Katherine shares a snippet of conversation:
Had lunch with Perrier-Jouet executives today. Their biggest growth markets are China and Brazil. They're also doing a bespoke champagne program, where customers can come to France and spend a week with the Chef du Cave to develop 12 bottles of their own bubbly. They've gotten the most interest from China, apparently specifically Chinese celebrities.
The Communist Government in Vietnam has ordered all entities functioning under government control to be reduced by 30%. They want to be like Hong Kong. Any reduction of govt is automatically an expansion of a relatively freer market, always a good thing. Vietnam economy'll grow. If communists can cut govt by 30%, why can republicans, or dems (or whoever is in power now.)
Communists still believe in Vietnam. Our govt no longer believes in USA, but they have no intention of giving up power, so cutting the size of govt is simply out of the question. As this administration have various members who joke "never waste a good crisis," whatever crisis this conflict foments will lead to more government. Government'll grow.
The WTO is an organization where USA makes the rules, but does not have to obey them. Now Vietnam is a member of the WTO. Vietnam has filed a complaint with the WTO dispute resolution board regarding USA treatment of imports of shrimp from Vietnam. This will be interesting. The last time USA got into a dispute with the Vietnamese, it did not turn out so well for USA.
The Hong Kong Standard is quoting Steve Wynn as saying he will bring up in the next board meetings a plan to move his headquarters from Vegas to Macau. Macau already far surpasses Vegas in revenues. Wynn is world class talent, an American treasure. It is so sad to see USA hamiltonian policies drive our best and brightest out.
Y'all know my argument for launching a business, and y'all know it is contrary to what most people think an int'l trade start-up is about. I am working on a video here that breaks down and explains what i call plan B, that is how most people believe one proceeds in establishing a company.
Even Plan B is fun... I am starting with a source, and working back to market in USA... in this case chinese cooks cleavers and knives.
Heavy, rust-prone but take an edge like no other and safer than stainless steel light knives.
People get cut when a knife is forced. People force knifes when they are dull and when they are too light to do the work. Adding nickel, chrome or molybdenum jacks up the price, lightens the knife, prevents staining or rust or both, but when the edge dulls it takes more to sharpen.
The chinese steel knives stain and rust if not properly cared for (allow fat to reside on the knife when not in use) but they are cheap since plain steel is cheap, they are heavy, so the knife does the work, not your muscles forcing the tool, and they are quick and easy to sharp by yourself to hair-splitting hone before each use. Advantage: Chinese knives.
Stainless steel knives carry NSF certification, so they are endorsed by the knife makers enforcement division. Chinese knives are not. A restaurant that uses these knives will find themselves earning demerits on a health inspection, so they are not used outside of Chinese restaurants, where allowances are made. Never mind that food poisoning is no more likely in a chinese restaurant than any other, rules are rules. (And never mind that casinos on indian reservations serve plenty of meals, but the kitchens are not inspected by health authorities, because their jurisdiction does not extend to reservations. In spite of no inspections, there has never been food poisoning in a reservation casino restaurant. if you have professional cooks, you won't have food poisoning. We don't need inspectors.
I like the knives. People need these. They are better than what we now use.
So I'll lay out in a video how plan b works, with knives as an example.
Back in the 70's I watched many companies come and go, the sure losers being the ones who offered to somehow save something if you bought their products. All those businesses failed quickly, except one: Recycled Paper Products. They stopped using recycled paper exclusively (if any today) changed their named to Recycled Paper Greetings (making cloudy the original mission), and of course, sold out to a huge greeting card company.
I've been exchanging emails with a fellow who wishes to start a business that will help some women in an African village. of course, every year I meet dozens of people whose motivation is similar. The instinct is right: business benefits everyone. The tactic is wrong: I will help you. These women do not need your help. They have the brains and wherewithal to survive in conditions in which we could not last a month. The women do not need someone to buy things they make, then first need freedom to contract, and freedom from violence and fraud. The violence and fraud is backed by US foreign policy, and if we were to withdraw our troops, govt intervention, drop our tariffs and quotas, open our markets, these women would thrive trading with us, and find in their home countries the ability to keep the fruit of their labor.
Selling their handicrafts here will do the ladies no good. For we in USA to demand USA govt withdraw around the world, so we business people can go in and trade on a level playing field, then we can do some good, together.
For the Union movement, the most detestable actions, right alongside scab action, is the hosue union. A house union is one set up by the entity to be unionized, and is contolled by the entity to be unionized. For example, if Starbuck's was facing unionization, Starbucks might try to set up its own union, one it controlled, to keep out an independent union. A Starbucks owned union would be a "house union." Actually it is against US labor law for any company to try to create a house union.
I understand, and even agree with true unions, true worker collective action. But government unions are clear and simple house unions. The are the heart and soul of election fraud in USA, and government unions make it possible for the "bad guys" to stay in office and do all the abuse they do. Her eis one Union Official explaining things to legislators. (From Mish)
I am against "privatization" of govt activities, because little if anything goverment does would be on offer in a free market. I would just eliminate all of the home care, welfare, prisons, medical aid, food stamps, etc, because either we just don not need it, or business people would step in and provide more service, better quality, cheaper price, faster than govt ever does. Lines would disappear.
