Appunti personali di inglese

Some subjects warn (alcuni strateghi avvisano che) that investing

in African markets is not for amateurs (principianti): in fact,

brokerage fees are high and staff is not always qualified. However,

it is a scenario in recovery: the president of Asea has informed that

there will be analysis of the investments and of the market

partecipants.

Capitolo 2: Woomera fires up immigration debate

The text talks about an Australian city, and it was written in 2001.

Woomera has always been known for its past: in fact, it was a

launching pad for experimental rockets (fu una piattaforma di

lancio per missili sperimentali). In 2001, the city became the object

of heavy accusations: Australians wondered whether, in an

attempt to dissuade immigrants from going to Australian coasts,

the government was purposely making immigrants, living in places

similar to Woomera, live in inhumane conditions (forse il governo

fa apposta a far vivere male gli immigrati in Woomera affinché gli

altri immigrati siano dissuasi dal venire in Australia). Immigrants

come mainly from China and the Middle East: Australia has

tightened its immigration control measures, granting only short-

term visas for political asylum seekers. Meanwhile, the

government has made the city of Woomera available as a shelter

for immigrants, but the living conditions are disastrous and suggest

an excuse to discourage immigrants from heading to Australia. In

this regard, many groups have intervened to defend human rights.

There are complaints about physical violence, inadequate medical

treatment, psychological violence, especially on children.

According to the director of the Refugee Council of Australia, the

problem concerns families with small children, who risk growing

without knowing life outside the detention centers. The Minister

for Immigration intervened saying that something must be done

for mothers and immigrant children. The debate is taking place

ahead of the 2002 elections and, according to some critics, could

create problems for the government which, in the meantime,

attracts millions of voters supporters of the One Nation party,

opposite to immigration (opposto all’immigrazione).

Capitolo 3: Canada heads towards big budget surpluses

The article dates back to 1999 and it talks about Canada. At that

time, the prime minister of finance announced that the federal

government would record an annual budget surplus of $ 30 billion

over the next five years. This was the first time the government

admitted such a thing. A debate opens up about the possibility of

using these unexpected revenues to reduce the tax burden (carico

fiscale), to intensify a spending program or to reduce the

government's huge debt. The finance minister said he was

reluctant to publish the news on the budget surplus, due to fears

of pressing demands that could precipitate the budget (il ministro

delle finanze si è dichiarato restio a rendere pubblica la notizia

sull'avanzo di bilancio, per il timore di richieste pressanti che

potrebbero far precipitare il bilancio). However, an official of the

finance minister said that it was inevitable to admit the

improvement of the financial situation. The projection of the

surplus of 30 billion assumes as starting data a reduced real growth

rate after inflation of 4.6 percentage points per year, and an

increase in spending at the pace of inflation and population growth

(la proiezione circa l'avanzo di 30 miliardi assume come dati di

partenza un ridotto tasso reale di crescita al netto dell'inflazione di

4,6 punti percentuali annui, e un incremento della spesa al passo

di inflazione e crescita demografica). The minister will decrease

personal income tax and will, of course, guarantee other tax relief,

such as tax deductions targeted for ones that have low income.

The liberal government has promised that half of the surplus will

be destined to reduce debt and guarantee tax relief (sgravi fiscali),

while the other half will be allocated to a new spending program.

Capitolo 4: the economic paradox of Ghana’s poverty

The text dates back to 2003 and it talks about Ghana. The article

begins by quoting two statements: the first concerns Sub-Saharan

Africa and the second concerns Ghana. In fact, Ghana could be the

means by which Sub-Saharan Africa can free itself from poverty,

but Ghana can not be such a means alone. Leaders of Western

governments like to argue that the poorest countries should move

to competitive markets to get rid of poverty, but it is not so. In fact,

it is right to move towards these markets, but help from the rest

of the world is needed. First of all, Ghana is immune from the civil

war that affects many neighboring countries, it is a multiparty

democracy, and the president is used to work without corruption:

in fact, the president's ministers work cooperatively, together with

foreign experts, to ensure economic growth. Ghana has a good

school system and has a coastline with a high tourist potential; in

addition, it exports gold and cocoa. Ghana has the chance to

achieve economic success, but it does not reach it: why does this

happen? If we adopt an economic perspective, investment in poor

countries is more profitable than in rich countries, probably

because in poor countries there is more need for plants (impianti)

and economic theories assume that investors invest the capital to

build such plants. Furthermore, people living in poor countries

save more than people living in rich countries. Theoretically, big

savings and high rates of return on investment should benefit poor

countries, but they tend to make bad political choices that drive

investors away. Furthermore, it is important to consider bad

infrastructure and the lack of a healthy population. These are the

reasons why Ghana has the potential for economic success, but in

reality it remains poor.

