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Strategies & Market Trends : Asia Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: David S. who wrote (5311)	7/30/1998 11:07:00 PM
From: yard_man	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9980

Not sure if I should respond to that. Whoops, already did.

To: David S. who wrote (5311)	7/31/1998 3:04:00 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9980

I know you think you are joking, but as someone from Louisiana (and very familiar with history of Louisiana purchase) actually your remarks, though a little brutal, contain a strong message of truth. Capitalism, even in the best of countries - this one - is dog eat dog, and devil take the hindmost, but at least we have the rule of law, which means that contracts can be enforced and damages awarded, that intellectual property is protected, that loans can be secured with collateral that will be forthcoming in the event of default, and all those good things we take for granted. Imagine if you were a customer of a Japanese bank who found out that the bank loaned your money to someone, not only without a contract, but without collateral. Excuse me? In the event of default, how do you get my money back? Oh. You don't. I see. The parallel to Louisiana is that prior to the Louisiana Purchase Louisiana was actually the possession of Spain. France gave Louisiana to Spain to make up for the loss of Florida to England at the conclusion of what we call the French and Indian War (I don't feel like looking at a history book I think the Europeans called it the Seven Years War or the War of Jenkin's ear, but that doesn't really matter). To give you an idea how valuable Louisiana was, the King of Spain didn't want it. No, no no, you are too kind. Then later when Napoleon lost all his money he pressured the King of Spain to give it back so he could sell it to the Americans, who were the only people actually making any money there. You see, the French, and the Spanish, practiced a form of economy which they called mercantilism, and we call protectionism or crony capitalism, just as is practiced in Mexico, Japan, and Indonesia today. If you wanted, say, flour, you had to buy it from the company with the patent from the crown, who imported it from the old country, and you may recall that the English "pirates" AKA navy were getting rich by ripping off French and Spanish galleons, so guess how often flour from the old country showed up in New Orleans. Right, never. But the enterprising Americans (AKA Kaintucks) just ignored all the rules and sold goods to the grateful people of Louisiana, they were called smugglers, and I don't deny it, but they were good capitalists in my book. (Don't even get me started on the Whiskey rebellion.) My point being, that true capitalism cannot flourish without economic freedom, and whatever you may say about the people of Japan, or Mexico, economic freedom is not high on the Government agenda. Say what you will about lawyers, the rule of law protects individual freedom and freedom of contract, and without that, capitalism cannot prevail. Just ask the poor Chinese and Pakistani business people who try to set up trading posts in the hinterlands. They are always the victims when the riots start. See you, CobaltBlue