Book Recommendation

Hello Blog!

I just wanted to recommend a book I borrowed from my economics teacher called "The Best Of The New World Of Economics" by Richard B. McKenzie and Gordon Tullock.

This book really stands-out for me because the topics treated are far beyond the "traditional" economic issues.Instead,economic concept and ideas are used to analyze and solve various problems-themes such as death, sex and crime, always in a smart and fascinating way.

Unfortunately, the blog isnt updated frequently and (I hope that) the reasons are obvious...

Adios!
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Athi

I'm back!

Well,
It's been a couple of days that I left NYC and returned to my hometown Rhodes.Staying in Rhodes for the summer was a good decision considering it a great place for both study and holidays (mainly music-piano, etc).I spent my half GYLC days in Washington D.C and the rest in NYC.Having visited the US for the first time, I'd like to make the following observations:
1.The skyscrapers weren't as tall as I expected them to be from the movies...
2.The same holds for the Statue of Liberty...
3.The hamburgers are awesome indeed...
4.As well as all the museums...
5.The climate both in WDC and NYC SUCKS
6.I really liked the multicultural environment,which was mainly present in the GYLC program
7.I love being in times square...
8.The theaters are amazing...

Now,concerning GYLC:
The program was quite exhausting but not because of its academically demanding nature but because of the excessive control on us which violated our freedoms,as in Rousseau's democratic state, forcing people to be "free"... haha ;P

From the 10 or so lectures I went to, only 1 or 2 were unique and inspiring...in my opinion...

The other students I admired and respected were few since most of people had no idea whatsoever about economics or any interest about global issues etc.I don't blame or hate :P anyone but...It was SUPPOSED to be something more academic and serious where someone should have spent time preparing beforehand...What I gained from this is, I guess, the experience (obviously), and generally, although it wasn't what I expected, I am happy I went there and I don't regret it...


So...now that I am back in Rhodes, I am ready to start my EE in economics...

I will make a post about it in the near future...

till then...

take care!

Athis

P.S.: For any kind of photos-videos you would like to see about my experience in GYLC...check out my fb!

Hey!

So...tomorrow I will be travelling to the US for GYLC. During my stay I will try to update the blog about the conference and generally anything in a daily basis...

;)

Athis

Exams...

I'm sorry for not posting anything right now...The reason is my exams...I will be "available" after the 11th of June...

Until then...

Take care!

Papandreou: Banks bet against us

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The prime minister of Greece said Sunday that he would not rule out taking legal action against banks that may have preyed on his country's precarious fiscal state.

"You have banks funding hedge funds that are actually then betting against governments," George Papandreou told CNN's Fareed Zakaria. He said his government is investigating potential "negative practices" in the financial sector and called for greater regulation.
Greece is the flash point for a government debt crisis gripping Europe and roiling markets worldwide. Last week, European leaders announced a massive, nearly $1 trillion, rescue package in a bid to contain the crisis by helping the weakest nations.

But Greece is in the most precarious spot. The small southern European nation, weighed down with an outsized debt burden, is tapping billions in emergency loans from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

The funding will make it possible for the Greek government to redeem $10.7 billion worth of debt coming due this week.

Papandreou told CNN that Greece is committed to closing its fiscal imbalance. The country's budget deficit exceeded 13% of its total economic output last year.

"We are fully aware of our responsibilities and what we must do," Papandreou said.

Greece has set in motion a number of austerity measures, including tax increases and cutbacks in public sector salaries and pension benefits.

"We are ready to make the changes," Papandreou said. "We have made our mistakes. We are living up to this responsibility. But at the same time, give us a chance. We'll show you."

Adjustable glasses...

Again,some useful articles...

http://www.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_kathremote_1_16/05/2010_337620
http://www.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_kathremote_1_17/05/2010_337757
http://www.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_kathremote_1_15/05/2010_337567
http://www.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_kathremote_1_14/05/2010_337506
http://www.naftemporiki.gr/news/cstory.asp?id=1817120
http://www.enet.gr/?i=news.el.oikonomia&id=163094

With interest we watch Greece's path...

IMF and Greece

An enlightning article from kathimerini...

http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_economyagor_1_08/05/2010_400192

Greek End Game

Pessimism about Greece's future...

Paul Krugman

Many commentators now believe that Greece will end up restructuring its debt — a euphemism for partial repudiation. I agree. But the reasoning seems to stop there, which is wrong. In effect, the consensus that Greece will end up defaulting is probably too optimistic. I’m growing increasingly convinced that Greece will end up leaving the euro, too.

I’ve basically laid out the logic already: even with a debt restructuring, Greece will be in deep trouble, forced to engage in severe austerity — and provoke a deep slump — just to close the primary, non-interest deficit.

The only thing that could reduce that need for austerity would be something that helped the economy expand, or at least not contract as much. This would reduce the economic pain; it would also increase revenues, reducing the needed amount of fiscal austerity.

But the only route to economic expansion is higher exports — which can only be achieved if Greek costs and prices fall sharply relative to the rest of Europe.

