So, while working on my last post, I found a cool tool I didn’t mention – it’s the National Atlas. You can click on a state and show its cities, counties, population, or even bodies of water. In fact, you can even display levels of arsenic in ground water, if you’d like, and you can mix and match any of the display items you’d like. There are also specialty maps showing additional information in a map format. Above, I’ve shown the distribution of zebra mussels in the US as of 2003, and if you’re interested you can check the progression from 1989 through the present. Amazing.

Now, it’s just for the US, but for anyone who needs a good online reference to regions or who is trying to review demographics and distances it’s an awesome tool. If, like me, you just like maps it’s just a whole lot of fun.

image public domain, nationalatlas.org

Post from: EveryJoe

I love maps

This blog isn’t really about politics, but a recent statement about Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin struck me. Apparently, she doesn’t need foreign policy experience because Alaska is so close to Russia, with variations on the theme citing from seventy to 300 miles or so. Without even addressing the validity of that logic to begin with, it got me thinking – just how far is Anchorage from Moscow, where the real seat of Russian power lies? The answer to that (and any distance questions) is here, at the Distance Calculator.

Apparently, Anchorage is about 4,350 miles from Moscow, only about four hundred miles closer than Philadelphia, where I’m writing this. I guess that means I’m almost qualified to be vice president. The Drudge report had a different take on this line of argument, but either way the distance calculator is kind of a cool tool.

image in the public domain, from nationalatlas.gov

Post from: EveryJoe

Proximity breeds knowledge, or does it?

According to recent reports, US border officials have increasingly been “inspecting” laptops of US citizens and non-citizens alike, and holding those laptops for, in some case, an extended period of time. Courts have thus far been unwilling to stop border officials from perusing pretty much whatever they want on those laptops, which is a bit of a frightening prospect for even those of us who are otherwise law-abiding folk.

If you, like me, carry most of your work with you on a laptop when you travel that’s a bit disconcerting to say the least.

Post from: EveryJoe

Entering without a computer II

The visa waiver program makes it relatively easy for citizens of certain (mostly developed) countries to enter the United States without a visa (see map above). Travelers simply fill out a paper form on the airplane before deplaning and, assuming they have a valid passport and are eligible for entry, are admitted to the United States.

Under a new rule promulgated in June, however, travelers wishing to use the visa waiver program will be required to submit certain personal data electronically prior to entering the US on the waiver program. Those who wish to do so may start using the online program voluntarily by accessing the ESTA website. The rule is subject to comment, but is expected to become mandatory in January 2009. More details are available here, although it’s not clear how potential visa waiver travelers without access to a computer or the internet are to fulfill the registration requirement.

image courtesy of Wikipedia, public domain

Post from: EveryJoe

Entering without a computer

Summer is just around the corner and if you work in the US and are planning a vacation, you should consider yourself lucky: unlike Europe where 25 or 30 days paid vacation are required by law, US employers are not obligated to grant paid vacation days or sick days and many do not.

David Moberg has written an excellent article published at “In These Times” about America’s vanishing free-time and offers some insight into why paid time off is a standard benefit in all industrialized countries except the US.

Any more questions about why I choose to live in Europe?

How many paid vacation days do you get?

Refer to my earlier posts for (1) a comparison of sick days in the US and Europe and (2) an explanation of how different benefits affect the cost of doing business in different countries (comparisons with burdened rates).

Image from usaghessen.eur.army.mil 

Post from: EveryJoe

Vacation plans?

Whatever his faults, McCain has been consistently pro-trade, and even his shift to the right doesn’t appear to have altered that stance much. He’s certainly added some of the “tough scrutiny” language conservatives like to see, but he also still open to expanding NAFTA and negotiating even more trade pacts internationally.

Now, I personally believe that the Democratic statements are just so much political rhetoric, and that the US will continue in its role as an advocate for free trade (if not always with the consistency one might like to see) with either side as president. That said, beating on NAFTA at a time of economic distress brings the issue to the public’s attention, and could lead to public pressure to become more protectionist and withdrawn. I don’t think so, but it’s still a sobering thought for those of who rely on trade for a living.

