THE GREAT DEPRESSION

By: Felipe Argote

It was Thursday. The autumn was as usual but in Wall Street, however, the density of the atmosphere could be cut with a razor.

During the past eight years, the so-called happy twenties, the growth in stock prices had attracted an irregular number of investors. Most had no idea how it works, the only thing they knew is they can buy a stock and after a while the price rose giving you immoral earnings. Like a Ponzi scheme. However, since a few months ago, the Dow Jones showed irregular movements.

The '20s had shown generally very good numbers for the economy. American industry took advantage of the destruction of the installed capacity of Europe after the First World War. Also agricultural production driven by rising global demand, but unlike the industry, prices of goods produced by the primary sector of the economy remained depressed. Keep in mind that U.S. territory was not theater of the conflagration in Europe while the trench warfare destroyed the industry and agricultural production. Recovery was not easy, especially for Germany, whose surrender of Versailles established the armistice that forced him to a level of compensation for the victors of the war that almost unfits to recover their production levels. Germany was obliged to pay annual compensation of 1,200 million gold francs. United States, Australia and Japan industry could leverage their production intact to hold the market Europeans could not recover after the war.

In America euphoria danced accompanied by new rhythms of Charleston, in dance halls and jazz in the basement of slums all of them fueled by illegal alcohol from Canada. Very few expected the economic disaster that hit like an asteroid in Wall Street.

The week before the fateful Thursday 23 October 1929, the stock exchange in New York suffered an unusual stock sale. This was the first tremor, a first bell that announced the tragedy. On Thursday, 24 October, known as the black Thursday, it went on sale 13 million shares below their value in the absence of an equal number of buyers. That day the police charged investors surrounding the building of the stock exchange in New York. It seemed that it has touched the bottom. By Friday it seemed that the worst was over. There was a stabilization result of the acquisition of a large number of shares above their price by an agent working for banks, by agreement of the Chase Manhattan Bank, JP Morgan Chase and National City Bank, which together put money to buy shares above its value, to try to reassure investors and avoid the anxiety that a stampede of sellers as the best style of the wild west.

On Monday 28 the Dow Jones average fell 13%. On Tuesday 29 were placed on sale 33 million shares. The panic was already uncontrollable. A human tide was trying to sell their shares at any price. Ruined investors fell down from skyscrapers; people took their savings from banks. When finally the smoke cleared no less than 32,000 businesses had disappeared, some 2,000 banks had closed, more than one million investors had lost all their savings, 25% of the economically active population was unemployed, industry contracted by 50%, world trade 66%. The Dow Jones fell by 89%. The stock prices fell to a level that regains its pre-depression value until 1954.

The stock market is not what caused the Great Depression. It is just a mirror of what happens in the economy. Several factors were the triggers that led to the crisis: the not well distribution of income, an increase in production that reached the level of not having a counterpart in demand, this led to an increase in inventories primarily by the inability of Europe to continue buying products caused by the increase in import fees in the United States that contracted export and therefore their purchasing power. The states were using an economic model based on the premise that increasing exports and reducing imports was best for strengthening the domestic economy. And it was for a time, until the reduction of imports weakens the countries to which exports are restricted, then the reduction of their purchasing bounds back as a ball.

The Great Depression was also held by the insistence on continuing with an exhausted model, the liberal model for whom the concept of "laissez faire" determined that the most appropriate to the crisis was simply doing nothing ... the invisible hand would provide that after the crisis came a turning point that changed the sign of the curve leading inexorably toward recovery and return to the boom.

But the invisible hand was never seen. First because it was invisible and secondly because investors finally, those who survived the Great Depression, would not risk falling into the list of suicides by investing in an economy in recession. Instead they preferred to wait crouched, dead quiet, the economy improved at the expense of other capitalists.

It was not the invisible hand, but John Maynard Keynes who finally managed to fix the global crisis. But that's another story.

2012 THE END OF THE WORLD: THE POPOL VUH

By: Felipe Argote

I was attending a meeting of the Pan American Institute former classmates when one of them, my friend Julio Perez, broached the subject of the Popol Vuh and their relationship to the world end in 2012.

With the advent of the new movie "2012 WE WERE WARNED" has become popular as discussion of the alleged prophecies of the Popol Vuh, the Mayan calendar and the end of the world as we know, with all the disasters, massacres and other calamities usually associated with biblical prophecies. Needless to say that religion has been historically based on fright, suggestion and fear. All this is very convenient for a thriller as it is currently presented in theaters.

The human being requires a certain level of adrenaline, which can be acquired in a football game, in a horror film or a roller coaster. People pay a large sum of money, take a plane with their children, traveling for almost four hours to Orlando, Florida, pay a hotel, car rental, tickets for all members of the family and goes to a park where then up to 45 minutes in a row to rise an attraction for 45 seconds where they are terrified to the core pirouetting in a mechanical device, but at the end they are all happy, commenting on how terrible was the experience.

Well, as Hollywood producers and writers of tragedy were won by the terms of the prophecies of Nostradamus, who claimed that their alleged predictions as the world ended in 1970, then in 1985, later in 1990, for then change the date to 2000, until they got to forget the matter, so they had to take a number of historical inconsistencies to assemble an Armageddon that would serve to inaugurate the new special effects.

