California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his decision to convene a special session of the state’s legislature to safeguard the state’s progressive economic and social policies. He said, “The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack, and we won’t sit idle.” Newsom’s decision reminds me of the USSR’s action to build a wall around East Berlin to ostensibly safeguard that bastion of liberty and prosperity from the evil forces of capitalism. And just as East Berliners found ways around the wall and ultimately to break it down, Californians are finding ways to leave the state in droves. Those California ex-pats are apparently more than willing to give up the “freedoms” that Newsom holds dear. The recent IRS report on “Gross Migration for Selected Income Items by State of Adjusted Gross Income” throws light on that issue. It presents a wealth of hard data based on actual federal taxpayer returns that pinpoint the migratory inflow and outflow of people for all 50 states. The 2022 report shows that the outflow of individuals from California to other states was 701,000, while the inflow was 398,000. California’s net outflow of 303,000 was the highest of all 50 states. It was followed by New York state with a net outflow of 221,000 and Illinois at 87,000. In addition to people flows, the IRS report includes the inflows and outflows of adjusted gross income (AGI) by state. So, it’s also possible to determine the impact of California’s net outflow of 303,000 people on AGI. For example, the average AGI for people leaving California was $134,000 versus a significantly lower $113,000 for those moving into the state. The migration of people with higher incomes leaving the state versus those moving out resulted in a net loss of $24 billion in California’s total AGI in 2022. That loss was the highest of any state. New York’s net loss of $14 billion was the second highest. Not coincidentally, the Tax Foundation’s ranking of state and local taxes placed California at second highest and New York at third. In sharp contrast, Florida’s gain of $36 billion in total AGI was the highest, followed by Texas at $10 billion. Both of these states have no state income tax. Related Articles Commentary | Trump and the next Congress should ensure the tax code continues to help small businesses Commentary | LA City Council right to delay vote on new minimum wage for tourism workers Commentary | Senate Republicans should reject Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Commentary | Our seat at the table: Two Latina Republican lawmakers share their wisdom Commentary | Regulation could put working families’ jobs on the line and imperil our supply chain When the migratory flows of AGI for all 50 states are compared to the Tax Foundation’s tax ranking, a clear pattern emerges. The ten states that ranked lowest in taxes (1-10) experienced a net increase in total AGI of $48 billion; the next ten (11-20) added $13 billion; the next ten (21-30) added $1 billion; the next ten (31-40) lost $11 billion; while the states that ranked highest in taxes lost $49 billion. Note that the loss in total AGI for the ten states that ranked highest in taxes was almost the same as the gain in total AGI for the states with the lowest state taxes. Even worse for California’s economic future is that the largest percentage of the state’s net outflow in 2022 of 303,000 is in the 35 under 45 age cohort. That represents 90,000 or 30% of the net outflow. The 2022 IRS AGI report is not an anomaly. California experienced net losses in AGI every year between 2017 to 2022. Those losses total almost $100 billion. What should be particularly alarming to Newsom and his super majority of Democrats in the legislature is that these annual losses are cumulative. That is, the net outflow of AGI in one year continues on to the next and beyond. So, as Newsom calls for a special legislative session to figure out how to protect Californians from losing their freedoms, taxpayers are voting with their feet by leaving Newsom’s much-ballyhooed inner sanctum and uprooting their families and taking their earning power with them. Jim Doti is President Emeritus and Rick Muth Family Chair in Economics at Chapman University.After weeks of fear and bewilderment about the drones buzzing over parts of New York and New Jersey, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer is urging the federal government to deploy better drone-tracking technology to identify and ultimately stop the airborne pests. This photo provided by Trisha Bushey shows the evening sky and points of light Dec. 5 near Lebanon Township, N.J. The New York Democrat is calling on the Department of Homeland Security to immediately deploy special technology that identifies and tracks drones back to their landing spots, according to briefings from his office. Schumer’s calls come amid growing public concern that the federal government hasn’t offered clear explanations as to who is operating the drones, and has not stopped them. National security officials have said the drones don’t appear to be a sign of foreign interference. “There’s a lot of us who are pretty frustrated right now,” said Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, on Fox News Sunday. “The answer ‘We don’t know’ is not a good enough answer.” President-elect Donald Trump posted on social media last week: “Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge? I don’t think so. Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down.” Certain agencies within the Department of Homeland Security have the power to “incapacitate” drones, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Sunday. “But we need those authorities expanded,” he said, without saying exactly how. The drones don’t appear to be linked to foreign governments, Mayorkas said. “We know of no foreign involvement with respect to the sightings in the Northeast. And we are vigilant in investigating this matter,” Mayorkas said. Last year, federal aviation rules began requiring certain drones to broadcast their identities. It’s not clear whether that information has been used to determine who is operating the drones swarming locations in New York and New Jersey. Mayorkas’ office didn’t immediately respond to questions about whether they’ve been able to identify drones using this capability. Schumer is calling for recently declassified radar technology to be used to help determine whether an object is a drone or a bird, identify its electronic registration, and follow it back to its landing place. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Sunday said federal officials were sending a drone detection system to the state. “This system will support state and federal law enforcement in their investigations,” Hochul said in a statement. The governor did not immediately provide additional details, including where the system will be deployed. Dozens of mysterious nighttime flights started last month over New Jersey, raising concerns among residents and officials. Part of the worry stems from the flying objects initially being spotted near the Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military research and manufacturing facility and over Trump’s golf course in Bedminster. Drones are legal in New Jersey for recreational and commercial use, but they are subject to local and Federal Aviation Administration regulations and flight restrictions. Operators must be FAA certified. Among President-elect Donald Trump's picks are Susie Wiles for chief of staff, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, former Democratic House member Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Susie Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration's top diplomat. Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement. The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Pete Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. Trump tapped Pam Bondi, 59, to be attorney general after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. She was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She also was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist, she served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog, to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda. Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic. She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. The governor of North Dakota, who was once little-known outside his state, Burgum is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump, and spent months traveling to drum up support for him, after dropping out of the race. Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump made the announcement about Burgum joining his incoming administration while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club, and said a formal statement would be coming the following day. In comments to reporters before Trump took the stage, Burgum said that, in recent years, the power grid is deteriorating in many parts of the country, which he said could raise national security concerns but also drive up prices enough to increase inflation. “There's just a sense of urgency, and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration,” Burgum said. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Scott Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction. He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. “This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, she would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Sean Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. President-elect Donald Trump tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she expressed support for charter schools and school choice. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Brooke Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency. The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. She previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Trump chose Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he'd have a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration. The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. FILE - Former Rep. Doug Collins speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign event at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Oct. 15, 2024, in Atlanta. Karoline Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields. Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement. Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” Kash Patel spent several years as a Justice Department prosecutor before catching the Trump administration’s attention as a staffer on Capitol Hill who helped investigate the Russia probe. Patel called for dramatically reducing the agency’s footprint, a perspective that sets him apart from earlier directors who sought additional resources for the bureau. Though the Justice Department in 2021 halted the practice of secretly seizing reporters’ phone records during leak investigations, Patel said he intends to aggressively hunt down government officials who leak information to reporters. Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency . Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added. During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration's promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referring to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.” Trump has named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband. Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission. Carr made past appearances on “Fox News Channel," including when he decried Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' pre-Election Day appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” He wrote an op-ed last month defending a satellite company owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk. Trump said Atkins, the CEO of Patomak Partners and a former SEC commissioner, was a “proven leader for common sense regulations.” In the years since leaving the SEC, Atkins has made the case against too much market regulation. “He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World. He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The commission oversees U.S. securities markets and investments and is currently led by Gary Gensler, who has been leading the U.S. government’s crackdown on the crypto industry. Gensler, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, announced last month that he would be stepping down from his post on the day that Trump is inaugurated — Jan. 20, 2025. Atkins began his career as a lawyer and has a long history working in the financial markets sector, both in government and private practice. In the 1990s, he worked on the staffs of two former SEC chairmen, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt. Jared Isaacman, 41, is a tech billionaire who bought a series of spaceflights from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and conducted the first private spacewalk . He is the founder and CEO of a card-processing company and has collaborated closely with Musk ever since buying his first chartered SpaceX flight. He took contest winners on that 2021 trip and followed it in September with a mission where he briefly popped out the hatch to test SpaceX’s new spacewalking suits. Rep. Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment. Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah. President-elect Donald Trump says he's chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Trump has expressed skepticism about the Western military alliance for years. Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Whitaker is “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.” The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is as a lawyer and not in foreign policy. President-elect Donald Trump tapped former Sen. David Perdue of Georgia to be ambassador to China, saying in a social media post that the former CEO “brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China.” Perdue lost his Senate seat to Democrat Jon Ossoff four years ago and ran unsuccessfully in a primary against Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Perdue pushed Trump's debunked lies about electoral fraud during his failed bid for governor. Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. “He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.” Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Guilfoyle is a former California prosecutor and television news personality who led the fundraising for Trump's 2020 campaign and became engaged to Don Jr. in 2020. Trump called her “a close friend and ally” and praised her “sharp intellect make her supremely qualified.” Guilfoyle was on stage with the family on election night. “I am so proud of Kimberly. She loves America and she always has wanted to serve the country as an Ambassador. She will be an amazing leader for America First,” Don Jr. posted. The ambassador positions must be approved by the U.S. Senate. Guilfoyle said in a social media post that she was “honored to accept President Trump’s nomination to serve as the next Ambassador to Greece and I look forward to earning the support of the U.S. Senate.” Trump on Tuesday named real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be special envoy to the Middle East. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud." Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Trump said Wednesday that he will nominate Gen. Keith Kellogg to serve as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general who has long been Trump’s top adviser on defense issues, served as National Security Advisor to Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence. For the America First Policy Institute, one of several groups formed after Trump left office to help lay the groundwork for the next Republican administration, Kellogg in April wrote that “bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to a close will require strong, America First leadership to deliver a peace deal and immediately end the hostilities between the two warring parties.” (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) Trump asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday. The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. “Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump's statement said, "and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security. Thomas Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign. Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to "run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump's “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Customs and Border Protection, with its roughly 60,000 employees, falls under the Department of Homeland Security. It includes the Border Patrol, which Rodney Scott led during Trump's first term, and is essentially responsible for protecting the country's borders while facilitating trade and travel. Scott comes to the job firmly from the Border Patrol side of the house. He became an agent in 1992 and spent much of his career in San Diego. When he was appointed head of the border agency in January 2020, he enthusiastically embraced Trump's policies. After being forced out under the Biden administration, Scott has been a vocal supporter of Trump's hard-line immigration agenda. He appeared frequently on Fox News and testified in Congress. He's also a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Former Rep. Billy Long represented Missouri in the U.S. House from 2011 to 2023. Since leaving Congress, Trump said, Long “has worked as a Business and Tax advisor, helping Small Businesses navigate the complexities of complying with the IRS Rules and Regulations.” Former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler was appointed in January 2020 by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and then lost a runoff election a year later. She started a conservative voter registration organization and dived into GOP fundraising, becoming one of the top individual donors and bundlers to Trump’s 2024 comeback campaign. Even before nominating her for agriculture secretary, the president-elect already had tapped Loeffler as co-chair of his inaugural committee. Dr. Mehmet Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz's bid for elected office. Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an Oct. 27 campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Trump on Tuesday said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added the move would shock government systems. It's not clear how the organization will operate. Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump. Trump said the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Russell Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Trump says he’s picking Kari Lake as director of Voice of America, installing a staunch loyalist who ran unsuccessfully for Arizona governor and a Senate seat to head the congressionally funded broadcaster that provides independent news reporting around the world. Lake endeared herself to Trump through her dogmatic commitment to the falsehood that both she and Trump were the victims of election fraud. She has never acknowledged losing the gubernatorial race and called herself the “lawful governor” in her 2023 book, “Unafraid: Just Getting Started.” Dan Scavino, deputy chief of staff Scavino, whom Trump's transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump's longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino had run Trump's social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. James Blair, deputy chief of staff Blair was political director for Trump's 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump's economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate's “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago. Taylor Budowich, deputy chief of staff Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency. Jay Bhattacharya, National Institutes of Health Trump has chosen Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya is a physician and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, and is a critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates. He promoted the idea of herd immunity during the pandemic, arguing that people at low risk should live normally while building up immunity to COVID-19 through infection. The National Institutes of Health funds medical research through competitive grants to researchers at institutions throughout the nation. NIH also conducts its own research with thousands of scientists working at its labs in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Marty Makary, Food and Drug Administration Makary is a Johns Hopkins surgeon and author who argued against pandemic lockdowns. He routinely appeared on Fox News during the COVID-19 pandemic and wrote opinion articles questioning masks for children. He cast doubt on vaccine mandates but supported vaccines generally. Makary also cast doubt on whether booster shots worked, which was against federal recommendations on the vaccine. Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, Surgeon General Nesheiwat is a general practitioner who serves as medical director for CityMD, a network of urgent care centers in New York and New Jersey. She has been a contributor to Fox News. Dr. Dave Weldon, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Weldon is a former Florida congressman who recently ran for a Florida state legislative seat and lost; Trump backed Weldon’s opponent. In Congress, Weldon weighed in on one of the nation’s most heated debates of the 1990s over quality of life and a right-to-die and whether Terri Schiavo, who was in a persistent vegetative state after cardiac arrest, should have been allowed to have her feeding tube removed. He sided with the parents who did not want it removed. Jamieson Greer, U.S. trade representative Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic Council Trump is turning to two officials with experience navigating not only Washington but the key issues of income taxes and tariffs as he fills out his economic team. He announced he has chosen international trade attorney Jamieson Greer to be his U.S. trade representative and Kevin Hassett as director of the White House National Economic Council. While Trump has in several cases nominated outsiders to key posts, these picks reflect a recognition that his reputation will likely hinge on restoring the public’s confidence in the economy. Trump said in a statement that Greer was instrumental in his first term in imposing tariffs on China and others and replacing the trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, “therefore making it much better for American Workers.” Hassett, 62, served in the first Trump term as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. He has a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and worked at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute before joining the Trump White House in 2017. Ron Johnson, Ambassador to Mexico Johnson — not the Republican senator — served as ambassador to El Salvador during Trump's first administration. His nomination comes as the president-elect has been threatening tariffs on Mexican imports and the mass deportation of migrants who have arrived to the U.S.-Mexico border. Johnson is also a former U.S. Army veteran and was in the Central Intelligence Agency. Tom Barrack, Ambassador to Turkey Barrack, a wealthy financier, met Trump in the 1980s while helping negotiate Trump’s purchase of the renowned Plaza Hotel. He was charged with using his personal access to the former president to secretly promote the interests of the United Arab Emirates, but was acquitted of all counts at a federal trial in 2022. Trump called him a “well-respected and experienced voice of reason.” Andrew Ferguson, Federal Trade Commission Ferguson, who is already one of the FTC's five commissioners, will replace Lina Khan, who became a lightning rod for Wall Street and Silicon Valley by blocking billions of dollars worth of corporate acquisitions and suing Amazon and Meta while alleging anticompetitive behavior. “Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding, “Andrew will be the most America First, and pro-innovation FTC Chair in our Country’s History.” Jacob Helberg, undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment Dan Bishop, deputy director for budget at the Office of Budget and Management Leandro Rizzuto, Ambassador to the Washington-based Organization of American States Dan Newlin, Ambassador to Colombia Peter Lamelas, Ambassador to Argentina We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. 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Heading into holidays some expect to disappoint, Wall Street investors like Goldman Sachs GS.N are using new ways to monitor shoppers’ actions and intentions to help determine the season’s winners and losers. They are tapping into the quickly evolving field of “alternative data” to help them predict retailer performance and provide an advantage over other investors. Historically, Wall Street relied on traditional data like earnings reports and company filings – with an assist from their well-seasoned gut instincts. Now they can buy intel on everything from credit-card swipe data to consumer sentiment reports, from an ever-growing number of providers. One example is data firm HundredX, which earlier this year began selling its shopper-sentiment data to Goldman Sachs. The bank uses the information in equity research and investment banking, according to a Goldman spokesperson. Founded by former Goldman partner Robert Pace in 2012, HundredX partners with non-profits like Habitat for Humanity to measure thousands of individuals’ future purchase intentions, claiming to get an early read on future financial trends. Supporters of the non-profits who partner with HundredX are asked to fill out surveys about their experiences with the retailers or brands they use, including how likely they are to revisit them. The firm donates $2 for every response it gets. Michael Finnegan, CEO of an alt-data aggregation platform called Eagle Alpha that connects data buyers with sellers, said there were about 100 alt-data providers in the industry’s early days in the mid-2010s. Now there are 2,000 around the globe. They provide credit card swipe data that reveals what different classes of consumers are buying; insights about consumer behavior based on cell phone geolocation; pre-holiday consumer sentiment derived from surveys or by scraping social media sites like Reddit RDDT.N. The data helps investors glean information they couldn’t have a few years ago. For instance, HundredX CEO Pace said, measuring a consumer’s shopping experience shows that “the sale is not the outcome.” Numbers may reflect a sale, he said, but if a customer leaves a store fuming after a bad experience, she isn’t likely to come back. In the big-box retail universe, HundredX surveys showed last spring that shoppers seemed less likely to return to Target TGT.N in the near term than Walmart WMT.N. But in recent weeks, Pace said, future intent to shop at Target has been rising. “We see an inflection up,” he said. “That’s a contrarian view today.” Indeed, shares of Target slid about 20% since the Minneapolis-based retail chain forecast flat holiday-quarter sales on Wednesday. AlphaROC, founded three years ago, combines data sets with interviews with roughly 3,000 people in the U.S. per day to gauge consumer intentions for the next three to six months, selling the information to asset managers. Data firm Facteus uses credit card swipe data to update its retail sales outlook from week to week, rather than wait for the U.S. Commerce Department’s monthly estimates. In the week ending November 9, the firm saw signs of “a dramatic turnaround” at TikTok Shop, the e-commerce arm of Beijing-based ByteDance’s TikTok social media platform, with a 16.8% increase in average spend. Some retail executives are annoyed with what they consider a systemic problem. Data ubiquity is “frustrating,” said Dave Powers, board member and former CEO of Deckers Brands DECK.N, which owns Hoka sneakers and Ugg slippers. Datasets like credit-card swipes can be taken out of context to paint inaccurate pictures of the state of business, Powers said in a phone interview. But even retailers who scoff at the use of data by their investors are using it themselves, to measure their own performance. “They recognize that the horse has bolted from the barn,” said Mark Mathews, head of research at the National Retail Federation trade group. “If it’s out there, you might as well use it.” HundredX’s Pace said that as an independent data firm, its relationship with retailers can be a little “love-hate.” “(Retailers) have a plan,” he said, “and sometimes our data shows their plan does or doesn’t look so good.” Placer.ai uses geolocation data to show clients patterns in how people move, so that a retailer or investor could theoretically tell if a billboard was driving people to a store. Social media site Reddit Inc RDDT.N held a webinar ahead of this year’s holiday season to show retailers how it can measure when online conversations about holiday shopping peak, compared to conversations about holiday travel, food, parties or decorating. Firms like HundredX and Facteus confirm that an uptick in investor clients is driving growth. HundredX has tripled its number of investor clients over the last 18 months, according to CEO Pace. Facteus’ revenue has grown 300% since the start of 2023, driven in large part by investors, says Co-Founder Jonathan Chin. Lombard Odier Investment Managers, a $73 billion asset manager based in Switzerland, is one of many financial firms leaning into alt-data. In July, it launched DataEdge, an investment strategy that merges myriad indicators – like credit-card swipes, digital receipts, web traffic, mobile app clicks and geolocation data – to identify consumer trends and trade stocks using computers. The goal, said Laurent Joue, the firm’s head of systematic alternatives, is to anticipate earnings revisions ahead of public announcements, tracking sales, revenue and customer engagement. The strategy’s accuracy has been close to 70% so far, Joue said. Source: Reuters (Reporting by Nicholas P. Brown and Carolina Mandl; Editing by Vanessa O’Connell and Anna Driver)
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Thunderbird Entertainment Group Announces Completion of Annual Grant of RSUs and PSUs to Board of Directors and Executive Management and Renegotiated CEO CompensationUS agencies should use advanced technology to identify mysterious drones, Schumer says
Election 2024: Six things we learned on the first day of countingIn recent years, the collective perception of economic conditions and the future seems to be marked by increasing pessimism. Looking around us, we might think we are living in troubled times. Indeed, we have lived through global financial crises like the one in 2008, a pandemic, and other major events, but the impact of these events is often magnified. The focus on negative news in the media and social media can fuel a sense of insecurity and fear about the present and the future. Moreover, human nature predisposes us to pay more attention to negative news, thus increasing the feeling of insecurity. The result is a distorted (as I will show below) but widespread perception that the "golden age" belongs to the past, while the present is dominated by instability and decline. But economic indicators - objective barometers of the state of the economy - offer us a different perspective: the golden age is not to be found in the past, but rather in the present. In this sense, the graph below shows us that today, we are crossing an extraordinary, unprecedented chapter in Romania's economic history. Analyzing the evolution of GDP per capita adjusted to purchasing power parity (a relevant benchmark for measuring economic progress and convergence) from 1862 to today, compared to the developed countries of Western Europe (Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy and Spain), we discover a surprising evolution, culminating in a remarkable performance in recent years. This series of data, probably one of the most extensive of its kind, shows that Romania's level of development has fluctuated between 20% and 40% of the Western European average for about 140 years, maintaining an average of about 30 %. However, in the last two to three decades, Romania has registered accelerated economic growth, which can be considered a real "economic miracle,” propelling us towards a unique level of well-being in our entire history, with increased access to goods and services. After almost a century and a half of underdevelopment, we have overcome the status of a low-income economy and advanced to a medium level of development. From a country deeply affected by the transition from a centralized to a market