Capitolo 5: India lacks connection to make online services viable

The article goes back to 2008 and it explains why India is missing

the connections to make services on the Internet effective. When

Google launched the Indian version of Youtube, its executives

mentioned the deep interest India has for video. The problem lies

in the small number of Indians who have fast broadband Internet.

This condition is surprising because India is known worldwide for

its important technological centers and wins headlines in the

newspapers for its role as the fastest growing mobile phone

market in the world. So we try to understand the reasons that

generate this gap:

1) The dearth (la scarsità) of personal computers;

2) The lack of related IT services for large numbers of users;

3) The weakness of the infrastructural network;

4) The high number of local Indian idioms;

5) Big problems related to the installation of internet connections

in the last mile.

In the past, it was thought that the low number of PCs was due to

their high price, but the question was denied. The goal is to make

the PCs more important for the average Indian dweller: while city

dwellers use the Internet to look for work or send emails, the rural

dwellers do not use these services. The problem is that the rural

dwellers represent 70% of the population. Regarding the problem

of numerous languages, India has more than 12 languages that

represent an obstacle. However, the Indian market attracts

companies that operate on the Internet, because sooner or later

technology will make cell phones and the Internet converge.

Capitolo 6: high hopes for palm oil push up share prices

The article deals with palm oil and it dates back to 2005. The stock

prices of Malaysian and Indonesian palm oil plantations have risen

sharply over the last few weeks, as palm oil could become a

convenient alternative to crude oil (petrolio grezzo). Malaysia and

Indonesia are the world's largest producers of palm oil, while the

Philippines promotes the use of coconuts. According to analysts,

the demand for palm oil grows if EU countries decide to use it to

produce biofuels, and China decides to abolish its quota system (la

domanda di olio di palma cresce se i paesi dell'UE decidono di

usarlo per produrre biocarburante, e la Cina decide di abolire il suo

sistema di quote). In Malaysia, the government is considering the

possibility of requiring gas stations to sell biodiesel, reducing state

subsidies for diesel (il governo sta prendendo in considerazione la

possibilità di richiedere ai distributori di benzina di vendere

biodiesel, riducendo i sussidi statali destinati al diesel).

Government initiatives to promote biodiesel have boosted (alzato)

the index of plantation actions; according to industry officials,

biodiesel can be used without changing diesel engines, and it helps

reduce pollutant emissions. The trend in biodiesel increases the

share prices of palm oil, and this could translate into a reduction

in profit margins on the production of biofuels, causing operators

to choose soya or rapeseed oil (l'andamento del biodiesel fa

crescere i corsi azionari dell'olio di palma, e questo potrebbe

tradursi in una riduzione dei margini di profitto sulla produzione di

biocarburante, inducendo gli operatori a scegliere l'olio di soia o di

colza). Furthermore, if the palm oil producers were not able to

meet the global demand, the stock prices would increase further

(se i produttori di olio di palma non fossero in grado di soddisfare

il livello globale della domanda, i corsi azionari aumenterebbero

ulteriormente). Malaysia is running out of land to produce palm

oil: Indonesia will probably exceed it (la Malaysia sta esaurendo il

territorio da destinare alla produzione di olio di palma: l'Indonesia

probabilmente la supererà). Some analysts argue that the

environmental costs of clearing the land and planting oil palms will

eliminate the interest in this energy resource. However, Indonesia

continues to invest in palm oil, especially with China.

Capitolo 7: UAE investors buy pakistan farmland

The text dates back to 2008 and it talks about investors from the

Emirates who buy Pakistani farmland. One of the largest venture

capital investment companies in the Middle East has quietly

continued to purchase arable land in Pakistan as part of a series of

projects with which the UAE wants to consolidate the right to safe

nutrition and thereby mitigate inflation. It seems to continue the

collaboration between the UAE government and Abraaj Capital to

carry out agro-industrial investments in Pakistan. The government

of Abu Dhabi wants to secure supplies of basic low cost foods such

as wheat and rice for a long time. The Gulf State is interested in

establishing a strategic reserve of basic foodstuffs to reduce

inflation characterized by sharp increases, especially in the context

of food prices. Some sources claim that the UAE government and

some private entities (wishing to start agro-industrial activities in

Pakistan) have acquired the equivalent of 800,0