<But what if he was some ordinary mere mortal with more charisma than scruples? Or what if he was a 40-billionaire, think you'd have a few guilty twinges? What if he was puppet-guy, trotted out as a spokesman for his company but wielding no real power over the firm which is being swept up in a tide of its own making? Or what if keeping him and his cronies at the helm means handing to them more wealth in each year than the company generates in that year? With no end in sight?>
Aarrgghhhh. Evilness. An investor's job is a very serious one. If it's their own money, they are taking their life's work and giving it to somebody. When one thinks of the lifelong struggle to gain a few promissory notes, it is essential that only the most reputable, capable, talented, creative, and other good things, type of people are given it.
An investor's primary job is to see whether the people who get the money are worth giving it to.
Some people are charlatans, dishonest crooks, or merely over-reaching dreamers. But they might superficially seem excellent prospects. If they are excellent prospects, they will be showing a track record, which should be scrutinized intently. There is no latitude for 'youthful mistakes'.
Capitalism is a noble profession [should be], just as soldiering should be a noble profession, conducted by only the most capable people. It is essential that those selecting the candidates really be good at selecting.
That doesn't happen, as seen in the carnage in the markets 'when the tide goes out'.
Capitalism has a way of filtering out the inadequate investors and inadequate capitalist managers. It's the financial equivalent of DNA development through random mutation, sexual selection and death through environmental challenge. Very ugly, cruel and harsh. But much more successful than the Kremlin Koncept of 5 year plans and a horde of kleptocrats designing the economic engine.
Uncle Al has indeed created vast value, but is enjoying the government monopoly, so it's not a test under fire. He does have competition from other currencies, so it certainly is some test. Also, it is a market, so there's no need to pay more than the going rate to attract and retain somebody with the talent to do what he's doing.
I shouldn't denigrate the job, but I think I could do it before breakfast. I'd just get a report on the median pay rate in US$ of the median human on earth. I'd set it at $1 per hour. If their pay was sliding up, to $1.00001, I'd put interest rates up and cut the rate of production of new $, increase bank prudential reserves, the usual. If their pay had slid to $0.999999, I'd do the opposite = cut interest rates, pixelate swarms of new $$ etc.
Actually, what I'd do, is get Tarken [our son] to write a bit of software, so I didn't have to get up before breakfast. The software would do the job for me. I'd check it each day, or maybe each month, depending on how boring the job was, to make sure the software was working and the data was flowing nicely.
I think QUALCOMM could do the job themselves. They could set up the Q, define it exactly as being 1Q = the median human hour. Then, people would prefer to deal with Q instead of US$ [easier to write for a start]. There wouldn't be the fiscal drag either [Uncle Al keeping the printed money for himself - well, for Uncle Sam].
The Q would initially be worth US$1 and backed by actual QUALCOMM shares. As acceptance increased, it could be spun off as a separate division. The people who hold the money at any particular time would be the shareholders of the new division. If they do well, their Q would become more valuable. They could print themselves some more and be very, very wealthy.
I am not sure that Q has noticed this idea. They should of course, before Microsoft figures it out. There would be a very powerful network effect, so it would be a good idea to be in first.
Perhaps I should patent the idea. Patenting the world's money supply wouldn't be a bad idea.
However, I hereby assign the idea exclusively to QUALCOMM Incorporated, who hereby are assigned sole rights to develop the technology for a period of 1 year from this instant [the expiry time of edit mode - I might want to add a 0.01% royalty to be paid to me]. Should they have not confirmed by then that they wish to retain rights for a one year extension, by a payment to me of Q1,000,000, it becomes an open licence to anyone who wants to have a go.
If by the end of the second year, they confirm they wish to retain exclusive rights, they may pay me Q1 and the technology remains exclusively theirs forever and ever, amen [or until jealous Uncle Al gets the USA government to declare them illegal monopolists - giggle; Uncle Al calling the kettle black].
I shall post this, before I spastically click the wrong button and delete it in error. More to come...
Mqurice
PS: Hey, Jay, I bet that makes you drool. The mystical Aztecs will be running for cover faster than Osama with King George II after him with a Daisy Cutter. Imagine what your newly-acquired QUALCOMM shares would be worth if everybody on earth used Qs and qs and they were swishing through QUALCOMM's monetary servers; arrays of them, all around the world, multiply redundant to avoid 'Oh oh, the file was wiped when an incoming meteor splashed into the Pacific and washed away San Diego'. |
