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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (40489)	3/27/2004 10:48:06 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

"Kerry calls for broad revision in corporate taxes" msnbc.msn.com

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (40489)	3/28/2004 12:07:56 PM
From: abuelita	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

jim- you hearing any news on athlone? i can't find anything - underwater big time. -rose

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (40489)	3/28/2004 7:45:15 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 89467

OPEC Likely to Set Real 700,000-1M B/D Output Cut slb.com OPEC likely to reduce threatened output cut: MEES au.news.yahoo.com Oil price riot may be out of OPEC's hands petroleumnews.com

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (40489)	3/29/2004 7:21:08 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Japan ends currency intervention biz.yahoo.com

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (40489)	3/29/2004 7:22:41 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

Outsourcing boon for U.S., Zell says ________________ Displaced workers starting own firms chicagotribune.com By Greg Burns Chicago Tribune senior correspondent Published March 29, 2004 To hear financier Sam Zell tell it, this is one economic phenomenon that can only help America in the long run. Outsourcing of U.S. jobs overseas is making the nation more competitive, in part by pushing former corporate employees to take a chance on launching new start-up ventures, the Chicago billionaire said last week. "A lot of people are turning to their own businesses. That's spectacular for the U.S. economy. That's progress," Zell told a Chicago audience sprinkled with former executives scrambling to make it on their own. "Outsourcing is fabulous." The cost-cutting practice of shipping jobs abroad has become one of the most controversial issues in the presidential election campaign. Zell addressed the topic in a speech sponsored by the Duman Microenterprise Center and Loan Fund, to which rising numbers of would-be entrepreneurs are turning for help in starting new enterprises. "We now have so many middle- and upper-level executives who have lost their jobs," said Arlene Shafton of Jewish Vocational Service Chicago, parent of the Duman program. "They're on their second or third downsizing, their second or third career." Indeed, the evidence suggests that thousands of laid-off workers frustrated by the sluggish job market are starting their own businesses. Last year, the number of self-employed workers rose by 421,000, to 9.3 million, up 5 percent from 2002, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists say the United States is creating new business start-ups at some of the fastest rates in the nation's history, though critics of outsourcing call that small comfort for those losing their jobs to global competition. Zell considers it all positive. "I don't think you can ever have too many entrepreneurs," he told some 200 attendees at the Duman networking event last week. Offshoring, as it is called, will affect only a fraction of U.S. jobs, noted Zell, who is chairman of seven publicly held companies, including Equity Office Properties Trust. And the practice already has become so entrenched that high-tech venture capital will flow only to businesses with an outsourcing component, he said. "Even if you don't think it's terrific, it's going to happen," said Zell. To a degree, Zell was preaching to the converted. "He really hit it right on," said attendee Thomas J. Schneider of Naperville, who has started two businesses since he lost his job running a heavy-equipment manufacturing company that was bought out in June. "I don't think I would have done this unless I had lost my job," Schneider said. "You get a little more gutsy because you have to. It starts off scary, but then it gets to be exciting," he said. The ability to overcome fear is just one characteristic that entrepreneurs need to succeed, Zell said, along with a can-do attitude and the confidence to seize the moment. Illustrating the point, Zell described one of his coups: The 1998 sale of his Jacor Communications Inc. to Clear Channel Communications Inc. in a deal worth more than $4 billion. After federal limits on radio-station ownership were rescinded, Zell said he told Jacor's management to buy every outlet they could. Within a couple of years, Jacor sold the lot at greatly increased valuations. In questions after his remarks, one attendee asked Zell if he was disturbed that consolidation had "homogenized and diminished the quality" of radio. As with outsourcing, the results were a logical consequence of economic efficiency, he said. And besides, he added, "I don't think entrepreneurs are that good at looking over their shoulders." Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune