Effectiveness of the Global Banking System in 2010： A Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

The current crisis has revealed the weaknesses of the global financial in general and its banking system in particular and puts forward a requirement for assessing the effectiveness and stability of the banking sectors across countries. Based on available data from 64 countries over the world, the author tried to evaluate the effectiveness of the banking sectors in those countries through the view point of the data envelopment analysis approach to define how the global banking systems is under the effect of the current crisis. Findings from the research showed that banking systems in advanced economies are still more effective than in developing countries. Moreover, it explained the effect of the current financial crisis, the role of public finance （and the government）, and the development of the （privately） commercial banks to the effectiveness of the banking sectors. The research also explained some determinants that can affect the effectiveness of the banking system, including inflation, bank concentration, and level of economic development.

International Disorder and China's Strategic Thoughts

Since the 2008 international financial crisis, international political and economic disorder has become obvious. Major reasons are the decline of US-led Western developed economies' global influence; US and other Western countries inaction or ineffective actions; power diffusion allowing non-state actors to intervene; a global governance short of needed rules; and mainstream economic theory's overemphasis on market roles. International disorder is a long-term process posing a potential threat to China's national interests. The situation challenges China to create an international economic and trade order, thereby shaping itself as prophet of global free trade, shaper of international economic and trade rules, and trendsetter for globalization.

Developments in the Romanian Real Estate： Where to？

The financial crisis has deeply affected Eastern European countries since the end of 2008. The global economic crisis put an end to a period when the region witnessed solid economic growth, high inflows of foreign investment and a dynamic real estate sector, which was one of the main drivers of the region＇s economic growth （Abelson, Kaemar, ＆ Jackofsky, 1990）. The Eastern European real estate market was deeply impacted by the crisis. Investment in real estate dropped sharply due to the significant increase in risks and difficulties in financial borrowing （Bruce, 1991）. Rising unemployment affected retail sales, as well as office net absorption. Take-up fell significantly in all markets： Transactions were of smaller size and demand for buildings decreased. On the supply side, vacancy increased sharply due to the high level of completions entering the market （Smith, 1992）. The strong rise in vacancy rates has put pressure on rents, which dropped sharply in 2008 and in early 2009. They started to stabilize only by the end of 2009. How will the Romanian real estate market evolve？ No one knows for certain. Through this work we try to get some predictions based on statistical theory and not on the lessons learned from other crises.

Exploitation and Abuse of Children in ＂Entrepreneurial＂ Purposes

The society of today often likes to brand itself as modem, advanced, civilized, or a society of positive changes. However, it is a fact that the world is confronted with huge contradictions that oppose such qualifications. Obviously, one of the most striking and almost unbelievable realities tells us about inhumane and uncivilized actions of child exploitation in ＂entrepreneurial＂ purposes in the widest range of exploitation and abuse. Current period of economic crisis tells us even more about the rising crisis of moral, which is, in statistical terms, confirmed by a rising number of exploited children in a global framework, and even in some national frameworks as well. With that, some positive results about the diminishing number of exploited children are devaluated. The question is what are the ＂limits＂ of such behavior of groups, organizations, and individuals whose behavior is, obviously, tolerated in the frameworks of certain national economies. Does this behavior have clarity as a part of modem society？ Or, even more severe, for how long can we as a society close our eyes in front of such facts？ Do we even have the right？ In this paper, the authors strive towards focusing and objectifying the global problem of exploitation and abuse of children in ＂entrepreneurial＂ purposes, primarily with the purpose of updating all parts of the society of this paradox and the need of raising the awareness and teaching all relevant factors--from institutions to individuals, with the purpose of resolving and more neutralize the equivalents of this uncivilized and non-entrepreneurial ＂phenomenon＂, as well as approaching the same in the framework of different actions with broadest measures possible and with all disposable assets.