economy, we have become a complex economy, comparable to the economies of Central and Eastern European countries such as Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary, which are also in the range of 70-80% of the EU average in terms of GDP/ capita PPP. We are at a point where, despite internal and external challenges, we have made important progress, and economically and in terms of living standards, we are closer to the West than we have ever been. A convergence as rapid as that experienced by Romania (and the Central and Eastern European region) in the last two and a half decades is rare. In Romania, the GDP per capita, in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) compared to the EU average, increased spectacularly from approximately 25% to almost 80% during this period. Although regional disparities still persist in our country, overall progress is undeniable. However, the overall picture of Romania's economic progress hides at least 42 nuances (the 41 counties plus the capital), reflecting notable geographical differences. Although the indicators at the national level show a clearly positive trend, regional inequalities and economic differences between counties create a much more complex and fragmented reality. Even in areas considered developed, there are social groups that have not benefited to the same extent from the process of economic convergence. The economic differences between Romania's counties are obvious. The less-performing areas in terms of GDP per capita reach barely 44-48% of the national average, while top counties such as Brașov, Timiș, and Cluj reach values between 116% and 145%. Bucharest stands out, reaching 280% of the national average. Counties with higher economic performance are generally able to offer higher wages to employees, which increases inequality. Although it is probably the most commonly used indicator to measure economic progress, GDP does not fully capture the true well-being of the population. If we look at stock indicators such as net financial wealth per capita, in contrast to flow indicators such as GDP per capita, we see a gap compared to our neighbors in Central and Eastern Europe. This suggests that while economic growth has been robust, wealth accumulation at the individual level remains a challenge. Although the economic convergence is as clear as possible, the main question mark remains the sustainability of this positive trend. We have a long way to go until the well-being of each county and each social category in Romania approaches the level of those in the European Union. Reality is complex, with many nuances. Furthermore, how we feel – our level of happiness and contentment – depends on a multitude of factors. GDP per capita is a simple indicator and cannot capture the complexity of human feelings. Moreover, certain cognitive biases can distort our perception of the past and present, such as " rosy retrospection ” (the tendency to idealize the past). Many tend to remember their youth or past times as better than they actually were. But returning to the topic of convergence, the question naturally arises: how was this spectacular progress over the last 20-25 years possible? The short answer is: European integration. The European project has a profound impact on our lives, promoting economic cooperation, raising living standards and supporting democracy, freedom and peace among member states. Membership of the European Union played an essential role in the convergence process of Central and Eastern European countries, including Romania. The accelerated development of this region in the last two decades is a case study, a rare example in economic history that highlights the advantages of European integration. Integration into the European Union gave Romania access to a vast common market, structural funds, and unprecedented investment opportunities. The adoption of European standards, the implementation of structural reforms, and the strengthening of democratic institutions were key elements in this process. This success formula can serve as an example for other countries that aspire to European integration, such as the Republic of Moldova. In the context of the recent elections in the Republic of Moldova, the European path is not only a geopolitical option but also a real opportunity for economic development and prosperity, even if this process is long-lasting and will require sustained efforts. According to economic theory, growth is based on two fundamental elements: labor force contribution (number of employees and hours worked – L) and labor productivity (LP). The latter is determined by capital (equipment, factories, infrastructure – K) and total factor productivity (TFP), a measure of the efficiency of the use of economic resources, which reflects innovation, technological progress and the quality of management. To illustrate this concept, imagine a worker from Central and Eastern Europe in a company in Western Europe or the United States. We often observe that it becomes as productive as its Western counterparts. On the other hand, if an employee in a highly developed country were to work in an environment with limited resources, his productivity would decline considerably. This emphasizes the key role that capital and technology play in increasing productivity. European integration has allowed the Romanian workforce to become approximately three times more productive today compared to the beginning of this century, unlocking huge growth potential. Romania's transformation from a closed economy to an open market economy has made it possible for us to participate in international trade and integrate into global value chains. This path has brought challenges and intense competition, but the positive impact on the economy is undeniable. In addition, European funds have supported essential reforms and investments in infrastructure and public services, contributing directly to economic growth. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has also played a decisive role, providing capital and increasing total factor productivity through the transfer of technology and managerial expertise, indispensable elements of a modern economy. Last but not least, strong institutions have played a key role in this transformation, as argued by the 2024 Nobel Prize laureates in Economics, Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson, in their studies of how institutions influence the prosperity of nations. We adopted models, legislative frameworks, and knowledge systems developed and successfully tested in Western Europe, which contributed to increasing Romania's economic stability and competitiveness. In the last quarter of a century, Romania reached an average rate of convergence with the EU average of approximately 2 percentage points per year, but with the approach to the European level, the road becomes increasingly difficult. The pace of convergence is expected to slow in the coming years, both because of the complexity of the next steps and the specific challenges looming on the horizon. The threat of the "middle-income trap" appears, specific to developing countries that have difficulty taking the next step and becoming developed economies. The first limiting factor is the proximity to the technological frontier. If the jump from 25% to 75% of the EU average was challenging but achievable, the increase from 75% to 100% requires constant innovation and massive investment in technology. A relevant analogy would be driving a car in fog on a winding mountain road. Initially, we follow the lights of the car in front (Western models), but once we pass it, we realize that we no longer have a clear guide and must discover our own direction. At the technological frontier, progress depends on our ability to innovate and adapt. The labor market represents another challenge on the road to full convergence. If in the 2000s Romania had a high unemployment rate and a relatively cheap workforce, today the situation has changed. In the context of a reduced natural increase and the problem of emigration, access to highly qualified labor is becoming increasingly difficult. Fiscal policy also becomes a limiting factor. Given that larger, unsustainable deficits have been tolerated in recent years, we see that public debt has grown rapidly, from around 12% of GDP in 2007 to almost 52% in 2024. Prudent management of public finances and gradual fiscal consolidation are essential for maintaining economic stability. European funds will continue to play an important role, but their contribution may diminish in the medium term. As we approach the standard of living of the more developed states in the EU, financial resources will have to be directed to other priorities of the Union. The EU itself faces major challenges, such as the need to improve economic competitiveness (as the Draghi report points out) alongside other strategic initiatives (e.g., defense), supporting other states pursuing the integration or reconstruction of Ukraine. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is another element but with mixed prospects. On the one hand, the tense geopolitical context can discourage investors, who become more cautious in their decisions. On the other hand, the trends of near-shoring and friend-shoring – relocating production closer to the markets or in friendly countries – can create opportunities for Romania if we manage to attract these investments through appropriate policies. In order to continue the convergence process, Romania must develop internal engines of economic growth. A possible catalyst (country project) could be joining the Eurozone. The preparation process and reforms required for the adoption of the euro can stimulate the modernization of the economy and strengthen investor confidence. The road to the euro area is as important as the actual adoption of the single currency. With realistic optimism, it can be said that by the end of this decade, Romania could reach 85-90% of the EU development average. So when was or is the "golden age"? There are objective arguments to suggest that we are in a special time economically, with remarkable progress and unique opportunities. However, as one experienced former central banker said, just like in a relationship, the golden age in economics is often only seen when things stop working. Personally, I would like to believe that our true economic golden age is just ahead, waiting to be built by our efforts and aspirations. In a global context marked by immense challenges, Romania has a real chance to continue its progress. But this chance requires work, vision and commitment, and the first test awaits us next year itself, when we will be faced with the need to gradually reduce macroeconomic vulnerabilities, especially the budget deficit. --- In recent years, the collective perception of economic conditions and the future seems to be marked by increasing pessimism. Looking around us, we might think we are living in troubled times. Indeed, we