Folks,
for a lively discussion of patents among attorneys, please see
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/kinsella7.html
and read all the way thru.
John
Friday, January 25, 2002
Patent Arguments
Thursday, January 24, 2002
Austrian Economics
Re: [spiers] Austrian Economics
In a message dated 1/24/02 5:23:25 PM, tacbain@attglobal.net writes:
<< So what catagory does President Bush's description of the democratic
party's
practice of "weird politics" fall? >>
Now now... the key is to not who is weirder than the other, the key is to
understand the way the world works so that we can turn a buck. Billionaire
Geo. Soros says his job is to punish stupid government policies, and he does
as well with the Republicans as the Democrats.
Like I said, I think the economy is far worse off than people generally know;
there will be plenty of opportunity to innovate, provide a value and make
money under these circumstances.
John
Austrian Economics
Re: [spiers] Austrian Economics
So what catagory does President Bush's description of the democratic party's
practice of "weird politics" fall?
----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2002 7:06 AM
Subject: [spiers] Austrian Economics
> Folks,
>
> In my classes I allude to Austrian Economics, as opposed to Chicago, or
> Marxists, or Keynesian or monetarists, or supply-side... it is the
> theoretical basis that makes the most sense to me.
>
> I also mention the small biz international traders business is such that
we
> enjoy a windfall in our efforts, something beyond what our lifestyle
> requires. this must be invested. These investments are often the source
of
> the wealth of the small biz int'l trader.
>
> By following the Austrian School I managed to make money as the market
went
> up, and also as the market went down. If anyone wants to look into a
solid
> theory of econ, I recommend www.mises.org as a starting point. I've also
> redesigned the class website with a few good links there too.
>
> John
>
> From http://www.dailyreckoning.com/
>
> *** What happened to the U.S. budget surplus? As predicted in this
> space..."U.S. Budget Surplus Gone", the BBC reported yesterday. The
> Congressional Budget Office estimates that the U.S. will run a $21
billion
> deficit in the fiscal year begun in October.
>
> *** Barron's predicts a "new surge of high tech buying." This surge in
> investment spending in new technology, says Barron's Eric Savitz, will
> lift the entire economy.
>
> *** But the Financial Times fails to see it. "Steep fall in investment
> gives little sign of bouncing back," says yesterday's headline. Why?
>
> "In a recent paper published by the IMF," continues the article, "Stefan
> Oppers, an IMF economist, suggested that the current downturn might
> be explained by the 'Austrian' theories of the economic cycle developed
in
> the first half of the 20th century.
>
> "In that model, cheap money leads to over investment and bad investment,
> which then has to be purged in a recession. Investment will not pick
> up again until companies have adjusted their capital stock to match
> consumer demand."
>
> *** We agree with the FT. There is little hope for genuine improvement
> until the recession has done its work. But as long as consumer
> demand remains high - sales do not sink low enough to drench excess
> capacity or wash out bad investments.
>
> *** There is nothing wrong with this recession, we maintain, except that
it
> hasn't really happened yet.
Austrian Economics
Folks,
In my classes I allude to Austrian Economics, as opposed to Chicago, or
Marxists, or Keynesian or monetarists, or supply-side... it is the
theoretical basis that makes the most sense to me.
I also mention the small biz international traders business is such that we
enjoy a windfall in our efforts, something beyond what our lifestyle
requires. this must be invested. These investments are often the source of
the wealth of the small biz int'l trader.
By following the Austrian School I managed to make money as the market went
up, and also as the market went down. If anyone wants to look into a solid
theory of econ, I recommend www.mises.org as a starting point. I've also
redesigned the class website with a few good links there too.
John
From http://www.dailyreckoning.com/
*** What happened to the U.S. budget surplus? As predicted in this
space..."U.S. Budget Surplus Gone", the BBC reported yesterday. The
Congressional Budget Office estimates that the U.S. will run a $21 billion
deficit in the fiscal year begun in October.
*** Barron's predicts a "new surge of high tech buying." This surge in
investment spending in new technology, says Barron's Eric Savitz, will
lift the entire economy.
*** But the Financial Times fails to see it. "Steep fall in investment
gives little sign of bouncing back," says yesterday's headline. Why?
"In a recent paper published by the IMF," continues the article, "Stefan
Oppers, an IMF economist, suggested that the current downturn might
be explained by the 'Austrian' theories of the economic cycle developed in
the first half of the 20th century.
"In that model, cheap money leads to over investment and bad investment,
which then has to be purged in a recession. Investment will not pick
up again until companies have adjusted their capital stock to match
consumer demand."
*** We agree with the FT. There is little hope for genuine improvement
until the recession has done its work. But as long as consumer
demand remains high - sales do not sink low enough to drench excess
capacity or wash out bad investments.
*** There is nothing wrong with this recession, we maintain, except that it
hasn't really happened yet.
Tuesday, January 22, 2002
Re: [spiers] They send these out...
Re: [spiers] They send these out...
In a message dated 1/22/02 1:46:10 PM, belovodia@aol.com writes:
<< Hello,
My name is Sky Martin. I was a previous student. What type of business are
you in, or are interested in?
>>
Folks,
If anyone wants to share this information, please feel free to do so... the
only thing I reject on this list is offers to buy or sell, or both.
This list serve now has over 300 members, and experience shows when it gets
to about 500 it will get active on a daily basis, this about 12 people
sending 90% of the posts, and others steeping in and out. We'll have 500
sometime this year.
John
And Profit margins No one can get Near...
Folks,
This article leaves out the best part... Apple is wildly profitably in an
industry that is suffering..
John
http://www.forbes.com/2002/01/22/0122comeback.html
EU, WTO and Trade Sanctions Against USA
by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
[Posted January 22, 2002]
In an awful, but not unexpected, ruling on a long-standing dispute
between Europe and the US, the World Trade Organization says that the US
must stop permitting US exporters to set up foreign subsidiaries that
save as much as 30 percent in taxes they would otherwise pay. Now the US
must either raise taxes by eliminating loopholes or face massive new
sanctions that will seriously harm our export sector.
In the complaint, the EU said that US tax breaks constitute an unfair
subsidy, and the WTO agreed. Of course, by the same logic one might also
argue that every American citizen is unfairly subsidized by enjoying
more tax loopholes as compared with people in more-socialist states in
Western Europe.
There’s been a lot of talk recently about foreigners who hate our
prosperity and civilization, and seek ways to inflict violence in
retaliation. Well, here’s another case in point, except these are not
swarthy Islamic terrorists; they are diplomats and statesmen on nobody’s
list of suspicious characters.
If the duties are imposed, what will get hit? The short list include
cereals, aircraft and spacecraft, iron and steel, nuclear reactors,
boilers, mechanical appliances, electrical machinery, clothing and
footwear, aluminum, tools, toys, paper, wood, books and newspapers, and
wool and cotton. In short, just about the entire US export sector.
Just what we need: a trade war to follow a hot war, the combination of
which could do to the US economy what the Air Force did to Afghanistan.
Something or somebody needs to do something quick to avoid it, but the
only option that anyone is discussing is the one the WTO seems to be
calling for: raising taxes on US exporters.
How does it happen that this shadowy international bureaucracy can tell
the US to raise taxes? Why is an international arbiter which is
ostensibly devoted to promoting free trade now imposing on the US a
choice between trade war and socialism? What got us into this mess?
The trouble began nine years ago, when the debate began on creating a
World Trade Organization as a corollary to the IMF and World Bank--the
additional institution that the folks who gave us Bretton Woods tried
but failed to create after World War II. International trade is one of
those glorious institutions of the market economy that needs no central
regulatory agency, so good sense tells us that the attempt to erect a
kind of regulatory dictator spells trouble.
No surprise that Bill Clinton was all for the World Trade Organization,
but so was most of corporate America. Who was against it? Many people on
the left who are against all world trade, and also a small group of
principled free traders from the Mises Institute and the Competitive
Enterprise Institute, who warned that a WTO would eventually try to pull
some racket like this. It was obvious enough from the WTO’s expansive
charter.
