Thursday, February 19, 2009

Not a Dime for Katrina

I was waiting for it, would there be anything in the stimulus to help repair damage after Katrina (What money that has come in over the last few years has been private, and the results have been remarkable). Add this to the long list of policies where Obama and Bush are exactly alike.

New Orleans is one of the world's most strategic cities, at the mouth of USA's most important river and on the Gulf of Mexico. It is heavy in oil and transportation and services. It is a city redolent of Soul, and jazz at its soul. (I will always be fond of NOLA for the fact I got married there once after one particularly wild night, and I have the marriage certificate to prove it. Unlike Vegas, they keep records.) Mayor Nagin, responding to events after Katrina that suggested a pattern of change of demographics, said:

"I don't care what people are saying Uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the end of the day," Nagin said in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day speech. "This city will be a majority African-American city. It's the way God wants it to be."

Apparently so, because all of the powers that be in both the democratic and republican party want it a white city. Citizens of African ancestry have been dispersed to places like Bakersfield and Eugene and Anchorage, and those who stayed to fight on have endured Stalingrad-like conditions.

The Supreme Court has ruled cities can take land from private parties and give it to other private parties. Adverse possession claims are easy against abandoned property.

New Orleans would repair rather quickly if the City and State were to publish the title records of the affected parts of the city and declare the disaster areas "free trade zones" and announce there will be no taxes or regulations outside of property rights on families and businesses inside the zones for 15 years. The disaster zones would become the wealthiest zones in five years.


Trade Trends

Global Sources has been a matchmaker in Hong Kong for as long as I have been going there, and they have some current research on import export out of China and some interesting forecasts. Their bias is towards big business, but read around that for the other side of the coin, projections about small biz international trade.

Mr. Pepples, the principal, believes he has broken new ground in his research, but the info is available from US CUstoms as well, but it is good to see independent research coming to the same conclusions.


Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Separation of Business and State


I am a big believer in the separation of business and state.

The legal system is a creature of the state. Business existed before there was ever “the state” so previous to the state, there was only business. As “government” and "the state” formed, it was the worst kind of business person who appealed to the state for intervention. Monopoly is the first and most obvious form of intervention. And today we have IP along these lines.

And anyone in business is familiar with the second rate businessperson who always “screams “I’ll sue” whenever their dreams are inconvenienced. And of course, when subsequently the complainer learns he had no basis for his complaint, he blames the lawyers.

The business man called in the lawyer. Businesspeople are the ones who convert business problems to legal problems. If you have no desire for legal recourse to a problem, if you are drawn in against your will, you can always go Pro Se.

Once the state is involved, the natural progression is to socialism, in its extremes what we see under either communism or fascism. In the United States, what we have is called fascism in the dictionary.

Much of the problems we experience in business, culture & society would be inhibited if we had a strict “separation of business and state” cultural ethic. Indeed. those you see thriving in business as self-employed pretty much act as though there is a separation of business and state. Certainly, like Jesus, they perform a miracle in obeying regulations and paying taxes, but it is doing business right that allows them to be in the graceful position of able to perform such miracles.


Fools Sue GoogleBooks!

The good part of foolish competitors is that it leaves more business for me. I received an email today telling me I can become part of a class action suit against google books because Google Books once proposed to copy everything in print and give everyone access to it.

As soon as I heard of this I entreated Google Books to put my book up open for free to the world. Almost immediately the sales of my book took off on Amazon.com. Apparently when someone googles for info on my topic, they are directed to google books where the inquirerer may read my book online. Since the info is good and unique, and reading online is tiresome, most people buy the book on amazon. Google gets a referral fee from Amazon, Amazon gets a profit on a sale, and I get a royalty on the sale. Everybody wins, especially the reader who found what he was looking for.

Very often I speak to authors who are incensed that google would do such a thing as put up books for all to read on the internet. What fools those authors are! Do I lose sales? Never! Do people go to google books and page through all 384 pages making screenshots to print a copy of my book. Yes, it happens often, as google reports show me. But none of those people would be my customer anyway. What do I care about what they are doing. I am out nothing, no more than I am out when my lit candle is used to light up someone else's unlit candle.

The amazing thing is people seem to think lawyers have a role to play in business. How they get that idea I do not know. Nonetheless they hire the lawyers, assuring they will lose much and gain nothing, and then complain about lawyers afterwards.

One reason most authors make almost nothing for their writing is they are subject to the Stockholm Syndrome, the problem when hostages become their tormentor's most loyal servants. If they were to learn a wee bit about free markets they might actually sell something they wrote. Never mind... this way there is more for me.

The email...

