You see it, don't agree with it but continue to support it?? IMHO that sounds like madness.

Thanks... there are lots more you MIGHT like... at http://www.plusaf.com/falklaws.htm .

But (you expected a 'but,' right?)... what's 'production' mean any more? Manufacturing? It looks like the percent of an economy dedicated to 'manufacturing' decreases as the economy moves up the wealth 'food chain.' No? Most just shift to service-based, as the US has.

And there are smart, inventive people all around the world, so yes, the economic power probably WILL gravitate to the folks with the largest populations.

But (again), 'economic power' is not GIVEN to any Nation, it's earned. So if the US is to remain remotely competitive with ANY other countries, we've got to look at what MAKES a country 'competitive' and put the enabling forces in place.

To me, it looks like the US MAY be able to continue to do that, but with Obama at the helm and Hilarity queued up to follow, keeping the lead or regaining it looks very unlikely to me.

Time will tell. So, what were those 'enablers' again? :)


Oh, and look what just popped into my Inbox... http://www.marketminder.com/a/fisher-inv...
An alternate perspective from my buds at Fisher.
Enjoy!

Exactly right. We SHOULD fear our own government more.

If our body politic wasn't under active attack from internal corruption we wouldn't need to fear any external threat.

It's not the per capita that's gonna matter. It's the aggregate total.

Four times the people making half as much still out produce your nation 2 to 1.

But it's not the productivity per se that concerns me.

It's the economic power given to a Communist Nation.

It may be out of fashion to hate communism, but being cool with a vast totalitarian state is not my style.

(But with all that said - I really liked that 28th Law - spot on!)

They have one party rule - that you don't eve vote for - and political opposition is not allowed.

Don't tell me we're the same. What they are now is the worst nightmare of what we could become.

Propaganda, state control of the media, jail for dissidents.

No. If it doesn't qualify as Communist "any more than the US" ... well...

I hope so. I understand the idea.
But I'm skeptical of the "certainty" of success.

Oh, bullshit...

Falk's Twenty-Eighth Law:
No matter what happens...
•28a ... there is always someone ready to tell you that it happened according to his or her pet theory.
•28b ... there is always someone ready to misinterpret what it means.
•28c ... there is always someone who says they predicted it all along...
•28d ... there is always someone who won't believe it until they have "the proof" in their own hands or unless they "saw it with their own eyes..."
•28e ... there is always someone who will blame it on some kind of conspiracy...
•28f ... there is always someone who won't believe it at all, no matter what kind of proof is presented...
•28g ... there is always someone who will feel offended by it...


Guys and gals, have you forgotten that there are TEN TIMES as many people in China as there are in the US?! If their GDP or stock market valuation or price of manure exceeds that of the US, on a per capita basis, they're doing ONE TENTH as well as we are.

What part of that did you miss in the MSM's screaming blather.

Yeah, we've got shitloads of problems holding US back, mostly self-inflicted.

For years I've been trying to get people to understand that manufacturing ALWAYS goes to the low-COST provider, and as Japan began to outsource to China and China started to 'offshore' to Vietnam and now India, Malaysia and so on, the LAST domino in that line would be Sub-Saharan Africa! And that has recently been reported to be the newest location for 'cheap manufacturing labor' that corporations are looking at.

The 'problem' with that fear-mongering theory is this: After Japan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, India and Sub-Saharan Africa, WHERE CAN THEY GO NEXT?

Nowhere. As ALL of those economies grow and start creating middle-class aspirations and market demands, ALL salaries and manufacturing costs MUST rise to some kind of equilibrium, although it may take a few more decades to get there. I will happen.

Or you can go on believing what you believe and ignoring everything I say. It's been done before. Enjoy!

Forget everything I said...

There is a potential "regulator" here. China is squandering its natural resources, not only to feed its manufacturing capability, but also to supply an out of control population. The day will come--and probably not too far off--where those resources will have been exhausted. And where will they get their raw materials then? Might America rise again?

I have to admit, for every barrel of oil (or whatever commodity) we buy from a foreign power, we are saving one that is locating on our own territory. And when foreign reserves are depleted and they come looking to us....our natural assets will have appreciated in value.

I know we are, but first, Socialism.
JFK Democrat here and I've been watching my party slide that direction for way too long while fellow Democrats abandoned the party. Won't do that myself - I fight from within.
I'll do a Galt with the party when there is absolutely no point to doing otherwise, for me.
The Socialist Party of America said in the 1970s that they would use the Democratic Party as their face to America. They said they'd crash the economy to change it to socialism (Separate statements).
More than half of our Democratic Congresspeople are members of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Even Obama was a member of a party in Illinois who lifted their platform directly from the DSA.

Yeah, I see it.

