capstone flashbacks

28512 slow day, good for recovery after the weekend of travel. class today was led by a guest lecturer, who i then spoke to after class for the oral history presentation thing we gotta do later. he was an economist, undergrad for econ, masters in international trade, and PhD in European Studies, he knew what he was talking about. his lecture was probably the longest one so far, and i was willing to sit there for double that time and listen to him discuss the transition of the economy. i mean, my Capstone was about more of the political and governance transition so the econ side was interesting. i must note, the guy was an ardent Keynesian neo-liberal economist, a big proponent of the Washington consensus ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_consensus ). which certainly isnt a bad thing, i think a big reason he was so happy with neo-liberalism is because it worked so well for his country. he pointed out that alot of times, transitional and developing economies dont follow all the rules set forth by the Washington Consensus, they half-ass it, and its bites them in said ass. he pointed out that the proposed Shock Therapy worked for the Czech Republic, the first few years after communism were awful, significant inflation, unemployment, restitution issues, some manipulation and abuse of the system took place, but it was all limited to the first 2-3 years. after that they were on the upswing as transitioning into the global market, they had successfully navigated through the transitional phase from a command economy to free market, and the issues through the late 90s, and 00s, were results of globalization. he pointed out that Hungary and Poland had such issues because they didnt jump in head first, they sat in the shallow end and waded in, hence they are still having economic issues (and of course being an economist, all political and social issues are thus engendered) to this day. on a personal front he said that he is very happy with the transition, in that it has afforded himself, and his students m any opportunities for learning and experience. the free market in the Czech Republic today, will help them tomorrow, smart people wont be relegated to janitorial positions as "potential enemies of the state" they will be extolled, and help to improve the nation as a whole. after that we had pancakes, real murican pancakes, with sausage patties, and bacon, and maple syrup, and an irish coffee, for dinner, it was fantastic, as you can imagine, such a heavy meal kinda made me tired, i read my happy fun time scifi book, did some laundry and perused the internets. i think ima meeting some catz for a beer or two, and then bed. i plan to finish my write up for the Under a Cruel Star assignment tomorrow afternoon. sorry for the bland update.