關於 momentum ranks ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

――Also a long-awaited and astonishing development: interviews during the film with the coordinating producer of Hello! Project, Tsunku♂-san, as well as with Momoiro Clover Z’s manager Kawakami Akira-san.

Owada: Interviewing other people from the idol industry, I thought, “that’s new”.

Komiyama: Actually, I’m a fan of Momoiro Clover Z. That’s why, when I saw the interview with Kawakami-san, it reminded me of how many awesome things there are about him, and that while I’m in AKB48, all these amazing people are rivals in the same industry. We all have our own fans, we all sing and dance and deliver smiles, and I love the AKB48 that I’m in right now, so I want to work hard so that we don’t lose to the other groups.

――Team 8 and NGT48 are also represented in this documentary. Team 8’s influence at present is especially difficult to overlook. As young members yourselves, what are your impressions about them?

Owada: It’s hard for me to speak of Team 8 because I don’t have much direct contact with them… I think the only time I’ve really seen them up close was at “Request Hour”.

Komiyama: Watching them acts as a stimulus. People say “there’s no point if the junior members can’t become threats to the senior ones”, and I think Team 8 personifies those words.

Owada: Because they’re so close to us, they do act as a good stimulus, and they’re an important presence. When I watched them at “Request Hour”, the fans doing the mix for Team 8 were at a whole different excitement level from when they do it for the other teams. It was astonishing.

――Then, what do you think of Nogizaka46 and Keyakizaka46, clearly designated “rival groups” that started later than AKB48 but have a similar momentum?

Komiyama: Before, members of AKB48 were working so frantically to get senbatsu spots that we didn’t look at the outside world at all, but lately when I look at Nogizaka46 and Keyakizaka46’s activities, I feel very strongly that I don’t want us to lose to them. And also lately this bud of realization has sprouted in me that says we as AKB48 members need to carry on the legacy the seniors left us.

Owada: I know what you mean, I’ve started to think as a member of AKB48 rather than of myself as an individual.

――As members who are burdened with the title “next generation”, I bet it’s important for the 15th generation to stick together. The “Ichigochanzu performance” you did together surely heightened your unity with each other, but what did you think about it?

Owada: It’s true, since then, I think our bonds have deepened very quickly. (Iino) Miyabi and (Taniguchi) Megu started a year after the other 15th gens, and I have been asked by fans “do you really consider them members of your generation?” The two of them do speak respectfully to us and there are definitely times when I felt there was a distance between us that couldn’t be breached. However, when we did the “Ichigochanzu” stage, we became able to share our opinions with each other.

Komiyama: The staff told us “you’re their seniors, so you need to teach them a lot of things”, but up until a while ago I was thinking “it’s way too hard to talk to them”. I was too self-conscious about being around them, and I just couldn’t make a connection. But during the course of the “Ichigochanzu” stage, the entire 15th generation became able to scold each other and butt heads, and it truly made me happy. I feel we’re all comrades who can tell each other anything now, and I really started to feel like the 15th generation is where I belong.

Owada: I think it was thanks to the timing of the “Ichigochanzu” stage.

Komiyama: We’re middle school and high school students spending our days aiming to be idols. We joined hands and did our best together. We made our entrance during the encore as picture-perfect idols according to the contents of the setlist. At first we seemed to overlap with each other but this stage was able to bring everyone’s individuality to the forefront. And every one of us got to take turns playing the part of center and shine in the spotlight, which was excellent.

――The other day, right after the election had ended, you posted about your ranking on Google+ and other sites, but I would like to hear your full impressions about it here.

Owada: More than anything else, I was surprised to see that AKB48 dominated in numbers!

Komiyama: My ranking was 21st, and all around me were AKB48 members like Shimazaki (Haruka)-san, (Kojima) Mako-san and Minegishi (Minami)-san. And the second it was announced that AKB48 came out on top in numbers, everyone around me started celebrating together. It really made me happy.

