedom of movement to the middle class. Quick and relatively inexpensive air transport has brought continents closer and allowed people with average incomes to discover exotic and distant lands, a privilege once reserved to the elite.<br /><br />But the effects of technology are not always positive. Increased individualism and selfishness often results from its use. It also induces a form of addiction, which sometimes almost amounts to slavery: millions of people, staring at a computer screen, line up thousands of lines of code to teach computers how to process vast amounts of information, day after day, in many cases night after night. More simply, remember your dismay when your computer crashes or a power outage occurs. Also think about the violations of privacy and all forms of viruses and other malware. Moreover, technology has contributed to widen the gap between rich and poor nations and even between well-off and underprivileged people in Western societies, in short, it has created a digital divide.<br /><br />In conclusion, we must exercise discernment in the use of technology and keep in mind that they are not omnipotent; they will never confer eternal youth, let alone immortality, on humanity, and will not redefine our values for us. They are inanimate and as such without values; they simply fall within the system of values that we privilege. Technological tools can however be very useful to humanity, provided that we direct their development and use. Mankind is too often made to serve machines, or at least forced to adjust his life or his behaviour to them, whereas machines should be made to adapt to humans and be useful to mankind.<br /><br />To learn more about these issues, see «<a href="http://www.cifort.uqam.ca/en/duguay/html/consommation_techno.htm">Consommation et nouvelles technologies — Au monde de l’hyper</a>» (Consumption and New Technologies — In the Hyper world), soon to be translated in English.Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-55252403810319783472010-05-15T11:31:00.004-04:002010-05-15T11:35:15.580-04:00Over-the-counter DNA testsHere is a summary of my column of Thursday May 13 on <a href="http://www.radiovm.com/">Radio Ville-Marie</a> (91.3 FM in Montreal) for those who have missed it.<br /><br />Tuesday May 11, <a href="http://www.pathway.com/">Pathway Genomics</a> announced its intention of <a href="http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201005111058dowjonesdjonline000373&title=walgreen-to-sell-pathway-genomics-genetic-test-kits-mid-may">selling an over-the-counter DNA test</a> in 6000 Walgreen stores in the United States. Two days later, Walgreen announced the <a href="http://www.glgroup.com/News/Walgreens-Cancels-Pathway-Genomics-DNA-Test-Kit-Distribution-48350.html">cancellation of this agreement</a> following an intervention by the <a href="http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/WhatWeDo/default.htm">Food and Drugs Administration</a> (FDA), the US organization «responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation ».<br /><br />I welcome the FDA’s and Walgreen’s decision, because immoderate use of such tests by an uninformed public could lead to serious abuses. First and foremost, we can think of the dangers associated with the interpretation of results, which can easily lead to anxiety or distress, or on the contrary falsely reassure a person while a severe illness is underlying. Also think about the dangers of discrimination against people identified as being at risk of contracting certain diseases (cancer, Alzheimer's ...) when they apply for a job or want to buy life insurance.<br /><br />Finally, think about all the swindlers who inevitably arise to take advantage of people’s disarray when a test revealed the possibility of contracting a serious disease. «Your genes indicate that you are in danger of contracting breast, or prostate, cancer? Don’t worry, our researchers have discovered an elixir that will decrease your risk! Available in all good pharmacies and online ». It would be the resurgence of a form of advertising as rowdy as misleading intended to exploit people's worries. Many have without doubt already envisioned the possibility of making profits totalling billions.<br /><br />Let professionals advise us about our health and keep in mind this reasoning: if a disease is incurable anyway, perhaps you are better off not knowing that you have a 54% probability of getting it.Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-82129861396499539022010-04-03T08:32:00.001-04:002010-04-03T08:36:50.606-04:00Quebec’s Budget and consumption: Minister Bachand’s miscalculationFurther to my <a href="http://www.radiovm.com/">radio column</a> of Thursday, April 1 on the same subject, here are a few thoughts.<br /><br />Minister Bachand deludes himself thinking that an increase of QST and the gas tax will bring more money into the coffers of the state; it’s a mistake governments often make.<br /><br />In reality, many consumers already have a very tight budget; unable to pay the excess expenditure of hundreds of dollars per year incurred by these tax increases, they will adopt tactics to lower their expenses: 1. Reducing the purchase of certain goods and services; 2. Buying outside Quebec; 3. Purchasing goods and services on the black market to avoid paying taxes.<br /><br />I do not advocate the use of these tactics, some of which are illegal; I only report what happens every time the government unduly increases the tax burden, especially in Quebec where the citizen is already the most taxed in North America. Ultimately, you can safely bet that Quebec will see its fiscal revenues decline.<br /><br />Furthermore, the economic crisis has been severe and the recovery is still fragile; in fact, there is virtually no job creation. All these tax and tariffs increases will likely nip recovery in the bud.<br /><br />The solution to Quebec’s deficit does not lie in increased state revenues but in a substantial reduction of the bill incurred for social programs, which amounts to 16 billion dollars more than the neighboring province, Ontario. We can no longer afford these privileges. For example, the $7 a day child care program alone, whose real cost is $45, represents an expenditure of over $2 billion for Quebec. Sheer nonsense!<br /><br />For this program, I propose that access to child care be free for the poorest people, such as single mothers with incomes nearing poverty; others should pay the actual cost of the service. In any case, <a href="http://lapresseaffaires.cyberpresse.ca/economie/200901/06/01-692014-les-garderies-a-7-valent-elles-le-cout.php">it really benefits only the richest</a>.<br /><br />Besides, if states want to increase their income, they can easily impose a surtax on speculative gains, but this requires concerted international action. Will our leaders have the political courage to confront the sometimes shady world of financiers and speculators?Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-1550119091077977312010-03-15T11:54:00.003-04:002010-04-02T08:20:23.151-04:00Towards responsible capitalismConfronted to the speculation we observe in financial markets, I began a series of columns on the ravages of financial capitalism. In the first, I demonstrated the <a href="http://benoit-consumption.blogspot.com/2010/01/ravages-of-financial-capitalism.html">harms of speculation</a>, especially the relationship between it and the economic and financial crisis raging on the planet since summer 2007. In the second, I talked about the <a href="http://benoit-consumption.blogspot.com/2010/02/speculation-origins-of-capitalism-and.html">birth and evolution of capitalism and oft he stock market</a>, and compared two forms of investment in a high tech company. In the third column, I presented the <a href="http://benoit-consumption.blogspot.com/2010/02/link-between-stock-market-speculation.html">financing needs of companies involved in technology</a>. In this fourth and last column, I will introduce a new mode of economic organization to focus on, responsible capitalism.<br /><br />To be beneficial to all mankind, development, technological or otherwise, must be based on a new paradigm called responsible capitalism, a concept we have already discussed in 2007 in <a href="http://www.cifort.uqam.ca/en/duguay/html/consommation_luxe.htm">Consommation et luxe</a>. We define responsible capitalism as a socio-economic system based on free circulation of trade, business, industry and finance, in a perspective of respect for the interests of all stakeholders: the ordinary citizen, the State, financial institutions, businesses themselves their customers, employees, suppliers and investors.<br /><br />Derived from the very world that gave birth to it, that of business, responsible capitalism is part of an evolution of capitalism, from Venice’s merchant capitalism to industrial Revolution’s industrial capitalism in the XIXth century, the to modern day financial capitalism (For these three forms of capitalism, see K. Galbraith, The Economics of Innocent Fraud, Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004, p. 8.).<br /><br />Aware of their responsibilities in society, more and more business men and women can only subscribe to a more humane vision of commercial, industrial and financial practices. To those who might think me naive, keep in mind that I have worked in the business world for over 25 years and still am very much involved in it; I can assure you that it is not populated solely by gangsters, swindlers, tyrants and speculators. As evidence of this, I present organizations such as BSR (Business for Social Responsibility), «<a href="http://www.bsr.org/about/how-we-work.cfm">A leader in corporate responsibility since 1992», whose mission is to «work with business to create a just and sustainable world</a>».<br /><br />Amongst the most fervent advocates of responsible capitalism, there are also influential politicians such as Nicolas Sarkozy and Barack Obama. Thus, during the campaign that led him to the presidency of France in 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy proposed a «family type» capitalism, based on more human values, which is within the context of social responsibility we have described: «<a href="http://www.u-m-p.org/propositions/index.php?id=05_capitalisme">I believe in the creative force of capitalism, but I am convinced that capitalism cannot survive without ethics, without respect for a number of spiritual values, moral values, without humanism, without culture. […] Capitalism must serve a certain idea of man. I believe in the ethics of capitalism. I do not accept, nor do thousands of entrepreneurs, for paid work and entrepreneurship to be violated by the excessive remuneration and privileges benefiting a small minority of CEOs. I do not accept that, around the world, for reasons of pure profit, some people toy with employees and plants as one moves pieces on a board game. […] I will reinforce «family type» capitalism.</a> »<br /><br />One must admit, even without outrageously speculative practices, the nature of the stock market is forcing companies to engage in a race for profitability, which often forces them to make decisions contrary to harmonious long term development and some contrary to the interests of their employees and customers. From its initial public offering of shares (IPO), a company loses some of its freedom of action and is from then on subject to the profit demands of mutual fund managers, large investors and speculators. This denatures the company, which explains why Guy Laliberté has always refused to list his company on the stock exchange. Cirque du Soleil would probably not be what it is today if the company was publicly traded, because Mr. Laliberté would not have had the flexibility to choose its partners, artists, shows, and more. I also believe that we must see in Toyota’s recent setbacks the effect of a race to profitability, which had a negative impact on the quality of its products.<br /><br />Some CEOs of large companies refuse to follow the whims of investors. Thus, here's what Nick Hayek, CEO of Swatch, said on March 21, 2009 further to a decline in earnings of the company he heads: «<a href="http://www.lemonde.fr/cgi-bin/ACHATS/acheter.cgi?offre=ARCHIVES&type_item=ART_ARCH_30J&objet_id=1075146">For a company listed on the stock market, announcing a decline in profit, a10% reduction in the workforce can bring the share value back up. Such is not the case in our company. There will be no layoffs or reduced investment at Swatch. We accept having diminished earnings and not to be the darlings of the stock market.</a> » Refusal to play the stock market game to appeal to investors is a good example of responsible capitalism.<br /><br />On December 3, 2008, the United States, columnist Ray Williams published an article in which he argued that the current business paradigm was no longer viable, encouraging entrepreneurs to adopt responsible capitalism. Capitalist societies have initiated evolutionary transformation of who we are, what we value and how we behave. This requires social and environmental responsibility, to which CEOs must actively participate. This transformation requires a model that focuses on more than the sole profitability (bottom line) objective. It considers a creation of wealth that adds personal, social and ecological gains to the bottom line. (R. Williams, «CEOs need to adopt responsible capitalism», Financial Post, 3 décembre 2008)<br /><br />US President Barack Obama’s position fits into this perspective. For instance, in a speech pronounced on February 24, 2009, he defended a vision of capitalism in which prosperity benefits to all. Although he did not himself named this new capitalism, others have done for him, Responsible Capitalism. Williams goes on saying that President Barack Obama’s speech was peppered with phrases and ideas outlining his vision of his government's responsibility to not only promote a strong economy, but also to ensure that ordinary people were taking advantage of this economy . He [Obama] has not yet fully articulated his economic philosophy, and has not given it a name either. But we can see in this speech outlines a new approach that could be called "responsible capitalism" in contrast with the "crony capitalism" of the Bush era. […] More accurately, he redefines the meaning of a "healthy business climate" — a widely shared prosperity for workers, an economy that creates good jobs, allows access to the middle class to the poorest, provides first rate schools, decent health care, and housing that families can afford, while protecting the environment.<br /><br />President Obama also criticizes abuses, including those of the industry and the financial world; in his opinion, government must exert tighter control in these areas.