Time: Saturday 3/1, 2 PM
Location: RLM 9.166 (Robert Lee Moore Hall)
Speaker: Sun, Chia-Liang
Host: Wang, Wei Ching
Topic: How many things are there? （那堆東西有多少？）
Presentation summary:
摘要：「台灣目前居民有xxxxxxxx人，較中華人民共和國居民xxxxxxxxxx人為少」，「上個月立委選舉國民黨政黨票得票數為xxxxxxx，較民進黨得票數xxxxxxx為多」，「新科立委共113人，其中國民黨占xx席，較民進黨的xx席為多」，「我有三個叔叔，三個阿姨」...
以上都是「計數」與「比較多少」的概念。數學家如何將這些概念推廣來回答以下的問題：
所有整數與所有正整數，何者較多？
所有分數與所有整數，何者較多？
一條兩公分的線段上所有的點，與一條200公分線段上所有的點，何者較多？
總之，數不完的兩堆東西可以比較多少嗎？我將以深入淺出的方式，配合實例與故事，一步一步告訴大家這個問題是如何被解決的；並探討「錯覺」產生的可能原因，藉此此說明「定義」在所有學術研究中的重要性；以及現代數學研究的方式。
在背景知識上，除了何謂「正整數」、「整數」、「有理數」（即「分數」）之外，不預設任何數學背景，歡迎大家踴躍參加。
領域：集合論(set theory)
Monday, February 25, 2008
Kevin 2/16/2008
Time: Sat. 2/16, 2pm
Location: UTC 3.102 (Changes will be posted on the door)
Speaker: Kevin Lee (AMD)
Topic: U.S. Economy and Housing Market
Presentation summary: The U.S. economy is losing its momentum because of the financial crisis associated with deteriorations in the housing market and sub-prime mortgage loans. From 2000 to 2006, the U.S housing market delivered huge returns on the investment. In some regions like California and Florida, home prices had doubled or even tripled in this time period. In this presentation, I will talk about the major factors that caused home values to skyrocket. In addition, I plan to show some mathematical formulas to explain why the mortgage banks make more profits by originating sub-prime mortgage loans. These risky loans were ultimately sold to individual investors by the Wall Street investment banks. Because many sub-prime mortgage loans are in default now, investors are no longer interested in buying mortgage notes. As a result, many financial companies are experiencing monetary liquidity problems; lenders are not able to convert their mortgage notes into cash for making new loans. When money supply is tight, banks will make fewer loans to business and consumers. This is a negative factor that is causing the U.S. economy slow down.
Location: UTC 3.102 (Changes will be posted on the door)
Speaker: Kevin Lee (AMD)
Topic: U.S. Economy and Housing Market
Presentation summary: The U.S. economy is losing its momentum because of the financial crisis associated with deteriorations in the housing market and sub-prime mortgage loans. From 2000 to 2006, the U.S housing market delivered huge returns on the investment. In some regions like California and Florida, home prices had doubled or even tripled in this time period. In this presentation, I will talk about the major factors that caused home values to skyrocket. In addition, I plan to show some mathematical formulas to explain why the mortgage banks make more profits by originating sub-prime mortgage loans. These risky loans were ultimately sold to individual investors by the Wall Street investment banks. Because many sub-prime mortgage loans are in default now, investors are no longer interested in buying mortgage notes. As a result, many financial companies are experiencing monetary liquidity problems; lenders are not able to convert their mortgage notes into cash for making new loans. When money supply is tight, banks will make fewer loans to business and consumers. This is a negative factor that is causing the U.S. economy slow down.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Almond 1/26/2008
After the long winter break, the first talk of this semester is right on this coming Saturday. Almond is going to talk about one of the hottest issues in Taiwan right now: the 2008 Taiwan Congress Election. Please come and join the discussion!
Time: Sat. 1/26, 2pm
Location: UTC 3.102
Speaker: Almond
Host: 李珮琳
Please see below for the abstract of Almond's talk.