The Popol Vuh is a book not recovered from the Mayan civilization, even the title of the book is not from the Mayas. The Popol Vuh is a supposed translation of a Mayan writings that have never been found or shown in the hieroglyphics of Tchizen Itza, Tikal, Copan or Balmopal, or any archaeological discovery.

The book is a write from a Christian priest of the seventeenth century, Fray Francisco Ximenez. According to him, it was written from an original developed by the Quiche Indians in the sixteenth century using the Roman alphabet, guarded by the Maya-speaking people, and entrusted to him in the seventeenth century. Keep in mind that the Spanish with their ignorance of biblical proportions, from the late fifteenth century, coming from a country where non-Christians were burned alive, undertook the task of systematically destroy all the writings of both Maya and all other American civilizations. The Mayan civilization, or what we know as Mayas, a generic name used by the Spanish to name those who spoke that language, had its greatest development in the 10th century A.C. This is 500 years before the Spanish arrived. Upon arrival these Europeans the population was reduced to 10% in the first 25 years of colonization. Exactly, disappeared 90% of the Maya-speaking population, a product of the killings, European diseases for which the Indians had no antibodies, but mainly because the settlers use all young men marching toward the gold mines, forced to work to extermination, while fertile women stay working the land with little chance to reproduce. Quiches are likely to have put their beliefs through oral tradition, but of course, mixed with European religion imposed by force. This is not surprising and has occurred throughout history. If not, then I refer to Santeria, a blend of Christianity with African deities all mixed to circumvent the imposition of a Christian and later joins to the rite.

So the good priest Ximénez took Quiché documents written in Latin characters and translated them into Spanish. After many tours of the priest originals they were published in 1861 by French missionary and also priest Charles Etienne Brasseur de Bour, who took them to France and published under the name developed by himself: "Popol Vuh, Le Livre Sacré et les mythes de l'Antiquité Américaine”. None of the chapters of the Popol Vuh speak of the extinction of the planet. The book contains a group of writings in which they develop his idea of the creation of the world by the gods, conflicts between the gods and the creation of human beings after several failed attempts. Admiration for the corn, that was their basic food and therefore sacred and the genesis of civilization.

So the movie makers inserted this apocryphal writing in real archaeological discoveries of the Mayan civilization, especially its religious calendar or Tzoltin, which is much more accurate than the Gregorian. Based on lunar cycles, with 4 phases of 7-day gives a total of 28 days for thirteen moons and give a year of 364 days plus a green day. Instead we use the Gregorian months of 30, 31 and even 28 days, plus one of 29 every four years. But the Maya also had the Haab, used by civilians, of 18 periods of 20 days each plus five extra at the end. And a third, the long one, counts from the start. It is a cycle of 1872 million days. As some believe it started on 13 August 3114 BC, according to his calculations this cycle ending December 23, 2112. Some will move deliberately to 21 to match the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere and others pull it to match thearrival of a comet course.

What seems contradictory, but at bottom it turns out, is that many of the most fanatical followers of this cataclysm movement are themselves earnest Christians. It turns out that some people with their dark consciences because of their many bad actions are willing to believe anything to you wash their actions or to punish themselves with fire for their sins and shameful deeds, that to embrace martyrdom for flagellates themselves but they don’t matter in passing in their minds fevered they will carry with them the rest of humanity.

Some of these devout Christians have found similarities between the Popol Vuh and the Bible. I will not contradict. It is very possible that some of the writings of Maya oral tradition has been edited by the good priest Ximenez, who must have crisscrossed the Mayan tradition with the Bible and through this soup proselytize the indigenous population that survived the great slaughter that systematically developed his countrymen, the Spanish that invaded their lands.

BEWARE OF INFLATION

By Felipe Argote

Technically it is the declining of purchasing power of a currency or an increase in the prices of goods and services we buy.

The reason for increased prices is mixed. I will divide into three groups in order to facilitate analysis.

Inflation by increasing demand: During the 60 Phillips, Solow and Samuelson developed a study where a graph prepared by putting on the vertical axis the level of price variation and in the horizontal the unemployment rate. Placing the U.S. time series concluded that unemployment and inflation are inversely proportional. This is that if unemployment rises the prices are reduced but if unemployment levels goes down the prices rise. This is called the Phillips curve. However this was questioned in the seventies where they had high levels of inflation accompanied by high unemployment, the so-called stagflation. In any case where there is rapid economic growth, if the increase in the purchasing power of people if it is not accompanied by enough supply of goods to meet this new purchasing power it causes inflation. In developed countries generally ensures that the economy is not growing very fast because there may have inflation. Perhaps, a level of inflation is not the problem, the problem is that usually after inflation there is recession. For the capitalist economy it should be an unemployment level of around 3%. This is so because if unemployment is much reduced new investors will be difficult to get the workers they need because the vast majority of the people are working and the minimum percentage of unemployed are not eligible to be hired. So they will need to get the people that are already working. To convince them to leave their current job they will have to offer higher wages. When the current employers see that their workers are going to lunch and not return to their jobs, they begin to investigate what it is. When they see that they are changes their jobs and go to the competition they offer a rise of salary to the remaining workers for them to stay. This creates an increase in cost and because the salary is a determinant of price, they must raise prices of articles to cover the rising costs of labor. This starts an inflationary spiral that ends at the time of falling into recession.