<br /><br />In short, the need for a reform of capitalism no longer need to be demonstrated; countless leading actors agree on the need for international collaboration to define actions to take, world economies being so interrelated that unilateral action by one country would have no effect. To put in place measures to curb speculation, on raw materials for instance, must necessarily involve all major states.Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-18620430886561763832010-02-15T11:51:00.000-05:002010-02-15T11:53:26.688-05:00Link between stock market speculation and corporate bankruptciesConfronted to the speculation we observe in financial markets, I began a series of columns on the ravages of financial capitalism. In the first, I demonstrated the <a href="http://benoit-consumption.blogspot.com/2010/01/ravages-of-financial-capitalism.html">harms of speculation</a>, especially the relationship between it and the economic and financial crisis raging on the planet since summer 2007. In the second, I talked about the <a href="http://benoit-consumption.blogspot.com/2010/02/speculation-origins-of-capitalism-and.html">birth and evolution of capitalism and oft he stock market</a>, and compared two forms of investment in a high tech company. In this third column, I present the financing needs of companies involved in technology. Of course, these findings also prove accurate in other sectors of economic activity.<br /><br />I have already outlined the fact that today technological development requires massive injections of capital, available only to States and major financial players, such as banks, mutual funds and a few wealthy investors, amongst whom we find both entrepreneurs and speculators. Small technology companies are struggling to find capital for their development; they rely on state subsidies, bank loans, venture capital and a few private investors. When they reach a certain size, they seek to get listed on the stock market through an IPO; from then on, they are subjected to the dictates of investors demanding an increased profitability year after year. Failure to deliver will cause their shares to be dumped, their capitalization diminished and their development compromised.<br /><br />Several flourishing companies have disappeared over the years. Even large companies, sometimes listed on the stock market for decades, are vulnerable; some have collapsed, their shares sometimes dropping from hundreds of dollars to a few cents. Consider Norton Telecom (Nortel) a jewel high-tech company in Canada. Market speculation is perhaps not the only culprit in Nortel’s bankruptcy, but it is a major factor. Without the excessive demands of some large investors with respect to a short-term excessive profitability, business decisions made by management would probably have been different; they would have been better suited to a more harmonious long term development of the company. Companies, technological or otherwise, should not have to finance through the stock markets and see their business decisions dictated by a handful of speculators who care only about their own short term profit, often at the expense of the company itself.<br /><br />What other avenues might there be? I have already said that technological development can take place in a capitalist type economic organization, while remaining beneficial to society as a whole. However, to remain the privileged method of economic organization, capitalism must transform, be associated with State imposed social measures, and above all eliminate, or at the very least restrict, speculation. This new paradigm is already emerging in the form of responsible capitalism and new values; in my next column, I will present its broad outlines.Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-57848948280640000892010-02-07T09:25:00.003-05:002010-02-07T09:37:47.674-05:00Speculation: The origins of capitalism and the stock marketConfronted to the abuses that we witness daily in the world of finance, I began last week a series of columns on the ravages of financial capitalism. In the first, I demonstrated the <a href="http://benoit-consumption.blogspot.com/2010/01/ravages-of-financial-capitalism.html">harms of speculation</a>, especially the relationship between it and the economic and financial crisis raging on the planet since summer 2007. In this column, I’ll talk about the birth and evolution of capitalism and oft he stock market, and compare two forms of investment in a high tech company.<br /><br />Mumford situates «the birth of capitalism and the transition from a barter economy - facilitated by a local and variable currency – to a monetary system with an international credit structure (Mumford, 1950) », in the fourteenth century in Northern Italy. Regarding the stock market, he tells us that «two centuries later, existed in Antwerp, an international stock exchange intended for speculation on vessel armament in foreign ports and on currency. » Others trace the birth of this financial institution at an even earlier time. Some, for instance, report the existence of «<a href="http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourse_%28%C3%A9conomie%29">courratiers</a>» (ancient form of the French word courtiers), brokers, in Paris in the twelfth century, «<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_exchange">concerned with managing and regulating the debts of agricultural communities on behalf of the banks</a>» in France, then for the exchange of state debts by Lombard bankers in the thirteenth century. A first stock exchange is said to have existed in Bruges in the fourteenth century. According to many, According to many, the term «bourse» (stock exchange) origins from the name of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_exchange">Van Der Beurze</a> (De La Bourse in Walloon) family, the house in which Bruges commodity traders met. However interesting, all these socio-historical references are however little importance in light of speculation, inherent to the stock market.<br /><br />On this subject, Mumford wrote «international stock exchange intended for speculation »; his use of «stock exchange» and «speculation» within a short sentence and of the adverb «intended» to link both terms and point out the purpose of this financial institution, demonstrates the indissolubility he sees between «stock exchange» and «speculation». Mumford goes on to say that with the advent of financial capitalism, «all business took an abstract form. They did not deal in goods, but in imaginary futures and hypothetical gains (Mumford, 1950). » He continues with the mining industry, stressing that the expansion of operations and use of machinery using the latest technologies of the time, required an injection of capital that the workers could not provide: «This led to the admission of associates who brought capital instead of work: they were silent partners [...] This capitalist development was further stimulated as early as the fifteenth century by the rampant speculation on shares. Landowners and merchants practiced this new game (Mumford, 1950). »<br /><br />This said, to base human and technological development on a capitalist form of economic organization does not inevitably entail speculation. This practice is not inherent to capitalism, but to human greed; of all times, it has been the doing of a few. It has now reached dizzying heights; creating no real wealth, it only allows a handful of individuals to get revoltingly rich to the point of destroying the system that allowed them to accumulate their wealth. It could be otherwise.