Podcasts about as smith

For over a century Mexico has been embroiled in a drug war dictated by the demands of their neighbor to the north. In The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade (W. W. Norton, 2021), Benjamin T. Smith offers a history of the trade and its effects upon the people of Mexico. As he reveals, at the start of the 20th century drugs such as marijuana and opium were largely on the margins of Mexican society, used mainly by soldiers, prisoners, and immigrants. The association of marijuana with a bohemian subculture in the early 1920s prompted the first punitive laws against it, while the use of opium by Chinese immigrants led Mexican officials to target the drug as a means to arrest the country's Chinese population. Yet the drug trade thrived thanks to the growing demand for marijuana and heroin in the United States. In response, American officials pressured their Mexican counterparts to end drug production and distribution in their country, even to the point of ending the effort to provide heroin in a regulated way for the country's relatively small population of heroin addicts. Yet these efforts often foundered on the economic factors involved, with many government officials protecting the trade either for personal profit or for the financial benefits the trade provided to their states. This trade only grew in the postwar era, as the explosion of drug use in the 1960s and the crackdown on the European heroin trade made Mexico an increasingly important supplier of narcotics to the United States. The vast profits to be made from this changed the nature of the trade from small-scale family-managed operations to much more complex organizations that increasingly employed violence to ensure their share of it. As Smith details, the consequences of this have proven enormously detrimental both to the Mexican state and to the Mexican people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/world-affairs

For over a century Mexico has been embroiled in a drug war dictated by the demands of their neighbor to the north. In The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade (W. W. Norton, 2021), Benjamin T. Smith offers a history of the trade and its effects upon the people of Mexico. As he reveals, at the start of the 20th century drugs such as marijuana and opium were largely on the margins of Mexican society, used mainly by soldiers, prisoners, and immigrants. The association of marijuana with a bohemian subculture in the early 1920s prompted the first punitive laws against it, while the use of opium by Chinese immigrants led Mexican officials to target the drug as a means to arrest the country's Chinese population. Yet the drug trade thrived thanks to the growing demand for marijuana and heroin in the United States. In response, American officials pressured their Mexican counterparts to end drug production and distribution in their country, even to the point of ending the effort to provide heroin in a regulated way for the country's relatively small population of heroin addicts. Yet these efforts often foundered on the economic factors involved, with many government officials protecting the trade either for personal profit or for the financial benefits the trade provided to their states. This trade only grew in the postwar era, as the explosion of drug use in the 1960s and the crackdown on the European heroin trade made Mexico an increasingly important supplier of narcotics to the United States. The vast profits to be made from this changed the nature of the trade from small-scale family-managed operations to much more complex organizations that increasingly employed violence to ensure their share of it. As Smith details, the consequences of this have proven enormously detrimental both to the Mexican state and to the Mexican people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law

For over a century Mexico has been embroiled in a drug war dictated by the demands of their neighbor to the north. In The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade (W. W. Norton, 2021), Benjamin T. Smith offers a history of the trade and its effects upon the people of Mexico. As he reveals, at the start of the 20th century drugs such as marijuana and opium were largely on the margins of Mexican society, used mainly by soldiers, prisoners, and immigrants. The association of marijuana with a bohemian subculture in the early 1920s prompted the first punitive laws against it, while the use of opium by Chinese immigrants led Mexican officials to target the drug as a means to arrest the country's Chinese population. Yet the drug trade thrived thanks to the growing demand for marijuana and heroin in the United States. In response, American officials pressured their Mexican counterparts to end drug production and distribution in their country, even to the point of ending the effort to provide heroin in a regulated way for the country's relatively small population of heroin addicts. Yet these efforts often foundered on the economic factors involved, with many government officials protecting the trade either for personal profit or for the financial benefits the trade provided to their states. This trade only grew in the postwar era, as the explosion of drug use in the 1960s and the crackdown on the European heroin trade made Mexico an increasingly important supplier of narcotics to the United States. The vast profits to be made from this changed the nature of the trade from small-scale family-managed operations to much more complex organizations that increasingly employed violence to ensure their share of it. As Smith details, the consequences of this have proven enormously detrimental both to the Mexican state and to the Mexican people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

For over a century Mexico has been embroiled in a drug war dictated by the demands of their neighbor to the north. In The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade (W. W. Norton, 2021), Benjamin T. Smith offers a history of the trade and its effects upon the people of Mexico. As he reveals, at the start of the 20th century drugs such as marijuana and opium were largely on the margins of Mexican society, used mainly by soldiers, prisoners, and immigrants. The association of marijuana with a bohemian subculture in the early 1920s prompted the first punitive laws against it, while the use of opium by Chinese immigrants led Mexican officials to target the drug as a means to arrest the country's Chinese population. Yet the drug trade thrived thanks to the growing demand for marijuana and heroin in the United States. In response, American officials pressured their Mexican counterparts to end drug production and distribution in their country, even to the point of ending the effort to provide heroin in a regulated way for the country's relatively small population of heroin addicts. Yet these efforts often foundered on the economic factors involved, with many government officials protecting the trade either for personal profit or for the financial benefits the trade provided to their states. This trade only grew in the postwar era, as the explosion of drug use in the 1960s and the crackdown on the European heroin trade made Mexico an increasingly important supplier of narcotics to the United States. The vast profits to be made from this changed the nature of the trade from small-scale family-managed operations to much more complex organizations that increasingly employed violence to ensure their share of it. As Smith details, the consequences of this have proven enormously detrimental both to the Mexican state and to the Mexican people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/latin-american-studies

For over a century Mexico has been embroiled in a drug war dictated by the demands of their neighbor to the north. In The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade (W. W. Norton, 2021), Benjamin T. Smith offers a history of the trade and its effects upon the people of Mexico. As he reveals, at the start of the 20th century drugs such as marijuana and opium were largely on the margins of Mexican society, used mainly by soldiers, prisoners, and immigrants. The association of marijuana with a bohemian subculture in the early 1920s prompted the first punitive laws against it, while the use of opium by Chinese immigrants led Mexican officials to target the drug as a means to arrest the country's Chinese population. Yet the drug trade thrived thanks to the growing demand for marijuana and heroin in the United States. In response, American officials pressured their Mexican counterparts to end drug production and distribution in their country, even to the point of ending the effort to provide heroin in a regulated way for the country's relatively small population of heroin addicts. Yet these efforts often foundered on the economic factors involved, with many government officials protecting the trade either for personal profit or for the financial benefits the trade provided to their states. This trade only grew in the postwar era, as the explosion of drug use in the 1960s and the crackdown on the European heroin trade made Mexico an increasingly important supplier of narcotics to the United States. The vast profits to be made from this changed the nature of the trade from small-scale family-managed operations to much more complex organizations that increasingly employed violence to ensure their share of it. As Smith details, the consequences of this have proven enormously detrimental both to the Mexican state and to the Mexican people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