have lived through global financial crises like the one in 2008, a pandemic, and other major events, but the impact of these events is often magnified. The focus on negative news in the media and social media can fuel a sense of insecurity and fear about the present and the future. Moreover, human nature predisposes us to pay more attention to negative news, thus increasing the feeling of insecurity. The result is a distorted (as I will show below) but widespread perception that the "golden age" belongs to the past, while the present is dominated by instability and decline. But economic indicators - objective barometers of the state of the economy - offer us a different perspective: the golden age is not to be found in the past, but rather in the present. In this sense, the graph below shows us that today, we are crossing an extraordinary, unprecedented chapter in Romania's economic history. Analyzing the evolution of GDP per capita adjusted to purchasing power parity (a relevant benchmark for measuring economic progress and convergence) from 1862 to today, compared to the developed countries of Western Europe (Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy and Spain), we discover a surprising evolution, culminating in a remarkable performance in recent years. This series of data, probably one of the most extensive of its kind, shows that Romania's level of development has fluctuated between 20% and 40% of the Western European average for about 140 years, maintaining an average of about 30 %. However, in the last two to three decades, Romania has registered accelerated economic growth, which can be considered a real "economic miracle,” propelling us towards a unique level of well-being in our entire history, with increased access to goods and services. After almost a century and a half of underdevelopment, we have overcome the status of a low-income economy and advanced to a medium level of development. From a country deeply affected by the transition from a centralized to a market economy, we have become a complex economy, comparable to the economies of Central and Eastern European countries such as Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary, which are also in the range of 70-80% of the EU average in terms of GDP/ capita PPP. We are at a point where, despite internal and external challenges, we have made important progress, and economically and in terms of living standards, we are closer to the West than we have ever been. A convergence as rapid as that experienced by Romania (and the Central and Eastern European region) in the last two and a half decades is rare. In Romania, the GDP per capita, in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) compared to the EU average, increased spectacularly from approximately 25% to almost 80% during this period. Although regional disparities still persist in our country, overall progress is undeniable. However, the overall picture of Romania's economic progress hides at least 42 nuances (the 41 counties plus the capital), reflecting notable geographical differences. Although the indicators at the national level show a clearly positive trend, regional inequalities and economic differences between counties create a much more complex and fragmented reality. Even in areas considered developed, there are social groups that have not benefited to the same extent from the process of economic convergence. The economic differences between Romania's counties are obvious. The less-performing areas in terms of GDP per capita reach barely 44-48% of the national average, while top counties such as Brașov, Timiș, and Cluj reach values between 116% and 145%. Bucharest stands out, reaching 280% of the national average. Counties with higher economic performance are generally able to offer higher wages to employees, which increases inequality. Although it is probably the most commonly used indicator to measure economic progress, GDP does not fully capture the true well-being of the population. If we look at stock indicators such as net financial wealth per capita, in contrast to flow indicators such as GDP per capita, we see a gap compared to our neighbors in Central and Eastern Europe. This suggests that while economic growth has been robust, wealth accumulation at the individual level remains a challenge. Although the economic convergence is as clear as possible, the main question mark remains the sustainability of this positive trend. We have a long way to go until the well-being of each county and each social category in Romania approaches the level of those in the European Union. Reality is complex, with many nuances. Furthermore, how we feel – our level of happiness and contentment – depends on a multitude of factors. GDP per capita is a simple indicator and cannot capture the complexity of human feelings. Moreover, certain cognitive biases can distort our perception of the past and present, such as " rosy retrospection ” (the tendency to idealize the past). Many tend to remember their youth or past times as better than they actually were. But returning to the topic of convergence, the question naturally arises: how was this spectacular progress over the last 20-25 years possible? The short answer is: European integration. The European project has a profound impact on our lives, promoting economic cooperation, raising living standards and supporting democracy, freedom and peace among member states. Membership of the European Union played an essential role in the convergence process of Central and Eastern European countries, including Romania. The accelerated development of this region in the last two decades is a case study, a rare example in economic history that highlights the advantages of European integration. Integration into the European Union gave Romania access to a vast common market, structural funds, and unprecedented investment opportunities. The adoption of European standards, the implementation of structural reforms, and the strengthening of democratic institutions were key elements in this process. This success formula can serve as an example for other countries that aspire to European integration, such as the Republic of Moldova. In the context of the recent elections in the Republic of Moldova, the European path is not only a geopolitical option but also a real opportunity for economic development and prosperity, even if this process is long-lasting and will require sustained efforts. According to economic theory, growth is based on two fundamental elements: labor force contribution (number of employees and hours worked – L) and labor productivity (LP). The latter is determined by capital (equipment, factories, infrastructure – K) and total factor productivity (TFP), a measure of the efficiency of the use of economic resources, which reflects innovation, technological progress and the quality of management. To illustrate this concept, imagine a worker from Central and Eastern Europe in a company in Western Europe or the United States. We often observe that it becomes as productive as its Western counterparts. On the other hand, if an employee in a highly developed country were to work in an environment with limited resources, his productivity would decline considerably. This emphasizes the key role that capital and technology play in increasing productivity. European integration has allowed the Romanian workforce to become approximately three times more productive today compared to the beginning of this century, unlocking huge growth potential. Romania's transformation from a closed economy to an open market economy has made it possible for us to participate in international trade and integrate into global value chains. This path has brought challenges and intense competition, but the positive impact on the economy is undeniable. In addition, European funds have supported essential reforms and investments in infrastructure and public services, contributing directly to economic growth. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has also played a decisive role, providing capital and increasing total factor productivity through the transfer of technology and managerial expertise, indispensable elements of a modern economy. Last but not least, strong institutions have played a key role in this transformation, as argued by the 2024 Nobel Prize laureates in Economics, Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson, in their studies of how institutions influence the prosperity of nations. We adopted models, legislative frameworks, and knowledge systems developed and successfully tested in Western Europe, which contributed to increasing Romania's economic stability and competitiveness. In the last quarter of a century, Romania reached an average rate of convergence with the EU average of approximately 2 percentage points per year, but with the approach to the European level, the road becomes increasingly difficult. The pace of convergence is expected to slow in the coming years, both because of the complexity of the next steps and the specific challenges looming on the horizon. The threat of the "middle-income trap" appears, specific to developing countries that have difficulty taking the next step and becoming developed economies. The first limiting factor is the proximity to the technological frontier. If the jump from 25% to 75% of the EU average was challenging but achievable, the increase from 75% to 100% requires constant innovation and massive investment in technology. A relevant analogy would be driving a car in fog on a winding mountain road. Initially, we follow the lights of the car in front (Western models), but once we pass it, we realize that we no longer have a clear guide and must discover our own direction. At the technological frontier, progress depends on our ability to innovate and adapt. The labor market represents another challenge on the road to full convergence. If in the 2000s Romania had a high unemployment rate and a relatively cheap workforce, today the situation has changed. In the context of a reduced natural increase and the problem of emigration, access to highly qualified labor is becoming increasingly difficult. Fiscal policy also becomes a limiting factor. Given that larger, unsustainable deficits have been tolerated in recent years, we see that public debt has grown rapidly, from around 12% of GDP in 2007 to almost 52% in 2024. Prudent management of public finances and gradual fiscal consolidation are essential for maintaining economic stability. European funds will continue to play an important role, but their contribution may diminish in the medium term. As we approach the standard of living of the more developed states in the EU, financial resources will have to be directed to other priorities of the Union. The EU itself faces major challenges, such as the need to improve economic competitiveness (as the Draghi report points out) alongside other strategic initiatives (e.g., defense), supporting other states pursuing the integration or reconstruction of Ukraine. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is another element but with mixed prospects. On the one hand, the tense geopolitical context can discourage investors, who become more cautious in their decisions. On the other hand, the trends of near-shoring and friend-shoring – relocating production closer to the markets or in friendly countries – can create opportunities for Romania if we manage to attract these investments through appropriate policies. In order to continue the convergence process, Romania must develop internal engines of economic growth. A possible catalyst (country project) could be joining the Eurozone. The preparation process and reforms required for the adoption of the euro can stimulate the modernization of the economy and strengthen investor confidence. The road to the euro area is as important as the actual adoption of the single currency. With realistic optimism, it can be said that by the end of this decade, Romania could reach 85-90% of the EU development average. So when was or is the "golden age"? There are objective arguments to suggest that we are in a special time economically, with remarkable progress and unique opportunities. However, as one experienced former central banker said, just like in a relationship, the golden age in economics is often only seen when things stop working. Personally, I would like to believe that our true economic golden age is just ahead, waiting to be built by our efforts and aspirations. In a global context marked by immense challenges, Romania has a real chance to continue its progress. But this chance requires work, vision and commitment, and the first test awaits us next year itself, when we will be faced with the need to gradually reduce macroeconomic vulnerabilities, especially the budget deficit. --- In recent years, the collective perception of economic conditions and the future seems to be marked by increasing pessimism. Looking around us, we might think we are living in troubled times. Indeed, we have lived through global financial crises like the one in 2008, a pandemic, and other major events, but the impact of these events is often magnified. The focus on negative news in the media and social media can fuel a sense of insecurity and fear about the present and the future. Moreover, human nature predisposes us to pay more attention to negative news, thus increasing the feeling of insecurity. The result is a distorted (as I will show below) but widespread perception that the "golden age" belongs to the past, while the present is dominated by instability and decline. But economic indicators - objective barometers of the state of the economy - offer us a different perspective: the golden age is not to be found in the past, but rather in the present. In this sense, the graph below shows us that today, we are crossing an extraordinary, unprecedented chapter in Romania's economic history. Analyzing the evolution of GDP per capita adjusted to purchasing power parity (a relevant benchmark for measuring economic progress and convergence) from 1862 to today, compared to the developed countries of Western Europe (Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy and Spain), we discover a surprising evolution, culminating in a remarkable performance in recent years. This series of data, probably one of the most extensive of its kind, shows that Romania's level of development has fluctuated between 20% and 40% of the Western European average for about 140 years, maintaining an average of about 30 %. However, in the last two to three decades, Romania has registered accelerated economic growth, which can be considered a real "economic miracle,” propelling us towards a unique level of well-being in our entire history, with increased access to goods and services. After almost a century and a half of underdevelopment, we have overcome the status of a low-income economy and advanced to a medium level of development. From a country deeply affected by the transition from a centralized to a market economy, we have become a complex economy, comparable to the economies of Central and Eastern European countries such as Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary, which are also in the range of 70-80% of the EU average in terms of GDP/ capita PPP. We are at a point where, despite internal and external challenges, we have made important progress, and economically and in terms of living standards, we are closer to the West than we have ever been. A convergence as rapid as that experienced by Romania (and the Central and Eastern European region) in the last two and a half decades is rare. In Romania, the GDP per capita, in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) compared to the EU average, increased spectacularly from approximately 25% to almost 80% during this period. Although regional disparities still persist in our country, overall progress is undeniable. However, the overall picture of Romania's economic progress hides at least 42 nuances (the 41 counties plus the capital), reflecting notable geographical differences. Although the indicators at the national level show a clearly positive trend, regional inequalities and economic differences between counties create a much more complex and fragmented reality. Even in areas considered developed, there are social groups that have not benefited to the same extent from the process of economic convergence. The economic differences between Romania's counties are obvious. The less-performing areas in terms of GDP per capita reach barely 44-48% of the national average, while top counties such as Brașov, Timiș, and Cluj reach values between 116% and 145%. Bucharest stands out, reaching 280% of the national average. Counties with higher economic performance are generally able to offer higher wages to employees, which increases inequality. Although it is probably the most commonly used indicator to measure economic progress, GDP does not fully capture the true well-being of the population. If we look at stock indicators such as net financial wealth per capita, in contrast to flow indicators such as GDP per capita, we see a gap compared to our neighbors in Central and Eastern Europe. This suggests that while economic growth has been robust, wealth accumulation at the individual level remains a challenge. Although the economic convergence is as clear as possible, the main question mark remains the sustainability of this positive trend. We have a long way to go until the well-being of each county and each social category in Romania approaches the level of those in the European Union. Reality is complex, with many nuances. Furthermore, how we feel – our level of happiness and contentment – depends on a multitude of factors. GDP per capita is a simple indicator and cannot capture the complexity of human feelings. Moreover, certain cognitive biases can distort our perception of the past and present, such as " rosy retrospection ” (the tendency to idealize the past). Many tend to remember their youth or past times as better than they actually were. But returning to the topic of convergence, the question naturally arises: how was this spectacular progress over the last 20-25 years possible? The short answer is: European integration. The European project has a profound impact on our lives, promoting economic cooperation, raising living standards and supporting democracy, freedom and peace among member states. Membership of the European Union played an essential role in the convergence process of Central and Eastern European countries, including Romania. The accelerated development of this region in the last two decades is a case study, a rare example in economic history that highlights the advantages of European integration. Integration into the European Union gave Romania access to a vast common market, structural funds, and unprecedented investment opportunities. The adoption of European standards, the implementation of structural reforms, and the strengthening of democratic institutions were key elements in this process. This success formula can serve as an example for other countries that aspire to European integration, such as the Republic of Moldova. In the context of the recent elections in the Republic of Moldova, the European path is not only a geopolitical option but also a real opportunity for economic development and prosperity, even if this process is long-lasting and will require sustained efforts. According to economic theory, growth is based on two fundamental elements: labor force contribution (number of employees and hours worked – L) and labor productivity (LP). The latter is determined by capital (equipment, factories, infrastructure – K) and total factor productivity (TFP), a measure of the efficiency of the use of economic resources, which reflects innovation, technological progress and the quality of management. To illustrate this concept, imagine a worker from Central and Eastern Europe in a company in Western Europe or the United States. We often observe that it becomes as productive as its Western counterparts. On the other hand, if an employee in a highly developed country were to work in an environment with limited resources, his productivity would decline considerably. This emphasizes the key role that capital and technology play in increasing productivity. European integration has allowed the Romanian workforce to become approximately three times more productive today compared to the beginning of this century, unlocking huge growth potential. Romania's transformation from a closed economy to an open market economy has made it possible for us to participate in international trade and integrate into global value chains. This path has brought challenges and intense competition, but the positive impact on the economy is undeniable. In addition, European funds have supported essential reforms and investments in infrastructure and public services, contributing directly to economic growth. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has also played a decisive role, providing capital and increasing total factor productivity through the transfer of technology and managerial expertise, indispensable elements of a modern economy. Last but not least, strong institutions have played a key role in this transformation, as argued by the 2024 Nobel Prize laureates in Economics, Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson, in their studies of how institutions influence the prosperity of nations. We adopted models, legislative frameworks, and knowledge systems developed and successfully tested in Western Europe, which contributed to increasing Romania's economic stability and competitiveness. In the last quarter of a century, Romania reached an average rate of convergence with the EU average of approximately 2 percentage points per year, but with the approach to the European level, the road becomes increasingly difficult. The pace of convergence is expected to slow in the coming years, both because of the complexity of the next steps and the specific challenges looming on the horizon. The threat of the "middle-income trap" appears, specific to developing countries that have difficulty taking the next step and becoming developed economies. The first limiting factor is the proximity to the technological frontier. If the jump from 25% to 75% of the EU average was challenging but achievable, the increase from 75% to 100% requires constant innovation and massive investment in technology. A relevant analogy would be driving a car in fog on a winding mountain road. Initially, we follow the lights of the car in front (Western models), but once we pass it, we realize that we no longer have a clear guide and must discover our own direction. At the technological frontier, progress depends on our ability to innovate and adapt. The labor market represents another challenge on the road to full convergence. If in the 2000s Romania had a high unemployment rate and a relatively cheap workforce, today the situation has changed. In the context of a reduced natural increase and the problem of emigration, access to highly qualified labor is becoming increasingly difficult. Fiscal policy also becomes a limiting factor. Given that larger, unsustainable deficits have been tolerated in recent years, we see that public debt has grown rapidly, from around 12% of GDP in 2007 to almost 52% in 2024. Prudent management of public finances and gradual fiscal consolidation are essential for maintaining economic stability. European funds will continue to play an important role, but their contribution may diminish in the medium term. As we approach the standard of living of the more developed states in the EU, financial resources will have to be directed to other priorities of the Union. The EU itself faces major challenges, such as the need to improve economic competitiveness (as the Draghi report points out) alongside other strategic initiatives (e.g., defense), supporting other states pursuing the integration or reconstruction of Ukraine. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is another element but with mixed prospects. On the one hand, the tense geopolitical context can discourage investors, who become more cautious in their decisions. On the other hand, the trends of near-shoring and friend-shoring – relocating production closer to the markets or in friendly countries – can create opportunities for Romania if we manage to attract these investments through appropriate policies. In order to continue the convergence process, Romania must develop internal engines of economic growth. A possible catalyst (country project) could be joining the Eurozone. The preparation process and reforms required for the adoption of the euro can stimulate the modernization of the economy and strengthen investor confidence. The road to the euro area is as important as the actual adoption of the single currency. With realistic optimism, it can be said that by the end of this decade, Romania could reach 85-90% of the EU development average. So when was or is the "golden age"? There are objective arguments to suggest that we are in a special time economically, with remarkable progress and unique opportunities. However, as one experienced former central banker said, just like in a relationship, the golden age in economics is often only seen when things stop working. Personally, I would like to believe that our true economic golden age is just ahead, waiting to be built by our efforts and aspirations. In a global context marked by immense challenges, Romania has a real chance to continue its progress. But this chance requires work, vision and commitment, and the first test awaits us next year itself, when we will be faced with the need to gradually reduce macroeconomic vulnerabilities, especially the budget deficit. ---
This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site. ___ Author: Anmol Dutta, PhD Candidate and Lecturer, Western University Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia’s new film, All We Imagine as Light, won the prestigious Grand Prix award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in May. The film exhibits an Indianness that is distinctive from the one most frequently represented globally. Within mainstream Hindi cinema, India is often presented as a homogenous Hindu, upper-caste, middle-class Hindi-speaking nation. In western popular imaginations, on the other hand, India is often seen as exotic and over-the-top, or poor and backward. All We Imagine as Light tells a story of two migrant women from the southern Indian state of Kerala, Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha) as they struggle to build a life in Mumbai. The kind of Mumbai shown in the film is one that has almost never been explored in Indian cinema. In the film, we see its characters contend with cultural and social isolation, gender inequalities and the challenges of Hindu-Muslim love in India. In this sense, the film does not try to appeal to the non-Indian, western gaze. Instead, All We Imagine as Light depicts a nuanced, complex migrant reality that touches on issues of gender, religion, caste, class, language and access. The refreshing portrayal of Mumbai, and largely of India, reveals an aspect of the nation’s cultural identity that has not been explored within the global space. Disrupting the ‘city of dreams’ All We Imagine as Light premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. It then played at the South Asian Day celebrations at the Forest City Film Festival in London, Ont., where I was a guest speaker for a live Q&A following the screening. The lyrical, almost lulling pace of the film offers the unfamiliar viewer the time needed to adjust to the foreignness of this world. While it remains foreign to the viewer, it is the politics of the every day — the human yearning for light — that affords the film a humanistic vision, making it cross-culturally accessible. One of the primary themes in All We Imagine as Light is disrupting the trite romanticism of Mumbai as a city of dreams. Migrants from across India who come to Mumbai to live a better life experience a kind of disillusionment that is rarely, if ever, addressed in Indian popular culture. Instead, it shows Mumbai as what one of the migrant voice-overs in the film calls a “city of illusions.” All We Imagine as Light starts with disembodied migrant voices in different regional languages such as Tamil, Marathi, Gujarati and Bengali, among others. A montage of the city plays on-screen as viewers hear a voiceover of migrant workers expressing their disenchantment and the “otherness” experienced in Mumbai. A man says how, after living in Mumbai for 23 years, he still can’t call it his home. This feeling of un-homed in Mumbai is experienced through Prabha and Anu, who work as nurses in a hospital and are also roommates. The idea of being un-homed is most sharply portrayed when Prabha’s colleague and friend, Parvaty, is evicted from her house. As a widow, Parvaty has no paperwork to prove ownership of the shack she has lived in for years. In another scene, we see a billboard that promises a “new Mumbai” featuring a light-skinned, hence presumably upper-caste, upper-class, heterosexual couple photographed next to a luxury tower. Parvaty and Prabha helplessly stare at this billboard, eventually hurling stones at it, thus physically resisting everything that the billboard is representative of. As two women navigating life without husbands or any other male counterpart, this scene is significant. It becomes an active distortion of societal expectations and heteronormative ideals. Kapadia also uses Mumbai as a site to engage with the challenges of interfaith relationships in India. The panned shots of Mumbai’s busy streets show Muslim Shiaz following Hindu Anu through crowded streets until the couple find a space where they are not at risk of being seen together. The expectations and limitations the couple must navigate showcase the societal surveillance over Hindu-Muslim relationships in India. The politics of language in Indian cinema Cinema in India is considered to be one of the most significant political and socio-cultural spaces. While multiple regional cinemas exist within the nation, the most popular domain continues to be mainstream Hindi cinema, or Bollywood, which problematically assumes the universality of Hindi within the nation. Whenever most Indian films gain international attention, the implicit assumption is that they are a part of Bollywood, the mainstream cinema in Hindi. A recent example of such assumptions that every Indian film is a Bollywood film or in Hindi was seen when Rajamouli’s Telegu-language blockbuster, RRR, won an Oscar in 2023. The implicit language expectation when watching an Indian film is that it is in Hindi. It is important to note that while Hindi is one of the most widely spoken languages in India, there is no national language. Mumbai is home to Bollywood cinema, and therefore oftentimes presents Hindi as the chosen language. Kapadia does not conform to these mainstream expectations of language. She instead showcases the politics of speaking different regional languages in Mumbai. Malayalam, which is widely spoken in Kerela, is the film’s foremost language. Prabha, Anu and her boyfriend, Shiaz, speak Malayalam. Kapadia uses language as an effective tool to further convey the feeling of un-homed in Mumbai. In a conversation with Prabha, a doctor at the hospital, who is also from Kerala, addresses the discomfort that speaking in Hindi causes him; Malayalam, he says, offers him refuge. Viewers see how most characters are compelled to speak Hindi within the public space, furthering their alienation to the city. Speaking in Malayalam thus becomes a safe harbour for Prabha and Anu in All We Imagine as Light. Kapadia skillfully employs Hindi to denote the characters’ alienation. Malayalam, on the other hand, becomes emblematic of home. All We Imagine as Light is an example of a different kind of Indian cinema: one that goes beyond mainstream narratives, and offers viewers an insight into an India they often don’t get to see. The film’s success indicates that there is potential for an alternate cinema that tells a variety of stories, in a way that is attentive to cultural nuances, and still able to serve as a cultural ambassador around the world. ___ Anmol Dutta does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. ___ This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Disclosure information is available on the original site. Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/payal-kapadias-all-we-imagine-as-light-disrupts-popular-narratives-of-mumbai-242579 Advertisement AdvertisementDoughty scores 17 in Indiana State's 83-80 win against IonaNone
