Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Economic Globalisation And Rising Global Living Standards Economics Essay

Economic Globalisation And Rising Global Living Standards Economics Essay 1.0. Introduction. The notion of economic globalisation has grown to be one of the generally effective in economic development as well as raises the global living standards through economic growth and poverty reduction. Economic Globalization is muscularly believed to result in better social, economic and in the contemporary world. Yet UN1 report (September 1999) show the current trend of economic inequality has increased dramatically as a direct result of economic globalization and current rules of trade. Subsequently, economic globalisation is growing attractive a controversial issue whether it can really lead to a rise in global living standard or aggravate the situation. Several authors in this part look not to convincingly provide or even concur on relation between economic globalisation and living standard. To my understanding, economic globalisation is an essential but not enough condition to hasten living standard 1.1. PURPOSE The purpose of this essay is to essentially inspect how aspects of economic globalisation facilitate a rise in global living standards. The essay will commence by introducing the concepts of economic globalisation and living standards and its measurements, using different readings, lectures, Journals and my personal view regarding to the issue. The first part of this essay will illustrate the link between economic globalisation and contribution of economic globalisation to the process of accelerated economic growth and poverty reduction. Secondly, it will examine some criticism and or challenges associated with economic globalisation. Finally, the essay will draw a conclusion based on review findings. 1.2 Economic Globalisation and Living Standards. The perception of economic globalisation mean global spanning economic relationships in term of markets, finance, good and services and the network create by transactional (Chase, 1999). According to Nicholas (2009), economic globalisation is the increasing of cross border flow of goods and service. He emphasize that It facilitates increasing cross border movement of financial capital, which increase economics activities from private derived from foreign sources. Moreover, movement of productive activities are then totally or partially extended or relocated to another country. It is likely that the integrations of global economic enabling social, economic environment that will broke out of poverty and improved the living standard of a related community. For better understanding on the Concept of living standard, I will brief discuss on the idea of GNI2 per capita which is broader definition of well being. Michael Todaro (2009) state that GNI per capita is a common measures of economic activities related with economic well being of people globally. He emphasizes that. GNI comprises GDP plus the difference between the income residents receive from abroad for factor services less payment made to non residents who contribute to the domestic economy. Not only that but also as it defined by several International agencies including OECD3 and UN living standards process by HDI4 ranks countries on scale of high and lower ranks. Usually it focus on three indicators: i) life expectancy at birth knowledge as measured weighted average of adult literacy and standard of living by using real per capita gross domestic product with PPP (Todaro and Smith 2009), ii) HDI uses to evaluate standard of living by determine real per capital gross domestic pr oduct adjusted by PPP5 of each countrys currency reflect cost of living of a particular country (Todaro 2009). The above information gives the connotation of living standards is associated with real income per individual and poverty rate. 2.0 Link between Economic Globalisation and Living Standard. Before the description of link between the economic globalisation and living standard, this paper will describe in brief the goal one of MDG6 in association with the global living standard. The endorsement of eradicate extreme poverty and hunger (Todaro 2009) is Goal One among of eight inspiring and much talked about Millennium Development Goals (MDG). In alliance with its target of reduce by half of the people living on less than $1 a day, it aims is to improve living standard, and encourage economic growth and improve equity. In this regards, by achieving these targeted goals, it will help to improve the growth as well as income poverty which is very important in poverty reduction and raise living standards. Many writers believe that people lives with income level below 1$ per day represents in extreme poverty, indicating that they live in absolute poverty. According to Allen and Thomas (2000) the global target for measure living standards by using poverty line which is US 1 $ per day by adjusted by PPP. The question is what the position is for those living under one or two dollar per day. This is shows that poor people suffer by necessary requirements similar to health care, adequate provisions and appropriate protection. As I illustrate in the beginning, economic globalisation is the opening of economic to flow of goods and services, capital and business from other nations that integrate their market with that abroad S.Mishkin (2006). Hence is better to look which forces which help to hasten the pace of economic globalisation today. I will consider on the three major forces which helps to accelerate the economic globalisation with living standards according to OECD handbook on Economic Globalisation Indicators (2005). Economic globalisation can increase by different forces. The following are the major forces which supply the swiftness up globally economic: The liberalisation of capital movements, of financial services in particular, the opening of markets to international trade and investments. Neoclassical point of view transmits trade liberalisation as a source of amenities economic growth