In Panama, for example, part of the price increase has been due to the arrival in our country of a plural number of foreigners with greater purchasing power than the national average. Some are called baby boomers. This name arises because it is the generation that was born during the economic boom that germinated after the Second World War. This is between 1946 and 1960. These children were born in a boom period had therefore the best conditions to grow and develop good levels of income. These babies are now over sixty and are retreating. Retirees are good levels of savings looking for a quiet place to retreat away from the stress of his country and the way they have the money to decide where to locate. A portion of these baby boomers have decided to retire in Panama and occupy much of the apartments being built in Paitilla, Costa del Este and Punta Pacifica. By having high income levels are willing to pay more for the product available in supermarkets. This leads to the owners of supermarkets raise the wreck of the food products so they also raise their profits at the expense of Panamanians that unlike the baby boomers do not have this high level of income. But not only the baby boomers, also Venezuelans who derive their income of colossal rise in oil prices and they spent it heavily abroad, with the refrain “is cheap give me two”. They are those who stroll through the malls, and restaurants, while Panamanians watch with disgust as sellers and waiters leave them with the word in the mouth when they see someone entering with a foreign accent.

The rising inflation costs: This is set by the increase in oil prices or agricultural inputs, pesticides, electricity, taxes, for example, or for any other costs that determine which employers, with the aim of not reducing its rate of profit, pass to the final price that consumers pay it, bringing with it the price level

Inflation by printing money: Although not the case of Panama, because we have seen in previous articles that we are dollarized, that is we have no monetary issue, we must explain to the convenience of interested readers and those living outside our country. Some governments issue too much paper money just to meet the pressure of wage increases for the military, police and public employees or to develop campaign activities to prevent the opposition wins or simply irresponsible handling of economic policy. When raising the level of paper without a rise in the number of products, the value of money decreases, thereby creating inflation. This irresponsible policy can create a spiral that will not only determine that there is an even worse inflation but hyperinflation. This is a crazy and desperate race of prices usually settles with a shock policy where the government froze wages and allowing prices to rise until gravity makes them go down again in a few months, stopping hyperinflation and allowing to starve those who cannot stand the shock.

Inflation drives ultimately to a recession. If an employer has a cheese factory and sees that the price of milk rise, thus he raises the price of cheese. Then if the milk is raised once again he will raise the price of cheese in an amount similar to the increase of milk plus one extra to cover the possible further increase later. It is possible that the consumers keep buying but not paying the price difference very willingly, especially those who like cheese on breakfast or likes lots of cheese on their pizza. But there comes a time when prices rise to levels that buyers decide they cannot afford the increase. After that, starts to increase inventory of cheese in the factory in our example. Orders are reduced, then there are cancelations in the orders previously requested. When there is no more room to put more cheese because refrigerators, offices and corridors are filled to bursting it is decided to stop production.

After a few days they observe employees playing cards in time for work the employer will say angry I could not pay salaries of employees who do not work so he fire without further processing until it can start production again. Without knowing he is reducing the purchasing power of people and thus reducing the possibility for improved demand. Perhaps some employers know this, but are not willing to blow themselves up hoping to change the sign of the economic situation. That leads to other employers who also have reduced sales to reduce payroll, further limiting demand. At that time we have fallen into recession.

The recession is merely a contraction of economic activity. So in developed countries which of course like all civilized countries have a central bank, they see that unemployment is being reduced to dangerous levels, raising the interest rate market to "cool down" a bit the economy and prevent fall in inflation and from that point to avoid what he most feared: the recession.

THE WEALTH OF NATIONS

By: Felipe Argote

Some readers have asked me about what is the neoliberal model. It is not easy to clarify. To get to develop this explanation necessarily requires going to wing genesis of this model. Since it is the neo liberalism, it will not be surprising that I should first explain that the liberal model is its predecessor.

To speak of the liberal model we introduce telling the story of his ideologist, the Scot Adam Smith Douglas. He was born in a small town in Scotland called Kirkaldi. At three months old he misses his father. His mother was the daughter of a landowner in the area. At the age of four years, he was kidnapped by gypsies. After much searching he was found abandoned in the woods. At 14, he left town after finishing elementary school as a good student as the owner of a great memory. He went on to study at the University of Glasgow. Three years later he left Glasgow having won a scholarship to study at the prestigious Oxford University. At age 23 he graduated from Oxford and engaged to speak at conferences for some years. At this time he met the philosopher David Hume, Scottish economist and historian who were his atheist's closest friend.

Smith became a professor of ethics and logic for 12 years. During this time of teaching he published in 1759 "Theory of Moral Sentiments" a book of philosophy that presents for the first time his famous invisible hand theory in which human selfishness that underlies unintentionally determines well-being for the whole society.

In 1974 he left for France where he met Voltaire, ideologue of the liberal bourgeoisie and Francois Quesnay, a surgeon who was one of the founders of physiocracy or rule of nature. This group Physiocratic instituted the phrase "laissez faire, laissez passer" those convinced that there should be nothing that would allow the economy flowing by itself without the influence of state power. This was a great influence on Adam Smith and the Physiocrats reacted to the mercantilist, who argued that the trade volume was unchanged was therefore necessary that the nation seeks to export and import as much as possible the minimum to be strengthened.

In 1776 he published his masterpiece, and that makes him worthy of the title of father of economics: "Essay on the wealth of nations". Although many of the elaborations of this book have already been developed before, the same liberal thinking synthesized from an economic perspective and divorces to the economy as an independent science. It was liberalism as a philosophy. Additionally proposes and provides the so-called law of absolute advantage and the concept of job specialization, of great value to the industrial revolution. In terms of absolute advantage Smith as an ideologue of the liberal view of economics will develop this law, which broadly supports the appropriateness of mathematical form of international exchange, taking as parameter the work as a common measure of value. According to Smith countries should specialize in that product where they are more efficient and purchase that product which is less efficient. Being that as Smith's common measure of product value is the amount of work required to produce it, we figure out what products we use comparatively increased workload to another country and which use comparatively less to produce the same volume of product. Thus we must decide where to concentrate our efforts. Recall again the time of Adam Smith writes. There were no transnational corporations emerging in the late nineteenth century. It then explains that the production efficiencies compare between countries do not take into account the performance of companies that are producing goods and services in both countries at once.

Adam Smith in proposing the liberal model was doing something innovative for its time (1776). It was a historic moment, where pressures were still feudal and semi feudal who insisted on not allowing free enterprise. Adam Smith supports the objective of profit is right for society. When Smith speaks to the goal of the baker to get up early to knead the bread is not altruistic. The baker is not thinking about providing a public service or is interested in that moment for the good of humanity or fewer. The baker gets up early just for personal gain he will get when selling the bread, but with the goal of profit, this selfish desire Baker makes it a good for society because workers can satisfy their appetite before starting his task. Personal gain is thus suitable for the whole society.

According to Adam Smith free market is a must for not limiting the scope for expansion of production that brings the division of labor. International trade is beneficial to his trial for both sides of the equation if the country specializes in those where it is more efficient.

Another interesting element in the perspective of Adam Smith is the total reliance on market forces. Smith was referring to an invisible hand. According to Smith, individual decisions to take each person as an invisible hand leading to better outcome for society as a whole you. A simplistic analysis would lead to the same conclusion. If the products prices are skyrocketing, buyers purchase fewer of them to be expensive. This would inevitably lead producers to reduce prices in order to sell or the price as attractive individuals will increase production of that good. This phenomenon will cause the asset is abundant, which make the prices go down under its own weight.

In a naive society that is likely to occur. Obviously any warning analyst would ponder what if the producers agree on a price and it is sufficiently high to prevent the plaintiffs did not acquire, ensure an additional level of profit to producers above indicating the equilibrium price. Especially inelastic products, these are those in which an increase in the price determines a proportionally smaller reduction in demand. If for example the state does not control the rents of apartments is possible that in a market controlled by a group of owners they determine 10% increase in rents. Even if they wanted the people could not prevent the increase taking the decision to move. First, because all rents rose and second because the rate of increase is not powerful enough to make up your mind to invest in a move that will likely require a larger investment than the rent increase.

Although the model proposed by Adam Smith may have many questions I have to be iterative in that it was the expression of a sector of society that was imposed in a time of great economic and social transformations.

DECLARATION OF GLOBAL CHILDREN RIGHTS

By: Felipe Argote

Each 20 November, commemorates the declaration of global children's rights that was enunciated by the General Assembly of the United Nations the same day but in 1959. Initially consist of ten principles, but was increased in 1979 to 19, it currently holds. This year is special because it becomes the 50th anniversary of the declaration. Consider the enumeration of these principles:

1. Children have the right to play.

2. Children have the right to freedom of association and share their views with others.

3. Children are entitled to make known their views.

4. All children have the right to a family.

5. Children are entitled to protection during armed conflict.

6. All children have the right to freedom of conscience.

7. Children are entitled to protection from neglect or negligent treatment.

8. Children are entitled to the Protection against Child Labor.

9. Children are entitled to adequate information.

10. Children have the right to freedom of expression.

11. Children are entitled to protection from trafficking and abduction.

12. Children are entitled to know and enjoy our culture.

13. Children are entitled to protection against landmines.

14. Children are entitled to protection from all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse.

15. Children have the right to privacy

16. Children deserve to grow up in a family that gives them affection and love.

17. All children have the right to a name and nationality.

18. All children are entitled to food and nutrition.

19. All children have the right to live in harmony.

A SHEFARDIC CALLED RICARDO

By : Felipe Argote

We can not finish developing the most relevant aspects of the liberal model if we do not include David Ricardo. The English economist who lived a few years after Adam Smith. He was not interested in economics until he read while on vacation with his wife, the writings of Adam Smith at the age of 37. From David Ricardo I could say that the history of her family tree is the story of the evolution of financial activity. His ancestors were Sephardic Jews expelled from Portugal as the thousands who left Spain first ant then Portugal, been persecuted by the Inquisition of the Catholic Church which began Torquemada and Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic monarchs of Spain. They signed the Granada decree that expelled 200,000 Spanish Jews by not wanting to convert to Christianity and who took with them the knowledge of the business of usury. Ricardo's ancestors went to Holland where they were developed in the lending business that used in Spain and Portugal and then evolve into other financial activities that led eventually to the emergence of banks. Then his nearest ancestors moved to England on the trail of bank activity in the Netherlands moved to London. Here his father was to work on the stock exchanges in London, where he took his son David to work at fourteen. All those years generation after generation, being faithful to their religious principles irrespective of the anti-Semitic persecutions, ended by the marriage, outside the Jewish faith, of David Ricardo with an English Quaker. This could not stand the mother of Ricardo and his sixteen brothers, so she never spoke to him again until the day of his death.

David became very rich in the business of the stoke exchange at an early age. He became interested in economics after the age of forty when he began his writing through letters to newspapers.

In 1917 he published his book "Principles of Political Economy and Taxation". A David Ricardo is credited his theoretical contribution in the so-called law of comparative advantage. It deepens the work of Adam Smith explained that we remember the law of absolute advantage. Ricardo despite sustained that a country could be more efficient than another in some or all products, yet it is beneficial specialization and exchange through international trade. So that the country with the greatest advantage has to specialize in that product in which their advantage was greater and import the product while being more efficient than the difference in efficiency is lower. For example if England is more efficient at producing wine and cheese that Portugal with England 3 workers can produce 12 bottles of wine and 5 cheeses in a number of hours and Portugal on the other hand can produce 4 wines and 4 cheese at the same time with the same number of workers, then England should specialize in the production of wine and leave for Portugal to produce the cheese may be even more efficient. This is because if England wants to produce both import and not have to divide workers. In this case use 2 to produce wine reaching a level of 12 bottles and one to produce cheese, cheese producing 5. Instead Portugal produces an equal number of workers with 4 bottles of wine and 4 cheeses.

If England is specialized, they will produce 18 wines, while Portugal will produce 12 cheeses. England exchanges 5 bottles of wine for 7 cheeses with Portugal. So England will then have 13 bottles of wine and 7 cheeses and Portugal achieved 5 bottles of wine and 5 cheeses. In this case England won 1 bottle of wine and 2 cheeses and Portugal won 1 bottle of wine and 1 cheese.

David Ricardo was a member of the House of Commons of the English parliament until the day he died at the age of 51 and amassed a large fortune.

VOLCANOES

By Felipe Argote

Hard to believe that beneath our feet there is a glowing mass of thousands of Celsius degrees Ready to extrude a smoking chimney. We are standing on a large fireball that insists on escaping to the surface.

In Krakatoa east of the island of Java, Sumatra, Indonesia was an island called Rakat. In 1883, from the month of May began eruptions, but it was not until August, just the 26th, I felt the explosion that rocked the entire area and made the island disappear physically. The volcano Krakatoa was an extraordinary explosion of 200 megatons. This is 100.000 times stronger than the U.S. atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The explosion was heard in Australia, 7,600 miles away. The subsequent tsunami wave rose to 40 meters in its tide carrying hundreds of villages and tens of thousands of lifes. The ash rose 80 miles high, flying over the land for three years.

Another terrible volcanic eruption that was historic was that of Vesuvius, the Italian peninsula. This had a Major volcano eruption in 79 AD, burying the cities of Pompeii and Herculianus that are located in what is now the province of Naples. The volcano buried the cities of Pompeii and Herculianus so suddenly that has allowed 17 centuries after the city to recover intact as terrified residents running or just looking for the dead while breathing the stale air of the eruption sulfur product. When Pompeii was rediscovered in 1748 Achieved over 2,000 bodies was discovered intact. Some with expressions of terror nearly 2,000 years ago. Today the volcano is still active and live on its outskirts just over 25,000 people.

Another famous volcano is at Mount Pelee is the destroyer or bare mountain located on the island of Martinique. This majestic volcano stood holding in her skirts to the prosperous city of Saint Pierre bathed in turn by the clear waters of the Caribbean. The rash literally removed the city from the face of the earth wiping pass 30.000 people in the year 1902. Incredibly,Only two people survived in Saint Pierre that was covered by lava glowing at temperatures above 500 degrees Celsius. The two survivors were a shoemaker who was in a basement called Leon Compère-Léandre Cyparis and a convict named Louis-Auguste, who was in an underground cell.

For us just that in Panama we have a Baru volcano, Although there is also that of the Stud Farm and the Anton Valley, Although this two dont lookas these volcanoes are out of this world. On the Baru volcano is Believed that its last eruptions were 150 years before Christ.

However, right next to us in Costa Rica there are 112 volcanoes, of which five are currently active. The Arenal, the Irazu, the Turrialba, the Rincon de la Vieja and the Poas. This one Which is considered has the largest crater in the world and is undoubtedly one of the most visited

I have visited the Posas and sincerely is an impressive sight with its environment sulphide and its smoke, did not know what time to leave the eruption. It's definitely a different experience so overwhelming. What a beautiful and devastating nature can be!

