03 | August | 2009 | Cambridge Forecast Group Blog

US-CHINA JOINT COMMISSION ON COMMERCE AND TRADE

August 3, 2009 at 2:59 am | Posted in China, Economics, Financial, Globalization, USA | Leave a comment

US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade

(JCCT)

JCCT:

The US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) was established in 1983 as a forum for high-level dialogue on bilateral trade issues and a vehicle for promoting commercial relations. The JCCT works to resolve problems affecting US companies and serves as an umbrella for trade events and World Trade Organization (WTO) technical assistance programs.

The JCCT is co-chaired by US Secretary of Commerce and China’s Minister of Commerce and enjoys strong interagency support on both sides. The Commission consists of three working groups covering trade and investment issues, business development and industrial cooperation, and commercial law, as well as a side dialogue on export controls. Cabinet-level plenary sessions typically are held annually, while sub-cabinet sessions and subgroup meetings are more frequent and ongoing. The Department of Commerce (DOC) consults closely with US industry prior to each session to ensure that companies’ most pressing concerns are addressed. Companies are encouraged to express their concerns to relevant DOC JCCT contacts.

The US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade

(JCCT)

THEODOR MOMMSEN COMMENT ON GERMAN STATE FORMATION

August 3, 2009 at 2:47 am | Posted in Books, Germany, History, Literary | Leave a comment

Theodor Mommsen (1817-1903)

“Theodor Mommsen once accused Bismarck of ‘having broken the political backbone of the nation’.”

From “The Path to Dictatorship” 1918-1933”

Anchor books paperback 1966 page xii

Fritz Stern introduction

Theodor Mommsen (1817-1903)

German classical scholar and historian, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1903.

Mommsen’s best known work is:

RÖMISCHE GESCHICHTE (3 vols. 1854-56).

RÖMISCHE GESCHICHTE, 1854-56 (3 vols.) – History of Rome (4 vols., tr. William P. Dickson, 1862-75) / History of Rome: An Account of Events and Persons from the Conquest of Carthage to the End of the Republic

(tr. Dero A. Saunders and John C. Collins, 1958)

Although Leo Tolstoy’s name was mentioned among the most prominent candidates for the prize, the Nobel committee couldn’t accept his radical views, and Mommsen was the one awarded. Tolstoy died in 1910 without receiving the most famous acknowledgment in literature.

Mommsen’s greatest interest was in Roman law, but he also participated in contemporary politics.

“Bismarck has broken the nation’s backbone,” he wrote when Bismarck made Berlin the political capital. “The injury done by the Bismarck era is infinitely greater than its benefits… The subjugation of the German personality, of the German mind, was a misfortune that cannot be undone.”