As an author or publisher, you may be affected by the settlement of a class action lawsuit in the United States regarding Google's scanning of books and other writings. Please read the following Summary Notice carefully.

Sincerely,
Rust Consulting, Settlement Administrator

Note: Google is sending this notification to you on Rust's behalf and has not shared your contact information with Rust. Any questions or comments should be directed to Rust at BookSettlement@RustConsulting.com

Persons Outside the United States: This settlement may affect you because it covers
U.S. copyright interests in books published outside the United States. If you hold such an interest
in a book or other material in a book, this settlement will bind you unless you timely opt out.

If You Are a Book Author, Book Publisher or Other Person
Who Owns a Copyright in a Book or Other Writing,

Your rights may be affected by a class action settlement
regarding Google's scanning and use of Books and other writings.

Authors and publishers filed a class action lawsuit, claiming Google violated the copyrights of authors, publishers and other copyright holders ("Rightsholders") by scanning in-copyright Books and Inserts, and displaying excerpts, without permission. Google denies the claims. The parties have agreed to a settlement. This summary provides basic information about the settlement. "Books" and "Inserts" are described below.
What Does the Settlement Provide?

The settlement, if Court-approved, will authorize Google to scan in-copyright Books and Inserts in the United States, and maintain an electronic database of Books. For out-of-print Books and, if permitted by Rightsholders of in-print Books, Google will be able to sell access to individual Books and institutional subscriptions to the database, place advertisements on any page dedicated to a Book, and make other commercial uses of Books. At any time, Rightsholders can change instructions to Google regarding any of those uses. Through a Book Rights Registry ("Registry") established by the settlement, Google will pay Rightsholders 63% of all revenues from these uses.

Google also will pay $34.5 million to establish and fund the initial operations of the Registry and for notice and settlement administration costs, and at least $45 million for cash payments to Rightsholders of Books and Inserts that Google scans prior to the deadline for opting out of the settlement.
Who Is Included?

The settlement class includes all persons worldwide who own a U.S. copyright interest in any Book or Insert. The meaning of "U.S. copyright interest" is broad. Wherever you are located, please read the full Notice to determine whether you are included in the settlement.

There are two Sub-Classes:
The "Author Sub-Class" (authors of Books and other writings, and their heirs, successors and assigns), and
The "Publisher Sub-Class" (publishers of Books and periodicals, and their successors and assigns).
What Material Is Covered?

"Books" include in-copyright written works, such as novels, textbooks, dissertations, and other writings, that were published or distributed in hard copy format on or before January 5, 2009. U.S. works must be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office to be included in the settlement. "Books" do not include periodicals, personal papers, sheet music, and public domain or government works.

"Inserts" include any text and other material, such as forewords, essays, poems, quotations, letters, song lyrics, children's Book illustrations, sheet music, charts, and graphs, if independently protected by U.S. copyright, contained in a Book, a government work or a public domain book published on or before January 5, 2009 and, if U.S. works, registered (alone or as part of another work) with the U.S. Copyright Office. Inserts do not include pictorial content (except for children's Book illustrations), or any public domain or government works.

The Notice contains a more detailed description of these terms and other essential information about the settlement.
What Should I Do?

Please read the full Notice, which is available at http://www.googlebooksettlement.com. Decide whether you should:
Remain in the settlement. If you do so, you will be bound by the Court's rulings, including a release of your claims against Google.
Object to or comment on the settlement. You must object/comment in writing by May 5, 2009.
Opt out of the settlement and keep your right to sue Google individually. You must opt out in writing by May 5, 2009.
File a claim for a cash payment (if you are eligible to do so). You must file your claim by January 5, 2010.
The Court has appointed Class Counsel to represent the two Sub-Classes. If the settlement is approved, Class Counsel for the Author Sub-Class will request attorneys' fees and expenses that Google has agreed to pay. You can also hire your own attorney at your own cost.

The Court will determine whether to approve the settlement at a Fairness Hearing on June 11, 2009 at 1:00 p.m.
Get Complete Information, Including the Full Notice:
Visit: http://www.googlebooksettlement.com, Call: +1.612.359.8600
Write: Google Book Search Settlement Administrator, c/o Rust Consulting
P.O. Box 9364, Minneapolis, MN 55440-9364 United States of America


Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Schools Can't Either

The pentagon is having trouble accounting for money disbursed in Iraq. A while back Rumsfeld announced he was going to do something about the fraud. But then everything changed.


Obama's Been Had

From Jon Stewart to Bill Moyers, people are asking what is the difference between Bush and Obama. By ramping up the war in Afghanistan and iraq, he is making those wars his wars. And read the lead sentence in this article on the liberal bailout package... I think in time Obama will be blamed for it all.