THE STOCK MARKET

When the Spanish Jews fled the south of Spain, terrified by the persecution of the Catholic church who they burned alive for refusing to convert to Christianity, they didn't knew that they brought with them the knowledge of Banking to Flanders and Bruges (Brugge or witch in Spanish). The name has no connection with Jews Fleeing residents accused of witchcraft, is derived from Brug Bryggia meaning in the plural that means bridge, bridges plural, after the large number of bridges that has this city of the Netherlands.

Thomas de Torquemada, a Dominican monk, sadistic Pyromaniac who drooled at the thought of seeing a human being burned alive, was named by Pope Rodrigo de Borji, of dubious reputation, inquisitor general of Castile and Aragon. With this degree without much pressure I convince the good King Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic Monarchs, to sign the so-called Edict of Granada Which gave a period of 4 months to 200,000 Sephardic Jews to convert to Catholicism or leave Spain. Ceux qui restent were mostly burned at the stake, but not before torturing them with all kinds of torture tools invented by the good Christians Catholic priests, for the delight of Torquemada and his band of sadistic priests. One of the apprehensions of Christians toward the Jews was that it was lenders, Which was frowned upon by the church said Because they can reproduce all that was created by god, like animals and plants. The capital or money for not being God's creation should not be reproduced in the form of interest. Many Jews came to Portugal in terror where they were evacuated and many went to the region of Flanders, where they Resumed business as their lenders. In the meantime the Catholic monarchs managed to finance its colonization of America by the expropriation of most of the wealth accumulated by the terrified Jews through the business of usury, no doubt the precursor of Banking,

In Flanders the first financial organizations arise, having finally activated from the Genesis of usury. In the same city born centuries after the stock market term from the family Van der Büerse who conducted purchase and sale of securities. I can not tell if they were Jewish or Jewish descent, there are no known records, but it is not surprising that arise specifically in the Flanders region of Bruges. This family had a coat of arms as three bags of money. Büerse surname comes from the name of an exchange, the place where they make capital transactions. It is likely that they were essentially loans rather than buying and selling shares in companies, but then these institutions went into buying and selling of shares in companies and bonds. One of the first stock exchange was installed in Holland with the Company of the West Indies and then the Amsterdam Bourse. From Holland the purchase and sale of securities with the industrial revolution moved to London and after the First World War New York is the most important center of trade in securities.

In New York the sale and purchase of securities was made in the street of Wall Street. The name is given by a great wall built by the Netherlands in the Seventeenth Century to divide the area of New Amsterdam of the area occupied by the Español and the Way to Prevent the escape of slaves. The stock market Wall Street has its genesis in the agreement of a group of merchants who agreed to a number of rules for buying and selling shares in undertakings. It's called the Buttonwood Agreement in 1792. In 1817 it organized a committee called the New York Stock and Exchange Board Establishing permanent rules and structure. Then in 1863 changed its name to New York Stock Exchange. In Spanish it means literally Stock Exchange in New York.

Like other existing exchanges, this is a private organization formed by shareholders. In fact, the New York Stock Exchange or NYSE trades on its own stock exchange.

The stock market is nothing more than a market where selling and buying shares in undertakings. This has evolved in a way that more and more are Set Rules to Prevent cheating and swindling. In almost any stock exchange in the world individuals can buy and sell shares directly to this require a licensed agent or broker to negotiate for them. During the day all runners who also must have or be part of a brokerage negotiate the purchase or sale of shares or equity in the company. Although at times things get so hot it literally corridors shouting their proposed purchase or sale, most of the time or the situation is much more calm. Most buyers and sellers of shares does not intend to stay in the companies waiting for dividend distribution. What they want is that they buy shares rise in price to sell and win in the transaction This is what is called speculation.

At first, most likely the company issued shares to raise capital for their expansion or installation projects but know that speculators were willing to buy shares without the hope of selling stock dividend decide by the mere fact of getting more capital.

Of course, the NYSE is not the only place to sell and buy shares, nor is traded shares of any company. To do this you must be registered in the bag. To register be made public financial statements so that shareholders know about the advantages or disadvantages of buying or selling such shares in addition to other requirements.

Another important place where shares are bought and sold is called the Nasdaq or National Association of Securities Dealers Automated. Quotation. It is a fully automated bag. No agents screaming, everything is electronic. This bag is distinguished by having in it a number of technology companies like Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Intel, etc. .. Like the NYSE Which Has The Dow Jones NASDAQ Nasdaq Composite consists in showing the percentage change in price of all shares traded on the NASDAQ. This compound is a calculation that takes into account the size of the company and the division of shares, and the NASDAQ 100 which include the hundred largest companies listed on NASDAQ.

Another index that is included in the Standard and Poor's, a division of McGrau Hill that takes into account the 500 index to its biggest companies in the world.

The issuance of shares of companies established to seek leverage, that is Obtaining funding. It can issue Greenwich common shares are traded on the stock, or priority shares.