<br /><br />Consider two $100,000 investments made in high technology, the first in a small startup company involved in software development for data security, and the second in a mutual fund speculating on the prices of metals, a critical resource in computer manufacturing. For purposes of this comparison, assume that two investments are worth $ 500,000 after 5 years and that both investors liquidate their respective investment, cashing in a profit of $400,000. Both these investments were equally profitable and will receive the same fiscal treatment, i.e. a tax on only 50% of the capital gain. However, which of these two investments has been most beneficial to society? Which has created real value?<br /><br />In the first instance, programmers, salespeople and other employees were hired, thus creating collective wealth; furthermore, these people have paid taxes on their incomes to various government and their consumption has fuelled other economic sectors. The value of the small business has increased from $100,000 to 500,000, a value based on tangible assets, although some proportion may be intangible, such as the software developed. Said software has allowed other companies to protect their data and hence operate more efficiently and securely. We should also not forget the fact that the investor will probably not liquidate his investment after 5 years, especially if he owns the business. Even if he did so, the company would not liquidate its assets; under the direction of a new owner, it would continue to prosper, to hire staff and create collective wealth.<br /><br />In the second case, we can see only a small positive impact on society; as in the first case, merely the imposition of a tax on 50% of the $400,000 capital gain. Quite the contrary, the impacts on society are rather negative. For instance, the rising price of metals affects the development of several companies, raising the prices of several products they need. If the value of investment increased from $100,000 to $500,000, this gain represents no real increase in value, only an increase in the perceived value of metals, the result of speculation on their price. Is the imposition of an identical fiscal treatment to these two investments fair if one considers the benefits to society? Let’s keep this question open for now ... but we will get back to it.<br /><br />In my next column, I will discuss the financing needs of companies involved in technology.Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-27200046644061712022010-01-30T09:40:00.004-05:002010-02-07T09:33:30.862-05:00The ravages of financial capitalismConsumption, technology and finance are intimately related; exceeded by the abuses that I witness daily in the world of finance, I begin today a series of columns on the ravages of financial capitalism.<br /><br />Technological development, the driving force of consumption, is linked to available funding, especially since the 19th century’s industrial revolution; however, it was not always so. In «<a href="http://www.cifort.uqam.ca/en/duguay/html/consommation_techno.htm">Consommation et nouvelles technologies — Au monde de l’hyper</a>», a book I published in November 2009, I write: «Capitalism and technological development can exist without the other: "Capitalism has existed in other civilizations whose technical development was relatively low. Technique made steady progress from the tenth to the fifteenth century without needing the nudge of capitalism (Mumford, 1950)." But the nature of current technological development and the speed with which it takes place requires a concentration of capital available only to States and large investors (Ellul, 1990). » A source of funding is needed for technological progress; it can be public or private.<br /><br />This said, State communism has shown its limits; capitalism has thus proved to be the least evil form of economic organization, despite the fact that it gave birth to the consumer society, then to hyperconsumption, and is undermined by speculation. This is why Robert Rochefort said: «The consumer society is the least evil form of society tested so far (Rochefort, 1995). »<br /><br />Consequently, as I wrote in «<a href="http://www.cifort.uqam.ca/en/duguay/html/consommation_luxe.htm">Consommation et luxe – La voie de l’excès et de l’illusion</a>» in 2007: «It is not my intention to criticize capitalism or the stock market as a whole. This mode of financing is necessary for the operation and growth of businesses. » I was then content to denounce the greed of a few large investors that feeds a speculation phenomenon. Two years have passed, and, if I still strongly believe in the merits of one form of capitalism, responsible, my opinion of the stock market has further deteriorated since then, because, more than ever, speculation is raging on Wall Street, Bay Street and all stock exchanges.<br /><br />Speculation is a phenomenon which is inherent to stock market trading, because it is rooted in human desires for power, money being a form of power. Extremely harmful to our societies, it is responsible for the subprime mortgages crisis, which arose in summer 2007, then degenerated into an economic and financial crisis a year later; speculation is also responsible for most preceding crisis and for the bad reputation that many have made to capitalism: «Later, and more destructive to the reputation of capitalism in the United States, was the visibly insane Florida real estate speculation, the rising corporate and industrial voice and, most important, the stock market explosion of the late 1920s. Then came the world resonating crash of 1929 and, for ten long years, The Great Depression. (Galbraith, 2004). »<br /><br />Closer to us, take for example high-frequency trading, a practice that is now spreading on Wall Street: « Powerful computers, some housed right next to the machines that drive marketplaces like the New York Stock Exchange, enable high-frequency traders to transmit millions of orders at lightning speed and, their detractors contend, reap billions at everyone else’s expense. These systems are so fast they can outsmart or outrun other investors, humans and computers alike. And after growing in the shadows for years, they are generating lots of talk. Nearly everyone on Wall Street is wondering how hedge funds and large banks like Goldman Sachs are making so much money so soon after the financial system nearly collapsed. High-frequency trading is one answer (<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/business/24trading.html">Stock Traders Find Speed Pays, in Milliseconds</a>). »<br /><br />Thus, it is likely that much of the gains on the stock market in 2009 may be attributed to speculation and market manipulation. Such practices create no tangible value, only a hypothetical value based on an imaginary future, hence the creation of speculative bubbles, technological, real estate or other; those inevitably burst sooner or later, causing the usual parade of economic and social problems. Said practices will ultimately destroy our economies and our societies if we do not put an end to them.