The Mises Institute, for example, argued that the WTO could become an
"enemy of free trade" and bring about "more trade litigation, reprisals,
and disputes than the present system," and that it would "use its global
powers to promote a big-government philosophy of full employment,
demand-side fiscal management, sustainable development, and wealth
redistribution." (The Free Market, February 1994)
But on the other side was a huge range of naive pundits who believed
that the path to freedom and free enterprise lay in the creation of
another layer of world bureaucracy. They said the WTO would bring about
free trade by restraining governments from imposing protectionist
policies.
These people promised that the WTO’s powers to do harm were nil but
(implausibly) its powers to do good were immense. They said that its
teeth would never be used to harm the US but (implausibly) always to
harm the US’s competitors.
They said that the bureaucracy would violate no one’s sovereignty, while
completely forgetting that the agency might not always be under the
political control of the United States, and that the US Congress is
always looking for an excuse to increase taxes and regulations.
Consider these famous last words:
* Jerry R. Junkins, CEO of Texas Instruments: "The fact is that WTO
cannot change U.S. law; only Congress can do that . . . We want
stronger rules--we will benefit from them. The WTO was set up to make
sure other countries cannot
cheat . . ." (Washington Times, November 29, 1994)
* Bill Frenzel, special adviser to the National Association of
Manufacturers: "The budget issue should not be an issue at all . . .
Commerce needs rules and stability. The United States is the biggest
trading nation in the world and needs" the WTO. (Washington Times,
November 29, 1994)
* Joe Cobb, Heritage Foundation: the WTO is a "major step toward more
open trade to the benefit of all trading nations. . . . There are no
sinister new powers for successful litigants to enforce the dispute
settlement panels’s decisions. . . The GATT agreement, and the WTO it
creates, seems well structured to keep economic freedom dominant over
the interest-group political pressures that compete to influence
governments." (Backgrounder, "A Guide to the New GATT," May 25, 1994)
* Claude Barfield, American Enterprise Institute: "A close examination
of the new WTO and its power reveals that the organization has little
more institutional authority [than Gatt] . . . In the future, neither
new WTO rules nor dispute settlement panel decisions will
automatically become binding upon the United States." (Washington
Post, June 26, 1994)
* William F. Buckley, Jr., syndicated columnist: Under the WTO, "it is
all but inconceivable that foreign nations would gang up to force
trade sanctions against the United States." (Orange County Register,
August 17, 1994)
* Brink Lindsey, The Cato Institute: "The WTO still cannot force a
country to change policies or laws that violate its rules, but its
rulings highlight practices that rob consumers of the freedom to
trade." (Regulation, Volume 20.1, 1997)
* Joe Cobb, again: "Does the WTO have any power over the United States
that could undermine U.S. sovereignty? None whatsoever." (Journal of
Commerce, November 28, 1994)
* William Kristol, Weekly Standard: The WTO is "an historic free trade
agreement and a big nut-plus for both the American economy and
free-market principle." (Memo, Project for the Republican Future,
November 30, 1994)
* Bryan Riley, Citizens for a Sound Economy: "By enforcing
already-established trade rules, the new WTO stands to primarily
benefit the United States. . . . [A]s long as the WTO fulfilled its
mandate to enforce rules designed to promote trade, individual freedom
would gain a powerful ally against protectionist trade barriers
worldwide." (Issues and Answers, August 20, 1994)
* Virginia Postrel, Reason Magazine: "The treaty does not force the U.S.
government to do or not do anything--neither GATT nor its proposed
World Trade Organization has an army. . . . With the new treaty, and
its predecessor, national governments bind themselves to respect the
right of their citizens to trade." (Journal of Commerce, August 29,
1994)
* Washington Times: "Understand this about the WTO. It has absolutely
zero
power--none, nada--to change US laws. . . . The biggest reason to
support [the WTO] is to expand individual liberty." (Editorial,
November 30, 1994)
* Washington Post: "It is abroad, and especially in Europe, that the art
of disguising protectionism as health standards has been brought to it
highest level. Much of the language in the WTO’s rules is the result
of outraged protests by American exporters, who will at least get a
weapon against this abuse." (Editorial, December 1, 1994)
Yes, I know it is impolite to actually hold people accountable for their
past opinions, but so be it. These were the voices that paved the way
for the US to enter into the WTO, which is now attempting to make the US
choose between international conflict and higher taxes. Instead of
creating the free-trade utopia we should all favor, it is now creating
the legal conditions that will bring about trade war in the midst of a
terrible recession.