What do you think? Would either of the Democratic candidates pose a real threat to free trade?

Post from: EveryJoe

The end of free trade

Now, I’m not going to go on a screed about sexual harassment or discrimination, because that’s not really the point of this blog. What I will say is that males from overseas in a management position are practically begging for a lawsuit, and a fairly expensive one at that. Why is that? Well, for one, our rules make it easy to sue, and to get a copy of that e-mail in which the manager made a salacious remark about a female co-worker, so that “private” remark amongst trusted colleagues isn’t as private as they thought. More importantly, though, is that years of experience with discrimination laws have rendered certain behavior much less acceptable (and accepted) in the US than in many other parts of the world.

Now, I’m not saying that US males are progressive angels, or that they’re not thinking what foreign males are actually saying (or doing). Nor am I advocating the US legal system or its rules. What I am saying is that individuals from overseas who will be working with or managing personnel in the US really need to consider some sort of training to understand what is acceptable, and what will get the company sued for everything it’s worth.

Post from: EveryJoe

Behind boardroom doors

More and more European companies are setting up or expanding their US holdings to take advantage of the exchange rates. In effect, the US has become a “low-cost country” (LCC) for businesses based in Euro.

Bernd Matthes, president of BorgWarner Transmission Systems reports “The cost advantage in the US is at least one-third compared to Europe.”

Other examples from the automotive industry:

• Alfa Romeo is looking for a location to produce vehicles in the US.
• Ditto for Volkswagen
• BMW will invest $750 million to expand it’s Spartanburg, SC facility to produce an extra 90,000 vehicles.

Exchange rates are extremely hard to predict, but the Dollar is not expected to make a strong return any time soon. That’s what these European companies are betting on.

How about your industry? What foreign investment have you seen coming into the US because of the low Dollar?

Data and Quote from Automobilwoche.

Post from: EveryJoe

US Dollar Down, Foreign Investment Up

In the aftermath of 9-11, the US cut back on the number of visas issued, including non-immigrant visas used by employers to hire foreigners with technical skills (H-1B Visas). International business depends on mobility of information, goods and human resources; the US visa restrictions are in direct conflict with this need. Add to that the lack of science and engineering students in the US (and other developed countries) and you have a recipe for impending problems.

Bill Gates recently provided testimony to the House Science Committee, outlining a plan to help the US maintain a competitive edge. The four points of the plan include: science education, basic scientific research, incentives for private sector research and more visas.

Current restrictions allow for just 65,000 of the H-1B visas. Gates called this a “serious disruption” in the flow of talented scientists to US companies.

Does your company also have difficulty getting the visas it needs?

Source: AP

Image from france.usembassey.gov.

Post from: EveryJoe

More H-1B Visas Needed

So, you’ve decided to start doing business in the US, you’ve looked at locations for your US office, and maybe you’ve even incorporated an entity in the US. Now it’s time to start work, and it’s likely that you need to send someone to the US. Now you need some visas.

First things first, in most cases, the organizational work leading up to this point is likely ok “without a visa,” assuming you’re from one of the countries whose citizens are permitted to enter without a visa. Others will have completed that work on the B-1 visitor visa, but either way the requirements are the same. Individuals entering the US without a visa which permits work cannot do any work which primarily benefits a US company – they can enter for meetings and conferences, negotiate contracts, make sales, and sometimes even performing some limited services for US customers.

Any work for the US company, or which would arguably take away a job from a US worker, would require a visa which permits employment in the US. If you are looking to transfer an existing employee to the US, if you will be putting a significant amount of money at risk in the US, or if US trade already makes up a significant part of your international trading business, there are probably visas available to you.

Now, most businesses considering an entrée into the US market have one of the above, and can probably obtain the necessary visas. It’s critical to consider this at an early stage in the planning process, because a key employee can make the difference between success and failure in any market.

image from seoul.usembassy.gov

Post from: EveryJoe

Time to get on a plane