这篇是在cnn上找到的。Alibaba is not the Amazon of ChinaSeptember 16 HONG KONGForget what you've read， Alibaba is NOT "the Amazon of C"The analogy has been used widely as Alibaba prepares for its IPO But it is only partially accurate， and masks big differences in business Sure， Alibaba (BABA) and Amazon both do business on the I They both enable consumers to buy huge volumes of goods without stepping foot in a And both have a stranglehold on their home But that's pretty much where the similarities Unlike Amazon (AMZN， Tech30)， Alibaba does not own most of the items sold on its platforms， it does not maintain massive distribution centers， and it has only a fraction of the 132，000 employees on Amazon's "Amazon and eBay are e-commerce companies， and Alibaba is not an e-commerce company，" Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma said last "Alibaba helps others to do e- We do not sell "The point Ma was trying to drive home is that Alibaba excels at connecting buyers and Alibaba is not the Related: Meet four kings of Alibaba's online retail empireThe company's largest digital marketplace -- Taobao -- allows consumers to buy goods directly from small Tmall， Alibaba's other major shopping marketplace， connects larger brand retailers to Alibaba makes money on Taobao by selling advertisements and search placement to retailers (kinda like Google (GOOG)) The company takes a commission from the larger retailers that operate on Tmall (think eBay (EBAY， Tech30))The model means that Ma doesn't have to obsess over keeping prices low the way Amazon founder Jeff Bezos Related: Should you buy Alibaba shares?The structure also makes Alibaba more of a pure Internet play， a trend reflected in the company's bottom Compared to Amazon， Alibaba's revenue is small (but growing faster) And investors are salivating over the company's much higher profit Investors have also been enticed by Alibaba's success at building what Ma calls an Internet ""The network of services allows consumers to move seamlessly between the company's online retail marketplaces and mobile apps used to process payments， buy movie tickets， call a taxi or invest in a money market Alibaba even has a corporate cousin in the logistics business that handles most of the shipments generated on Tmall and TRelated: 7 things Alibaba users can doIn the end， Alibaba's biggest strengths may stem from overcoming broader problems in China's retail Ma has said that e-commerce in the US is about transferring an existing business onto the Internet (think Amazon and books)"E-commerce in the US is like a It's just supplementary to your main business，" Ma "In China， because the infrastructure of commerce is [so] bad， e-commerce becomes the main "What will happen when Alibaba and Amazon find themselves fighting for the same consumers? Here they are similar: expect both founders to come out "Lying behind the massive allure of the capital market， there is unparalleled ruthlessness and pressure，" Ma wrote in a letter to employees earlier this "In this market， only a small number of outstanding enterprises can maintain a "By Charles Riley September 16， 2014 00:54AM EDT
The Global Financial CrisisMaurice R Greenberg(M Greenberg is Chairman of The Nixon Center and Chairman and CEO of American International G)ForewordThe global financial crisis has clearly become a leading foreign policy priority of the Clinton A Few people are as qualified to evaluate the crisis， its consequences for the United States， and possible solutions as Maurice R G As the Chairman and CEO of American International Group， an insurance and financial services firm that does business in 130 countries， and a former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York， M Greenberg has enormous first-hand knowledge of the world M Greenberg， who is also Chairman of The Nixon Center， originally presented his highly informative and thoughtful remarks during the October 7， 1998 session of the Study Group on America as the Sole Superpower， chaired by Senator John McCain (R-AZ) Organized under the auspices of The Nixon Center， the Study Group is a small， top-level bipartisan panel which includes key members of Congress， former senior officials – among them former Secretaries of State and Defense and four National Security Advisors – business leaders， and prominent Its purpose is to assess US priorities， opportunities， and constraints in the new vastly different post-Cold War M Greenberg’s paper makes an important contribution to this Dimitri K SimesPresidentThe Risk of Global RecessionThe current global financial crisis is among the greatest challenges to the world economy since the end of World War II Unlike past financial crises， which were confined to particular regions， the current financial contagion is quickly spreading across Unless action is taken in the next few months to shore up faltering countries and restore confidence in the global economy， the world will face a deep and prolonged G-7 countries， in particular the United States， were slow to realize the scope and seriousness of the crisis， which began in Thailand in the summer of For example， at the 1997 G-7 summit in Denver， Japan proposed the establishment of a $100 billion Asian fund to help deal with the The US， however， opposed the plan for fear it would undermine the IMF’s more limited rescue program and out of concern over the implications of a Japan-led Only after US stock markets experienced a sharp downturn this past summer did Americans wake up to the Though economic and political leaders throughout the world now acknowledge the seriousness of the situation， a combination of politically weak governments and lack of consensus has prevented quick and decisive action on the part of the industrialized The IMF Is Still Critical， But Its Focus Must ChangeWith the global economy teetering on the brink， now is not the time to abandon existing international institutions in search of new， unproven Aid through the International Monetary Fund remains the best means to stabilize financial However， the approach taken by the IMF to date has failed to turn the Strict conditions imposed by the Fund have forced recipient countries to raise interest rates and lower budget deficits even as they face In many cases， looser fiscal and monetary policies are needed to increase demand and stimulate The IMF was created in 1945 with a mission to stabilize currencies， not to restructure To fight this present crisis， the IMF must get out of the business of managing entire economies and instead concentrate on reducing exchange rate Conditions for recipient countries should focus more narrowly on banking Countries in need of IMF loans should be expected to adopt internationally accepted accounting standards， pass adequate bankruptcy legislation， and