"It has been said that to one who is good, the whole world becomes good. This is true so far as the individual is concerned. But goodness becomes dynamic only when it is practised in the face of evil. If you return good for good only, it is a bargain and carries no merit, but if you return good for evil, it becomes a redeeming force. The evil ceases before it and it goes on gathering volume and momentum like a snow-ball till it becomes irresistible."

-- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

With today's technology, time and distance are meaningless. We can fly, Mary Poppins style, back and forward in time and across space. With auto translation programs, we can communicate in a variety of languages and read thousands of daily newspapers from around the globe, in auto summary. Digital video recorders give us the ability to capture vivid television images from anywhere that otherwise would disappear into ether...

 
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 ... and I copy some of these for this Web site when it is important to make a point. For me, though, perspective comes from being a part-time resident of Switzerland . . . looking back at the United States as the Swiss and other Europeans see us. Being here -- and there -- helps me gain new ideas . . . sometimes early . . . and always thanks, in part, to patient friends who impart many of the insights I share with you.

(click here for Dean's Biography)

welcome! | email & guest book | search

This Week's Video Commentary:
[requires RealPlayer - click here to download the latest free version]

Monday - June 21
 
America: Use Your Marketing Skills

The Exchange Network (also known as Intrade)

The Exchange Network (also known as Intrade) may be the largest display of forecasts of events backed by the conviction of money on outcomes. These forecasts are the subject of new academic, journalist and political study deriving from the view in many fields that you don't want to argue with markets... they are usually right. In addition, an open, fully-disclosed market book presents opportunities for a network of investors to challenge each other with a transparent "specialist" book... a model of what equities should be. And contracts can be used for low cost hedges on a variety of outcomes. 

For more information on how it works, visit their website.

In the interest of full disclosure: I am an investor in this company, and have a financial interest in the outcome of the exchange. But at least equally I want to share the disclosure of information like the forecasted outcome of the 2004 presidential election with you in real time.

June 7

The film Disney did not want you to see:

Fahrenheit 911 Trailer

May 28

There Is Nothing New Under the (Government) Sun:
 The Kissinger Telcon Tapes

May 3

China Scrapbook Update

Reflections from Shanghai: Ten years ago every meeting between US and Chinese officials began with an American lecture on the superiority of human rights in our country and an admonition that legal transparency was the given right of each individual in any country. Sometimes the discussion referenced pictures of Chinese prisoners being humiliated, spread-eagled or killed/assassinated after closed trials... (click here for full text)

April 27

China Scrapbook Photo Album

April 24

China Scrapbook

24 April: First glimpse of China (written while passing through the Taiwanese Straits): 1. its move to invest in Euro and Asian bonds is an important anti-dollar diversification move. 2. China's growth figures of about 8% may be artificially reported lower than actual. 3. Growth engines have shifted from exports to domestic demand; from coastal to western provinces. 4. concern about inflation is early and will be successful. 5. expectation that China is becoming the world's number one economic power may be sooner than mid-century, with some big potholes, of course.

23 April: Hong Kong: One of the few populated cities less crowded now than five years ago. No traffic jams in Central, no crowds pushing to board the Star Ferry. No crowds in the massive family restaurants. No crush of ships waiting for pier space in the harbor What happened? Could be that China no longer needs a gateway to the West now that ports like Shanghai or even Shenzhen just across the "border" have opened. Some will say it is the tightening politics from Beijing but I doubt it. Hong Kong has always been a city that runs on money as fuel, rather like Las Vegas or Hollywood and it makes no difference what the politics is.

April 10

The Bushiad and the Idyossey

Based upon the classic format and message of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, the mortals and Gods in America today see themselves fighting epic battles.  These two novels by Victor Littlebear are written in the style of these Greek classics... demonstrating again that myth and history meld together in men's grand visions and we are forced to relearn old lessons.

April 1

Video Scrapbook

This is a place for interesting odds and ends of video that don't quite fit as daily video commentaries, but might be of general interest.

my books

Mao, Marx & and the Market
Capitalist Adventures in Russia and China, 

Dean LeBaron's
Treasury of Investment Wisdom,

and

Dean LeBaron's
Book of
Investment Quotations

are now available in print form, 

published by by John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

 

Two Lakes

Webcams have been updated at both locations to new Mobotix cameras. Each site includes links for area weather and information.

The Sunapee scenes look south first to the left from the waters-edge toward Mt Sunapee with its ski trails prominent in the winter view. And the two right side views face NW into the entrance to Sunapee Harbor just over two  miles from the cam shoreline. This lake is not deep, averaging about 40 ft. with a wooded shoreline, good anchorages and attractive harbors at Newbury, Burkehaven, Sunapee and Georges Mills.

The Weesen scenes are from my terrace overlooking the village of Weesen, SG and toward the east along the road extending up to the Amden resort areas and across the Walensee to Walenstadt. The lake is fiord-like, the deepest in Switzerland, and ringed by mountains on all sides.