For over a century Mexico has been embroiled in a drug war dictated by the demands of their neighbor to the north. In The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade (W. W. Norton, 2021), Benjamin T. Smith offers a history of the trade and its effects upon the people of Mexico. As he reveals, at the start of the 20th century drugs such as marijuana and opium were largely on the margins of Mexican society, used mainly by soldiers, prisoners, and immigrants. The association of marijuana with a bohemian subculture in the early 1920s prompted the first punitive laws against it, while the use of opium by Chinese immigrants led Mexican officials to target the drug as a means to arrest the country's Chinese population. Yet the drug trade thrived thanks to the growing demand for marijuana and heroin in the United States. In response, American officials pressured their Mexican counterparts to end drug production and distribution in their country, even to the point of ending the effort to provide heroin in a regulated way for the country's relatively small population of heroin addicts. Yet these efforts often foundered on the economic factors involved, with many government officials protecting the trade either for personal profit or for the financial benefits the trade provided to their states. This trade only grew in the postwar era, as the explosion of drug use in the 1960s and the crackdown on the European heroin trade made Mexico an increasingly important supplier of narcotics to the United States. The vast profits to be made from this changed the nature of the trade from small-scale family-managed operations to much more complex organizations that increasingly employed violence to ensure their share of it. As Smith details, the consequences of this have proven enormously detrimental both to the Mexican state and to the Mexican people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

It was a tweet heard 'round the crypto world.  A breaking news account fired off, in all caps, an unsubstantiated headline that the U.S. Treasury Department was set to crack down on a number of unknown banks for their activity in the crypto market. Soon after the tweet's release, several industry insiders — including the Blockchain Association's Kristin Smith — threw cold water on its key claim.  "There's a lot of rumors going around that don't have any truth of foundation," Smith said.  In this episode of The Scoop, Smith unpacked the erroneous rumor, why U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen isn't making bitcoin a priority right now, how crypto policy works, and why crypto market participants should be concerned about the Financial Action Task Force decision coming this June. As Smith put it during the interview: "The thing that we do have to worry about at Treasury isn't coming from the top people as I said but Treasury's interaction with the Financial Action Task Force or the FATF. The FATF has proposed something that is fairly scary ... if adopted would require a lot of different entities in the U.S. to register as money services businesses."Smith went on to add: "The threat right now is not Yellen." This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Bakkt, Kraken, and Exodus Bakkt® unlocks the $1.2+ trillion of digital assets that is currently held in cryptocurrencies, rewards and loyalty points, gaming assets and merchant stored value. We began in 2018 with the vision to bring trust and transparency to digital assets. Through the Bakkt Warehouse and Bakkt Bitcoin Futures and Options contracts, we serve institutional clients in an end-to-end regulated market with true price transparency. For consumers, Bakkt aggregates digital assets to enable instant liquidity and to empower users to trade, transfer and pay however they want. Visit Bakkt.com for more information About Kraken Whether you’re an experienced crypto trader or just starting out, Kraken has the tools to help you achieve financial freedom. With 50+ cryptocurrencies to choose from, industry-leading security and a wide variety of features to suit any investing strategy, Kraken puts the power in your hands to buy, sell and trade digital assets. Visit Kraken.com to get started today. About Exodus Exodus is leading the world out of traditional finance by building beautiful and user-friendly crypto products. Forget having to learn the nuances of different cryptocurrencies. Exodus is designed for everyone and hides the complex details behind a beautiful and intuitive interface. Buy and sell one cryptocurrency for another from the comfort of your wallet, in seconds. Funds remain under your full control. Secure, manage, stake, and exchange all of your favorite cryptocurrencies from one wallet. No account registration is required. Download Exodus at Exodus.com or directly from Google Play and the iOS App Store and you’re ready to go. 

