Blog 2 by Dieter De Vos; Sarkozy’s depiction of pregnant, ‘virgin’ Marianne sparks feminist wrath

Sarkozy’s depiction of pregnant, ‘virgin’ Marianne sparks feminist wrath
February 22, 2010

Marianne is a beautiful, pregnant and patriotic expectant mother. But, who is she? What’s so special about her?

Marianne is an expectant mother on a photo that was used by Sarkzozy, the President of the French Republic, to advertise a €35 billion major loan. The picture has been denounced across France to stimulate investments and to increase the growth of the French Republic.

Since the 19th century, Marianne has been portrayed in various guises. In the past, she was illustrated as a revolutionary leader and a warrior. Interesting to know is that Brigit Bardot has served as a model for Marianne.

There are some different opinions about this article, one of them is the opinion of Jean-Marc Huleux, the vice-chairman of Euro RSCG C&O. He says: “The crystal pureness represents the beautiful moment of motherhood which enshrines the full potential of the big loans.”

The campaign costs €975,0000. The Socialist Party accused Sarkozy that he wasted public money. But Sarkozy refutes the socialists by telling them that the government will use the loan to fund investments in higher education, research, technology, fast internet access and small business. According to Sarkozy, the growth of the French Republic will be boosted by 0.3 per cent a year over the next decade. But critics say the opposite. They mean that the deficit will increase.

According to my opinion; Sarkozy, has made a good decision to confess the investment. The Marianne picture is a good way to publish this. A loan is a way to fund an investment and investments need to be made to reinforce the well-being and prosperity for the inhabitants of France. Higher education determines the future. Increasing the knowledge by a higher level of education makes people wiser, so people can start their jobs without having an extra training on the work floor. On this way, the costs for the company’s can be decreased. Research and technology are even important to decrease the time that is needed for the process of working. This will decrease the totality of costs, what’s necessary during today’s a financial crisis. I am sure that Sarkozy took the right decision. Without a doubt the growth of the country’s position will be boosted.

I can conclude that the picture represents the investing of France in the future to stimulate the growth of the country.

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article7035563.ece

Blog 1 by Dieter De Vos; Davon: Clinton says Haiti is investment opportunity

Date: January 28, 2010
Davon: Clinton says Haiti is investment opportunity

Is it possible that an earthquake has any positive consequences? Most of the people should answer no, but there really are some positive consequences.

The former president of the United States, Bill Clinton, said at the World Economic Forum in Davos that Haiti has an investment opportunity. He wants to transform Haiti’s poor infrastructure and decrease the widespread poverty. He recapitulated his words by telling that it is the best chance they’ve ever had in his lifetime ... to escape and that we (the American market) have the best chance we’ve ever had to be a part of that.

Clinton’s programme is called: ‘’cash-for-work”. The programme describes how to encourage the use of the Haitians in the recovery effort. To assure (the) safety for the companies, Bill
Clinton used the argument that 70 per cent of Haiti and 60 per cent of its population had not been directly affected by the killer quake, so there is space and workforce for companies to do business there.

But before this can be realised, there needs to be a good distribution network to distribute food and even water. Also local workforce to rebuild the country is necessary.

According to my opinion, if I should be a businessman, I shouldn’t found a company over there because I believe that there still exists a risk in the future for a second killer earthquake. Even Denis O’Brien, a member of the forum said that it is a terrific place to do business over there.

I am sure that it was and still is a land of chaos because more than 80% of the population counts people who aren’t certificated. The first thing that the government should do is to make a (for) free and profitable education system for the whole population. The second way to improvement is the foundation of factories were people can work for and use their knowledge. The factories need to be modern. It means that we need to go forward and not backward in time by using modern machines that can compete with competitors in the same sector.

So one thing is sure, investments with a low risk for an earthquake need to be made.

Source: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/wef/article7006555.ece