SNF receives approval to set up polymer production project in OmanThis article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site. ___ Author: Anmol Dutta, PhD Candidate and Lecturer, Western University Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia’s new film, All We Imagine as Light, won the prestigious Grand Prix award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in May. The film exhibits an Indianness that is distinctive from the one most frequently represented globally. Within mainstream Hindi cinema, India is often presented as a homogenous Hindu, upper-caste, middle-class Hindi-speaking nation. In western popular imaginations, on the other hand, India is often seen as exotic and over-the-top, or poor and backward. All We Imagine as Light tells a story of two migrant women from the southern Indian state of Kerala, Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha) as they struggle to build a life in Mumbai. The kind of Mumbai shown in the film is one that has almost never been explored in Indian cinema. In the film, we see its characters contend with cultural and social isolation, gender inequalities and the challenges of Hindu-Muslim love in India. In this sense, the film does not try to appeal to the non-Indian, western gaze. Instead, All We Imagine as Light depicts a nuanced, complex migrant reality that touches on issues of gender, religion, caste, class, language and access. The refreshing portrayal of Mumbai, and largely of India, reveals an aspect of the nation’s cultural identity that has not been explored within the global space. Disrupting the ‘city of dreams’ All We Imagine as Light premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. It then played at the South Asian Day celebrations at the Forest City Film Festival in London, Ont., where I was a guest speaker for a live Q&A following the screening. The lyrical, almost lulling pace of the film offers the unfamiliar viewer the time needed to adjust to the foreignness of this world. While it remains foreign to the viewer, it is the politics of the every day — the human yearning for light — that affords the film a humanistic vision, making it cross-culturally accessible. One of the primary themes in All We Imagine as Light is disrupting the trite romanticism of Mumbai as a city of dreams. Migrants from across India who come to Mumbai to live a better life experience a kind of disillusionment that is rarely, if ever, addressed in Indian popular culture. Instead, it shows Mumbai as what one of the migrant voice-overs in the film calls a “city of illusions.” All We Imagine as Light starts with disembodied migrant voices in different regional languages such as Tamil, Marathi, Gujarati and Bengali, among others. A montage of the city plays on-screen as viewers hear a voiceover of migrant workers expressing their disenchantment and the “otherness” experienced in Mumbai. A man says how, after living in Mumbai for 23 years, he still can’t call it his home. This feeling of un-homed in Mumbai is experienced through Prabha and Anu, who work as nurses in a hospital and are also roommates. The idea of being un-homed is most sharply portrayed when Prabha’s colleague and friend, Parvaty, is evicted from her house. As a widow, Parvaty has no paperwork to prove ownership of the shack she has lived in for years. In another scene, we see a billboard that promises a “new Mumbai” featuring a light-skinned, hence presumably upper-caste, upper-class, heterosexual couple photographed next to a luxury tower. Parvaty and Prabha helplessly stare at this billboard, eventually hurling stones at it, thus physically resisting everything that the billboard is representative of. As two women navigating life without husbands or any other male counterpart, this scene is significant. It becomes an active distortion of societal expectations and heteronormative ideals. Kapadia also uses Mumbai as a site to engage with the challenges of interfaith relationships in India. The panned shots of Mumbai’s busy streets show Muslim Shiaz following Hindu Anu through crowded streets until the couple find a space where they are not at risk of being seen together. The expectations and limitations the couple must navigate showcase the societal surveillance over Hindu-Muslim relationships in India. The politics of language in Indian cinema Cinema in India is considered to be one of the most significant political and socio-cultural spaces. While multiple regional cinemas exist within the nation, the most popular domain continues to be mainstream Hindi cinema, or Bollywood, which problematically assumes the universality of Hindi within the nation. Whenever most Indian films gain international attention, the implicit assumption is that they are a part of Bollywood, the mainstream cinema in Hindi. A recent example of such assumptions that every Indian film is a Bollywood film or in Hindi was seen when Rajamouli’s Telegu-language blockbuster, RRR, won an Oscar in 2023. The implicit language expectation when watching an Indian film is that it is in Hindi. It is important to note that while Hindi is one of the most widely spoken languages in India, there is no national language. Mumbai is home to Bollywood cinema, and therefore oftentimes presents Hindi as the chosen language. Kapadia does not conform to these mainstream expectations of language. She instead showcases the politics of speaking different regional languages in Mumbai. Malayalam, which is widely spoken in Kerela, is the film’s foremost language. Prabha, Anu and her boyfriend, Shiaz, speak Malayalam. Kapadia uses language as an effective tool to further convey the feeling of un-homed in Mumbai. In a conversation with Prabha, a doctor at the hospital, who is also from Kerala, addresses the discomfort that speaking in Hindi causes him; Malayalam, he says, offers him refuge. Viewers see how most characters are compelled to speak Hindi within the public space, furthering their alienation to the city. Speaking in Malayalam thus becomes a safe harbour for Prabha and Anu in All We Imagine as Light. Kapadia skillfully employs Hindi to denote the characters’ alienation. Malayalam, on the other hand, becomes emblematic of home. All We Imagine as Light is an example of a different kind of Indian cinema: one that goes beyond mainstream narratives, and offers viewers an insight into an India they often don’t get to see. The film’s success indicates that there is potential for an alternate cinema that tells a variety of stories, in a way that is attentive to cultural nuances, and still able to serve as a cultural ambassador around the world. ___ Anmol Dutta does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. ___ This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Disclosure information is available on the original site. Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/payal-kapadias-all-we-imagine-as-light-disrupts-popular-narratives-of-mumbai-242579 Advertisement Advertisement
SYDNEY, Australia, Dec. 15, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hampton Capital Asset Management is proud to announce its appointment and selection for the UNSW TRaCE (Translational Research and Commercialisation Experience) Venture Funding Programme, a pioneering initiative designed to accelerate high-potential startups from research labs to market. The $280 million TRaCE programme, established by the University of New South Wales in collaboration with the Commonwealth Government, industry partners, and the University of Newcastle, is the first of its kind in Australia. Inspired by successful frameworks from Israel and Singapore, TRaCE identifies and supports startups expected to make significant contributions to their industries. By combining early-stage funding with a network of industry leaders, the programme enables venture capital limited partnerships (VCLP) like Hampton Capital to commercialise innovative ideas into successful ventures while reducing risks at critical stages. Hampton Capital’s Commitment to Innovation and Shared Vision Hampton Capital, a leading venture builder, and Hampton Accelerate , its accelerator arm, use cutting-edge technologies and sustainable investment strategies to deliver exceptional outcomes for their clients. Hampton Capital’s selection into the TRaCE programme reflects their dedication to driving impactful solutions and aligns with TRaCE’s mission of tackling the “Valleys of Death”—the critical barriers startups face on their path to commercial viability. The “Valleys of Death” describe the challenges of high development costs and unproven market traction that often deter private investment at crucial growth stages. By using the resources and funding provided by TRaCE, Hampton Capital aims to empower startups to bridge these gaps and scale effectively. “We are honoured to join the UNSW TRaCE programme,” said John Priest, Founder and CEO of Hampton Capital. “This opportunity allows us to refine our innovative financial solutions while extending our reach into world-class research, with a strong focus on sustainability and technological advancement.” Innovative Partnerships Driving Success The TRaCE programme represents a bold new approach to commercialising university research. By integrating TRaCE’s deep R&D capabilities with Investible’s $32.7 million Climate Tech Fund and its expertise in scaling early-stage startups, the programme addresses critical funding gaps that often hinder climate-tech ventures. Through this partnership, startups can access a co-investment framework designed to de-risk ventures and support their transition from lab-based innovation to local manufacturing and global deployment. The collaboration ensures that innovative technologies have the resources and guidance needed to achieve commercial success. Sustainable Innovation for the Future Hampton Capital’s inclusion in the TRaCE programme highlights its leadership in reshaping the financial sector through sustainable investment practices. The programme’s innovative funding mechanisms, including its buy-back system, enable TRaCE to recycle funds and reinvest in future startups, creating a sustainable pipeline of support. Over the coming months, Hampton Capital will collaborate closely with the TRaCE programme team to enhance its market presence, maximise its impact, and solidify its position as a trailblazer in the commercialisation of groundbreaking research. Contact Information: Name: Ivy Fang Company: Hampton Capital Contact: i.fang@hamptoncapital.com.au A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9983586e-dd5f-4b0c-803d-ff546a6f47a6HIGH POINT, N.C. (AP) — D'Maurian Williams scored 18 points as High Point beat Pfeiffer 81-50 on Saturday. Williams went 8 of 13 from the field (2 for 3 from 3-point range) for the Panthers (8-1). Kezza Giffa scored 14 points, going 3 of 8 from the floor, including 1 for 3 from 3-point range, and 7 for 8 from the line. Kimani Hamilton shot 4 for 8, including 1 for 3 from beyond the arc to finish with 11 points. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
On the touchline or off it, the former Chelsea manager is still the biggest draw in the women’s game
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