The advocates of the WTO were convinced that if somehow we could give
lots of power to a bureaucracy, this bureaucracy would behave exactly
the way they hoped it would. Reminds one of what Mises said: "Nobody
every recommended a dictatorship aiming at ends other than those he
himself approved. He who advocates dictatorship always advocates the
unrestricted rule of his own will."
What to do now? It’s true that the WTO cannot literally force the US to
raise taxes. There’s always the option that Congress could throw a
wrench into the WTO’s gears by lowering corporate taxes across the
board, thereby eliminating the alleged subsidy of current tax loopholes.
When the news of this amazing event appears in the European papers, many
Eurocrats will cough up their morning cappuccinos. It will also be a
cold day in Hell.
_________________
Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., is founder and president of the Ludwig von
Mises Institute and editor of < http://www.lewrockwell.com/ >
LewRockwell.com. Send him email at < mailto:Rockwell@mises.org >
Rockwell@mises.org. Also, see his Mises.org
Re: [spiers] They send these out...
Re: [spiers] They send these out...
Hello,
My name is Sky Martin. I was a previous student. What type of business are
you in, or are interested in?
A Variation On A Theme
Folks,
I wonder if these people knew how to develop markets and products if they
would resort to this. I'd love to interview the author and find out what are
his views of the world -
Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 02:06:08 -0800 (PST)
Subject: URGENT NEED FOR HELP
Return-Path:
TEL:27-83 345-7819
FAX:27-11-648-1881
e-mail:nwaagulu@yahoo.com
Dear Sir,
Compliments of the season.This very confidential
letter should not come as a surprise to you.I am Col.
Manfred Owoh. I worked as the Personal Adviser on
defence matters to the late President Laurent
Kabila,the former President of Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC).I got your contact through your country’s
trade journal.
Following the civil war in my country,the Head of
State delegated me to arrange for armed purchase from
the Republic of South Africa through independent Arms
dealer.I was directed to purchase arms worth US$30
Million (Thirty Million United States Dollars).On my
arrival in South Africa, I learnt that Kabila had been
shot dead by his personal bodyguard.Aware that
Kabila’s regime would fail,I saw this as a golden
opportunity and decided to divert this fund,which was
brought to South Africa through diplomatic means.I
deposited this money in a private security company.
Currently,this proposal is to inform you that I want
to transfer this money into any of your
personal/company’s account within the shortest
possible time.It is in this light of this that I took
my time to arrange for a confidential and trustworthy
individual who can assist me in transfering this money
and stand as the rightful beneficiary of this fund so
that we can move the money out of South Africa
immediately.I am presently staying in South Africa as
a political asylum seeker with my family.
Please , note that this transaction demands highest
degree of trust and confidentiality between
us.Moreover,it is risk free in the sense that I have
taken proper care of all the formalities regarding it.
Please reply with the above telephone number or E-mail
address,and furnish me with your private telephone and
fax numbers for the future confidential
communication.
In appreciation of your assistance,I have worked out
the sharing ratio for this transaction as follows :70%
for me,which I will invest in your country under your
close supervision,while 25% is for your efforts and we
shall set aside 5% for all incidental expenses.As I
wait to hear from you,note that all communication on
this transaction shall be through the above telephone
and fax numbers.
Thanks for your co-operation.
Best regards,
COL. MANFRED OWOH
N/B : This business is secret and confidential.
Monday, January 21, 2002
They Send These Out...
Folks,
I received the following in my email today. These are sent out to this day
because so many people still fall for it, to wit:
From: Madu Nominees.
Plot 33 Nicholas Crescent, V/I.
Lagos-Nigeria.
Dear Sir,
I do not mean to embarras you by this proposal, but to
confide to you a very sensitive issue, of a very
pathetic situation, and also to seek your utmost
assistance for the issue I am about to explain to you.
My name is Ezeani Madu, and I am the principle
consultant of the above mentioned law firm here in
Lagos Nigeria.
You see!, one of my clients, and ofcourse my most
valued client by name Hamza Al-Mustapha just called my
presence to confide a very sensitive situation to me.
