tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-508892 2010-04-07T21:41:51-07:00 A study of all law which regulates actions or events that transcend national frontiers. TypePad tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451c58f69e20133ec898e72970b 2010-04-07T21:41:51-07:00 2010-11-14T01:49:28-08:00

I wonder what do you think about Google’s decision to confront China’s censorship by pulling out of the country entirely despite a potential lost of profit for not doing its business with now the second largest economy in the word? A Google's engineer that I talked to over the weekend seemed to struggle in making up his mind about pros and cons of the decision. From a business standpoint, Google’s behavior appears to go against the conscience of self-interest business practice. Even the Economist this week reminds us “the only thing more dangerous than dealing with China is not dealing...

Christine Ngo tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451c58f69e20133ec6bb17c970b 2010-04-02T21:39:34-07:00 2010-04-02T21:47:35-07:00

We are moving further away from the double dips danger! Last month the US economy added 162,000 jobs- a strong showing of a potentially more sustained recovery for US economy. Payroll gains are largely boosted by private sectors and much less by temporary census hiring. Unemployment remains at 9.7% but is expected to go down in the near future. The Financial Times reported the winners and losers for employment gain as quoted below: The Losers • The unofficial unemployed: The broadest measure of labour market slack, which includes discouraged workers and those working part time for economic reasons, actually ticked...

Christine Ngo tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451c58f69e2012875b32c25970c 2009-11-18T11:57:50-08:00 2009-11-24T22:40:46-08:00

Today, in an interview with Fox News in Beijing, President Obama warned that “the US economy could head into a ‘double-dip recession’ unless urgent steps were taken to rein back America’s mounting level of public debt,” reported the Financial Times. Speculation about a double dipping, also known as W shape economy, has been on going among academics ever since the US economy showed signs of recovery. I have long been argued that there will be a U shape recovery- a sluggish recovery but not another recession- and 2010 will be an adjustment period where real recovery will occur closer toward...

Christine Ngo tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451c58f69e20120a62288ec970b 2009-10-26T19:40:28-07:00 2009-10-27T08:00:56-07:00

The European Union last week produced an official notice derived from its year-long investigation on human right violation in Sri Lanka. Here are the Commission's final report, and the independent expert's report. Given the Commission's conclusion that Sri Lankan government breached its human rights commitments during it 25-year civil war with the Tamil Tiger, the country is set to loose its trade concessions, known as GSP Plus, to the European Union, a sanction which will cost the country more than $100m trade benefits. Mr. Rajapaksa’s government has recently secured a $2.6 billion loan from the IMF with very little strings...

Christine Ngo tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451c58f69e20120a6629d64970c 2009-10-21T12:07:00-07:00 2009-10-21T12:12:51-07:00

It’s all over the news, and I should not be caught by surprise. Yet here I am becoming very disturbed by the loopholes in our financial institutions, which gave rise to an unprecedented amount of white collar crime - from Bernard Madoff to Raj Rajaratnam. Wall Street this week has seen the biggest insider trading charges in its history, charges alleging the involvement of various ratings firms, consultancies and half a dozen US public companies including IBM, Intel and two top hedge fund managers of Galleon and New Castle. Complaints filed in the court of the Southern District of New...

Christine Ngo tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451c58f69e20120a629ed65970c 2009-10-09T10:43:22-07:00 2009-10-21T00:36:37-07:00

At 4am, the news that president Obama received the Nobel peace prize came to me just as unexpected at it was for all of us. However, as the dust settled, and president Obama finally responded with his speech in the White House's rose garden saying that the prize is "an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations." I have to admit a growing sense of admiration and honor by his response to the unexpected, yet often controversial, award. The Financial Times reports: Awarding the SKr10m ($1.4m) prize, the Nobel committee said: “Only very...

Christine Ngo tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451c58f69e20120a5b5b779970c 2009-09-09T21:18:47-07:00 2009-09-10T21:22:50-07:00

People pointed to California's divided government and the supermajority law, which requires the legislature to adopt a budget with a two-third vote as reasons that cause the ongoing budget crisis in the Golden State over the last decade. The budget, which was passed by Arnold Schwarzenegger on July 24 of this year was said to virtually guarantee another fiscal crisis next year despite the fact that it comprises $15 billion in service cuts, including $8.1 billion in education cuts. This is not to mention that California budget shortfall is projected to top $40 billion over 2009-2010 fiscal years. In searching...