都是制度惹的禍？談2008立法委員選舉
此次立委選舉結果顯現政黨得票率與當選席次有相當差距。一般評論皆認為是首次採行的單一選區兩票制所造成的結果，而這樣的結果，還招致了不利第三勢力、地方派系勢力茁壯和肉桶政治的批評。然而這樣的結果真是出乎意料嗎？「立委人數減半、單一選區兩票制」是2004年立法院經四分之三決議、而於2005年通過的主要修憲議題。亦即是，這樣的修憲主張在當時是主流的憲政改革議題。而今我們在歷經了選制改革後的首次選舉，各種選制改革的聲音又再次湧現。究竟什麼樣的選制比較符合人民的期待？政治學家如何看待不同選制的影響？我將初淺的以歷史制度論的角度來分析此次立委選舉的制度成因與影響，且一併討論選舉結果對台灣未來政治發展的可能走向。
Time: Sat. 1/26, 2pm
Location: UTC 3.102
Speaker: Almond
Host: 李珮琳
Please see below for the abstract of Almond's talk.
都是制度惹的禍？談2008立法委員選舉
此次立委選舉結果顯現政黨得票率與當選席次有相當差距。一般評論皆認為是首次採行的單一選區兩票制所造成的結果，而這樣的結果，還招致了不利第三勢力、地方派系勢力茁壯和肉桶政治的批評。然而這樣的結果真是出乎意料嗎？「立委人數減半、單一選區兩票制」是2004年立法院經四分之三決議、而於2005年通過的主要修憲議題。亦即是，這樣的修憲主張在當時是主流的憲政改革議題。而今我們在歷經了選制改革後的首次選舉，各種選制改革的聲音又再次湧現。究竟什麼樣的選制比較符合人民的期待？政治學家如何看待不同選制的影響？我將初淺的以歷史制度論的角度來分析此次立委選舉的制度成因與影響，且一併討論選舉結果對台灣未來政治發展的可能走向。
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
2008 Spring Schedule
date/speaker/host
1/26 Almond/Pei-lin
2/9 Kevin/Teh-sheng (2/16)
2/23 Chia-Liang/Wei-ching (3/1)
3/22 Teh-sheng/Chi-Tsun
4/5 Shang-Shang/Yi-huei (Lee) [canceled]
4/19 Kaiman/Long-nan
1/26 Almond/Pei-lin
2/9 Kevin/Teh-sheng (2/16)
2/23 Chia-Liang/Wei-ching (3/1)
3/22 Teh-sheng/Chi-Tsun
4/5 Shang-Shang/Yi-huei (Lee) [canceled]
4/19 Kaiman/Long-nan
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
維菁 12/1/07
Time: 12/1 Sat 2PM
Location: 湘韻家 (UT Brackenridge Apt)
Speaker: 王維菁 (Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Radio, TV, Film)
Host: 蕭靜慧
第一階段講題與綱要如下:
Origins of Economic Inequality in the Age of Information Society: Wage Structure, Unemployment, and Occupation Transformation in Taiwan after 1980
本週討論將從批判政治經濟學的認識論—社會變遷與歷史、社會整體性、道德哲學、以及實踐—出發，探討台灣自1980年代進入知識、技術密集的資訊經濟生產時期後，經濟不平等所生的變化，並探究此一演變發生的可能核心因素。在討論中我們也將簡短回顧台灣經濟發展史，以理解政策、經濟生產模式等如何影響財富分配。至於本文中所欲探討的經濟不平等將聚焦於勞動市場結構，包括薪資不平等、失業、以及職業結構變遷等。
Introduction
The purpose of this research is to explore the changes in economic inequality, if any, that occur when a newly industrialized country (NIC) such as Taiwan ushers in an information economy, defined as information intensive and information technology (IT) production-centric; and further, to track the possible origins of this changing inequality. In terms of economy inequality, this dissertation will concentrate on labor market conditions, including wage inequality, unemployment, and occupation structure alteration, to see how the state and its policies, informationalization, industrial transformation, global competition, changed labor market institutions, and other possible economic factors might go hand in hand to shape the changes in wealth distribution and economic inequality in the age of information society. Since the 1980s, Taiwan industries have undergone a dramatic conversion from traditional labor intensive manufacturing to IT, information and skill intensive industries, as well as service industries. Both government and domestic enterprises were eager to promote this industrial upgrade by adopting informationalization and by expanding skill and information intensive industries such as IT, telecommunications, and knowledge-based industries. Consequently, from 1990 on, Taiwan has become a key producer of IT products and ranks highly worldwide in information and communication technology (ICT) penetration. In 2006, Taiwan’s service industry accounted for 73.44% of the total GDP, manufacturing accounted for 24.99%, and agriculture accounted for only 1.57%; among these sectors, knowledge concentrated manufacturing and service industries were estimated to jointly produce at least 45% of the total GDP. At a time when there are few relevant empirical studies of NICs in transition, Taiwan, whose industrial and economic transformation has been complete and well-documented, provides an excellent case study of changes in economic inequality in the transition from a NIC to an “information economy.”