Estonian Taxation System and Innovation

The economic crisis of the last three years, which has hit the world, especially the Baltic States together with their ultraliberal way of economy, has forced to look for solutions to overcome the depression. A low level of taxation, the policy of＂thin state policy＂ and a small share of public sector have influenced the macroeconomics of Estonia since its re-independence. The indirect taxes, especially the consumption taxes, are dominating in Estonian taxation system. The increase of tax burden a little more than 2% in 2009 through the increase of value added tax （VAT） and excises, and the pruning of income taxation benefits did not enlarge state budget in the same amount. The pruning of budget did not just decrease the internal market of the state very rapidly, but also decrease the incomes of the future periods, due to a big dominant of consumption taxes. The economic depression, which began in 2008, has demonstrated a week orientation of Estonian economy, threaten its taxation system on innovation. The amount of investments has essentially decreased than the decrease of GDP and state budget.

Education and Employment （2005-2009） A Comparative Analysis Between the Spanish and Foreign Working Population

Spain became a net receiver country of a high number of foreigners entering the labour market in the first decade of the 21 st century. The ensuing economic crisis, beginning in 2007, led to the destruction of a large number of companies and jobs. The objective of this paper is to analyze the relationship between educational level, employment and economic activity, in the Spanish and foreign working population in the Spanish labour market and the impact that the economic crisis is having on employment and self-employment. The hypotheses considered have been as followed--HI： The economic crisis mainly affects the less educated working population, both Spanish and foreign; H2： Self-employment is characterized by being an initiative of a working population with low educational levels for both population groups （Spanish and foreign）; H3： Employment is related to the productive economic structure. Micro-data from the Labour Force Survey 2009 （EPA in Spanish） has been used, compiled by Spains National Statistics Office （INE in Spanish）, and it has been applied Multiple Correspondence Analysis （MCA） to detect possible associations among the study variables （nationality, level of education, salaried employment, self-employment and economic activity）. The results show significant differences between both groups： Spanish and foreign working population. The study also shows how the crisis affects employment, and the important role played by the educational level of the working population, especially foreigners employed in certain economic activities.

Credit Risk （Based on Analysis of Financial Statements） as the Decisive Factor Influencing the Risk of Investors

Banks as the key subjects in the financing of investment have a strong influence on the risk of investors. Hence, the solvency of the bank is of crucial importance for the risk management in the investment process. Given the fact of underdevelopment of financial markets and the lack of trading activities in securities, it is evident that the investments of banks in the developing countries mostly include lending investments. Looking at the key categories of risk that influence the overall risk of the banking business in such conditions, it can be concluded that credit risk presents the dominant and decisive factor. The aim of the paper is to select the bank determinant key factors of credit risk and to determine the extent to which non-performing loans （NPL） of bank credits affect the solvency of banks, and therefore also the risk of investors. This selection of the main determinants will be based on the analysis of financial statements. This is essential, especially taking into account the impact of the global financial crisis and the increasingly frequent falling into insolvency customers. Finally, liquidity of customers is that of the bank, and it is crucial for investors to timely identify possible risks associated with bank loans in order to proactively manage risk investment.

Global Economic Rebalancing： Fancy and Reality

＂Global economic imbalance＂ and ＂global economic rebalancing＂ have aroused great interest among international economic and.financial research circles. As the global financial crisis begins to abate, some Western countries have used ＂global economic rebalancing＂ as an excuse for trade protectionism and restricting the foreign economic development of developing nations. As the basic theoretical justification for the ＂global economic imbalance,＂ the theory of international trade equilibrium is wrong both in theory and in practice, because it has never been proven in the 200 years of history since the Industrial Revolution. ＂Global economic rebalancing＂ contains serious policy traps and does not generate any winners. The exchange rate is only one of the）actors which affect international trade;furthermore, it is not the fundamental mechanism. With the U.S. dollar retaining its status as the key currency of the international monetary system, it is impossible for the United States to achieve long-term foreign economic and trade equilibrium. The United States＇ trade deficit is an inevitable result of the dollar＇s status as an international currency.