Christine Ngo tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451c58f69e20120a58fcc75970c 2009-08-31T13:57:54-07:00 2009-08-31T14:02:01-07:00

Last week, most news applauded Obama’s reappointment of Ben Bernanke as the chairman of the Federal Reserve. Of the few commentators who opposed the reappointment, Morgan Stanley Asia's Stephen Roach lists three critical mistakes that Bernanke made leading toward the financial crisis. He argues that Bernanke should not be reappointed because his “pre-crisis actions played an equally critical role in setting the stage for the most wrenching recession since the 1930s.” First, and foremost, he was deeply wedded to the philosophical conviction that central banks should be agnostic when it comes to asset bubbles. On this count, he stood with...

Christine Ngo tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451c58f69e20120a5285b61970b 2009-08-27T20:25:20-07:00 2009-08-27T20:26:07-07:00

I've talked about Cindy Sheehan before and was under the impression she had given up her war protest. I'm glad to read that Sheehan has once again taken up her charge and is dogging Obama while he is on vacation. The Breit Bart put it as follows: After spending weeks dogging George W. Bush's presidential vacations, anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan is now trying to make life uncomfortable for President Barack Obama. Sheehan used to pitch a peace camp near Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, becoming a symbol of the anti-war movement after her son Casey died in action in Iraq....

Travis Hodgkins tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451c58f69e20120a514a8d2970b 2009-08-23T14:37:30-07:00 2009-08-23T15:26:32-07:00

This week brings a heated debate between Judge Posner and some prominent economists including Brad DeLong of UC Berkeley. The debate comes at the heart of my recent discussion with a lawyer who is also a faithful follower of Paul Krugman blog. I argued that certain opinions made by Paul Krugman are so political that readers should distinguish them from his academic accomplishment. Otherwise, the misjudgment may bring about misinformed opinion. Judge Posner took it one step further by questioning the ethical responsibility of academic economists in influencing public opinion through their academic tools. Here is a quoted entry from...

Christine Ngo tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451c58f69e20120a51496c7970b 2009-08-23T14:34:43-07:00 2009-08-23T14:34:43-07:00

Much to my surprise and fascination, Peking University ("Bei Da") opened a School of Transnational Law in the Fall of 2008 that has a curriculum nearly identical to that of a U.S. juris doctor (JD) program and requires three years of study. Even more amazing is that the school is seeking ABA accreditation, the first law school outside of the U.S. to seek such accreditation. There is an excellent article on USC's US-China Institute Blog simply entitled China Legal (h/t China Law Blog) that provides a good overview of the program goals and development. I particularly enjoyed the following quote...

Travis Hodgkins tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451c58f69e20120a51d99f2970c 2009-08-04T14:17:56-07:00 2009-08-04T14:16:30-07:00

Once considered one of the Asian dragons, foreign investors have largely forgot Malaysia in the decade following the 1998 Asian financial crisis. However, there have been some important recent reforms in business law in Malaysia as the government of Najib Razak finds ways to push its liberalization agenda further in order to attract more foreign capital in the form of market exchange and direct investment. The most important recent reform has been the relaxation of rules requiring ethnic Malay investors to have at least a 30% stake in any listed company. With the new law “newly listed companies will now...

Christine Ngo tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451c58f69e20115714513aa970c 2009-07-26T20:48:48-07:00 2009-07-26T20:48:48-07:00

"Control At A Distance" is a very interesting article over at Balkinization about Amazon.com using the internet to delete copies of George Orwell's books 1984 and Animal Farm from various people's Kindles after learning that the publisher did not want to grant the rights to Kindle. Jack Balkin cleverly points out that "the irony of deleting a book about Big Brother watching you was lost on both the publisher and Amazon.com." He also makes the following commentary: "For centuries, we have understood, or rather believed, that owning books came with certain rights, including the right to keep what we purchase...