If Greece were a highly cohesive society with collective wage-setting, a sort of Aegean Austria, it might be possible to do this via a collectively agreed reduction in wages across the board –an “internal devaluation.” But as today’s grim events show, it isn’t.

The alternative is a devaluation — which means leaving the euro.

Any announcement of plans to leave the euro would, as Eichengreen points out, trigger disastrous bank runs. By the same token, any suggestion by outside players, like the ECB, that the option exists would amount to invoking a speculative attack on Greek banks, and therefore can’t be made. The whole thing is effectively undiscussable.

But that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Greece is already starting to look like Argentina 2001.

Again, this isn’t an alternative to debt restructuring; it’s what might be needed in addition to debt restructuring to make the fiscal adjustment possible.

I hope that somewhere, deep in the bowels of the ECB and the Greek Ministry of Finance, people are thinking about the unthinkable. Because this awful outcome is starting to look better than the alternatives.


http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/05/greek-end-game/

3 dead people from molotov

These things shouldn't be happening in the 21st century...I am ashamed for been Greek...

http://www.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_kathremote_1_05/05/2010_336033

Interesting Robots-TED

Wii Technology-TED

Hard Times for Greece

Although the European Council and the ECB believe that a Greek default is out of the question,markets have a different opinion.Angela Merkel's fear of her voters,the IMF's aid possible ineffectiveness and the fear of a widespread contagion spreading throughout the other EU countries make the future of Greece quite uncertain...

http://www.economist.com/business-finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=16003202&source=most_commented

Back again!

So...It seems that I will be apologizing for not being active in this blog forever...I AM SORRY!!...ok...But,don't worry.I promise to make a posttwice a week from now on, till May 28 (exams) :p.

So,for you, my other dimension readers,here is a song from our own sweet Anneke!

CAS-Action

One of my 'action' activities involve gym hours at school. We have gymnsastics once per week, when usually the boys play football and the girls volleyball.However, last time we all together played a football match with mixed teams which was allot of fun! Apart from the 'exercise' part,I like gym hours because I get the chance for some chatting with my friends and converse with children which are not in my classes. You see, time for discussion between your friends is quite limited because of the short intervals between each class.So,whenever you get the chance for some discussion, you should grasp it.But,...

Baby-Swimming

One day,we went to OAKA i.e. the Olympic Stadium of Greece,which is near our school.Specifically,we visited the swimming pool where an interesting activity was taking place: Babies swimming with their parents!
This activity is meant to increase the relationship and communication between children(babies) and their parents while getting also the babies used to water,swimming skills and resistant to difficult circumstances.Research has also shown that baby-swimming (the "official term) contributes to the neuromuscular and neuropsychological development of the babies.Water develops a relaxing feeling which helps the baby's sleep quality.With baby-swimming children become more courageous and independent. They also get the chance to communicate with other children,which is something thay develops social skills, children's personality and their intelligence.

These are some photos and videos from that day:
 
  
 


Memories...Genetic Asymmetry

(Today I came up with an idea about a part of this blog,a "category",in which I will post things that are related to my past...This category will be called 'Memories...')


This memory is about us,Genetic Asymmetry,a band from Rhodes,in the Aegean Islands.The band members were(are):
Me-keys
Savvas-guitar
Manolis-bass
Konstantinos-vocals
Dimitris-Drums
Although the basic members were Me,Savvas and Manolis, we had various others band members,each in different circumstances e.g.live,competitions etc.

With Nicolas-Konstantinos(vocals) ,Me,Savvas,Manolis and Dimitris(drums) took part in Schoolwave.Schoolwave is a music festival for school bands that takes place in
Athens, Greece, in the beginning of July every year. It is organised by
“Schooligans”, a team consisting of teachers and students.It lasts three days. School bands from all over Greece play all kinds of
music (rock, metal, pop, hip-hop, punk, ska-punk, traditional etc) on a
big stage that meets high music production standards. During the
festival, students take part in many parallel activities, such as graffiti,
skate, bmx show, breakdance, hip-hop dance etc.
Schoolwave started in 2005 and instantly became a success. About
20.000 people attend the festival every year. The last 3 years, the festival
has acquired an international character. School bands from Europe are
invited to play.The competition has 2 phases;first,somewhere around 300-400 bands take part and record 1-2 demo songs.Then they send the demos to "Schooligans" who will choose approximatelly 80 to come to Athens to perform live in front of some judges.Then 20 out of 80 will be chosen and take part in the final festival.Unfortunately,although we qualified for the second phase and went to Athens (from Rhodes)for our live performance,we didn't for the fesstival,because of many reasons.These reasons include us not having our own created songs.(we had,but never had completed them :P),our lack of a front-man etc.In the "auditions" we played the song 'Fatal Tragedy' by Dream Theater,and I have to say that it was amazingly played,considering the difficulty of the song...As I said,we recorded 2 demo songs before the auditions.These were Pull Me Under and Forsaken by,who else,Dream Theater.In the near future I will post our recordings at the blog,but for the time being I will post some photos of us attaining the auditions and being in the ship travelling to Athens.I will also show you how these songs sound like from a couple of youtube videos.
The fellowship of the inspiration...
(From left to right)Me,Savvas,Manolis,Nicolas,Konstantinos,Dimitris


Before the fight...outside Kyttaro(stage)



Into the cabin...