Here's a 360° view from the middle of Lake Sunapee

Petrushka Webcams, St. Petersburg, RU

This commercial operation in which I have a business interest is a convertible indoor kid's playground, disco and restaurant. The theme is Little Peter referring to Peter the Great, Czar of Russia and founder of the city, and the icon inspiring the name is a doll made by the nuns of St. Joseph's Elder Home in Weesen, Switzerland. Through the webcams you can see the activities of three locations within the facility. Click on Webcam 1, 2 or 3.

Complexity Digest 2004.24 14-Jun-2004

  Archive: http://www.comdig.org, European Mirror: http://www.comdig.de
  Asian Mirror: http://www.phil.pku.edu.cn/resguide/comdig/ (Chinese GB-Code)
  "I think the next century will be the century of complexity." Stephen Hawking

 
  1. Universe Started With Hiss, Not Bang, NewScientist
  2. How Google Took the Work Out of Selling Advertising, NY Times
    1. Social Networks And Loss Of Capital, Social Networks
    2. Robotic Rock-Climber Takes Its First Steps, NewScientist
  3. Dog's Verbal Tricks Probe Origin Of Language, NewScientist
    1. A Dog of Many Words, Science Now
    2. Collie Dog's Word Power Impresses, BBC News
    3. Old Dog Learns New Tricks, Natue Science update
    4. Word Learning in a Domestic Dog: Evidence for "Fast Mapping", Science
  4. Animal Behavior: Eavesdropping On Bats, Nature
    1. Locust Swarms May Spiral Into Plague, NewScientist
  5. Breaking the Sod: Humankind, History, and Soil, Science
    1. Ecology in the Underworld, Science
    2. Soil Carbon Sequestration Impacts on Global Climate Change and Food Security, Science
    3. Interactions and Self-Organization in the Soil-Microbe Complex, Science
  6. Multi-agent Simulations and Ecosystem Management: A Review, Ecological Modelling
    1. Ecology Drives The Worldwide Distribution Of Human Diseases, Alphagalileo
    2. Universal Mortality Law and Immortality, arXiv
  7. Brain Learns Like A Robot, Nature
    1. The Wholes That Are Greater Than The Sum Of Their Parts In Mathematics Education, J. Math. Behav.
    2. Why Do U.S. And Chinese Students Think Differently In Mathematical Problem Solving?, J. Math. Behav.
  8. Human Subjects Play Mind Games, Washington University in St. Louis News & Information
    1. An Eye On The Tongue, ScienceDaily
  9. Some Brain Areas May Doze More Deeply Than Others, Science Now
    1. The Sleeping Brain, NPR TOTN
    2. Memory Fails You After Severe Stress, NewScientist
  10. Loss Of Circadian Genes Results In Epilepsy, ScienceDaily
  11. Complex Machine Carved Ancient Rings, Nature
    1. China Had First Complex Machines, BBC News
    2. Conflicting Cultures and Innovation, MIT Sloan Management Review
  12. Self-Assembly Made Easy, Physics Web
    1. Nanophysics: A Step Up To Self-Assembly, Nature
    2. Molecular Medicine: The Writing Is On The Vessel Wall, Nature
  13. Venezuelan Recall Is in Dispute Even Before the Vote, NY Times
    1. Gambling on Voting, NY Times
    2. Gambling on Voting, NY Times
  14. Appealing a Death Sentence Based on Future Danger, NY Times
    1. Meager Evaluations Make It Hard to Find Out What Works, Science
    2. Ruined Moments In Your Life: How Good Are The Approximations?, Insurance: Math.& Econ.
  15. Choice, Consent, And The Legitimacy Of Market Transactions, Econ. & Phil.
  16. An Oil Enigma: Production Falls Even as Reserves Rise, NY Times
  17. This Spy for Rent, NY Times
  18. Memos on Torture Conflict with Bush Legal Policies, NPR
    1. Iraq Abuse 'Came From US Policy', BBC News
    2. Use of Dogs to Scare Prisoners Was Approved, Washington Post
    3. A Look Behind the 'Wire' At Guantanamo, Washington Post
    4. Iraq Tactics Have Long History With U.S. Interrogators, Washington Post
    5. Guantanamo List Details Approved Interrogation Methods, Washington Post
  19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
    1. The War on Terrorism: The Big Picture, Parameters
    2. U.S. Wrongly Reported Drop in World Terrorism in 2003, NY Times
    3. Isolation Is Not The Answer, Nature
  20. Links & Snippets
    1. Other Publications
    2. Webcast Announcements
    3. Conference & Call for Papers Announcements

What's New - The Full Site History, Last Updated on April 10, 2004

Dean's Family Photo Album

Worthy Charities
On this page are the links to and perhaps a description of some interests I help support through the LeBaron Foundation.

Also online:
Ins and Outs of Institutional Investing
Dean's personal account of institutional management 25 years ago.

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