Greek shipping and the crisis of the 1980's

In 1982, Greek shipping plunged into a severe crisis: the size of the fleet declined dramatically and over 30% of the fleet was laid-up. catapulting many shipping companies into bankruptcy. The causes of the crisis were: The world recession, leading to regulation, protectionism, subsidization. and the growth of new competition in the tramp shipping market. The erosion of the cost differential between Greek shipping and other maritime nations of the world. The specialization and containerization of the world fleet. The old age and other characteristics of the Greek fleet, which exacerbated the crisis. Greek shipping, with its long history and the expertise, diligence, and supreme opportunism of its dynamic shipowners, will survive the crisis.

A Spatial Comparison of Short and Long Term Migration Trends in China

China’s floating population, those individuals who have migrated between counties or provinces for a period of longer than 6 months, account for 79 million individuals. If intracounty migration is also included, the number jumps to 145 million individuals or over 11% of the total population. This study examines the geographical differences in short and long term migration using ArcGIS to manipulate the spatial GIS data. The study shows that both short and long term migration (in absolute numbers) occurs more frequently near cities and in coastal regions. However, by normalizing the data by population size, the study eliminates the problems of population size on the size of the migrants. Using this normalized data, the study finds that western and northern counties have a large number of migrants present relative to the size of the population. Determining where this floating population migrates helps explain regional inequalities in employment opportunities.