I have had merchant credit card accounts going back into the 1970's, that is the ability to accept payment by credit card and process it through a bank account. These can be hard to get, because in essence the bank is extended the merchant account holder credit. If I were to turn in fraudulent transactions, the bank would be on the hook. So banks not only worry about card holder fraud, but merchant card processing fraud.
Another aspect of a relatively free market is relatively little fraud. In USA you must have a zip code that matches the billing address on the card when you ship, provide the 3 digit security code off the card, and provide much more detail to maintain a level of security in USA. Buying online in Hong Kong is much easier and faster because the level of fraud is much lower. Curioser and Curioser.
I am not saying Hong Kong is devoid or fraud and crime. This morning's paper features a story about a man who took a video of a lad standing close to a girl on the metro. The man followed the lad, showed him the video and claimed the lad was a pervert abusing the girls on the metro, and the filmed proved it. The man slapped the lad around and demanded HK$28,000. (What, not $27,500, not $30,000?) Anyway, the boy went and got his mom to arrange payment... mom was having none of this and called the cops, and the blackmailer was jailed. Hong Kong has plenty of crime, often entertaining.
Since I have reason to go to Saigon as a side trip this visit, I looked at getting my HKG/SGN ticket while still in USA. The prices seemed high, and the Vietnam visa advice seemed iffy. I am always confident that if you want efficiency, competence and a good price, Hong Kong will deliver. I decided I would just wait until I got to Hong Kong to take care of the ticket and Visa.
9:30am I apply for a Visa at the Vietnam consulate. 10 am I pick up my passport with the visa for Vietnam. 10:30 I visit a travel agent and book the RT flight, US$300. Done! All this 3 days before my trip.
Now I will fill in the details:
The Vietnamese embassy is in the Great Smart Tower, 15th Floor, 230 Wanchai Road. It is a pretty easy walk from the Wanchai Ferry dock. A visa is HK$350 with a 4 day turn around, or HK$500 for a 30 minute turn around. Money talks in Hong Kong. (My ADD-gifted brain divides HK$ amounts by 8 to get a rough US$ equivalent) You need your passport, a passport photo, cash, and info as to where you'll be in Vietnam when you visit.
For my 30 minute wait I left the building took a left down Wanchai Road and there is a central market about two blocks on. You'll never see food so fresh in USA. The Chinese love their pork, so it was a surprise to see a halal section in this market. 10 am and the day is winding up for most of these people, who supplied countless restaurants etc started in the wee hours. You'll note how bloody the fish on display are... must be a local thing.
When I was in Hong Kong I priced tickets again (search engines take your location, known by the routing to and from your computer, into account when serving up info...) and there were many sites with good prices. Here is a trick to know: Only a physical Hong Kong business can get a url.com.hk address. if it is physically in Hong Kong, one can physically address any concerns. I like that. Any biz that ends in .hk can be anywhere in the world. So I ignored any online biz that did not end in .com.hk. Next, there seemed to be a couple sites that claimed expertise in Vietnam travel. I picked one that was close to the Vietnam embassy, because I decided I would walk in and just buy the ticket once I had my visa.
My choice was Tiglion Travel, Room 902 Yue Xiu Building; 160-174 Lockhart Road... this is about 6 blocks away from the Vietnam consulate, in Wanchai too. Ms. Crystal Lo gave me a quick summary of prices and options, and I chose Air Vietnam. United Airlines is cheapest, but they fly in late at night and leave too early.
Ms. Lo advised walk-ins may pay cash for the best price, and I was happy to do so.
Her staff is very detailed and thorough. Then I walked down to Man Wa lane to have some cards printed... but that is another story...
I noticed of sponsor of the wine fest mentioned below is Fedex, a fine distribution company. One of the key factors to be addressed, for reasons I will go into in the video, is logistics. Hong Kong weather can be hard on wine. Proper care, handling and storage is key. Fedex is not organized to meet this need, nor does fedex pretend to be. But if Crown is not involved, how come?
Crown Logistics is organized to meet such needs, and has invested heavily in supporting the logistics and storage needs of the Hong Kong wine enthusiasts. Crown has developed an astonishing wine cellar and venue for wine appreciation. The fact they developed it out of abandoned ammo storage caves is even better, from Mars to Dionysius. Anyone with the slightest interest in wine would make a trip to their digs a highlight of a visit to Hong Kong. And then afterwards, take a ten minute stroll down to Deep Water Bay for a beautiful beach and swim.
Check out a new business promoting USA wines to Asia in general, Hong Kong in particular. From their website, I quote:
Our passion for providing the best wine to Asia comes from our passion for drinking, researching and sharing, as well as our frustration with an inability to currently get the best wines in Hong Kong, regardless of their origin. We will work with individual vineyards and institutions in Asia to provide the best, most complete and most honest wine drinking experience possible.
Our love for wines is only matched by our commitment to charitable organizations in the regions we do business. We will work with local charities and donate our time, energy, network and wine to help impact the greater society. Wine is a passion, but there is more to life and we hope to impact all of our clients and their organizations positively and altruistically.
Please remember to print out your confimration to bring to the registration table for check-in. We will not be mailing a physical ticket for the event.