produce a clear and thorough accounting of foreign In other aspects of fiscal， trade， and monetary policy， however， recipients should be given more latitude to set their own policies to maintain The United States must continue to contribute its share to the IMF By withholding funds， the US only reduces its influence and its ability to convince the IMF to change its Congressional approval of the $18 billion replenishment should encourage other nations to follow The US contribution of $18 billion will thus mobilize $90 billion， a substantial sum the IMF should use solely for currency Japan has revised its proposal for an Asia-based stabilization fund， this time pledging $30 billion instead of the original $100 Japan， however， should be encouraged to make this money available to the IMF through the General Agreements to Borrow (GAB) so the IMF will remain the main distributor of Small Countries Need Relief From Currency SpeculationSmaller countries like Thailand are unable to defend themselves against international currency speculators， many of whom control billions of Managers of huge hedge funds often sell short simultaneously on a country’s currency and stock When smaller economies are the target of such speculation， these short positions can become self-fulfilling China and India have both limited their exposure to the financial turmoil because their currencies are not freely convertible and thus not subject to While shorting of the dollar or the pound， even by the largest currency speculators， would have little effect on Britain or the US， smaller economies have no means to defend Unrestricted speculation is working to kill free-market thinking in many developing and newly developed Some countries should be allowed to outlaw certain types of short selling and to place some controls on short-term portfolio There is nothing wrong with imposing penalties on investors who buy in and then pull out of a market on the same In this sense， the Hong Kong government’s recent intervention in the stock market is Such measures do not violate free market principles when the aim is to combat certain kinds of speculative Japan: Both Problem and SolutionThe world financial crisis will not improve until Japan， the world’s second largest economy and Asia’s biggest market， returns to the path of economic Though Tokyo’s offers of financial aid to its neighbors are welcome， Japan can only give real help to Asia by boosting its own domestic Japan’s lingering economic malaise has exacerbated currency The yen has gone from ?0/$ a few years ago to ?47 this past A In the week of October 5 alone， the yen suddenly strengthened from ?34 to ? Such fluctuation by a major world currency has grave This volatility makes it impossible for businesses to do any meaningful planning and is delaying Asia’s The problems in the Japanese economy thus jeopardize everyone’s economic security， not just Japan’Perhaps no other industrialized country (with the obvious exception of Russia and some of the emerging markets undergoing major transitions) has suffered from worse political paralysis than J Despite years of stagnant growth， Japan’s leaders have been unable clean up their country’s decrepit On October 3， Bank of Japan Governor Masaru Hayami told Treasury Secretary Robert E Rubin and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that many of Japan’s banks do not meet the 8% capital reserve standard set by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) If true， this means that Japanese banks do not have adequate capital reserves to operate United States officials should privately， but firmly， insist that the Japanese government guarantee that their banks meet the 8% BIS standard or Japanese banks will no longer be allowed to operate in A M Hayami’s statement appears to have been a deliberate move to get the United States to put more pressure on Japan’s politicians to deal with the banking A more hard-line stance by Washington would be useful because it would give Japanese leaders the political cover to initiate tough Once the necessary reform measures pass the Diet， including a bankruptcy law， then the Japanese public may be more willing to allow the government to use some of the money in Japan’s huge postal savings system to help the Leadership Needed， Not Cure-AllsThough the present crisis is often referred to as the "financial contagion，" in reality it is not a single disease with a single Each country has its own unique set of difficulties and the solutions for each country will be South Korea， for example， is still running a healthy trade surplus and enjoys $43 billion in foreign currency reserves， money which could be used to purchase the stock of ailing This would help to revitalize the companies by providing capital at the rate of the day and would provide incentives for foreign banks to convert debt into In Thailand， meanwhile， the government can later dispose of the shares they own in an orderly fashion in the The Thai government has much lower foreign exchange Banks are still paralyzed， but signs are emerging that they are raising new local Thai companies are having difficulty getting trade Malaysia， Indonesia， and Russia are now facing deep political and social problems that cannot be solved through financial means A global lack of investor confidence is at the heart of the current Once investor confidence is lost， it is very hard to Time should not be wasted debating what new institutions or global financial regimes are needed for the Rather， all energy must be spent finding solutions to the present Both the industrialized nations and the IMF must not dictate overly strict conditions for aid that will reduce demand and economic growth in the recipient The G-7 members will need to maintain demand in their own A lowering of interest rates in Europe would help， but interest rate cuts alone will not head off an economic slowdown without additional remedies as described Together these actions would help to restore investor The only way out of the financial crisis is for the United States to show For its part， the Congress was wise to approve funding for the IMF After that， the initiative must come from the White H A positive step would be for President Clinton to oversee the formation of a special commission， preferably composed of experts from all G-7 nations， which would travel to each country to study and recommend country-specific The IMF is a useful lender of last resort， but it is not equipped to build a new global financial Such an endeavor requires not only economic expertise but political effort as It is beyond the mandate of the IMF; thus， the G-7 should assume a leadership Failure to act quickly will carry the risk of plunging the world into a downward spiral that could turn into a recession or