My client happened to be the then chief security
officer {CSO} to the former military dictator, Late
General Sani Abacha, who died july 1998 on active
service as the then head of state of the federal
republic of Nigeria.
My client, Al-Mustapha is presently being detained in
the prison custody, awaiting trial for charges of
acute human right violations, and mismanagement of
government fund, leveled against him and Mohammed
Abacha, son of the late General {His Master}.
A first class information has revealed that the duo
are likely to face life imprisonment for the charges
against them, which they are likely to be convicted
of.
My client Al-Mustapha got this information somehow
and called to brief me of a security trunk which he
deposited with a trust company here in Nigeria before
his arrest, and subsequent detention.
According to him, the trunk contains the cash sum of
US$35,000,000 which the trust company does not know
about yet, as the content was declared as family
jewelries and security documents.
Also according to him, some security application was
made on the bills to prevent it from being stolen or
spent by another person, until the application is
cleared.
Now that his chances of being set free from the
allegations against him are rare, he called me to
assist him secure the the fund, which ofcourse is the
only hope of the family,{His two wives, and seven
children}.
After much deliberation however, I managed to convince
him to endorse a change of beneficiary for the
deposited trunk. This will enable the new beneficiary
to put an application for withdrawal of the trunk as
the new legal beneficiary to the deposited trunk.
In the light of this, I decided to contact you to
assist us in this transaction since the plan is to
have the change of beneficiary done in favour of a
foreigner, who also will be our foreign contact and
assistance to move this money out of the country.
The arrangement is to change the beneficiary of the
consignment into your name, forward you with all the
necessary deposit documents to this effect and have
you
contact the trust company for withdrawal of the trunk
as the new/legal beneficiary.
You will hereafter, request that the consignment be
deliverred to you at your nominated destination.
After proper identification and verification as the
new legal beneficiary to the deposit, the company will
release and ship the consignment to your agreed
destination. The company may also take care of customs
clearing and handling of the consignment until it is
deliverred at your domain, or any of your choosen
destination, as you may advise.
My client lost almost a hundred million US dollars,
frozen in swiss banks and in different personal
accounts on the instruction of the present deomacratic
government of the fedral republic of Nigeria.
The plan to move this fund out of the country was
informed by a joint decission by the family of my
client to invest this money abroad, probably into
commercial real estate, at least to shelter their
money.
You may also have the priviledge of brokering the
purchase of valuable properties for my client, since
they have all agreed to invest the money into
commercial real estate as I tolf you.
Having gone through this explanation, and considering
the fate of my client and the dependants he is about
to leave behind as the sole bread winner of the
family, should he not be lucky on this case, I ask a
simple question:
Should my client suffer for offences allegedly
committed by him master?, should even his family be
left, abandoned and even refused to be heard, by a
government which is prosecuting their sole bread
winner for human right violations?
To freeze an account of a fulltime house wife who
never knew anything in the government, yet they are
denied the basic requirements of life, is a crime to
humanity, and human rights violation at its peak. Yet
my client's family is presently denied of telephone
access etc, hence dening them the freedom of
communication and association.
It is for this reason that I sincerely solicit your
utmost assitance to move this fund out of the country,
and maybe into your care abroad, on behalf of the
family for safe keeping, subject to when they are
ready to manage the fund.
It is also expected that you will represent this
family in brokering the purchase of
valuable/profitable
proprties in your country or the neighbouring, so they
can always fall back to these properties when the heat
on the family reduces.
My client has also resolved to reward you hansomely
with 5% of the total amount on the sucessful
conclussion of this transaction.
I shall also be 100% available to provide you with all
the necessary assistance and guidelines you may
require on the course of this transaction.
I have just entrusted the details of this fund and the
fate of this helpless family into your conscience for
safe keeping.
I also hope to have offerred you a great opportunity
to
make yourself some good money, I believe I have.
Should the above transaction appeal to you therefore,
I hereby urge you to mail me your response immediately
for further details and immediate commencement of this
transaction.
You will also be doing us a lot of good to guide
this information with immense confidentiality, should
this transaction does not appeal to you.
Hoping to hear from you soon on this issue.
Regards,
Ezeani Madu. {ESQ}
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