Well...this actually doesn't concern Schoolwave,but...whatever...This is an other live performance.

Same here...BUT...The woman singing is Eirini and the man singing(the tall one) George.

These are Pull Me Under,Forsaken and Fatal Tragedy by Dream Theater:
 


I will soon post a link of an other live performance...

By the way...this is the logo of our previous name,Spiritual Rebirth....I like both of them...

MY CAS

For my CAS, specifically for service,I play the piano in an old people's home.Althought initially my intentions were purely to collect service hours,it turned out that this activity was much more than this.The whole concept is as follows:Me,sitting in a corner and playing the piano with my old keyboard,and some old ladies aged from 85 to 90(to 93 to be more precise) sitting on the couches and listening to the relaxing music.However,apart from the musical part, there are a couple of other things I would really like to talk about.The interaction between the old ladies and me is something that really fascinates me...When I went to "Love"(that's the name of the place.Nice huh?)for the first I was warmly welcomed by the owners,who are some really polite people you have devoted themselves to give the old poeple as much love as possible.When I saw the old people,I felt really sad.These people cannot obviously get to the outside world.They are bound to live in a building for the rest of their lives.Live in a daily routine where only passiveness and inertia exist.But then I thought:"This is life.We are all going to face this someday in various ways."I reached to the conclusion that what matters is to make these people's last moments as happy as possible.When I arrived,I also noticed that there was a general lack of communication,so I also tried to 'fix' this.An old lady was said to be mentally deficient because staff members couldn't understand her and thought she was talking nonsense.However,after a while I realized that that wasn't true.From some distance it is true that you understand nothing of what she says.But when I went close to her, I understood everything she said, by making allot of effort.Then,of course,we started talking naturally with some slight justifiable problems due to her age.It is true that many things she says are quite funny e.g.she calls all men John (Giannis)(including me) and all women Helen(Eleni).Of course,I wouldn't expect her to call me Athinagoras(lol).So finally,these conversations with not only Georgia(that's her name)but also with Mary etc are something along with the piano with which we all have a good time once a week.Finally,I would like also to say about Ioanna,who is an other lady somewhere around 80 years old and who really likes traditional greek music and loves singing,even at this age!Although this kind of music is not my favorite(what else would you expect from a guy listening to Dream Theater and Opeth),she makes me every week bring new songs and sing them with her while playing the piano :),which is something interesting because I had never got into greek music in the past and I think it is useful to know your culture and traditions.So,as you have understood,this thing is much more than two service hours per week.So,these are some photos from December 2009 when we were decorating the Christmas Tree and playing Christmas songs.

Me with Andreas(manager-friend)
  Me
 Some staff members.
  The lady next to me is Helen.She is 90 and has an amazing perception for her age...

?
 
 
 This is Georgia from Crete

These are 3 videos of me playing the piano and talking to Georgia...




TED-Clifford Stoll and Ken Robinson

Just watch and enjoy that mind...


and



Both educative and entertaining

(I would like to thank my economics teacher Mr.C.Z. for showing us that really interesting site...)

(Sorry)-Bill Gates

(Once again,I would like to apologize for not updating this blog for quite a few time...you see,IB demands are really high,especially when you set high goals...so,although I always found some time to read say,the Economist,I didn't find time for this blog and I'm really sorry.Anyway,in the future I will try to be more consistent,even in the back of my head I know this ain't true...)

Let's now forget that parenthesis and focus on the present...While hanging around in www.weforum.org ,which is the site of the world economic forum in Davos(I went there!),I read this:

Bill and Melinda Gates announced that their foundation will commit US$ 10 billion over the next 10 years to help research, develop and deliver vaccines for the world’s poorest countries. “We must make this the decade of vaccines,” said Bill Gates, speaking at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. “Vaccines already save and improve millions of lives in developing countries.” Bill and Melinda Gates were joined at the press conference by Julian Lob-Levyt, Chief Executive Officer of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (the GAVI Alliance), which was launched at the World Economic Forum 10 years ago this week.

If you're in the mood,you can watch the following video:
http://www.livestream.com/worldeconomicforum03/video?clipId=pla_0a5ad43d-be31-42e8-b924-79b5fd46885e

So,not only a succesfull businessman,but also an amazing man.

Long time no fun...

Hello everyone!(or no one?)
I am sorry about not updating this blog regularly...but it was not my fault!it was the IB exams :P. I am still having exams,specifically I have also to take the economics end physics exam...I am desperately waiting for Christmass to study economics and maths,and also to visit my hometown Rhodes(it's a loooong story...)...anyway...

I discovered something really entertaining on youtube the other day and I thought it might be worth posting...It's about a ventriloquist...I am sure many of you have seen the comedian Jeff Dunham with the video ''Silence,i kill u'',but i personally find Dan Horn(in this video) really amazing,because his ventriloquistic talent combined with his acting and entertaining skills are creating the perfect illusio:that the puppet is actually ALIVE!

Enjoy!