Rethinking China's Macroeconomic Policy

Six years have passed since the global financial crisis began.Yet,mainstream economists are still far from reaching a consensus on a framework for restructuring macroeconomic policy.In April 2013,many top scholars attended the International Monetary Fund's(IMF) second conference on "Rethinking Macro Policy".During the conference,the following basic assessments with respect to macroeconomic policy were reached:economists and policy-makers have entered a "brave new world" where they face more problems than effective solutions and the image of a new macroeconomic policy framework remains opaque.Based on discussions at the conference and the dissertations of important scholars over recent years,this paper provides a systematic review of the reflections of mainstream economic academia regarding the restructuring of a macroeconomic policy framework,with a view to providing an orientation to China s ongoing reform of macroeconomic regulation.

China's Fumiture Industry——How to Deal with Foreign Teehnical Barriers to Trade in the Global Economic Crisis

At present,the global economic crisiscontinues to spread across the world.Theeconomies of all countries are sliding into aslump,trade protectionism is gaining ground,andexport orders have declined substantially for productprocessing and trading enterprises.Chinesefurniture companies are suffering from certainnegative impacts.China,as a large furniture producer,should draw lessons from this global economiccrisis.Furniture companies should enhancetheir capabilities of independent innovation andbrand building,increase product quality,and addvalue.In order to reduce losses from foreign technicalbarriers to trade,relevant departmentsshould strengthen their ability to respond to foreigntechnical regulation,standard,conformity assessment,inspection,and quarantine.Because agreat variety of environmental regulations areemerging endlessly,furniture companies must doa good job of producing green label certificationand actively respond to green trade barriers.

National Identity in the Era of Globalization: Crisis and Reconstruction

The era of globalization is posing a variety of challenges to national identity. In order to meet these challenges, it is important to offer theoretical scientific interpretations of them. A scrutiny of national identity as a concept reveals that national identity is actually a ＂four in one＂ combination of institutional identity, interest identity, cultural identity and non-national community identity, with formative mechanisms characterized the unity of the primordial state and the constructive, expressive forms characterized by the unity of consciousness and action, content characterized by the unity of politics and culture, and maintenance mechanisms characterized by the unity of emotion and self-interest. In the global age, national identity crisis usually arises in political, economic and cultural levels. The root cause for national identity crisis lies in the ineffectiveness of nation states＇ self-governance. In order to promote the construction of national identity in the global age, we need to： （1）promote reform of the political system, explore democratic models of governance, and create the institutional preconditions for national identity; （2） promote economic development, ensure fairness and justice, and guarantee interests in national identity; （3） develop national culture, strengthen value integration and enrich the cultural significance of national identity; and （4） recognize different levels of community development and promote community integration in national identity.

National Identity Crisis in Developing Countries in the Global Age and Its Causes

After the 1990s, with the end of the Cold War, great changes have occurred in the world scenario, with ethnic clashes and national conflicts becoming all the more salient, making national identity a hot topic in reality and the academia. To address the issue of national identity in the age of globalization, a deep-going theoretical discussion of the logic behind it is necessary, a discussion that covers the nature of both ethno-cultural identity and national identity, the superiority of national identity to ethno-cultural identity and the logic behind national identity crisis. In terms of the need for social identity, globalization, while changing the power structure of the world, weakens the autonomy of developing countries, especially that of those which are still in the process of modernization and are confronted with risks inherent in social transformation and where a resultant structural imbalance undermines the state＇s integrity and control, making national identity less appealing to ethnic groups. As a result, regional ethnic identity comes to the fore, leading to national identity crises in developing countries.

Chinese Security under Globalization

Cbina＇s rapid economic growth has benefited from the country＇s wellplaced position in the global production chain. But China encounters an acute security, dilemma externally and internally because it is integrating into a world system in which market democracies dominate and view China＇s rise with suspicion. Globalization changes, complicates, and benefits Chinese foreign policy. A growing China is also increasingly affecting globalization in its own image. Globalization has caused a backlash, particularly in developed countries, partly because of the China factor, and China＇s own commitment to globalization is being tested as economic problems mount in the current financial crisis.