This newsletter is really a weekly public policy thought-letter. While excellent newsletters on specific themes within public policy already exist, this thought-letter is about frameworks, mental models, and key ideas that will hopefully help you think about any public policy problem in imaginative ways. It seeks to answer just one question: how do I think about a particular public policy problem/solution?PS: If you enjoy listening instead of reading, we have this edition available as an audio narration courtesy the good folks at Ad-Auris. If you have any feedback, please send it to us. India Policy Watch #1: Consumption And The Fable Of BeesInsights on burning policy issues in India— RSJ‘The pandemic has shown us what is truly important in our lives.’‘We learnt to go slow and consume only that we need during the lockdown. That’s one lesson we should follow beyond the pandemic.’‘The earth is healing as the pandemic has forced us to slow down our lives and reduce our greed.’  Every couple of weeks I come across a column that argues on similar lines as above since the pandemic began. I guess we have a great desire to search for a silver lining in the bleakest of scenarios. But this is exactly the kind of silver lining we should avoid. The idea we learn to reduce consumption so the earth can sustain our load doesn’t have any underlying logic. Worse, such reduction will harm the vulnerable and the poor the most. But, hey, good intentions are all that matter, right?Any discussion on consumption as a vice takes me back to Mandeville and his work ‘The Fable of Bees’ which has a deserving claim of being among the most provocative and counter-intuitive texts of all time. Published in the early 18th century, it’s alternative title, Private Vices, Public(k) Benefits establishes its central thesis upfront. The book is in three parts. The first part is a poem, The Grumbling Hive, which is followed by an essay discussing the poem. The book concludes with an essay An Enquiry into the Origin of Moral Virtue that lays out his defence of vice. This essay, as we will soon see, is a proto-text for different schools of economic and moral philosophy that emerged during and after the age of enlightenment.The Wages Of VirtueThe Grumbling Hive is a simple poem of uncertain literary merit. There’s a hive of bees that live in ‘luxury and ease’ while giving virtue, moderation and restraint a short shift. Instead of being happy with this prosperity, the bees question their lack of morality and wonder (or grumble) if there wasn’t a more honest way to lead their lives. Some kind of divine power grants them their wish and their hearts are filled with virtue now. This turn to an ethical hive however comes at the cost of prosperity. Ease was a vice now, temperance a virtue and the industry that emerged from the bees competing with one another disappeared since the virtuous bees didn’t bother any further with competition. This lack of industry meant a fall in prosperity. Many thousand bees lost their lives, and society started collapsing. The bees weren’t deterred. They flew into a hollow tree that suited their new lifestyle of restraint. They were content being poor but honest. Mandeville questions the social benefit of this trade-off. What good is this virtuous life which keeps everyone poor? This leads him to make the almost blasphemous claim that vice is good so long as it is within bounds of justice. Not just that he also bats for people as a resource. People are not a burden for society. This was incendiary material then. And I guess, even now. He wrote:So Vice is beneficial found, When it’s by Justice lopt and bound; Nay, where the People would be great, As necessary to the State, As Hunger is to make ’em eat.And after having set the Thames on fire, he concludes the poem with these famous lines:Bare Virtue can’t make Nations live In Splendor; they, that would revive A Golden Age, must be as free, For Acorns, as for Honesty.With this, Mandeville earned his lifelong notoriety as a libertine of dubious morality. It didn’t bother him and his later defence of thievery and prostitution as public good suggests it possibly fuelled his desire to be more outrageous.Private Vice, Public BenefitIn his essay ‘An Enquiry into the Origin of Moral Virtue’, Mandeville explains the paradox of private vice and public benefit further. Mandeville makes three key arguments:A virtuous act is one that’s unselfish and driven by reason. Acts that are selfish and involve raw passions were vices. Mandeville goes about looking for virtuous acts in society and draws a blank. However, he finds there are acts beneficial to the society that don’t qualify as virtues. He concludes individuals might pursue their self-interest (vice) but on an aggregated basis this might be creating a societal good. For example, members of a society might quarrel among each other pursuing their interest, but that quarrel generates employment for lawyers, clerks and judges. If they were to turn virtuous, this public benefit would disappear.The natural state of man (the term used in the text which we will use here) was to be selfish. The individual was a ‘fallen man’ who was selfish and sought pleasure only for himself. This vice was the foundation of the society and all social virtues emerged from self-interest. Vice is good. To Mandeville, virtue was a state of denial of this natural state. Even virtue that man displays is rooted in vice. A man acts with virtue for two reasons –either to satisfy his ego (vanity) of being seen as virtuous by the society or to not offend the ego of his peers. This is a facade to cover the underlying greed or selfish motives that give him private pleasure. These days we might call it virtue signalling. This cynical take on man and society didn’t earn him friends. The act of calling virtue a facade was unacceptable in a society whose foundation was the Christian notion of virtue. The idea that a human couldn’t do a virtuous act without self-denial negated the concept of a religious man being a superior person who could rise above primal passions. There were multiple attacks on The Fable of Bees from moral and political philosophers of the time. Yet the text survived for two reasons. One, in its belief that the society is held together by individual acts of self-interest of many and not by some kind of faith in the divine, it was the first attempt at separating social science from the clutches of theology. This was already achieved in natural sciences with scientists like Galileo, Copernicus and Newton challenging religious orthodoxies through the scientific method. The time was ripe for questioning the role of religion in social sciences too. Two, there was something liberating about a text that didn’t speak about how humans should be. Instead, it was a realist’s view of how humans behave in nature and that behaviour at an aggregated level produces social benefits. This was a powerful insight that advocated individual liberty.The Long Shadow Of The FableThe Fable of Bees served as inspiration for a wide range of philosophers over the course of the next two centuries. Hume agreed with the basic premise of Mandeville that the sense of morality or virtuousness in a man occurs only in a community or a society through aggregated acts. Hobbes drew from Mandeville on self-interest being the primary motivation for human action. Adam Smith was inspired by the notion of aggregated self-interest producing social good though he disagreed with Mandeville by bringing in the role of sympathy. He also thought vanity alone wasn’t the reason people acted with virtue. There was a desire for true glory too. As Smith wrote in The Theory of Moral Sentiments:“It is the great fallacy of Dr. Mandeville's book to represent every passion as wholly vicious, which is so in any degree and in any direction. It is thus that he treats everything as vanity which has any reference, either to what are, or to what ought to be the sentiments of others: and it is by means of this sophistry, that he establishes his favourite conclusion, that private vices are public benefits.”Yet Smith accepts there is a kernel of truth in Mandeville’s core assertion:“But how destructive soever this system may appear, it could never have imposed upon so great a number of persons, nor have occasioned so general an alarm among those who are the friends of better principles, had it not in some respects bordered upon the truth.” (emphasis ours)While the fable of bees influenced Smith and his methodological individualism, it also left a mark on Rousseau and the French collectivists who followed him. Rousseau agreed with Mandeville on the lack of social or public-spiritedness in man in the natural state. However, Rousseau introduced ‘pity’ or a “natural repugnance at seeing any other sensible being and particularly any of our own species, suffer pain or death” as natural sentiment within a man. This pity overrode self-interest and became the reason for other virtues.It isn’t too difficult to see how Mandeville’s philosophy became the founding text for the economic theory based on the primacy of individual liberty and limited intervention of the state. If individual acts of self-interest could lead to social good, what was the need for any intervention by anyone? This was the argument of Friedrich von Hayek who took the fable of bees as the first text that advocated ‘spontaneous order’. He wrote:“It was through asking how things would have developed if no deliberate actions of legislation had ever interfered that successively all the problems of social and particularly economic theory emerged. There can be little question that the author to whom more than any other this is due was Bernard Mandeville.”   In a similar vein, Ludwig von Mises (Hayek’s peer from the Austrian school) explained, in Theory and History (1957):“Only in the Age of Enlightenment did some eminent philosophers . . .inaugurate a new social philosophy . . . They looked upon human events from the point of view of the ends aimed at by acting men, instead of from the point of view of the plans ascribed to God or nature . . .“Bernard Mandeville in his Fable of the Bees tried to discredit this doctrine. He pointed out that self-interest and the desire for material well-being, commonly stigmatized as vices, are in fact the incentives whose operation makes for welfare, prosperity, and civilization.”While Hayek and Mises were crediting Mandeville for being the first to articulate spontaneous order, their great intellectual rival, Keynes, was finding merits in the fable of bees too. Keynes’ Paradox of Thrift is the intellectual progeny of the Private Vice, Public Virtue paradox:“For although the amount of his own saving is unlikely to have any significant influence on his own income, the reactions of the amount of his consumption on the incomes of others makes it impossible for all individuals simultaneously to save any given sums. Every such attempt to save more by reducing consumption will so affect incomes that the attempt necessarily defeats itself. It is, of course, just as impossible for the community as a whole to save less than the amount of current investment, since the attempt to do so will necessarily raise incomes to a level at which the sums which individuals choose to save add up to a figure exactly equal to the amount of investment.” The state could get itself out of a recession by stimulating demand and increasing consumption while it could dig itself into a bigger hole by reducing consumption. Keynes credits Mandeville’s work in his General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money for highlighting consumption (aggregate demand) as the principal engine for economic prosperity. It is possible Mandeville wasn’t aware of the profound implications of his fable when he wrote it. He was possibly baiting the hypocrites of the society of his time who hectored others to live in virtue while committing vices themselves. It is also likely he was being ridiculous for the sake of infamy since he seemed to enjoy riling up people. But given his influence on the entire spectrum of philosophical and economic thought – from individualism to collectivism and from statism to laissez faire – I’m inclined to side with Adam Smith. Mandeville’s fable borders on a fundamental truth – private vices may lead to public good.A Framework a Week: A COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment Strategy for IndiaTools for thinking public policy— Pranay KotasthaneWhat should India’s approach be to deploying a COVID-19 vaccine? Once a vaccine candidate passes all clinical trial stages, the sequencing problem is non-trivial for a country of India’s size and income levels. Consider this: India’s rather successful and extensive Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) vaccinates about 2.9 crore mothers (and 2.6 crore infants) annually whereas the COVID-19 vaccine has to reach nearly 100 crore people as soon as possible — a problem 30 times bigger than what the UIP manages.Led by my colleague Shambhavi Naik, we have a reaseach document out that develops a framework for vaccine deployment. It breaks down the challenge into four parts:(Source: Shambhavi Naik et al, A COVID-19 vaccine deployment strategy for India. Takshashila Discussion SlideDoc, September 2020)Estimate Need: Initially, prioritise a really small set of recipients initially based on how essential the service they provide is for managing the pandemic. Once that’s out of the way, randomisation works better than sequencing recipients based on age, comorbidity prevalence, or other such demographic indicators.Secure Vaccine Supply: At our current production capacity, vaccinating 80% of the population will require 20 months. Which means India will need to source vaccines from other companies/countries and incentivise increased manufacturing in India. A transparent model contract specifying terms of technology transfer and manufacturing partnerships to build manufacturer and public confidence.Choose Delivery Channel: Use the Election Commission of India machinery to get the vaccine booths to the people in a mission mode operation. The state governments’ public health administration will coordinate the vaccine administration. Track Vaccine Distribution: A separate database, enabled by Aadhaar and/or election ink as an identifier, to track vaccine distribution and adverse events.Do give the document a read and send in your suggestions. This problem needs all hands on deck. Not a PolicyWTF: The Art of Letting GoThis section looks at egregious public policies. Policies that make you go: WTF, Did that really happen?— Pranay KotasthaneIn this section, we are on the lookout for egregious policies. Such policies are not difficult to find. Very rarely though, the reverse happens. Governments spring up a surprise on us by bringing in pro-market reforms. Here are two such cases from the recent past. Neither can be classified as a policy success. They are at best first steps in the right direction, requiring further work. EV Minus BatteryOn August 12, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways notified that state governments allow registration of electric vehicles without pre-fitted batteries. Since batteries make up 30-40% of an EV’s cost, this move is intended to bring down up-front costs for consumers.This is a positive move. Unbundling the battery from the vehicle creates new market opportunities. A consumer can potentially register an EV from a vehicle manufacturer but get the vehicle battery from an energy management company. Energy management companies can come up with new models for both battery swapping or for the charging infrastructure. Of course, this move has made the incumbent vehicle makers unhappy as their own battery manufacturing plans now face a new challenge. Nevertheless, a pro-market policy is often an anti-incumbent one. One bottleneck remains. Batteries are taxed at 18% GST while EVs are taxed at 5% GST. This creates an inverted duty structure (explained in edition#50) that will generate huge GST refund claims — some fraudulent, others genuine. This must be fixed by taxing both batteries and EVs at the same rate.Governments prefer overregulation. But this move is an example of dismantling regulation and enabling markets. For governing technologies under low state capacity, stepping back instead of overdetermining rules is a better approach. Market conditions should inform regulation, not the other way around. The Corporatisation of Ordnance Factory Board If you thought defence PSUs such as HAL and BEL are underperforming, you haven’t met Ordnance Factories (OFs). These 41 factories form ‘the largest and oldest departmentally run industrial organisation in India’ (Indian Defence Industry: An Agenda for Making in India, page 20). Together they employ more than 80,000 people. In 2013-14, OFs had sales of more than eleven thousand crores and yet being a departmentally run organisation, they do not have to follow commercial accounting practices, and do not have to maintain balance sheets and P&L statements. Even their barebones annual reports are classified and hence not open to public scrutiny. How convenient.Not surprisingly, OFs have failed to deliver. The government has now constituted an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) to begin corporatisation — a process that will make these OFs into one or more defence PSUs such HAL. Even though these DPSUs will remain a wholly-owned entity of the Ministry of Defence, corporatisation will make these factories quasi-independent of government and allow them to focus on business goals such as profits and return on investment. With their own budgets and balance sheets, their performance (or the lack of it) will be out in the open. Corporatisation was first proposed by the Kelkar Committee in 2005. Fifteen years down the line, it seems to be gathering some steam. Nevertheless, as our DPSUs demonstrate, corporatisation is but a first step towards a modern defence industrial base. Going further, non-performing OFs should be shut down or the stake in them should be divested. India Policy Watch #2: A Fog Of Information— RSJWe have made the point in an earlier edition about the perils of scanning sectoral data or select high-frequency indicators to arrive at any conclusion about economic recovery in India. The pandemic is still raging with daily case count on an upward trend, supply chains aren’t fully restored, and the consumers aren’t confident of stepping out of their homes and spending. The pandemic and the lockdown were idiosyncratic events and we should accept the uncertainty that comes with it. Yet we seem to be keen on highlighting narrow slivers of data and drawing conclusions from them. Kidding Ourselves?Take this news item that suggests “signs of a pickup that augurs well for manufacturing activity”. Our exports have gone up by 13 per cent and the railway freight loading is up by 10 per cent. That’s great news till you realise the period of comparison is a week! That is, we are comparing data for the week of Sep 1-8 this year to the previous year. It is difficult to draw any conclusion when you compare a random weekly data with the previous year in normal times. It makes no sense to do it in these times. For instance, the railway freight loading could be up because the trucking and logistics companies might still be coming to terms with lockdown disruptions, working capital drying up and absence of drivers who might have gone back to their homes. Till you see a complete picture of the movement of goods across all modes of transport, it is difficult to conclude manufacturing activity is up. A similar case can be made for exports where a single week can’t suggest a trend. But you have the country’s #1 daily newspaper showcasing this as an instance of green shoots of recovery.Or there’s this news item that talks up the auto sector. There’s been a 15-20 per cent growth in auto sales during the 15-day festive period of Ganesh Chaturthi and Onam in the two states of Maharashtra and Kerala. This data is then used to suggest a strong recovery could be on cards in the oncoming festive season. This despite an industry official making it clear these numbers aren’t comparable because of the floods in Kerala during the same time last year that had severely impacted sales. Sobering Reality Then we have this news which indicates we might have lost 21 million salaried jobs in the five months of the pandemic. As Mahesh Vyas, MD & CEO, CMIE, writes:“An estimated 21 million salaried employees have lost their jobs by the end of August. There were 86 million salaried jobs in India during 2019-20. In August 2020, their count was down to 65 million. The deficit of 21 million jobs is the biggest among all types of employment. About 4.8 million salaried jobs were lost in July and then in August, another 3.3 million jobs were gone. These job losses cannot be confined to only of the support staff among salaried employees. The damage is likely to be deeper, among industrial workers and also white-collar workers.”    Here we have a research agency that has a long track record of measuring employment data suggesting we might have lost almost a quarter of salaried jobs during the pandemic. Now even this is data for only five months, but you might agree with the long-term view of the author that salaried jobs once lost are more difficult to replace. So, this is a trend that should worry the policymakers. In the same article, Vyas makes another important point about the stagnation of salaried jobs and the rise of ‘entrepreneurs’ who don’t employ anyone:“In 2016-17, employment in entrepreneurship accounted for 13 per cent of total employment. This proportion rose to 15 per cent in 2017-18, then 17 per cent in 2018-19 and 19 per cent in 2019-20. This sustained increase in entrepreneurship in India has not led to a rise in salaried jobs. The count of entrepreneurs has risen from 54 million in 2016-17 to 78 million in 2019-20. During the same period the count of salaried employees has remained stable at 86 million. It is counterintuitive to see a rise in entrepreneurship but not a corresponding increase in salaried jobs.Part of the reason for this is that most of these entrepreneurs are self-employed who do not employ others. Implicitly, they are mostly very small entrepreneurs. The government has propounded the idea that people should be job providers rather than job seekers. This objective seems to be succeeding but not entirely in ways that was intended.Entrepreneurship is often a desperate escape from unemployment rather than an initiative to create jobs.”Act With Confidence, Plan For The WorstWe understand all data is political in the best of times. It is used by partisans and critics of any government to build narratives that suit them. However, the normal expectation is that beyond the political rhetoric the policymakers know which data to use to draft a course of action. We fear this might not be true in these times. First, the data from various sources isn’t indicating a definite trend about the economy. This inability to have any kind of predictive certainty about the extent of contraction, tax collections or the true picture of fiscal deficit makes decision making difficult. This is a difficult time to be a policymaker. This gets compounded by the government being keen to talk up a V-shaped recovery to an extent where there are fears it has started believing its own message about the economy is beginning to touch pre-COVID levels. There’s merit in highlighting feel-good news to build consumer confidence and spur consumption. We get that. We just hope the government is able to make out the difference between its own hype and reality. Often it is not easy to make this out.  We have written in our earlier editions that a second ‘real’ stimulus has to be launched before the end of Q2. The extent of contraction in Q1, the impact on the informal economy that’s not fully measured yet, the fall in salaried jobs and the reluctance among consumers to spend make a fiscal stimulus necessary to get the economic engine going again. Also, a significant stimulus announcement in Q2 will be a good indicator of the government not drinking its own kool-aid about a V-shaped recovery.  The government and the PM continue to enjoy very high approval ratings. The people are convinced about their intentions. There’s no taint of corruption or policy paralysis on it. These are ideal grounds for the government to take people into confidence about the challenges the economy faces and the sacrifices the people need to make in the short-term as we begin the long road to recovery. This clarity will be welcome. The current fog of information doesn’t help our cause.    HomeWorkReading and listening recommendations on public policy matters[Article] Normany Barry on ‘The Tradition of Spontaneous Order’ where he traces the origin of this philosophical thought.[Article] A Business Standard editorial on why the government should listen to advice that it doesn’t consider politically ‘reliable’. [Paper] Elinor Ostrom’s integrative paper A General Framework for Analyzing Sustainability of Social-Ecological Systems continues to remain relevant. [Book] Indian Defence Industry by Laxman Kumar Behera gives a good overview of India’s defence industrial base.That’s all for this weekend. Read and share. Get on the email list at publicpolicy.substack.com