by shift to the market liberalisation and growing global amalgamation. Their key thought by having more open market oriented emphasize more choice in trade itself and capital flow in develop the higher the living standards of global population. Todaro and Smith (2009) state that, free market permitting competition to flourish privatisations which promote both economic efficiency and economic growth. Hoekman at al. (2004) agrees that, Trade liberalisation and openness to trade increases the growth rate of income and output. In theory, it offers prediction for foreign firm and local firms citizen to be engaged in production, give confidence in export with domestic and international promote. To a large extent the process observed support sustaining the profitable achievement of counties like South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. Moreover, it make possible for large firm allocate individual i n to specialise additional product, therefore develop more market and increase consumer preferences. In addition, Neoclassical agrees that, not only free market but also economic globalisation in term of financial globalisation progress the economic growth. According to S. Mishkin (2006) economic globalisation through financial low has several important in emerging market economies. In this regards movement of capital flow allows to come into a country encourage distribution of capital as well as domestic economic sector become well off. For Neoclassical perspective, capital is physical inputs including money, machine natural resource and human with technology. The expansion of capital production resulted booming saving in financial institution (Nicholas 2009). In this regards increasing of saving due to higher interest rate will encourage the speed up investment, enabling creation of employment in particular for unskilled labour force in the long run, the income of inexperienced labour will be higher. On the other hand, Marxists argues that, economic globalisation base on international economic international leads inevitably to uneven gain (Nicholas 2009). Furthermore, they acknowledge that this internationalise trade rise a common European and the emergence in various international institution like World Bank and International Monitory Fund (Hossein 2005). In practice, the exchange of trade is imbalanced trade, for developing countries produces primary goods were sent to advanced countries who subsequently shaped manufactured commodities after that they tried to put on the market reverse to poor countries with value added tax making them unaffordable, resulted is international capitalism. Myriam Plank (2006) agrees that, In Gambia cheap import of chicken egg and milk loosing local access their domestic market and lack opportunities to earn income hence farmers especially women driven into poverty. This observation emphasize that reduce trade tariff is a key to destroys infants industries agricultural sector and in food in security especially in developing countries. Different with Neoclassical perspective, New Keynesian theories highlight that the international economic integration is not the result of free choice and not necessarily mutual beneficial, but can be made to be mutually beneficial. Nicholas (2009).This situation exacerbated by historical aspect, the role of colonialism was damaging of global economy particular for those countries became colonies which resulted the existing intercontinental division of labour. Maddison (2001) accepts that, free trade was imposed in India and other British colonies and the same true in Britains informal empire Hence it is important to realise that the exploitation of resources including inputs in term of human, slave trade and primary product from Africa to the industrial areas is a main reasons of the increasing inequality in economic growth and living standard between North and South. In additional to that, new Keynesian scholars argues that world economy is essentially constant. To some extent changing is crucial on internationally policies coordination through international institution like IMF, World Bank and WTO. The World Bank should be refocused with clear goals, and accountability for their success. Specifically, the bank should have one overarching assignment: helping the poorest countries achieves the millennium development goals to reduce poverty, hunger and disease Sachs (2008). International Financial Institutional, might pay support to developing countries by make out barriers to trade, provide debt relief and build capability on international trade as an alternative of supply of loans with higher conditionality. 3.0 CRITICS OF ECONOMIC GLOBALISATION. This document has assessed the economic globalisation to find out whether it is sufficiently raising the global living standards for human being. To a large extent the process helps to increase growth and wealth and might provide benefits in exports, creation of employment and increasing of capital flow. It is exactly the expanding of international trade and investment put together enlargement of economic activities network worldwide. Yet it face some challenges. One of the most critics of economic globalisation is that, to a certain degree it has extended the economic gap between South and North. According to UN Report in 1999, the number of developing countries that have benefited from economic globalisation is smaller than 20. Shangquan (2000) emphasize that the difference of income per capita between the richest country and poorest country has enlarged from 30 times in 1960 to the 70 times at present. This indicating that there is also a gap on economic growth and living standards between them. His observation that the hole has been upward together surrounded by and within nations is largely true. The correlation with economic globalisation is to a large extent less comprehensible. This incompatible of per capita income cause an internationally deviation in incomes and living standards continues a moment, and convergence is slowest between OECD and HIPC7. Stiglitz (2006) argues that in many countries, unemployment rates are high and those who lose their jobs do not move to higher wage alternative but to the unemployment rolls. This has happened especially in many developing countries around the world when they liberalised so fast the private sector did not have time to respond and create new jobs. Therefore, unemployment rate increases in economic system where there are two dimensions appears low productivity in economics activities and higher rates of dependency and crime increasing in societies. Shangquan (2000) suggested that this huge amount of floating international capitals may lead up to bubble economies and disorderly fluctuation of foreign exchange rates. To some extent under release economic conditions, meticulous express for international floating capital consequence, there are great constrains on deteriorating capacity on macroeconomic control and regulation, particularly in monetary policy. This impact might suffer by developing countries rather than Industrial Countries. 4.0 CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, this paper attempts the economic globalisation endeavour to raise economic growth internationally and helps increasing living standard on people globally. To a large extent, trade liberalisation of capital movements, financial services in opening market to international trade and investment encourage rise higher living standards in OECD rather than developing countries. Thus, while these policies maintain situation which show better off in one side and worse off to another, hence strong institutions should be created to strengthen national and international collaboration towards facing the above mentioned challenges. The practice of trade liberalisation and market oriented economic improvement that had taking place in many developing countries in the last two decade, yet, no proof for developing countries successful through the trade as well as financial liberalisation as opposed to export encouragement which useful in some of Asian Countries. In this situation, economic globalisation has benefits with OECD and some of Asia countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea, which involved in global market (Griswold: 2000) has helped their economies, yet Africa and Latin America still becoming poor. For developing countries, this process will take time to take off for particular case. Major reasons that developed countries generate worldwide economic policies in term of price arrangements for production while third world countries engaged on primary and fragmented goods. Generally, as an economists functioning in developing countries, my personal view on economic globalisation and word economy today, though there is global specialisation focus on competitive advantages and between the highly developed and developing on energetic comparative advantages. Yet, current implementation of economic perspective, in term of economic globalisation should relate with New Keynesian perspectives. The economic growth relate with development distribution of welfare and environmental control. Emphasize redeployment of income and eliminating poverty by using different programmes like pro poor growth and poverty strategy growth programmes. In order to improve the economic growth of developing counties should make sure that income distribute equally, hence it will reduce the national divergence in living standards and the it will help to reduce an international divergence. Economic growth will stimulate development and collaborate poverty reduction programme and facili tate to meet target under goal one of the Millennium development Goal, to eliminate tremendous poverty and hunger.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Jailbreaking an iPod, IPhone, or Ipad Essay -- ios device, cydia

By jailbreaking an iPod, iPhone, iPad, jailbreakers can have more access to an IOS device than a person who owns an unmodified IOS device. I’m going to explain what jailbreak is? When people hear the word jailbreak, they will first think of the traditional jailbreaking which is where convicts escape from a heavy security area like a prison, but that is not the case in today’s modern world of IOS devices also known as idevices. Jailbreaking in electronic terms is where people with knowledge of IOS technology use public software provided by white hat hackers to get access into any compatible device of Apple. Jay Freeman explains how jailbreaking works by the â€Å"removal of the older files of BSD Subsystem† which means that in order to gain jailbreak access, it removes the installed BSD subsystem (UNIX utilities) found on the idevice to replace them with new BSD files that came packaged with a jailbreaking software to install Cydia. (Freeman) You might be wondering, who Jay Freeman (a.k.a Saurik) is and what is a Cydia? He is the creator of Cydia which is an open source app store to give users access to add tweaks such as savegram, f.lux or plugication onto a jailbroken idevice which it makes it an alternative to Apple’s App store which is more closed source since it has no modifications with limited customization by user interactions. By having Cydia installed after a jailbreak, it allows users to search for tweaks by default sources or any installed sources because each day, developers upload new tweaks to sources and if a user has the same source, then Cydia will can show a feed of new uploaded sources. People who use Instagram don’t have the option to save pictures found on Instagram, but with help of savegram, they can which makes... ...orbes Magazine, 27 Dec. 2013. Web. 12 May 2014. . Lee, Timothy. "Jailbreaking now legal under DMCA for smartphones, but not tablets." Ars Technica. Conde Nast Digital, 25 Oct. 2012. Web. 12 May 2014. . Russell, Kyle. "10 Ways Jailbreaking Your iPhone Will Make Life Better." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 29 May 2013. Web. 12 May 2014. . Titlow, Joyn Paul. "12 Really Good Reasons To Jailbreak iOS 6 Right Now."ReadWrite. Ascio Technologies, Inc, 8 Jan. 2013. Web. 12 May 2014. .