The issuance of shares of companies established to seek leverage, that is Obtaining funding. For that may issue common stock, Which are those listed on the stock, or issuing priority shares. The common shares are at equal risk of the other shareholders of the company and receive a percentage of dividends equal to its participation in the company. Instead the preference shares are guaranteed a specific percentage of the dividends, but unlike the common shares holders is not entitled to voice or vote. In Panama, almost all companies are family businesses, not public. When companies listed their shares on the stock market are called public corporations. Nothing to do with the state as shareholder. Companies prefer to be familiars Because the public companies required to publish financial statements, making it very difficult for the company to include her family expenses, or include their relatives in the payrools, Because Of course the shareholders will not allow it, as it goes against their individual interests.

ORLANDO AND THE SEMINOLAS

By Felipe Argote

When the first Spanish went to what is now Orlando is estimated that there where not less than 100,000 Indians distributed in essentially four tribes: the Timucuaheys, the Tacobagas, the Calusas, the Apalachees and other minor tribes. When the Spanish leave in 1763 from the Florida peninsula to Cuba after ceding the territory to England, they took with them the last Timucua as servants, emptied of its first settlers to Florida. Tired of searching for the fountain of youth, the Spanish groups initially led by Ponce de Leon, the Spanish obsessioned is said he was sure that the legendary source was in Florida but was killed by a poisoned arrow fired by a Calusa Indian The colonization of the peninsula and with it the destruction of its inhabitants rather than the weapons that killed not a few, primarily through the transmission of diseases unknown in the area and from which the indigenous population had no defenses.

The Orlando area was repopulated much later with indigenous groups Seminoles from Georgia who fled from U.S. troops now trying to get ancient territory and where cornered south to the swamps.

The territory was occupied by the military to build Fort Gadlin, to defend the new occupants of the lands of the sporadic incursions of the 5,000 surviving Seminoles led by their leader, known as King Philip and his son Coacoochee.

Orlando's name is believed owed to Orlando Reeves, one of the many soldiers who fell in the attacks to dislodge the Seminoles from their lands and whose tomb was found by the new settlers. They referred to the site as the tomb of Orlando Reeves, then synthesizes over time as the tomb of Orlando, to finally be known as Orlando. Of the Seminoles has been only the name of one of the counties, the Seminole County where the latest census of 2000 surviving 770 Seminoles out of a population of 3.668 of these Indians living all over Florida, which does not reach even 1% of the total population of the area known as Central Florida. Here 14% of the population is African American, 15% is Hispanic majority Puerto Rican, unlike the mostly Cuban southern state, 3% are Asian and the rest is Saxon or European descent and other groups.

Orlando is currently one of the wealthiest cities in the United States, basing its economy on tourism since it opened in 1971 Disney World, then was followed by Universal Studios and Sea World. This city welcomes 48 million visitors annually. This is Panama's population multiplied by 16. The number of visitors to Panama last year hit a record of 200,000 visitors. Although tourism is its biggest income obviously the city of Orlando is also home to such major industries as IBM, Marriott, Publix and Siemens Westinghouse.

The Seminoles after refusing to be forcibly relocated to Oklahoma in the nineteenth century, survived in the mangroves of Florida to finally settle in Hollywood, near Fort Lauderdale, north of Miami, after fight for years headed by his mythic leader Osceola, who is been said he beat four American generals before been arrested by lying him they wanted a meeting for peace. He was dead on 1863 in prison.

The Seminoles currently owns the Hard Rock International chain. After a very successfully exploit of two of its franchises in Orlando, they decided to take all business and did so through a smart financial transaction. The Seminoles operate through a tribal council of five members elected by vote.

On my last visit on business for work in the city of Orlando I saw it clean, spacious, green and opulent, with multiple sources and natural lakes. An environment that can be defined as Disneylandic, where it seems that everyone is extremely happy. But where I was staying at the city a former employee of the company Reynolds, Smith and Hills, specializing in transportation consulting, who was fired in 2007, who declared bankruptcy this year (in the United States a person can declare itself bankruptcy and stop payments on its debts) decided to return and avenge his bad luck shooting against his former colleagues. He killed several and wounded many more at a time when unemployment in the United States rises to the record figure of 10.5%. This does not look very good for tourism, but before the end of the persecution that resulted in his arrest a few hours later, the attractions were its normal rhythm.

ANEL DAVID RUIZ IS NOT AT THE NEWS

By: Felipe Argote

David Ruiz Anel Vega, Panamanian teenager, is not at not the news. Not carrying a gun, not belonging to a gang, not a stealear, not a killer, he is not at the news. I searched her photo on the Web sites of newspapers, Panama America, La Estrella, TVN and Canal 13 maybe walking the Panamanian flag on November 3. I look for his picture in Chile, receiving the gold medal. I didn’t find anything, because David Ruiz Anel Vega is not at the news.


