A Natural Experiment

"He reminded that the conception, which provided 12 years education system, was adopted in 2001. As a result of transfer from 11 years system to 12 years system there will be no school-leavers in Ukraine in 2012.

He noted that school-leavers of 2011-2013 get into situation when there is no fair competition."

http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-338758.html

This is an extremely interesting 'shock' to the system - in 2012, there are no people who will want to enroll at the universities - and 4 years later, there will be almost no university graduates entering the labor market

Wireless Laptops - Part 2

We had wireless internet, now Dell laptops have wireless electricity!

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/ptech/09/29/cnet.wireless.laptop.charging/index.html

Paying Politicians - the Article

My column on 'paying politicians' can be found here

http://www.kse.org.ua/events.htm?id_category=6&id=181

The Reservation Price

According to the wikipedia, the reservation price is defined as follows

"In negotiation, the reservation price is the point beyond which a negotiator is ready to walk away from a negotiated agreement. Taking a typical business negotiation as an example: a seller's reservation price is the least amount (the minimum) or bottom line the seller is prepared to accept."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reservation_price

Ukraine just redefined the concept

"The starting price at the tender was 4 billion hryvna ($475 million or €325 million).

A Ukrainian company, Nortima, won the tender with a bid of 5 billion hryvna ($592 million or €405 million), but the nation's top privatization official said minutes later that the tender commission had voted unanimously to annul the results because the price was too low."

http://www.kyivpost.com/nation/49674

More Sweet Deals for Sugar Producers

Does anybody understand why, when the sugar price is historically high, the sugar industry needs subsidies?

"KYIV, September 24 /UKRINFORM/. The Cabinet of Ministers has allocated UAH 219 million (USD 1 - UAH 8.0) from the Stabilization Fund to pay subsidies for growing sugar beet, Agrarian Policy Minister Yuriy Melnyk announced.

According to him, farmers will get by UAH 750 of subsidies for every sugar beet-seeded hectare."

http://www.ukrinform.ua/eng/order/?id=170347

"KYIV, September 22 /UKRINFORM/. The draft state budget 2010 provides for special guarantees to purchase technical equipment for national sugar plants, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko told a briefing after a visit to the Haisyn SugarPlant in Vinnytsia region.

In particular, according to her, purchase of technical equipment is envisaged on the leasing terms without making the first payment, the state will take on itself a part of interest payments on a credit.

The draft budget 2010 is made so that it will be a locomotive and will promote setting up new capacities in the sugar industry, Tymoshenko said emphasizing that special terms for crediting will be developed for the sugar sector, as well as special support on the part of the NBU and commercial banks."

http://www.ukrinform.ua/eng/order/?id=170190&ulq=sugar

"The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is planning at a meeting on September 23 to make decision to cut the price of gas for Ukraine's sugar refineries, Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko has said.

"I'd like to inform you that the government at its next meeting will take decisions regarding a cut in the price of natural gas for sugar refineries this season," Tymoshenko said during a working visit to Vinnytsia region on Tuesday.

According to Tymoshenko, the new price of gas for the sugar refineries could be set at a level of UAH 2,100 per 1,000 cubic meters."

http://www.kyivpost.com/business/49217

More on Curfews.

"For three months now teenagers in Ivano-Frankivsk and Zhytomyr have not been allowed to stay on the streets unaccompanied by parents after 10p.m.: these cities’ councils introduced a curfew for them. the Kyiv authorities are considering this measure at the moment."

http://day.kiev.ua/280441/

An academic view on the effectiveness of curfews can be found here

http://www.kse.org.ua/events.htm?id_category=6&id=174

Ukraine World Champion Football!

"Today Ukraine defeated Portugal 5-4 in the final of the Milan 2009 Homeless World Cup"

http://www.homelessworldcup.org/