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Overview of the Solar Panel Industry

Global Business Operations Solar Panel Industry Student Name: student Number: Introduction The solar panel industry is a niche market dominated by a small number of large firms. Five out of the top ten biggest players In the Industry are Chinese firms. Solar panels capture sunlight and convert It Into electricity, In one of two forms; industry, due to the large market share dominated by a small number of players, furthermore, the solar panel industry not only cooperates with, but also competes with other industries such as power production and component manufacturing industries.The Solar Panel Industry The Shape of the Solar Panel Industry With five out of the biggest solar panel producers worldwide being Chinese, it is no surprise that 45% of solar panel production across the globe is by Chinese firms. The solar panel industry is the fastest growing power technology in the world, with reported yearly increases in capacity of 50%. Consisting of mainly 10 firms, the industry isn't lar ge in terms of suppliers, however, the combined revenues of these 10 firms account for $21. Ban, thus the industry is large in revenue as well as production. Growth & Global Presence The growth of the solar panel industry is fairly new, beginning in the early sass's, thus the industry is not only dominated by a few large players, but it is also maintaining its volume position as it is not going through consolidation and turning into a fragmented industry; the large firms are still growing. Competition within the industry is tight, especially since all major firms have a global presence.Any large firm involved in solar panel production without a global presence is sure to be overtaken by competitors. Product Variety & Core Business Solar panels are generally a very homogeneous product, all firms that produce them apply essentially the same product with minor variations, this makes it even more difficult to develop a true competitive advantage within the industry. The industry is main ly based on business-to-business sales; power production firms order solar panels from the producers.Other revenue streams come from foreign solar panel retailers purchasing small orders and distributing them to private buyers such as homes or offices. Innovation, R&D, and Demand conditions In order to develop and maintain a competitive advantage within the solar panel industry, it is paramount to invest in innovating and research & development. As it stands, the industry remains very linear in terms of product innovation; investments are heavy however no new technologies have yet been discovered or implemented.Since its inception, the technology implemented within solar panels has definitely increased, however there have been no significant breakthroughs that would fairly stable; prices have been more or less constant and competition tight but not extensive as the players aren't many. The industry took a blow in 2007 following the global crisis, however it recovered in 2010 and has been growing more than ever at an unprecedented pace.Vertical Integration & Production Process The Chinese firms mainly adopt vertical integration from the raw materials to the finished product, whereas USA and Japanese firms, which are the other big players, tend to outsource some production as well as import components from suppliers such as Busch. This difference arises due to the costs involved in producing and assembling solar panels; in China, availability of resources is very high, as well as cheap labor and land, thus incurring less costs, hence why Chinese firms prefer to vertically integrate their production process.Whereas for American and Japanese firms, cheap labor and production space is not available, thus it is more cost effective to outsource production and import components. Vertical integration itself is not a fully efficient way of production in the long run, as demonstrated by the automotive industry in the early 20th century. Ford adopted a full vertical integ ration production process, and while for years it remained the market leader in the USA, eventually Toyota adopted a Just-in-time production process and overtook Ford in USA market share.This is mainly due to the incurred sots of vertical integration; at an early stage of an industry as a whole, vertical integration is cheaper, however as an industry and its accompanying technologies advance, third-party firms enter niche markets of component production and it eventually becomes cheaper to outsource most of the production process. Economies of Scale The biggest advantages to the large solar panel producers arise due to their economies of scale. With a huge production capacity and an efficient supply chain, every step of the value chain from production to delivery becomes much cheaper per unit.Economies of scale acquired by solar panel producers are down to their rapid growth mainly due to their early entry into the market. There are no physical barriers to entering the solar panel i ndustry; governments actually subsidize firms who get involved in renewable energies through tax exemptions and monetary aid. However, the barriers to entry are known as ‘natural barriers', meaning that the barriers to entry that do exist are not due to regulation, but rather to the strength and size of the competitors, which in turn relates to their economies of scale which allow them to sustain production at such high capacity and cost efficiency.Value Chain Configuration Sunsets is Chinese solar panel producer, up to 2010 it was the world market leader in the solar panel industry, today it has gone down to be the 5th biggest firm. After a series of financial troubles related to defaulting on US government bonds in 2011, the firm has reported revenues of $3. 