<br /><br />Speculation and market manipulation, which have flared up after the stock market crisis of fall 2008, will inevitably lead to an even worse crisis, from which Western economies may not recover, if States do not exercise tighter control over these practices.<br /><br />In my next column, I’ll talk about the birth and evolution of capitalism and oft he stock market, and compare two forms of investment in a high tech company.Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-41635107960687599292010-01-17T13:29:00.002-05:002010-01-17T13:32:55.560-05:00Response site to Haiti crisisHere's a site developed by Google to find a person or supply information about a missing person.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://haiticrisis.appspot.com/?small=yes" style="border: 2px dashed rgb(119, 119, 204);" frameborder="0" height="300" width="350"></iframe>Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-88625717616211450602010-01-10T07:49:00.006-05:002010-01-10T14:23:35.381-05:00Poken, the latest way to networkHave you been pokened recently? Yes, not poked, pokened! It is far less painful and far more amusing. Pokening will shortly have to be added to our vocabulary. One may describe the practice as the mating of two palm-held digital devices the size of a USB key «<a href="http://www.poken.com/about">to share your contact details and online social networks in the real world.</a> ». Think of it as a Web 2.0 era business card and of a new way of shaking hands. Although there are more «serious» looking models, the poken you’ll want as an ice-breaker in a party is the <a href="http://www.poken.com/spark">pokenSPARK</a> TM, a smiling figurine not unlike the famed smileys, offered in a variety of designs and colours.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6QCCg7vXNX3_wSbeHdWfoKMflyu5qYwYauIYH0Sh_9gO7q4y4Tc6HmBJ5pwSW-iyOb09GV-xbKEcgNIqMYdaQpMd8jjnvYJdDXs1rfpxXddlzZ2MTkmeBk8efufEHYJQsgFyuHePzye3Z/s1600-h/poken.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 144px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6QCCg7vXNX3_wSbeHdWfoKMflyu5qYwYauIYH0Sh_9gO7q4y4Tc6HmBJ5pwSW-iyOb09GV-xbKEcgNIqMYdaQpMd8jjnvYJdDXs1rfpxXddlzZ2MTkmeBk8efufEHYJQsgFyuHePzye3Z/s320/poken.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425092685565948306" border="0" /></a><br />Even if you don’t own a poken yet, you may still sign up and create an account in the <a href="http://www.poken.com/go">pokenverse</a> to explore some of the features of this latest social network.<br /><br />You can order one from an <a href="http://www.poken.com/resellers">authorized online reseller</a>. More about this latest techno-gadget in coming columns, after I receive the ones I’ve ordered and had a chance to use it.<br /><br />My initial reaction: a brilliant idea that will soon catch on.Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-6061061463980004802009-12-12T06:52:00.001-05:002009-12-12T06:54:31.942-05:00Consumption and health: Morgan FarmsI publish this column as a favour to John Bastian, a long-time friend who devoted much of his life to organic agriculture and livestock breading. He wishes to address you the message below.<br /><br />«Dear friends and customers,<br /><br />For over 20 years now, my dream retirement project has been to grow organic healthy food for as many people as possible. And it has been quite a journey, a wonderful journey—and as all journeys are, they come to an end of some sort. This project grew a little larger than I planned. Almost all of you tell us that you appreciate <a href="http://www.fermemorgan.com/en/">Morgan Farms</a> as a place where you can get a good variety of organic meats and baked goods from our freshly ground whole flour. And we sincerely thank you for your support and feedback these past years.<br /><br />However, with me turning 70 next year, and my wife Janice getting busy again with her Chiropractic practice, we are approaching a different path in our lives. With the world’s economy as it is, and the absolute need for local, organic foods, we find this painfully sad that unless we find a solution, we may have to close down almost all of the farm operations. Our participation at the yearly organic markets and our availability here at the store would come to an end.<br /><br />We are writing to you, our valued friends and customers, to inform you of our situation and the possible consequences of what may happen next year. These past years we have looked at different solutions to keep the farm operation up and running, but so far have not come up with anything viable. We therefore want to get the word out and ask people like you who have been close to the farm, if you know anyone who may have the dream of becoming involved and continuing this type of venture. The farm has grown to where several individuals could make a good living from the farming, food processing and distribution activities. Among all the buildings we have, there are three houses that would be available for rent to people settling on the farm. The farm has a big infrastructure.<br /><br />South of the border we heard of consumers grouping themselves together to operate their own farm to ensure a good quality food supply. There is an interest already at <a href="http://www.fermemorgan.com/en/">Morgan Farms</a> to open a Co-op for which there would have to be many consumers who want to become members, with either an active or passive contribution.<br /><br />If you are interested in any kind of participation, want to share ideas or have questions, please e-mail us at john@fermemorgan.com or call us at 819-687-9021. We plan to set up information sessions here on the farm and would welcome your presence and participation.<br /><br />We have come to a point where having tried many different options, we feel we don’t have many solutions left at our disposal to keep the farm open for another year. Therefore, any interest or creative ideas are welcome. We want very much for our dream of the farm to live on, to continue providing healthy and sustainable food alternatives, and we hope that new fresh solutions come our way for <a href="http://www.fermemorgan.com/en/">Morgan Farms</a> to continue its journey!<br /><br />In appreciation, »<br /><br />Janice and JohnBenoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-44450996468874496442009-11-01T06:40:00.001-05:002009-11-01T06:40:52.689-05:00Consumption, a form of compensationThe following are extracts of « Consommation et image de soi, Dis-moi ce que tu achètes… » (Consumption and compensation, Tell me what you buy...), a book I published in 2005 (pages 108 to 110); it's in French only... for now. In it, I demonstrate that consumption is a form of compensation for some people.<br /><br />Continuing the reflection on the relationship between product image and self-image, I would like to demonstrate the compensatory role consumption may play for people whose self-image is negative, established by their low self-esteem. I propose to call «compensatory self-incongruity» the relationship between a product’s positive image and negative self-image of a person who nevertheless buys the product, despite the incongruity between both images.<br /><br />My demonstration involves six types of products (goods or services): perfumes, luxury products (cruises, renowned hotels, designer clothing, etc.), art objects, eating out in a restaurant, cosmetics and clothing. To establish this compensatory self-incongruity, it is mandatory to demonstrate that the image of said products is positive, something confirmed by three facts.