Harry,
Sorry to misread you.
Bill
On Tue, 23 Jul 2002 23:29:05 -0700 Harry Pollard
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> Bill,
>
> Don't take on so. I was referring not to the guerrillas but to the
> way they
> operate. They can hit anywhere at any time. Difficult to defend
> against,
> unless you make the entire country an armed camp.
>
> Even so-called airport security has become an annoying joke.
>
> Harry
> _______________________________
>
> William wrote:
>
> >What does everyone have against guerillas? I just don't like
> terrorists
> >but certainly support the people of Chiapas. Bush has successfully
> >clouded the issue by defining guerillas as terrorists and anyone
> who is
> >the enemy of Citicorp [aka the IMF] is a terrorist by his
> definition.
> >
> >Bill Ward
> >
> >On Tue, 23 Jul 2002 10:45:29 -0700 Harry Pollard
> ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> > > Keith (and Karen),
> > >
> > > Some points to chew over.
> > >
> > > 1. We cannot protect ourselves from guerilla attack without so
> > > constricting
> > > our freedoms that the guerrillas will have won anyway.
> > >
> > > 2. Bush (and congress) cannot keep spending money the way they
> are
> > > without
> > > seriously damaging (the somewhat unfounded) confidence in the
> dollar
> > > as a
> > > stable reserve currency.
> > >
> > > 3. Things that happen in the stock market have little or no
> effect
> > > on the
> > > economy.
> > >
> > > I am reminded of the story of the young economist in the
> thirties
> > > who,
> > > after graduating, took the bus home to his father who ran a
> > > successful
> > > hamburger restaurant - Ed's Hamburgers.
> > >
> > > Some 300 miles away from his father, the young man saw a
> roadside
> > > billboard
> > > "Ed's Hamburgers - the best in the West".
> > >
> > > About 250 miles to go and there were several billboards filled
> with
> > > lavish
> > > praise for Ed's Hamburgers. This continued all the way home,
> where
> > > the
> > > billboards sprouted everywhere.
> > >
> > > The young man had a hard job getting into the restaurant. There
> was
> > > a line
> > > waiting to get in who didn't take kindly to the pushy young man
> > > getting
> > > ahead in the line.
> > >
> > > Next morning at breakfast, the son explained economics to his
> > > father. "The
> > > cost of all those signs will bankrupt you dad. You should cut
> > > expenses and
> > > take them down. Don't you know there's a depression?"
> > >
> > > So, the father took down all the expensive billboards and the
> young
> > > economist was right. There was a depression, and father went
> broke.
> > >
> > > It's an old story and makes the point.
> > >
> > > If producers believe the experts, who know little, or the
> pundits
> > > who know
> > > less, or the politicians who know nothing, and begin to cut back
> > > production
> > > - there could be a problem.
> > >
> > > For almost 50 years, I have been teaching that stock market
> antics
> > > don't
> > > cause depression. In 1987, stock prices fell by almost one third
> > > ("the
> > > worst since the Great Depression") so what happened to the
> economy?
> > >
> > > Nothing.
> > >
> > > When the economy is crumbling around the edges and people
> realize
> > > they own
> > > a factory where half the machines are idle and lay-offs have
> > > decimated the
> > > work force, they will want to sell. Trouble is that when lots of
> > > people
> > > have factories in similar condition and they all want to sell,
> > > prices begin
> > > to drop - perhaps precipitously.
> > >
> > > The economic collapse precedes the stock market collapse.
> > >
> > > Sorry to bring it back, Keith, but we are in the middle of a
> > > "collectible"
> > > psychology. The reason you have, and hang on to an empty Rosalie
> > > beer can
> > > (present price $10,300) is because you think it might increase.
> > > There is no
> > > income attached to the beer can, but you don't care. The price
> is
> > > everything.
> > >
> > > This led to my comment about price/earnings ratios which have
> > > reached
> > > extraordinary levels. I referred to the analysts' bleating about
> > > this.
> > > "Investors" didn't seem to care about earnings as they bid
> prices
> > > higher.
> > >
> > > This is on all fours with the owners of the beer cans (there
> appear
> > > to be 3
> > > Rosalies in mint condition. Now say someone found in his attic a
> > > crate of
> > > mint condition Rosalies and took them down to the local
> collectible
> > > store
> > > where he sold them for $5 a can.
> > >
> > > What would you do as a collector? The magic that provided you
> with a
> > >
> > > $10,300 can has disappeared with a pop. You have a $5 beer can.
> > >
> > > Let me repeat how I first came across a Rosalie beer can. One
> was
> > > sold at
> > > auction for $4,000. Before the lucky bidder left the room, he
> was
> > > offered
> > > $10,000. He refused. That was more than 20 years ago. Over these
> > > decades
> > > the beer can has only just risen to $10,300.
> > >
> > > He should have made the deal, but he didn't. If you think about
> why
> > > he
> > > didn't take it, also why the $10,000 was offered, you'll get a
> grasp
> > > of the
> > > collectible market.
> > >
> > > It's a market without the price mechanism control that makes the
> > > free
> > > market so effective.
> > >
> > > I talked about this with regard to the land market, which is a
> > > collectible
> > > market. Wow, look at those housing prices soar! It seems
> impossible
> > > for the
> > > modern neo-classical economist to divide the two components of
> > > housing -
> > > the building and the land.
> > >
> > > The house price drops every year as with all products that get
> > > older. The
> > > land price rises every year because it's a collectible. It also
> > > suffers the
> > > possibility of an "inexplicable" crash - as with the stock
> market
> > > and the
> > > Rosalie beer can.
> > >
> > > Even the London Economist seems filled with people unacquainted
> with
> > > real
> > > life. A recent issue cover story pointed out that "real estate"
> all
> > > over
> > > the world is holding up the world's economies.
> > >
> > > Our economic well-being rests sturdily on a beer can!
> > >
> > > Harry
>
>
> ******************************
> Harry Pollard
> Henry George School of LA
> Box 655
> Tujunga CA 91042
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Tel: (818) 352-4141
> Fax: (818) 353-2242
> *******************************
>
>
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