Wolfgang Smith, scholar, author, and researcher in mathematics and physics, presents an overview of his long and storied career in the sciences.  From a young age, Smith was fascinated by the concept that physics could literally explain all that happens on Earth. Entering the prestigious Cornell University at the age of 15, Smith majored in physics, mathematics, and philosophy, and graduated at just 18 years old; and from there he began to question all that he had learned, and began to dig deeper. Smith provides an overview of the history and current state of physics. As he states, in regard to physics, we are approaching the end of an era, the end to the era of such scientific minds as Galileo and Newton.  The scientific expert explains his thoughts on physics, expounding upon his views on testing and discovery, including the quantum realm and Newtonian physics. He discusses the philosophical thoughts of Rene Descartes. Continuing, he discusses the problems with the science that are not validated or supported by mathematics. He talks about beliefs in science, and the concept of enlightenment, citing examples of scientistic beliefs (those that are characterized by an exaggerated belief in the principles, and methods, of science). He states that we must differentiate between authentic science (the science that powers our technology, etc.) and the scientistic beliefs (science that the public knows about).  Smith, unsatisfied with much of what contemporary science presented, sought to dig further, which culminated with his writing of the book, The Quantum Enigma. Smith discusses his book in detail and his arguments and findings that are written on the pages. As Smith states, the world that we perceive through our five senses is in fact very real. Logic is the basis of his thoughts… and he discusses how all of physics can be accomplished by working in the corporeal world and the physical world.  Continuing, the scientific researcher discusses his specific thoughts on DNA and life, and the origins of organisms. Smith explains his thoughts on the biological world and the origin of life. As he states, the origin of everything is in God, and this is recognized. And he states that this belief will become the leading paradigm going forward, basing science on God the creator. 

