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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: elmatador who wrote (80306)	9/27/2011 6:42:42 AM
From: Snowshoe	Respond to of 217766

Elmat, this is a great article you linked. I recommend it... The rich world will lose some of its privileges economist.com In 1700 a spinster with a pedal-driven spinning wheel might take 200 hours to produce a pound of yarn. By the 1820s it would take her around an hour. FYI, the Chinese invented the automatic spinning wheel hundreds of years ago. Then they forgot about it... Spinning wheel en.wikipedia.org According to Mark Elvin, 14th century Chinese technical manuals describe an automatic water-powered spinning wheel. Comparable devices were not developed in Europe until the 18th century. However, it fell into disuse when fiber production shifted from hemp to cotton. It was forgotten by the 17th century. The decline of the automatic spinning wheel in China is an important part of Elvin's high level equilibrium trap theory to explain why there was no indigenous industrial revolution in China despite its high levels of wealth and scientific knowledge. High level equilibrium trap en.wikipedia.org The high level equilibrium trap is a concept developed by Mark Elwin to explain why China never underwent an indigenous Industrial Revolution, despite its wealth, stability, and high level of scientific achievement. Essentially, he claims that the Chinese pre-industrial economy was efficient enough as it was that there was no profit motive or the capital expense of technical improvements. Late imperial production methods and trade networks were so efficient and labor was so cheap that the economy reached an equilibrium point where supply and demand were well balanced, and there was thus no economic pressure to improve efficiency.

To: elmatador who wrote (80306)	9/27/2011 9:01:48 AM
From: Cogito Ergo Sum	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217766

Canada: unions not nearly a powerful as a decade ago.. especially in private sector.. public still has clout but less so there also... varies by province...

To: elmatador who wrote (80306)	9/27/2011 11:37:25 AM
From: dan6	Respond to of 217766

Great article on rich and poor countries. One concept is hard for me to understand. GDP per person. The US is one of a handful of nations with the highest GDP/person. I suspect this calculation is skewed by, for example, overpaid professionals buying overpriced meals in fancy restaurants. While such people may earn and spend hundreds of dollars per hour, both in a sense, are highly inflated numbers. The cost of the food and labor to produce the meal is a tiny fraction of what is charged. It includes a vast amount of "blue sky." How meaningful is this when it is included as GDP/person? Looking around at the people I know here in the States, I sure don't see a lot of them being especially productive by any measure. As much as I found/find Ronald Reagan's logic about "trickle down economics" cynical and specious, this may be one place where it factors in. Be it in the hospitality industries, home construction, or where ever..., meeting the whims of the wealthy does drive up the GDP/person. I'm just not sure how meaningful this is as these numbers are goosed (with goose eggs!).