On 10/30/07, Gruss wrote: > > > Huh. Well maybe it is dumb, but it seems to me that wealth is created > and gained by those most hungry for it - and that's ALWAYS at the > expense of others.
Economics, contrary to what Marx and other communist economic thinkers believed, is not a zero sum game. As India, China, and the rest of the industrializing world expand, their economies become new markets in their own right. The pie gets bigger. As for wealth creation, I agree that it is created by those who are hungriest for it (and have the opportunity). But that could be the kid down the street who decided to build computers out of his dorm room (Michael Dell), or the guy that just wanted to sell stuff online (Pierre Omidyar), or the house wife who wanted to prove to her husband that she could actually make a business out of selling cookies (Mrs. Fields). I don't buy the argument that wealthy industrialized societies are lazy. Here's what Ratan Tata said when, with $12 Billion, he outbid Benjamin > Steinbruch of CSN for Anglo-Dutch steel giant Corus Group: > > "This is the first step in showing that Indian industry can step > outside its shores into an international market place as a global > player." Of course. In a global economy, companies from all over the world become global players. Once upon a time, the U.S. played this role with Europe as the established economic power. Europe is still doing fine last time I checked. The pie got bigger. > A smart investor might be placing a lot of money in "emerging > markets". But, as you say, maybe that's dumb. Only our retirement > accounts will know :) > Ask Warren Buffet what he thinks of the Chinese stock market right now. He made a ton of money on Petro China, but now he is very leery of the huge run up in asset valuations in China. You can't just throw a bunch of money at "emerging markets" and expect to get rich. Lots of people tried that with Russia back in the 90's and they got their asses handed to them. Mexico, Argentina too. Remember the Asian currency crisis? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Get involved in the latest ColdFusion discussions, product development sharing, and articles on the Adobe Labs wiki. http://labs/adobe.com/wiki/index.php/ColdFusion_8 Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:245495 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