You can see Pauline Boty’s self-portrait on display in Room 31 at the National Portrait Gallery. A striking work of stained glass, it is an early piece from what would be a short career. Though she died at the age of just 28, in her brief, vibrant life she made a wonderfully varied contribution to the world of British pop art and culture. After decades in the shadows, Boty has recently been rightfully placed among the masters of the movement, from Peter Blake to Richard Hamilton. Laura Barton meets the writer Ali Smith in front of Boty’s portrait, where she is joined by the curator Lucy Dahlsen. Smith’s book Autumn helped ignite a new appreciation and love for Boty’s work — its intelligence, mischief, feminist stance, and distillation of 1960s London. As Smith says, “when you are anywhere near her work in the flesh you feel the life, you feel the energy.” This podcast is a collaboration between TOAST and the National Portrait Gallery, London.

In this episode of MGMA Insider, healthcare consultant Tim Smith discusses how survey data is used by professional appraisers and healthcare consultants to value physician compensation in service arrangements or as part of valuing a practice. Smith, who is a skeptic by nature, reveals the need to challenge, test and be wary of data unless it's been tested and analyzed. As Smith says, "When it comes to the business of physician practices, a set of talking points is commonly repeated about the physician marketplace and what physicians earn. These claims are often made by reference to survey data reports, but does the data really support popular beliefs about physician compensation and productivity?" He explains that "it's important to take a deep dive into the data to examine widely held paradigms about physician compensation and productivity" and be willing to be a contrarian and call out information when it isn't back up by the data. As a reminder, Smith can be heard speaking at MGMA19 | The Data Conference, May 16-18 in Orlando, Florida. As a special offer to you, our podcast listeners can receive $200 off the regular registration price by entering the code PODCAST at mgma.com/datacon

This week my guest is Raven Smith who, as well as having one of the best names dot dot dot EVER is also the funniest man on Instagram (it's true, don't @ me). Smith is a columnist for British Vogue, a guest lecturer at Central Saint Martins and is currently working on his first book: Raven Smith’s Trivial Pursuits, a guide to modern life which covers everything from Ikea meatballs to Ant & Dec and which promises to be just as funny and irreverent as the man himself. We talk about Smith's self-professed 'failure to be straight' at school and what it was like growing up the mixed race only child of a single mother in an English seaside town (he was REALLY TALL too). We also discuss his failure to graduate, the absence of his father in his life, and Smith's failure at marriage, even though he's not divorced. As Smith put it to me in an email before we recorded the interview: 'Marriage is a concoction of failures (and successes). I relentlessly fuck it up.' I think there's something rather beautiful and profound contained within that. Hopefully you'll think so too! And don't worry - there's also plenty of laughs, from Smith's absurd competitiveness in yoga class to his terrible DIY skills which mean there's currently no door on his toilet.   How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted by Elizabeth Day, produced by Chris Sharp and sponsored by 4th Estate Books   The book of the podcast, How To Fail: Everything I've Ever Learned From Things Going Wrong by Elizabeth Day is available to pre-order here.   You can read Raven Smith's 'The Week in Review' Vogue columns here. Raven Smith's Trivial Pursuits will be published by 4th Estate in 2020.    Social Media: Elizabeth Day @elizabday Raven Smith @raven_smith Chris Sharp @chrissharpaudio 4th Estate Books @4thEstateBooks      

Few people in history had as much access to the great midcentury jazz musicians as W. Eugene Smith - born 100 years ago this week, on December 30, 1918. The famous LIFE magazine photographer left his home and family in a New York suburb and moved to a rundown loft building on 6th Avenue, in the heart of Manhattan’s Flower District. As Smith printed in his darkroom there, the likes of Thelonious Monk, Chick Corea, and Sonny Rollins came by to jam and hang out - and Smith captured nearly of all it, his quarter-inch tape recorders running nearly nonstop for about eight years. (Produced in 2009) The Jazz Loft Anthology, a four-part series of hour-long episodes, airs this Tuesday, January 1 at 10 AM on WNYC. More information about the film The Jazz Loft According to W. Eugene Smith is available here. Thanks to the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, our original partner in the production of The Jazz Loft Radio Series.  The Jazz Loft Radio Series was supported in part by a grant from The National Endowment for the Humanities; and by an award from The National Endowment for the Arts.  

This week a new U.S. Senator took office in Minnesota. Former Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith is now Senator Smith, replacing Democrat Al Franken, after allegations of sexual misconduct.As Smith learns the new job in Washington, her replacement as lieutenant governor will be doing the same here in Minnesota.Republican State Sen. Michelle Fischbach became Gov. Mark Dayton's second-in-command. She says she will decline the much higher lieutenant governor's salary of almost $83,000 and stick with her $45,000 Senate salary. Democratic leader Tom Bakk has called on Fischbach to resign from the Senate, saying she can't hold two jobs at once.Minneapolis and St. Paul both swore in new mayors this week. And both were busy as they started their new positions.Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Medaria Arradondo got together to talk about some of their top priorities, which includes creating a stronger bond between officers and the community.St. Paul's new mayor, Melvin Carter met with community members to learn more about the issues that are important to them.

In Wounded Lions, acclaimed sport historian and longtime Penn State professor Ronald A. Smith heavily draws from university archives to answer the How? and Why? at the heart of the scandal. The Sandusky case was far from the first example of illegal behavior related to the football program or the university's attempts to suppress news of it. As Smith shows, decades of infighting among administrators, alumni, trustees, faculty, and coaches established policies intended to protect the university, and the football team considered synonymous with its name, at all costs.