<br /><br />Firstly, those who mention said products deem those to be representative of them; to classify as representative products whose image is negative would violate the self-image enhancing principle. Secondly, the foremost symbolisms associated with these products are all positive. Thirdly, consumption of these products generates positive emotions, such as the feeling of well-being mentioned by all interviewees. Moreover, the persons in question have a negative self-image, as evidenced by their low self-esteem.<br /><br />Therefore, according to Sirgy, the relationship between the (positive) image of those products and the (negative) self-image of said persons is an example of positive self-incongruity. Consequently, the latter should not purchase the former because the incongruity between images initiates a conflict. However, such in not the case since, on the contrary, these people actually buy these products. I see a form of compensation in this phenomenon; through their consumption, these people want to express something positive about their image, project a more positive image of themselves. This is thus an example of compensatory self-incongruity.<br /><br />This assertion is supported by the existence of significant differences between those whose self-esteem is weak or very weak and those whose self-esteem is strong or very strong. Thus, an analysis of the level of consumption reveals that 60% of people whose self-esteem is very weak consider that they consume more than most people; this proportion is only 24% for those whose self-esteem is very strong. Significant differences also exist in terms of representativeness of products. Thus, 80% of people whose self-esteem is very weak mention perfumes as products representative of themselves, against 38.5% of those whose self-esteem is very strong; this difference is maintained for luxury products (66.7% against 38.3%), for art objects (60% against 7.7%), for eating out in a restaurant (40% against 21.3 %) and for cosmetics (71.4% against 28.6%).<br /><br />These results demonstrate unequivocally that consumption as a whole, especially of the products mentioned, is much more important for people whose self-esteem is low; in their case, consumption seems to me to be a form of compensation.Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-56325869801755535662009-10-11T15:34:00.000-04:002009-10-11T15:35:15.218-04:00From the Consumer Society to a Society of HyperconsumptionTechnology improves everyday life, producing useful, many would say indispensable, consumer items. Think of how easy it is to wash dishes or clothing. Machines, at the heart of which are microprocessors programmable at the touch of a few buttons, carry out tasks our grandmothers took hours to perform. Like it or not, material comfort is neither a flaw nor a shame, it is one of the small pleasures of life. The phenomenon is universal: when a country becomes economically richer, we immediately see its people turn to consumption of all kinds of products and services that make their existence more enjoyable. What is wrong is not consumption per se, but excesses which lead to a society of hyperconsumption. These excesses can be found amongst consumers as well as producers.<br /><br />In the book «Consommation et technologie» (Consumer and technology – in French only for now) that will be published shortly, you will discover what these excesses are and how technology has contributed to the emergence of a society of hyperconsumption.Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-25901389208177521432009-09-19T06:04:00.001-04:002009-09-19T06:06:08.703-04:00Origins of the digital computerI'm finished writing Consommation et technologie (Consumption and technology); the book will be published this fall before Montreal's book fair. I now have a little more time for my blog's column which I hope to resume presenting more regularly.<br /><br />In my last regular column, Sunday July 19, I've begun exploring the origins of the computer, presenting the <a href="http://benoit-consumption.blogspot.com/2009/07/origins-of-computer-analog-calculator.html">analog calculator</a>. Let’s pursue with the digital computer.<br /><br />Most people consider the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer) to be the first digital, electronic programmable computer. Conceived by engineers John Mauchly and Presper Eckert assisted by mathematician John von Neumann, <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/hardwaretopics/hardware/story/0,10801,108790,00.html">this 30 ton monster used 18,000 vacuum tubes</a>; its design was funded by the U.S. military who wanted to use it to calculate ballistic firing tables (P. Breton et S. Proulx, L’Explosion de la communication, La naissance d’une nouvelle idéologie, 3e édition, Montréal, Les éditions du Boréal, 1994, p. 87). The two engineers later leave University of Pennsylvania and join to form the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation; by lack of sufficient funds, the company will not succeed in commercially exploiting the concepts developed with ENIAC. The honor of producing the first commercial computer is bestowed to Remington Rand; the company acquires Eckert-Mauchly Computer in 1950 and produces the first line of business computers, <a href="http://inventors.about.com/od/uvstartinventions/a/UNIVAC.htm">the UNIVAC series</a>.<br /><br />During World War II, IBM also works on the design of a computer in collaboration with Harvard University. In 1946 it produces the Mark I, a much smaller computer; it weighs only 5 tons. At about the same time as Remington Rand, 1n 1952, IBM also launches a commercial computer, the IBM 701.<br /><br />These events mark the beginning of a digital revolution that will transform methods of production and business management before spreading to the private sphere and weave around the world a communications network that allowed the emergence of the online social networks we know today. In the book I will soon present, I explore the different facets of this major transformation of our world.Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-67935248588272796932009-07-20T14:22:00.003-04:002009-12-19T07:26:56.583-05:00Apollo 11 Moon Walk, a giant leap for MankindThis is not a regular column and thus doesn't follow the one published yesterday. Its purpose is to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Mankind’s first footstep on the Moon and inspire all generations to follow in kind.<br /><br />I will always remember where I stood at 10H56 PM EDT on July 20 1969. Only 18 at the time, I had just finished my evening shift as a lifeguard at St-Helen Island pools. With a few friends, I walked to the nearby Man and his World exposition, the aftermath of EXPO 67. On Notre-Dame Island, between the British and French pavilions, expo authorities had erected a giant screen for visitors to witness live Mankind’s first step on the Moon.<br /><br />Then and there, it struck me that a generation 20 years younger had brought Mankind to the Moon. I was overwhelmed by the feeling that I was part of new generation, the baby-boomers, for which the sky was literally the limit. I’m proud to be from a generation that had, and still has, the feeling we could do anything and, above all, the will to go ahead and do it.<br /><br />Yes there are problems in our world today; but there were problems in the world then, the Vietnam War and the Cold War’s nuclear sword of Damocles to name but these two. We have overcome these problems, not because we were lucky, not because we were smarter, but because we never gave up. Another world for problem is challenge. We have our creativity, we have the know-how, we have the technology, and what we do not have we can invent. So just go ahead and do it and don’t stop trying until you’ve either succeeded or deceased.Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-86101055713484115202009-07-19T06:08:00.001-04:002009-07-19T06:10:46.232-04:00Origins of the computer, the analog calculatorAbsorbed by my next book, Consommation et technologie (Consumption and Technology), due out this fall (in French only for now), by my daily microblog on <a href="http://twitter.com/bduguay">Twitter</a> and by other publishing activities, amongst which an article titled « Le luxe de 1950 à 2020 : une nouvelle géoéconomie des acteurs » (Luxury from 1950 to 2020: a new geo-economics of actors) in the <a href="http://choiseul-editions.com/Num_Revues.php?idNum=171&pg_aff=0&artParPage=6">GÉOÉCONOMIE</a> journal, I am forced to space out the columns of my blog, through lack of sufficient time. I beg you to forgive me.<br /><br />Contrary to what I wrote at the end of my last column, this one will not be devoted to technological development of air weaponry in the United States. Pursuit of a series such as the one about war technologies, which began June 6, must be more sustained; I must interrupt it. I may take it up again one day.<br /><br />Today I will give you a glimpse of my next book’s content, by talking about the origins of the computer. Two very different types exist: analog and digital. Let us begin with the analog computer.<br /><br />It’s a mechanical data management device «<a href="http://fr.ca.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_101500114/ordinateur.html">expressed through physical measurements (for example, intensities, tensions or hydraulic pressures)</a> », whose gear work is driven by electric motors or hydraulic pistons. The Chinese abacus and the slide rule formerly used by engineers are examples of manually operated analog «computers». <a href="http://www.kerryr.net/pioneers/bush.htm">Vannevar Bush</a>, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was the first to develop the first functional analog computer in 1931; he called it «continuous integraph», later renamed «differential analyzer».<br /><br />The «differential analyzer» is a huge machine that uses the ten digits of the decimal system rather than the binary system of today’s computers; it’s one of Bush’s student, Claude Shannon, who suggests in his master dissertation the practical application of Boolean algebra and binary arithmetic to electrical circuits, work on the «differential analyzer» having led him to look for ways to improve the device, by replacing the wheels with electric circuits amongst others.<br /><br />During World War II, the Norden bombsight which equipped USAF bombers uses an analog computer to calculate the point of impact of bombs. Until the 1960s, perhaps even the 1970s, banks have used electromechanical calculators using Bush’s analog computer concept. Digital machines subsequently relegated these first computers to history’s oubliettes.<br /><br />Bush is nonetheless visionary. In «As We May Think» an article published in 1945 in «The Atlantic», he foresees the dominance of digital programmable computers over their analog cousins: «<a href="http://net.pku.edu.cn/%7Ecourse/cs410/reading/bush_aswemaythink.pdf">The advanced arithmetical machines of the future will be electrical in nature, and they will perform at 100 times present speeds, or more [...] they will select their own data and manipulate it in accordance with the instructions thus inserted.</a> » Bush recognizes the advantages of digital calculators and programming languages developed during the Second World War.<br /><br />In my next column, I will continue with digital computers.Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-25770614619104566472009-06-28T07:38:00.001-04:002009-06-28T07:38:46.165-04:00War technologies: the Royal Air Force1940: The Blitzkrieg allows Hitler to conquer France in 6 weeks. In May, France capitulates and in June the British Expeditionary Force withdraws hastily at Dunkirk, abandoning most of its military equipment. England is alone, but luckily for her, has an ace up her sleeve: the Royal Air Force (RAF).<br /><br />In the 1930s, England worries about maintaining an air force capable of defending the kingdom against all attack from the European continent, a sort of air parity. It draws on expertise developed by aircraft manufacturers while participating to the Schneider Cup events: «Jacques Schneider, one of the legendary Le Creusot dynasty, was among those who, in the inter-war years, strongly believed in the future of seaplanes. Convinced that the seaplane was the aircraft best suited to long range air travel, he sought to stimulate development through a cup that will remain the symbol of an era in aviation history. The Schneider Cup will not only be responsible for the creation of legendary aircraft, with superb lines and dazzling performances, such as the Bernard HV-220, the Macchi MC 72 or the Supermarine S6. It will also greatly contribute to significant progress. Besides the development of V-engines, it will impose the low-wing monoplane design for fast aircraft. There is no doubt that the experience gained by Reginald Mitchell and Henry Royce in their quest for the Schneider Cup has been profitable in the creation of an aircraft that will later become well known: the Supermarine Spitfire. » (<a href="http://www.aerostories.org/%7Eaerobiblio/article648.html">Aerostories Web site</a>)<br /><br />The Luftwaffe's (German Air Force) demise during the famous Battle of Britain, from July 10 to October 31 1940, forces Hitler to abandon his plan of an amphibious assault on the English coast; the excellence British fighter aircraft, the Hurricane and the most recent Spitfire, coupled to the courage of RAF pilots saves England from German invasion. In a speech to the House of Commons on 20 August 20 1940, these events led Prime Minister Winston Churchill to say: «Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. »<br /><br />In my next column, I'll review technological development of air weaponry in the United States.Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-19623033457163965702009-06-14T08:06:00.000-04:002009-06-14T08:07:43.519-04:00War technologies: the BlitzkriegIf at the end of the First World War, France has a powerful air force, such is not the case in September 1939; inconsistencies in government policies, misunderstanding of aviation's strategic and tactical importance by the high command and insufficient production capacity of national aircraft manufacturers prevents France from rebuilding an air force capable of facing the challenges of the day (T. Vivier, <span style="font-style: italic;">La politique aéronautique militaire de la France</span>, Janvier 1933 – Septembre 1939, Paris , L’Harmattan, 1997). The fighter plane most used by the French Air Force is the Morane-Saulnier 406, inferior to the German Messerschmitt 109. Despite their heroic efforts, French aviators are unable to effectively oppose bombing from the Luftwaffe's (German Air Force) attack aircraft, the drearily notorious Stukas. It is one of the factors that explains the success of the «lightning war» (Blitzkrieg) developed by Hitler's High Command : «The combination of Stuka dive bombers and Panzer [German tank) forces quickly secured victory» (D. Mondey (dir. publ.), J. Liron, J.W. Dennison, K. Munson et P. Pletschacher pour l’édition originale 1977, A. Hérubel (dir. publ.) et J.A. Rabet pour l’adaptation française, <span style="font-style: italic;">Encyclopédie de l’aviation</span>, Compagnie internationale du livre, 1980, p. 151). This is what allowed invasion of Poland in a month and later of France in six weeks.<br /><br />«Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, it was forbidden for Germany to maintain an air force, but she was entitled to a Ministry of Defence which featured a small air staff. German aircraft manufacturers designed a range of airliners and of training and liaison aircraft which later served as prototypes for bombers, fighters and assault planes. The national airline, the Lufthansa, provided flight training and spirit was maintained through air sports: gliding and motor flight. When Hitler came to power in 1933, he launched a massive rearmament starting with the Luftwaffe» (Ibid., p. 150).Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-77380859101615421992009-06-06T07:59:00.000-04:002009-06-06T08:00:35.674-04:00War technologies: introductionToday, we celebrate the <a href="http://www.dday-overlord.com/eng/commemorations_2009.htm">65th anniversary of the Normandy landings</a> (D-Day) which mark the beginning of the reconquest of Europe by the Allies. I believe it is only fitting, indeed essential, to have a thought for the thousands of women and men who have given their lives to repel the invader and to reconquer occupied territories. It is also the opportunity for me to begin a series of columns on the technologies of war. But first, let's begin with a bit of history.<br /><br />The late thirties see the Great Depression, which lasted for the better part of the decade, subside little by little. Western democracies focus on how to kick start their respective economies; therefore they primarily aim to maintain peace in Europe and, in doing so, show tolerance for Hitler. The annexation of Austria resulting from the 1938 <span style="font-style: italic;">Anschluss</span>, is Germany's first step to expand the boundaries imposed by the Treaty of Versailles that ended the First World War. At a conference in Munich in September 1938, in an effort to appease of the German Führer, English and French leaders endorse the Munich Agreement which conceded to Germany annexation of the Sudetes Mountains in Czechoslovakia. On September 1st 1939, Germany invaded Poland; two days later, the United Kingdom, France and other countries declare war on Germany. It will last six long years and spread to several continents and oceans.<br /><br />Like all conflicts, the Second World War accelerated technological development; periods of crisis are favourable to new inventions, in part because the sense urgency promotes creativity and also because funds allocated to technological development by Governments are, if not unlimited, at least greatly increased. I will not attempt to exhaustively list all technologies of war. For these chronicles, I have chosen to cover aviation and space.<br /><br />I will begin next week with the <a href="http://www.2worldwar2.com/blitzkrieg.htm"><span style="font-style: italic;">Blitzkrieg</span></a> period, the concept of lightning war which allowed Hitler to invade the Europe, then Africa.Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-78368854577720115602009-05-30T08:57:00.000-04:002009-05-30T08:59:13.177-04:00Buyer beware!What we have all noticed in supermarkets has been confirmed by Statistics Canada; for the period of 12 months ending in April, the price of food bought in stores <a href="http://www.statcan.gc.ca/subjects-sujets/cpi-ipc/cpi-ipc-eng.htm">has increased significantly</a>. The average increase is 8.3%, but this statistic hides another reality; the price of some foods has increased much more. Such is the case of fresh vegetables (+26.0%) and fresh fruits (+16.8%), of which Health Canada recommends <a href="http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/basics-base/quantit-eng.php">between 7 and 10 portions daily for adults</a>. For these products, the consumer must absolutely compare prices in different stores, because differences are important and prices vary considerably from week to week.<br /><br />The consumer must also be vigilant with respect to changes in product sizes, a phenomenon that manifests itself in recent years, but gains momentum it would seem. Thus, I have recently noticed that the large size of cheese bar of a well known brand has recently diminished from 600 g to 500 g... while its price increased.Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5018314837881298885.post-26744324267880859292009-05-01T08:23:00.002-04:002009-05-01T08:24:19.803-04:00Why abandon the Pontiac brand?April 27 2009, GM announced that it will <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2009/04/27/gm-pontiac-gone.html">phase out the Pontiac brand</a> as part of a restructuring effort to reduce costs. Is this decision wise? Consider this.<br /><br />Pontiac is a grand and old brand to which millions of people were and are still loyal. Introduced in 1906 by Pontiac Spring & Wagon Works, it derives its name from the famous Native American Chief Pontiac (Obwandiyag, 1712-1769) who led a rebellion against British occupation of the Great Lakes (1763-1766).<br /><br />Over the years many distinguished cars have appeared. Amongst other the Star Chief with its rounded shapes (1955), the Bonneville with its rear fins (1959), the famous Firebird (1967) introduced to compete with the Ford Mustang, the GTO (1969), the Gran Am (1973), the Trans Am (1985) descendant of the Firebird, and the two-seater Fiero Coupe (1985), to mention but these few.<br /><br />I understand the necessity for GM to cut its costs; its survival is at stake. However, I believe that the same savings could be achieved while keeping the Pontiac brand whose value is not only sentimental and cultural, but economical; in fact, if GM abandons it, I would not be at all surprised to see investors propose to buy it.<br /><br />Pontiac’s problem originates from the duplication of several models with the Chevrolet brand; this leads to excess costs as much for manufacturing than for marketing. Those costs could easily be reduced by eliminated Pontiac models for which a corresponding Chevrolet model already exists; doing so would reduce manufacturing costs. In addition, sales of Chevrolet and Pontiac product lines, now complementary, could be grouped under one banner, thus reducing marketing costs.<br /><br />Obviously, Pontiac and Chevrolet models will need to be adapted to present economic and environmental requirements, and of course to customer expectations.<br /><br />Are you a Pontiac fan? If so, I would really like to read your comments on the subject.Benoit Duguayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10848946175636326496noreply@blogger.com0