This student of Colegio San Agustin just won a gold medal in the Ibero American physics Olympics Games this year took place in Santiago de Chile. If David Ruiz Anel Vega had been caught by police in a raid, all television channels played the news had been trying to take the face of the juvenile while the unfortunate try to cover his face with his arm in handcuffs. If he had done a stripe in school bus, they had been passed through all the TV channels and newspapers to show the "concern" of the media about the so misguided that today's youth. But as Anel is a good example, not only for youth but for the whole country, Anel David Ruiz is then not at news. It is good that the government has designated Anel to walk the flag on November 3, that a shame that any media put his photo with the news, not even mention it. Neither he, nor the other winners, because Anel was not a single awarded in Chile, the Pan American Institute student Leonel Iturralde and Pablo Medina from the Colegio Javier won honorable mention.

After much digging in the net I found a picture on the LIVE section of La Prensa newspaper, usually devoted to diet and exercise. I found a review of journalist's Morale Tamara August 10 referring to the Panamanian Olympic winners in physics. Pictured from left to right is to Anel Ruiz, second Llilly Pau of the Saint George and Pablo Medina. Leonel Iturralde not appear because he was in the Olympics chemistry Central Guatemala. The rest of the information I got from the site of the Olympics Iberoamerican Physics in chile: http://www.olimpiadafisica.cl/

That's because in our country, Panama, these young people deserve the highest standing applause, not news for the media where news is the lewd, degeneration, and the rating based on the most base instincts.

Anyway, since this limited public space congratulate Anel personal opinion and his family for this great achievement. A Pablo Medina, and his family, Leonel and his family Iturralde Lilly Pau and his family. Are you an example for the country and a genuine representatives of the youth that opens up on life despite the degenerates who are the media that hounded daily against the Panamanian youth.

THE AMAZING HISTORY OF JONES AND DOW

By: Felipe Argote

Charles Dow was born in 1851 in Connecticut. At age six he was orphaned. His first job was obtained at age 21 in a newspaper of Springfield, Massachusetts. After working as a reporter for various newspapers, the last newspaper sent him to Colorado for reporting on mines. He became interested in the financial and specialized in the field in his writings. In 1980 he moved to New York. He used his knowledge of mines to find work in the stock market on Wall Street as a reporter for mining stocks. By the end of that year he had become a recognized expert in financial analysis. That same year he changes of job again as he contract with Kiernan News Agency. There he met Edward Jones.


Edward David Jones was born in 1856. Profession was a statistic. In 1882 he founded along with Charles Dow and Charles Bergstresser the Dow Jones Company. While Edward Jones developed the administrative tasks Charles Dow performed editorial work. Together they published what would later be called the Wall Street Journal, a journal specializing in the analysis of the stock exchange in New York. Its name comes from the street where the building still exists in the stock market.

During the first seven years of the Dow Jones Co company was limited to distributing a sheet where daily reported the news of the stock market. The publication was a next step of the so called “customer’s afternoon letter” where Charles Dow presented his daily analysis. It is not until July 8, 1889 when the company first published the Wall Street Journal, a four-page newsletter that sold for 2 cents. Since 1884, Dow began to develop his theory in which aims to relate the state of the economy by measuring changes in the price of a set of shares. The logic is that the economy will develop positively the business also raises the most important companies that raise their earnings to attract a greater number of investors interested in its shares, which in turn raises the price of these shares. Conversely, a reduction of the activity will result in reduced value of the shares of company’s representative of the economy. If we as a representative sample of stocks and see how raising or lowering their prices, we know the trend of the economy. So, he first pushed Dow industrial index in the transport sector or Dow Jones Transport Average and then the more recognized now Dow Jones Industrial Index. This will start taking into account the share price of the shares of 12 companies. In 1916 it became twenty and in 1928 rose to 30. Is that the number that has continued over the next 90 years.

To measure this index are published every day just how much money an investor would pay to have purchased one of each of the 30 components of the index. Then, the same calculation to the next day. The variation in the amount of money paid will be the points and the percentage has varied between one and another is the index.

Suppose for the moment that all the shares today are worth a dollar. If tomorrow some prices have risen and fallen further, but added together are worth $40 rate will have risen 10 points which means an increase of 33%. Usually the variations are not as pronounced or stock prices are so low, but it is an example to clarify the concept.

This simple calculation was later changed to a composite index, giving more weight to the shares of the largest companies in addition to dissolving the effect created by the companies whose shares have lower individual value. Thus, a company of the 30 which individual shares are sold at higher prices, by the fact that it has less splitting of shares, the change in its price in the market will have an effect on the index ranges greater than if one of whose shares are more divided. Hence, now it is known as the Dow Jones composite index.

Although known as the Dow Jones industrial average, this index is made up mostly of non-industrial enterprises and the select club of course varies by reinforcing some and weakening others. The one who survives the first list of 1896 is General Electric. Currently the list is completed by:

3M

Alcoa
American Express
AT&T
Bank of America
Boeing
Caterpillar, Inc.
Chevron Corporation
Cisco
Coca-Cola
DuPont
Exxon Mobil
General Electric
Hewlett-Packard
Home Depot
Intel
IBM
Johnson & Johnson
JP Morgan Chase
Kraft Foods Inc.
McDonald's
Merck
Microsoft
Pfizer
Procter & Gamble
The Travelers Companies
United Technologies Corporation
Verizon Communications
Wal-Mart
Walt Disney

Another popular indexes are the NASDAQ and the Standard and Poor 500, but that is another history