If you are a new listener to this award-winning podcast, welcome! I'm Craig. I’m Reza. With over 40 years of teaching between us, we'll help you improve your English and take it to the next level.(Grow your grammar, vocalize your vocabulary and perfect your pronunciation) In this episode: Academic English   Más podcasts para mejorar tu ingles en: http://www.inglespodcast.com/  More podcasts to improve your English at: http://www.inglespodcast.com/    Thank you to JUAN LEYVA GALERA who has become a Patron of this show. If you would like to support us and help us to our goal of $100 per month to give you transcriptionsof Aprender Ingles con Reza y Craig, go to patreon.com/inglespodcast Elisa from Finland sent us a message for the Christmas episode inglespodcast/82. ( http://www.inglespodcast.com/2015/12/20/reza-and-craigs-christmas-special-airc82/ ) She said "you guys sang surprisingly well" - She also gave some inside information on Santa's sleigh and recommends people visit the website santapark.com. Elisa said, "Santa Claus lives here in the Santa Park with Mrs Claus and Elves!"(I thought it was "Elvis"!) We also have a voice message from our good friend Mamen from Biescas. She listened to episode 81 about British and American English pronunciation differences : inglespodcast.com/81 ( http://www.inglespodcast.com/2015/12/13/british-and-american-english-pronunciation-differences-airc81/ ). Here is Mamen practising the different pronunciation of US and UK English…… There are reasons why Mamen is improving her English:-She’s engaging with the language.-She’s taking the time to practise speaking, record her voice, coming on Blab. (inglespodcast.com/blab)-She’s enthusiastic about learning. Listener Feedback: Jesús VélezHi Craig and Reza! Thanks for your podcast, I think it's fantastic. It's a huge help for "travelers" (commuters): my journey from my home to job (work) is about 120 km (1 hour...). I use your podcast to take my English to the next level. Currently, I'm preparing my C1. Would you mind to speak (speaking) about academic English? For example keywords I must use in the university with some colleagues, research concepts (paper, article, stay, fellowship...) I think there's a lot of material on the internet, but it's a disaster... There's no order at all. Thanks in advance (excuse me for my poor English) and continue with the programs!Kind regards, Jesús Vélez   ACADEMIC ENGLISH Academic English style is generally evident in a:Journal (like a technical/academic magazine); Text book; Essay; Academic article; Report; Dissertation; Thesis; etc. WRITTENLecture; Talk; Workshop; Presentation; Tutorial; Seminar; Conference; etc. SPOKEN Different style of language compared to General English. Key features include: More abstract, more impersonal, more structured, more organised, usually formal (written), often more technical, often more complex, avoids ambiguity, may include references to other sources. -Avoid personal pronouns, eg. I, me, you, us, etc. -Use the Passive (to be impersonal): eg. the liquid was heated to 20 degrees C; it can be seen that the species evolved. -Avoid contractions in written academic Eng., but usually OK spoken:eg. It will not be resolved (not “won’t”); the conclusions are not definitive (not “aren’t”) -Nominalisation = using nouns rather than verbs. This sounds more academic:eg. “...the Norman invasion of Britain in 1066, provoking a huge linguistic change.” is better than “...when the Normans invaded Britain in 1066 and it provoked a huge change.” -Use plenty of linking words or signpost your discourse: eg. Firstly; Secondly; Next; A further point; Finally; Lastly - LISTING Moreover; In addition (to); Additionally; Furthermore; What is more - ADDING INFO. However; Nevertheless; Nonetheless; Despite; In spite of; Whereas; Whilst; Although; Albeit; Notwithstanding; Be that as it may; On the other hand - CONTRAST/CONCESSION For example/instance; As an/one example; As exemplified by___; To illustrate - EXAMPLE According to Smith (1987); As Smith (1987) said; Smith (1987) wrote/stated - REFERENCE In conclusion; To conclude; To sum up; In brief; All in all; In short - CONCLUSION   Italki ad - Reza’s experience with a French teacher, Justine.   Common university campus terms: There are usually several departments in one faculty eg. the Department of Physics in the Science Faculty bachelor’s degree; master’s degree - comes after or is longer than a bachelor’s degree eg. She has a BA (Bachelor of Arts) in History; He’s doing an MSc in Mathematics (Master of Science) at Oxford. a doctorate or PhD - the highest post-graduate uni. qualification, requiring a few years of study, research and a doctoral thesis an undergraduate - a student studying on a bachelor’s (first) degree course a graduate - a person who has completed a bachelor’s degree course a post-graduate - a person who is studying on a higher course after passing their first degree a fellow - someone who (temporarily) teaches/researches (and perhaps still studies on a post-graduate course) at a university, but not a full lecturer a fellowship - the job given to a fellow a lecturer - a person who gives lectures at a university a professor - an experienced, distinguished, more senior lecturer (NOT the same as teacher) a grant - money given by the govt. to help support students throughout the year, depending on their financial situation a scholarship - money given by a university/college/school/company to a student because they won it or are poor but talented. halls of residence - official university accommodation on campus, usually a large block vice-chancellor (VC)- the top person in charge of a university (the dean in a North American college) pro-vice-chancellor (PVC)/deputy-vice-chancellor (DVC) - second in command, under the vice-chancellor higher education (HE) - tertiary-level education, ie. higher than primary and secondary education eg. university, college, medical school, etc. For the most common vocabulary used to study at HE level, the Academic Word List:http://ksngo.org/images/download/LDOCE_AWL.pdf Reza has taught Academic English at Queen’s University, Belfast and the University of Ulster. Here are a few well known books he has used:http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Academic-English-Edition-Longman/dp/0131523597 http://www.amazon.com/Presenting-English-Successful-Presentations-Updated/dp/1111832277 http://www.cambridge.org/us/cambridgeenglish/catalog/english-academic-purposes/academic-vocabulary-use/academic-vocabulary-use-answersAn example unit from the book:http://assets.cambridge.org/97805216/89397/excerpt/9780521689397_excerpt.pdf A great place to listen to talks and lectures on just about any (academic) topic:https://www.ted.com/talks ...and now it's your turn to practise your English. We want you to tell us if you have had experience of academic English. Have you been to university? Do you have a degree? Send us a voice message and tell us what you think. speakpipe.com/inglespodcast (90 seconds - need an app for mobile) Send us an email with a comment or question to craig@inglespodcast.com or belfastreza@gmail.com.Please show us some iTunes love. Write a review, give us some stars on iTunes.If you do that, we become more visible and more people can find us. Show us some love. On next week's episode: The Past Continuous The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called 'See You Later' Please show us some iTunes love. Write a review, give us some stars on iTunes.If you do that, we become more visible and more people can find us. Show us some love.   Más podcasts para mejorar tu ingles en: http://www.inglespodcast.com/  More podcasts to improve your English at: http://www.inglespodcast.com/     On next week's episode: The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called 'See You Later'

For 20 years Artist and Missionary Gretchen Smith has been involved in community development and transformation projects in Africa, the Middle East, Central America, the US and Baja Mexico where she recently started a project called ARThouse Rosarito where she hosts critical thinkers and does outreach through garden and art projects. As Smith states, “Basically my job is to piss people off and I am very very good at it”. She fondly refers to herself as the “worst missionary ever.” Smith speaks at international conferences, blogs and publishes articles in which she is extremely critical of existing systems within the church and social change agencies . . ." New York Critic Ed Rubin states this about Smith’s work: “I first met Gretchen at the 2007 Florence Biennale where I was both Master of Ceremonies and the Biennale liaison between management and 850 international exhibiting artists. During one of our many conversations I asked to see Gretchen’s portfolio. I was both pleased and amazed -- especially given that Smith is virtually self-taught -- to find work that was both inventive and accomplished. What surprised me most was that her original voice spoke to today. Gretchen is a very well-rounded visual artist and business woman with a rare depth of focus as well as the talent and discipline necessary to continue to be successful not only in the USA but also internationally.” Visit Gretchen at: https://www.facebook.com/tallartist/ and for views and descriptions of the artistic photos in the slideshow, go to: http://tinyurl.com/