Travis Hodgkins tag:typepad.com,2003:post-67907405 2009-06-10T09:25:05-07:00 2009-06-11T04:12:49-07:00

A few days ago, I received some updated news from our Chancellor at UC Hastings regarding Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to cut 100% state funding for the law school. With $24 billion deficit, the governor was searching for further cuts to make up the remaining $5.5 billion and UC Hastings' 10.3 million public fund, equivalent to approximately 25% of the school budget, was proposed to be taken away all together except for $7,000, which is the nominal amount required from the state by the bequest of the founder, S.C. Hastings. The proposal provoked deep distress within Hastings community since it...

Christine Ngo tag:typepad.com,2003:post-67768615 2009-06-07T05:38:43-07:00 2009-06-07T05:42:20-07:00

The Financial Times recently reported that the Vietnam's dong is depreciating steadily as budget deficit and account imbalance grows with "chronic current account deficit that reached $8.4bn, or 9.3 per cent of gross domestic product, in 2008". Vietnamese government is facing the threat of not gathering enough money for its $80bn fiscal stimulus package as bonds and other commercial tools are falling flat. Investors are holding onto foreign currency due to the uncertainty of the dongs mostly credits to growing trade imbalances and insufficient foreign reserves. This is a predictable test that most developing countries face at this stage of...

Christine Ngo tag:typepad.com,2003:post-66602413 2009-05-10T03:12:16-07:00 2009-05-10T03:24:57-07:00

Recently David Pilling of the Financial Times published a thought-provoking article under the title: “Asia Pays Tribute to Its New Superpower,” which discusses how the rise of China during the time of economic crisis has been perceived within the region and beyond. I found the true nature of this article troubling. David Pilling said it right: there is a sense of “trepidation at the rise of China’s power.” Such idea fuels much of my thoughts the past couple of days. Pilling opened his article by a contemplation of a potential multi-polar world. There has been much chatter about the “G2”...

Christine Ngo tag:typepad.com,2003:post-66519599 2009-05-07T16:04:49-07:00 2009-05-07T16:04:49-07:00

I have been highly benefited from The Faculty Lounge Blog recently and thought that I should share this blog with TLB readers. At the Faculty Lounge, bloggers are mostly law professors who post commentaries and analysis of legal issues and other on-going debates that are either academic-like or accassionally with a more casual tone as they probably often do while chit-chatting at the school's faculty lounge. One of my favorite Hastings professors, Calvin Massey, also blogs here, although with less frequentcy. There are a wide range of subjects covered at this forum ranging from the creditability of US News rankings,...

Christine Ngo tag:typepad.com,2003:post-66324879 2009-05-03T15:09:18-07:00 2009-05-03T15:15:04-07:00

The Washington Post today offers a heartfelt portrait of Justice Souter that invokes much of my admiration and inspiration for the Superior Court Judge- a simple life fills with unwavering public service and modesty. Justice Souter recently announced his retirement from the Highest Court leaving this June when the Court will recess for the year. At the age of 69, he would have then served in the bench of the Superior Court for 19 years. Souter's legal legacy in the heart of the liberals will never be forgotten, but the life that he led depicted in "Quiet N.H. Home Is...

Christine Ngo tag:typepad.com,2003:post-66237767 2009-05-01T04:10:27-07:00 2009-05-03T15:16:38-07:00

I have been regularly following up with the news from Sri Lanka. Images and news from this civil war brought me solemn concern and uneasiness. Here in London, I caught this scene one weekend early this month. A sense of helplessness arrived soon after I stepped deep into the scene seeing men, children, elders and women yelling out loud their urging need and asking for international intervention. They were right, Sri Lanka is facing a humantarian criris; although, the Tigers themselves also committed the type of war crime that they are pledging against Sri Lankan government. There can never be...

Christine Ngo tag:typepad.com,2003:post-66210113 2009-04-30T10:29:36-07:00 2009-04-30T10:35:16-07:00

We don't know for sure, but at least Japan is showing signs of stabilization. Despite growing deflation and addition contraction at 3.3% this year, the Financial Times today reported some stabilizing signs from the second largest economy in the world giving hope that the worst of the recession may be almost over. So far, industrial production in March rose at twice the expected pace, climbing 1.6 percent month-on-month. In addition, factory output rose for the first time in six months. The Royal Bank of Scotland in Tokyo also reported: "factory production appears to be getting close to the bottom." That...

Christine Ngo