By way of comparison, when Sam Walton ran Walmart, everything in the store was made in the United States. He was a very shrewd businessman and able to buy in quantities which allowed him to virtually dictate prices to his suppliers or watch them go out of business for lack of orders. But....if you go to Walmart now, try finding something for sale that is made in the United States. Chances are you can manage, but you will have to look for a while.

The scene is dramatized in "Tucker: The Man And His Dream". The trial scene does not resemble Tucker's trial other than in the most general sense, but most, if not all of the comments made in the movie are drawn from actual statements made by Preston Tucker. A personal favorite: "If Benjamin Franklin was alive today, he would be arrested for flying a kite without a license".

We began to throw this country away when the man with an idea and the willingness to pursue it ceased to be a heroic figure in popular culture. Most of the 20th Century and part of the 21st was invented by men and women working alone (or perhaps with the backing of others who believed in them) and making breakthroughs which the status quo believed impossible. Not to mention that there were institutions like Bell Labs where large staffs of thinkers were paid to put their thoughts to the test. Some may find the story of Charles Steinmetz interesting--it can be easily found online).

Those individuals were (and wherever they may be now, are) the soul of America. Deny them funding, steal their patents, shut down their basement laboratories because of zoning regulations (it's happened!), and you tear the heart out of the nation.

Up to you, but I believe that it would be a wise financial move.

Jay Leno has a Torpedo, doesn’t he? Gorgeous car.
Thanks for the story. It’s worthy of a mental file!

You are not concerned that we are on the path to communism? I see a lot of similarities. We are currently cannibalizing ourselves.

Quite possibly. I am reminded of a line attributed to Preston Tucker, founder of the Tucker Motor Company (makers of the "Tucker Torpedo"--I believe only 50 were produced). He was basically shut down by The Big Three (who have long since incorporated all of his ideas into their own cars).

During the course of defending himself from basically frivolous criminal charges which were intended to shut down his business more than to put him in prison (he was acquitted), he said more or less that "if things go on like this we'll be buying our televisions and radios from our former enemies" (then, Germany and Japan).

Well?

Not sure we are on a temporary path. Undoing what has been done is a steep mountain.

Should we be learning Chinese?

Interesting...does that means in a way...Germany does own Europe now?

Well, I am not too sure I really care. China does not qualify in my mind as a Communist society any more than the US is. They just use the label and the structure to impose their own version of a dictatorship on the masses, and they have all the failings of our "capitalist" system, just about 3x the size. There was a thing here in the news last week where they arrested some official and "found" a bunch of gold, silver and currency stashed in his house. Is that any different than the congressman from Louisiana last year or so who just "happened" to have a 100,000 in his freezer? They just have their politicians a little bit different in their corruption, but still the same.

Yes, tech and the internet in particular have weakened their ability to control people. Everybody familiar with China knows that.

Why will the progress sweep them away?
Has it weakened them yet?

I have no problem becoming the 2nd largest economy. Should the world ever become free, our lesser status will be inevitable. We are only the 3rd most populous country.

I have a problem with propping up a communist stronghold into the #1 spot.

That is DANGEROUS.

If you are a business that manufactures anything in the USA then try this little experiment. First make a survey location in your local malls. Then create 1000 pcs of your product in boxes clearly marked "Made In USA", and 1000 in a box that has no clear markings on it but does show "Made in China" on the box. then put them out on a kiosk with a price difference of just 50 cents. See the results and then you will have the fact that a small price difference makes the difference in sales. It is simple economics for basic income people. The lowest price wins, and that is why the manufacturing has moved to other countries like China, especially when they manipulate the value of their products to make them cost less, and take a smaller profit on them to control the market share.

Now I am not sure how many of you will remember the concept, but it is better to make a nickle a billion times than to $5 a 1000 times... and with a dollars price difference in cost of manufacturing the sales goes to the cheaper labor, and add the quality of product into the equation, you will sell cheaply made cheaply price products ten times for every one of the top quality type.

But hey I am not one of the top ten percent of income bracket, so what do I understand about this. Does 10 years of engineering school and 17 years in business of manufacturing mean anything, not in this economic environment.

My opinion on the subject

Step 2 of Obamas' destruction of America complete...
Two more steps to go and it will be complete!!!

Then comes the "Transformation" of America from a free country to a "Slave" country!!!

Maybe we should try the corresponding VIX, which measures the volatility of certain investments.

Neither am I, but it will be a necessary step. China really can't try to divest themselves of their US connections before doing so. The thing I think many underestimate is that the Chinese economy will see _major_ upheaval when that is the case. They currently peg the yuan so as to give themselves international trade leverage and piggyback on the stability and universality of the dollar. When their currency is allowed to truly float, there are going to be some massive market adjustments. If I had any idea how they'd pan out, I'd invest accordingly.