Telecom attracts bulk of investment into Armenian economy

More than 47% of all direct investment into the Armenian economy has flown into the telecommunications sector, amounting to $ 109 million US in the first half of this year, according to Armenian State Statistical Service.
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Economy - in simple terms: a cow based assessement of the world economies

(Most of the economies from a closed listserver)

TRADITIONAL ECONOMICS

You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies and the economy grows.
You retire on the income.

CHINESE ECONOMICS

You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim full employment, high bovine productivity and arrest anyone reporting the actual numbers.

INDIAN ECONOMICS

You have two cows.
You worship them.

PAKISTAN ECONOMICS

You don't have any cows.
You claim that the Indian cows belong to you.
You ask the US for financial aid,
China for military aid.
Britain for warplanes.
Italy for machines,
Germany for technology.
France for submarines.
Switzerland for loans.
Russia for drugs and
Japan for equipment.
You buy the cows with all this and claim exploitation by the world.

AMERICAN ECONOMICS

You have two cows.
You sell one and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
You profess surprise when the cow drops dead.
You put the blame on some nation with cows & naturally that nation will be a danger to mankind.
You wage war to save the world and grab the cows.

FRENCH ECONOMICS

You have two cows.
You go on strike because you want three cows.

GERMAN ECONOMICS

You have two cows.
You reengineer them so that they live for 100 years, eat once a month and milk themselves.

BRITISH ECONOMICS

You have two cows.
They are both mad.

ITALIAN ECONOMICS

You have two cows.
You don't know where they are.
You break for lunch.

SWISS ECONOMICS

You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you.
You charge others for storing them.

JAPANESE ECONOMICS

You have two cows
You redesign them so that they are one-tenth the size of anordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
You then create cute cartoon cow images called Cowkimon and market them worldwide.

RUSSIAN ECONOMICS

You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 17 cows.
You give up counting and open another bottle of vodka.

ARMENIAN ECONOMICS

You have only one cow.
So the government claims there is a shortage of cows.
The government asks for loans and grants from other countries so the country can produce more cows.
The other countries oblige.
The government divides the grants and loans among themselves, and blames the opposition for inactivity, creates anticorruption strategy and takes one of the farmers to court.
Then the government tells another farmer to distribute milk to voters and make sure they join "Bargavach Hayastan" Party.
After the elections the country still has that single cow.

Will Armenians Ever Vote for Political Ideas or Will It Always Be for Empty Heads and Full Pockets?

January saw an incredible amount of political announcements in Armenia - all and every party in Armenia stating their views on the possibility of forming a coalition or getting on alone as they prepare to run for the Parliamentary elections in May 2007. Some of the parties do state rather firm views, like United Labor Party (MAK) of G. Arsenyan stating earlier that they will definitely run separately, while ARF saying in a firm but fishy way that "The ARF will take an independent part in the elections, but cooperation with the opposition is not ruled out"(22 January 2007, ARKA - News) and opposition grouping and regrouping at a blazing speed almost on a daily basis. Now the problem with all this political dance-about is - nobody is talking of concrete political ideas and programs. And this is becoming a most overwhelming issue when we look at the newly emerged superparty - the "Prosperous Armenia" - the party which has over 300,000 members subscribed to its hideous model of "potato democracy". This is roughly 20% of the voting age population, and is 3 times bigger membership then the Communist Party of Armenia had in its best days during the Socialist era.

In the meanwhile an RFE/RL had an earlier report on the evening program of 14th January, 2007 about the study conducted by the Armenian Sociological Association, in which it detailed on the fact that 58% of Armenia's population is not satisfied with the overall political course of the country, but in the same time the majority of the 1200 questioned thought, that the country is making a solid progress as far as the economy is concerned (the assumption that the economy is in a good shape is only partly true considering the the export/import dynamics and overall economic developments, and is rather a product of dollar's devaluation and aggressive pro-government propaganda on all Armenian TV Media). At any rate, the study found, that the voters are prioritizing the issues of job creation, increase of pensions and social benefits, while defining the problems of conducting free and fare elections and the solution of the Kharabakh conflict as secondary objectives for the political agenda.

Much later, on January 22nd, the President of the abovementioned Armenian Sociological Association, Gevork Pogossyan, told ArmInfo (22 January 2007, ARMINFO News) that although "60% of Armenia's electorate today has a traditionally oppositional mood and this tendency has been remaining within the last 10 years", amazingly enough at least for me "the "Prosperous Armenia" party and the Republican party have the highest rating in the political field of Armenia. Then the ARF "Dashnaktsutiun" party comes, while the rating of oppositional parties is lower". And although the respectable scientist does not seem surprised at such contradictions in the moods of the Armenian public and explains it all by saying that "the phenomenon of the "Prosperous Armenia" can be compared with the "Orinats Yerkir" party's phenomenon in 2003 elections, when this party had presented new persons, new slogans and fresh ideas" I find such an explanation unsatisfactory - because populist as the "Orinats Yerkir" were - they at least had something resembling a program to present, whereas "Prosperous Armenia" is only in the politics via a widespread distribution of potato seeds, plastic ropes and vague promises, that its leader Gaguik Tsarukyan will continue helping its voters and sharing his immense wealth (mostly gained by tax evasion and other means of ripping off the mentioned voters) after his party is elected to the parliament.

This however, doesn't mean that the Armenian voter is regressing or that it is becoming less and less politically literate, but rather, that people are essentially deprived of political alternatives and choice, so they are turning to non-political alternatives. And this is what troubles me most - for one day the single practices of voting for populist calls and full pockets may turn from a bad habit into a firm tradition. (A1+ has more on the issue)

2006 Global Integrity Report Investigates and Assesses Anti-Corruption Mechanisms in 43 Countries, including the United States

2006 Global Integrity Report proved rather intersting. The report which places Armenia among the very week rating countries comes just a day after Armenia occupied a surprizingly high 32nd Place in World Rating of Economic Freedoms. Not to go into details about why I find the letter result so surprizingly high I'll just link to Onnik Krikoryan's post, where the matter is discussed at length.

As Armenia heads into the elections of May 2007, and in the context where absence of any ethical standards in government, inefficiency of the laws and practices designed to combat corruption and prevent abuses of power in the country prevail, the report by the Global Integrity undoubtedly provides information of wide public interest to Armenia.

The country uniformly ranks among countries with week and very week indicators as can be seen in the following indexes. And this time it's not the discredited Armenian opposition speaking, but rather the results of a major investigative report releasedby Global Integrity, an international nonprofit organization that tracks governance and corruption trends around the world.

“The mixing of money and politics continues to be a recipe for corruption in countries both rich and poor,” said Managing Director, Nathaniel Heller. “And yet, some nations have shown that, even with limited resources, political will and strong leadership can prove effective in addressing governance challenges.”

The Global Integrity report includes research and reporting from the following countries: Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, Kyrgyz Republic, Lebanon, Liberia, Mexico, Montenegro, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Uganda, the United States, Vietnam, the West Bank, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.

To access the 2006 Global Integrity Report, please visit the website at http://www.globalintegrity.org/.