Trump Gets Fired

The Donald, a boomtime celebrity, is filing for bankruptcy on some of his holdings.Trump took a 200 million inheritance and turned it into a billion in 20 years. That's a five times increase in real estate, something any schoolteacher did in the same period. But for this he is considered a business guru. Go figure.


Monday, February 16, 2009

No Tax Refunds

Drudge is reporting Kansas is joining California in not refunding state income tax overpayments to taxpayers. Governments will bail failed businesses and business models, but they will not refund the productive segment of society. Something that cannot go on will eventually stop.


Susan Has a Question On Pricing

Say I have a product(s) that I wholesale at a reasonable, not high,
price.

***Your retailers ultimately decide the price. not you, although you are in negotiations for the price by adding and subtracting features and benefits to your product, with a view to optimizing your participation in the market via the products or services you offer...***

And, some retailers sell the product at a high price to make a
big profit. Then, the product doesn't sell well because the retail
price is too high for customers. And, my business takes a hit because
the product doesn't sell due to the retailer price, and maybe I need a
new product.

***You have more than one customer... any retailer who commonly rips off his customers is going to be defunct soon enough, leaving only the fair retailers...

John


How Booms Bust Small Businesses

I was speaking with a venerable retailer Friday night about his business. He got started in the early 50's with a partner on Capitol Hill in Seattle, and then after about 25 years he relocated solo in Seattle's Belltown area. Although I've done business with him in the past, he would not remember me personally, but we have many common associates. I did not reveal any of this as we began talking. He had a "for lease" sign in his window so I started the conversation with "End of an era?"

He laughed and said he wanted to shut it down last year, but now he is just consolidating and perhaps will rent out some rooms of his store. Yes business is way down, but he likes it enough to keep going. (He hardly has to continue for the money, he has homes here and overseas and has made quite a bit of money as a small upscale retailer).

I threw out the question "what advice would you have for someone starting out?" He paused, dropped everything, and said "there is a problem. This kind of store (gift, housewares and the occasional furniture piece) makes its money on the furniture. In the last ten or so years, all of the best furniture makers around the world, in particular Italy and Denmark, had all of their production booked by developers. Since supply was short we small retailers began to starve. Many went out of business." He laughed and said "(name of famous Italian furniture maker) and I were just talking about this last week,,, he said selling to the developers killed his business."

This is a version of the story in my book regarding Levitz and Kroehler Furniture. In this case it is building developers buying up all of the production for upscale furniture for the executive offices in those building during the dot.com boom of Clinton era and the housing boom of bush era. One reason USA management is so more expensive than management overseas is it has become a perk to remaodel your office if you change jobs or move locations. Here is one John Thain's budget for his remodel. Of course his is top flight, and we know about his costs because he is taking handouts from the taxpayers.

But keep in mind, this is just one executive, and one location change, of millions of such in business and government (yes, govt workers do this too.) The developers who build these buildings earn tremendous income from decorating the interiors as well. One london developer says they "have a healthy interior-design business" in relation to their dwindling fortunes.

So as a direct result of the greed of the legion of government workers who fashion policies that serve their minions in big business, honest productive citizens have not seen that nice chair, couch or table in the upscale local store for the last decade and more. The production of such items was vacuumed up to decorate the high rises of building housing businesses devoted to making money off of government policies, and some of us saw then, and everyone sees now, has been a complete waste, and worse.

Job number one is for honest business people to refuse to trade with the government and big business, any more than we would trade with the Aparteid South African Government, for the same reasons. In this way one segment would not starve the other small business segment. It is also in self-defense, because now with the bust and no new developments, some of these first class furniture makers are ending up as greeters at WalmMrt since there are not enough upscale small businesses to sell to any more, to support their work. They starved their customers to feed a beast.

I probed this question of starting a new retail upscale business like his, and compared his situation in the 1950's with now: no money, have to learn for yourself, cheap rent, and what suppliers there are hungry for new customers. Just the same today as back then, he laughed and agreed. It will be tougher now that Obama has decided to follow precisely the Bush polices in every way in his administration than it would have been if he were to make some changes, but it is not impossible. On the other hand, anyone who wishes to ride out these self-inflicted hard times has no better option than to become self-employed.

We talked about how some suppliers moved production to china. At first lousy quality, but now it is as good as anywhere. The best and brightest from all of the top universities in USA the last 50 years went into industry and government and crafted a plan that would put USA in charge of the world and themselves in charge of USA. Now we cannot get a decent chair from Italy. Why do people want their kids to go to top universities?