How independent and international should a “national orchestra” be?

On May 26, 2007, Russian National Orchestra, under conductor Mikhail Pletnev, presented a not-so-Russian program of
Hungarian and Czechoslovakian composers at National Concert Hall, Taipei, Taiwan. 

Their performance of Liszt’s Les Preludes, Prometheus, and Festklange and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”) was exciting.   What fascinates and inspires me more, however, is the entrepreneurial story behind this “first independent Russian orchestra.”  According to this interview

…’Musician goes home to wife and three kids and says, “My darling, I am leaving my job to go with a young, not-yet-established conductor, who is starting a new orchestra.” “Wonderful! And do you have concerts?” “No.” “Instruments?” “No.” “Scores?” “No.” “Salary” “No.” So things are not good at home!’

Truly, he could offer them nothing but a dream: the creation of the first independent Russian orchestra since 1917, and the chance to make music in artistic freedom.

… he also took out a huge personal loan, and over time would invest literally all his personal savings in this unlikely venture that had every probability of failing.

…

Is it possible to compare the performance of RNO and other government-funded Russian orchestras, say, Federal State Establishment “The D.D.Shostakovich St.Petersburg Academic Philharmonia”?

A device counteracting the biological influence of advertisements?

Dr. Fong-Jou Hsieh’s talk on neuroeconomics on Friday May 25, 2007 at the Deparment of Agricultural Economics, National Taiwan University featured
Read Montague’s research about Pepsi vs. Coca Cola:

… when the subjects drank a cola with a Coke label, more brain areas were turned on.  The hippocampus and midbrain all reacted strongly to the red cursive of Coke but not to the blue Pepsi logo. This happened even when subjects were given Pepsi with a Coke label… Brand power exerts a more powerful force over our emotions and decisions than we might like to think.  “Advertising is a deeply biological game,” Montague says….

Will there be a market for device counteracting the biological influence of advertisements? 

Dr. Hsieh also mentioned potential research opportunities using the new equipments at Neurobiology and Cognitive Science Center, National Taiwan University.

Here are some pictures of the installation of Allegra 3 at the newly founded Center for the Study of Neuroeconomics, George Mason University (my alma mater). 

What do you want to know about the economy of Taiwan?

The Center for International Academic Exchange of the university invited me to give a one-hour talk next Tuesday about the economy of Taiwan to a group of visitors from U.S.   If you are visiting Taiwan for the first time, what do you want to hear from an economics professor?