(Data is calculated based on the Output-Input Data provided by the Council for Economic Planning and Development.)
第二部分的台灣聊天室 討論題目為目前台灣經濟發展狀況
Tentative focuses are
1. 目前台灣經濟發展狀況在國際環境下的優勢與劣勢
2. 未來台灣經濟發展的方向與可能性
3. 經濟成長與公平如何平衡，經濟成長對台灣大多數人是否真有獲益？ 進而思考
我們要的是一個什麼樣的社會？
Location: 湘韻家 (UT Brackenridge Apt)
Speaker: 王維菁 (Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Radio, TV, Film)
Host: 蕭靜慧
第一階段講題與綱要如下:
Origins of Economic Inequality in the Age of Information Society: Wage Structure, Unemployment, and Occupation Transformation in Taiwan after 1980
本週討論將從批判政治經濟學的認識論—社會變遷與歷史、社會整體性、道德哲學、以及實踐—出發，探討台灣自1980年代進入知識、技術密集的資訊經濟生產時期後，經濟不平等所生的變化，並探究此一演變發生的可能核心因素。在討論中我們也將簡短回顧台灣經濟發展史，以理解政策、經濟生產模式等如何影響財富分配。至於本文中所欲探討的經濟不平等將聚焦於勞動市場結構，包括薪資不平等、失業、以及職業結構變遷等。
Introduction
The purpose of this research is to explore the changes in economic inequality, if any, that occur when a newly industrialized country (NIC) such as Taiwan ushers in an information economy, defined as information intensive and information technology (IT) production-centric; and further, to track the possible origins of this changing inequality. In terms of economy inequality, this dissertation will concentrate on labor market conditions, including wage inequality, unemployment, and occupation structure alteration, to see how the state and its policies, informationalization, industrial transformation, global competition, changed labor market institutions, and other possible economic factors might go hand in hand to shape the changes in wealth distribution and economic inequality in the age of information society. Since the 1980s, Taiwan industries have undergone a dramatic conversion from traditional labor intensive manufacturing to IT, information and skill intensive industries, as well as service industries. Both government and domestic enterprises were eager to promote this industrial upgrade by adopting informationalization and by expanding skill and information intensive industries such as IT, telecommunications, and knowledge-based industries. Consequently, from 1990 on, Taiwan has become a key producer of IT products and ranks highly worldwide in information and communication technology (ICT) penetration. In 2006, Taiwan’s service industry accounted for 73.44% of the total GDP, manufacturing accounted for 24.99%, and agriculture accounted for only 1.57%; among these sectors, knowledge concentrated manufacturing and service industries were estimated to jointly produce at least 45% of the total GDP. At a time when there are few relevant empirical studies of NICs in transition, Taiwan, whose industrial and economic transformation has been complete and well-documented, provides an excellent case study of changes in economic inequality in the transition from a NIC to an “information economy.”
(Data is calculated based on the Output-Input Data provided by the Council for Economic Planning and Development.)
第二部分的台灣聊天室 討論題目為目前台灣經濟發展狀況
Tentative focuses are
1. 目前台灣經濟發展狀況在國際環境下的優勢與劣勢
2. 未來台灣經濟發展的方向與可能性
3. 經濟成長與公平如何平衡，經濟成長對台灣大多數人是否真有獲益？ 進而思考
我們要的是一個什麼樣的社會？
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