I am convinced that, unfortunatelly, only a serious recession will make this country accept a metric conversion. -----Original Message----- From: kilopascal [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, 07 December, 2000 13:09 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:9596] Economy 2000-12-07 Has anyone been following the business reports as of late? It seems the US economy is starting to slip badly, even though the "experts" are saying the economy is still strong. It seems our monthly trade deficit is now at 35 G$, and climbing. It seems the world isn't buying our non-metric stuff, except for maybe Canada and Mexico. Even the Euro is above 88 � now. I remember back in the late '80s when things were bad too. It was at this time that metric got a big push, because it was felt that we needed it to sell elsewhere and exports were important. They were important to the company I work for as the foreign market then made up for the loss of the domestic market. We don't have those markets anymore, and if things get bad, we won't be able to fall back on exports like we did before. If it comes to a point where the US comes to realise the importance of exports and the domestic marketplace is not enough, then we have a chance to push for a stronger conversion. But, we need our foreign friends and customers to tell us we need to change. If they keep quiet and just go elsewhere to buy, then US industry will not see SI as the issue. Maybe soon we will need to "remind" our elected officials that greater exports will happen when we produce products to the measurement language and standards the world uses. John There are none more hopelessly enslaved then those who falsely believe they are free! Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