For 20 years Artist and Missionary Gretchen Smith has been involved in community development and transformation projects in Africa, the Middle East, Central America, the US and Baja Mexico where she recently started a project called ARThouse Rosarito where she hosts critical thinkers and does outreach through garden and art projects. As Smith states, “Basically my job is to piss people off and I am very very good at it”. She fondly refers to herself as the “worst missionary ever.” Smith speaks at international conferences, blogs and publishes articles in which she is extremely critical of existing systems within the church and social change agencies . . ." New York Critic Ed Rubin states this about Smith’s work: “I first met Gretchen at the 2007 Florence Biennale where I was both Master of Ceremonies and the Biennale liaison between management and 850 international exhibiting artists. During one of our many conversations I asked to see Gretchen’s portfolio. I was both pleased and amazed -- especially given that Smith is virtually self-taught -- to find work that was both inventive and accomplished. What surprised me most was that her original voice spoke to today. Gretchen is a very well-rounded visual artist and business woman with a rare depth of focus as well as the talent and discipline necessary to continue to be successful not only in the USA but also internationally.” Visit Gretchen at: https://www.facebook.com/tallartist/ and for views and descriptions of the artistic photos in the slideshow, go to: http://tinyurl.com/

On this episode of What It Means to Be Human, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Wesley J. Smith takes a look at "personhood theory" advocated by such as Princeton University's Peter Singer. Listen in and learn more about the threat to the sanctity of life ethic as the fundamental value of our social order. As Smith says, "The time has come to pay attention. If human life is knocked off the pedestal, universal human rights will be impossible to sustain."

Many know Rick Smith the golf instructor, but few know about his accolades as a player. He never lost a match at Upper St. Clair High School near Pittsburgh, he qualified for the 1983 U.S. Open at Oakmont, and in 1980 he shot a 61 in the PGA's club professional Playing Ability Test."I learned a lot working for Walker Inman at Scioto Country Club, and he believed that to be a great teacher of the game, you had to be a pretty good player," says Smith. "I still love playing golf. So much, I've actually thought about playing on the Champions Tour when I turn 50."Ever since he used to pass instruction notes to high school teammates and give lessons to a then 14-year-old Lee Janzen, Smith says his time spent on the lesson tee is his favorite part of the day.RICK SMITHMASTER TEACHING PROFESSIONAL TO THE PGA TOUR’S BEST!Rick Smith, CEO and President of Rick Smith Enterprises, Inc., has achieved great success in golf as a teacher, designer and communicator. He is regarded as one of the PGA tour’s best “sounding boards” for swing advice and has been consistently ranked as one of the top five golf instructors in the world by Golf Digest.Smith’s professional career has been molded under the tutelage of several top PGA professionals including famed instructors: Don Kotnik (Toledo CC), Walker Inman (Scioto CC), and Dick Harmon (River Oaks). As Smith honed his skills he has assisted some of the most accomplished golfers in the world including Phil Mickelson, (currently the 4th ranked golfer in the world) Lee Janzen (two time U.S. Open champion) and PGA Tour winners Rocco Mediate, Jerry Kelly, and Matt Kuchar. He has also worked with PGA Tour pros Jack Nicklaus-golfer of the century, Gary Nicklaus, Billy Andrade, Greg Norman, Bill Glasson, David Duval, Vijay Singh, Ray Floyd, Paul Azinger and many others.Smith has established numerous golf academies and learning centers. He currently operates Rick Smith Golf Academies at Treetops Resort in Gaylord, Michigan, and Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida.Rick Smith hosted the premier of the “Big Break” series in the fall of 2003. The inaugural season broke the all-time Golf Channel’s viewing ratings. The next season the “Big Break II”, more than doubled the audience from the record breaking inaugural year. Rick received accolades for his adept skill at building camaraderie between contestants while stoking their competitive natures. He has a unique knack for inviting the TV audience to live vicariously through the contestants. Today, “The Big Break” is a successful “series formula” that has excited the customary Golf Channel fan while attracting a greater audience.Rick Smith’s love for hosting golf instructional shows on television began in 1994. That year, he developed “The Rick Smith Signature Series”. The “Signature Series” was seen by worldwide television audiences on ESPN, TSN (Canada), and Fox Sports Net. The “Signature Series” ran for five years until Rick signed an exclusive golf content deal with the Golf Channel in 1999. Rick has also hosted “Inside the PGA Tour” and has been a commentator and analyst for both NBC and ESPN telecasts of golf tournaments.Rick Smith has won dozens of awards and accolades for his skill as a golf course designer. The list includes his “Signature” course at Treetops Resort in Gaylord, Michigan, “Arcadia Bluffs” on Lake Michigan and “Wuskowhan Player’s Club in Mount Olive, Michigan, just to name a few.Smith is also a respected and noted author. He is currently teaching professional contributor for Golf Digest Pro Panel. He previously served as instruction writer for Golf Magazine. He has also written Major Series publications. Smith is author of the 1998 book “How to Find Your Perfect Golf Swing,” published by Broadway Books, which is regarded as one of the top instruction books in the industry.Over his career, Smith’s many honors include being appointed Michigan’s “Golf Ambassador” by Governor John Engler. Golf Magazine has repeatedly honored him as one of America’s “Top 100 Teachers.” Smith has been named National Teacher of the Year, National Golf Professional of the Year and National Merchandiser of the Year. www.ricksmith.comCLUBFACE GOLF was founded by co-owners Dave Wesley and Steve Egbert in San Clemente, California. Dave is a playing and teaching professional in Orange County California. He has obsessively been studying the golf swings of the games greatest players and the teachings of what are considered to be the world's best teachers for the past 30 years.As Dave's teaching philosophy developed he realized that the “true” secret of the golf swing is the clubface and the ability of the golfer to control it throughout the entire golf swing. The majority of golfers in the world do not have a good understanding of the clubface position throughout the swing. Dave made the clubface position throughout the entire golf swing the center piece of his professional instruction, which resulted in his students achieving greater success much more quickly.www.clubfacegolf.comAvila Beach Golf Resort - www.avilabeachresort.com Blacklake Golf Resort - www.blacklake.comInn at Avila Beach - www.avilabeachca.comAvila LaFonda Hotel - www.avilalafondahotel.comGolfland Warehouse - www.golflandwarehouse.comSlickstix - www.slickstix.comFor more information on Golf Talk Radio with Mike & Billy visit www.golftalkradio.com and visit www.centralcoasttoday.com for Golf Talk TV with Mike & Billy.