――For a time, while the 80 ranks were being called up, the seats were filling up largely with members from other groups. But when the names being called for Undergirls and senbatsu members turned out to be mostly AKB members, the scene when it became clear that AKB was the winning group was enough to give anyone goosebumps.

Komiyama: People in society might be thinking that “they’re failing to make the generation shift”, but the fans’ passion transfers to us, they let us know how they feel by giving us clear rankings in Undergirls and senbatsu.

Owada: On top of that, with the group entering its 11th year, there has to be passion for it considering the timing, and I’m happy that translated into a win for AKB.

――The Team 4 onslaught was also a sight to behold.

Komiyama: That’s what made me the happiest! And I was moved that all of the Team 4 members who were called in the preliminary rankings were able to hear their names called at the election. As someone who has experience with that, the members listed in prelims really want to hear their names called at the real thing (laughs).

Owada: It’s been said that “Team 4 has the fewest members in senbatsu” and “Team 4 has no super-senbatsu members”, so I’m glad that we can feel now that Team 4’s hard work and value is being recognized. I was transferred from Team B to Team A, so I don’t have experience in Team 4, but Team 4 always has a fresh image. And I ended up thinking, “the team that pulls the group along in the election is a different one now, isn’t it?”

Komiyama: Within Team 4 the story was “We don’t have any super-senbatsu members, so it doesn’t matter because each member is the same”, and we had a solidarity through that, all striving together to move up in the ranks. I’m glad we overcame that with the election results.

Owada: There aren’t any humble people in Team 4, are there? It’s like there’s an energy around everyone as they all try to promote themselves.

Komiyama: With Izuta Rina-san as the mood maker and Takahashi Juri-san as the captain, I love Team 4. I’m gonna try my best to make great strides with this team!

美國是全球投資首選地

新近發布的一份報告將美國列為全世界吸引外國直接投資的頭號目的地--今年是連續第二年--而且還說接受調查的高管中對美國持積極看法的比例比此項調查有史以來包括的其他任何一個國家都高。

這項評估是在科爾尼(AT Kearney)管理諮詢公司進行的一項密切跟踪全球企業領導人的調查的基礎上作出的，美國財政部官員羅伯特·索克因(Robert Sockin)在6月3日發表的一篇博文中概述了有關內容。

索克因說，這份報告指出繁榮發展的能源部門和日益回溫的房屋市場是美國重新受到全球投資方青睞的關鍵因素。

以下圖表--標示出表明更加看好美國前景的投資者的淨百分比--顯示出自全球金融危機爆發以來投資者對美國前景的看法有了多麼大的改善。 2007年，淨百分比為零——持積極和消極看法的投資者的比例相等。 2012年，即兩年前，持消極看法的投資者多於持積極看法的投資者。

2013年，歐巴馬總統通過提出選擇美國(SelectUSA)計劃倡導整個美國政府積極努力，將全世界的投資吸引到美國。同年，投資者對美國前景的看法有了很大的改觀，而且這一勢頭直到2014年依然強勁。

U.S. Is World’s Top Investment Destination

A recently published report ranks the United States as the most attractive destination in the world for foreign direct investment — for the second year in a row — and says that the share of surveyed executives with a positive view of the United States is the highest ever recorded for any country in the survey’s history.

This assessment, based on a closely followed survey of global business leaders conducted by the management-consulting firm A.T. Kearney, was outlined in a June 3 blog post by U.S. Treasury Department official Robert Sockin.

The report cites a thriving energy sector and an improving housing sector as key reasons the United States is garnering renewed excitement from the global investment community, Sockin says.

The chart above — which shows the net percent of investors reporting an improved outlook for the United States — illustrates how much the investor outlook for the U.S. has improved since the onset of the global financial crisis. In 2007, the net position was zero — there were an equal number of positive and negative investor responses. In 2012, two years ago, more investors had a negative outlook than a positive one.

In 2013, under his SelectUSA initiative, President Obama called for a vigorous U.S. governmentwide effort to bring investment from around the world to the United States. That year saw dramatic improvement in the investor outlook for the United States, and the country continued to build on its momentum through 2014.