1 ban and net loss of $1 Ban (2011). Sunsets was founded in 2001 and went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2005, share price dropped 40% following its first default on government bonds.The following diagram shows Sentence's value chain process, which will be explained in more detail underneath the diagram: The first segment of the value chain is inbound logistics, since Sunsets is a vertically integrated firm, it produces its own components which are later used in the production of solar panels. The next part of the value chain is operations; this part is the most important in Sentence's value chain as it is where production takes place. The core business of Sunsets is the production of solar panels, without an impeccable product they would quickly cease to be one of the market leaders.The third step shown in the diagram is outbound logistics, this involves Sunsets distributing the finished product to its customers. Supply chain management is very important, especially since Sunsets is vertically integrated, they have their own distribution channels rather than outsourcing them, thus their customers must receive their products on time and in good condition. Marketing and sales isn't such an integral part of the value chain, as the core revenue stream for solar panel producers is business-to-business sales rather than business-to-customer, thus jugular marketing methods are not as effective.The final step of the value chain is service, mainly involving post-sale service. Given the nature of the product, solar panels actually have an average life span of 25-30 years, thus minimal service is required, however, Sunsets focuses more on actually turning the service step into a long-term relationship with customers for repeat business and long-term contracts. Sunsets is present globally, with large volume sales to Australia, USA, China, Spain, AJAX, and Brazil, it is basically present in every continent. The main customers forSunsets and other solar panel producers are power plants and solar farms, who in turn sell on the electricity they produce with the solar panels. It is a large market with very few players as power production is one of the hardest markets to enter, with extensive barriers to entry. Sentence's overall performance is dubious. On the one hand, it lead the market for many years due to its excellent quality and reputation in production, and on the other hand, it crashed due to mismanagement of resources and financial troubles.In terms of cost efficiency, Sentence's vertical integration is seemingly flawless as the hole production process is streamlined and very well coordinated, thus the conclusion in terms of performance is that operationally Sunsets is performing exceptionally well, however administratively it is performing horribly and is definitely behind its competitors. Out of the top 10 dominating firms, only two firms are running at a loss, one of which is Sunsets. Recommendations The main issue for Sunsets is mismanagement of funds, thus the main recommendations would be to change the CEO, which has actually been done.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Biography of Rubén Blades

Rubà ©n Blades Bellido de Luna (born July 16, 1948) is a Panamanian singer/songwriter, actor, activist, and politician. He was a key figure in popularizing New York-based salsa music in the 1970s, with socially conscious lyrics that commented on poverty and violence in Latino communities and U.S. imperialism in Latin America. However, unlike most musicians, Blades has been able to toggle between multiple careers in his life, including serving as Minister of Tourism in Panama. Fast Facts: Rubà ©n Blades Known For:  Salsa singer/songwriter, actor, Panamanian politicianBorn:  July 16, 1948 in Panama City, PanamaParents:  Rubà ©n Darà ­o Blades, Sr., Anoland Dà ­az (original surname Bellido de Luna)Spouse:  Luba MasonChildren: Joseph VerneEducation: Masters Degree in International Law, Harvard Graduate Law School (1985); Bachelors Degree in Law and Political Science, University of Panama (1974)Awards and Honors: 17 Grammys (9 U.S. Grammys, 8 Latin Grammys); Honorary Doctorate degrees from University of California, Berkeley; Lehman College; and the Berklee College of Music Early Life and Education Rubà ©n Blades was born in Panama City to a Cuban mother, musician Anoland Dà ­az (original surname Bellido de Luna), and a Colombian father, Rubà ©n Darà ­o Blades, Sr., an athlete and percussionist. He earned a bachelors degree from the University of Panama in law and political science in 1974. In 1973 Blades parents had moved to Miami because Rubà ©n, Sr. had been accused by General Manuel Noriega, then chief of military intelligence under President Omar Torrijos, of working for the CIA. The following year, after graduating from the University of Panama, Rubà ©n, Jr. followed his family to the U.S., but headed not to Miami, but to New York to try and break into the salsa scene. He began working in the mailroom at Fania Records, where he would eventually become one of the labels major recording artists. He took a break from his musical career in the early 1980s to pursue a Masters Degree in International Law from Harvard University, which he earned in 1985. Rubà ©n Blades and Willie Colon in the 1970s. Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images Cultural Impact Blades has had a significant impact on Latino music and culture writ large, particularly with regards to his recordings with Fania Records and other leading salsa musicians of the 1970s, like Willie Colà ³n. Their joint album Siembra is the best-selling salsa album in history, with over 25 million copies sold. He is widely known as the intellectual of salsa music, with lyrics that reference Latin American literature and issue bold social critiques on a range of issues affecting Latinos. Regarding his desire to make more explicitly political music during his time with Fania, he recently stated, â€Å"It didn’t make me popular in the industry, where you aren’t supposed to antagonize people, you are supposed to smile and be nice in order to sell records. But I never bought into that.† Ruben Blades with their Grammy Awards for Latin Pop at the 2000 Grammy Awards held in Los Angeles, CA.   Scott Gries / Getty Images As an actor, Blades has also had a long and fruitful career, which began in 1983 with the film The Last Fight and most recently included a role on the TV show Fear the Walking Dead. He has often turned down roles that reinforced stereotypes about Latinos. When offered a role as a drug dealer in the hit 1980s show Miami Vice, he rejected the offer, stating: â€Å"When are we going to stop playing the drug addict, the pimp and the whore?...I could never do that stuff. I’d rather kill myself first†. He continued, regarding the scripts he continued to receive: â€Å"In half, they want me to play a Colombian coke dealer. In the other half, they want me to play a Cuban coke dealer. Doesn’t anyone want me to play a lawyer?† Politics and Activism Blades is well-known for his left-leaning political orientation, particularly his critiques of U.S. imperialism and intervention into Latin America, which have often made their way into his music. His 1980 recording Tiburà ³n, for example, was an allegorical critique of American imperialism, and Ollies Doo-Wop (1988) addressed the Iran-Contra scandal that funded the U.S.-backed war against the socialist Sandinista government in Nicaragua. However, he has also been critical of leftist authoritarian governments or Marxist Leninist dictatorships, as he referred to the governments in Cuba and Venezuela. Musicians Residente (R) of Calle 13 and Ruben Blades perform onstage at the 10th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on November 5, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Michael Caulfield / Getty Images Blades political activism stems from his experience as a young Panamanian in the 1960s who saw Americans living in the Canal Zone disrespecting Panamas sovereignty and treating the country as an extension of the U.S. He began to learn about racial segregation in the U.S. and its historic treatment of Native Americans, which contributed to his emerging political consciousness. U.S. foreign policy in Central America in the 1970s and 80s—particularly its role in the civil wars in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala—was also an issue that affected Blades deeply. The U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989 to depose Manuel Noriega was a major reason Blades returned to Panama in 1993 to run for president. He founded a political party, Papa Egorà ³ (meaning Mother Earth in the Embera language of Panamas indigenous population), and ran for president in 1994, coming in third place out of seven candidates, with 18% of the vote. He was later asked to join the government of Martà ­n Torrijos, and served as the Minister of Tourism from 2004 to 2009, an important post since tourism is the countrys main economic driver. He has spoken about not wanting to sacrifice Panamas natural environment in exchange for foreign investment, and the fact that he stressed the development of small-scale eco-tourism and cultural tourism over large-scale tourist amenities. There has been speculation for years about whether Blades will run for president again in Panama, but thus far he has not made an announcement to that effect. Writing Blades publishes a fair amount of opinion writing on his website, mostly related to the political situations in various Latin American countries, with a focus on Panama and Venezuela. Sources Rubenblades.com. http://rubenblades.com/, accessed June 1, 2019. Shaw, Lauren. Interview with Rubà ©n Blades. In Song and Social Change in Latin America, edited by Lauren Shaw. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2013.