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Technology Stocks : Align-Rite Int'l (MASK) Undervalued compared to PLAB DPMI -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Joe Dancy who wrote (261)	11/5/1998 8:55:00 PM
From: Crossy	Respond to of 388

Joe, thanks for the link. EU has a problem of direction. The key "players" move in different areas/dimensions. The EU up to the Treaty of Maastricht can be considered a "classic liberal" (in the original sense), you in the US would rather say a pro-market - pro citizen - actually anti-etatist project. Goal was the economic union, a common market. Not thru ordered "harmonization" but thru competition this entity should be created. Well this was the credo til Maastricht. Maastricht itself is linked to German unification. The conservatives in Germany (in power until recently) never liked the French ideas of political-union. However to get the nod of the former Allied Powers, Germany had to pay a price: Maastricht and the political union. From that day, the EU immediately nurtured another goal as well: political union, with all the "harmonization" efforts. For businesses and the underlying rule-sets this was an important change. The old "economic union" thru competition concept put the individual person/firm at the center and was about to undermine many a national law. If consequently applied, the legal framework would have been evened out to the least common denominator. Deregulation would have been the explicit or implicit goal. However Maastricht changed all that. The rulemaking powers of the commission and the Euroepan Parliament were greatly expanded and many round-table schemes on the European Council level have been installed to "harmonize" most issues. One can easily figure here that the total legal framework of the European entity as a whole tends to converge into the sum of all rules currently applied in each single country. In my opinion the ban on TV & magazine ads for cigarettes is only a prelude of many more of such nonsense to show up in the future. After the demise of the former communist bloc, some people started to realize that the old-European welfare state's role model is not too far apart from the communist paradise. Surely we do have a more or less market economy. Sometimes more, sometimes less as in the case of Austria, the country I live in. But like under communist rule, in our welfare-stricken-states we have huge incentives not to achieve and very little rewards for empowerment. In fact huge detriments, progressive taxation with marginal rates of 50%, nationalized compulsory health care schemes and the like. So in fact, there's complacency all around. And many fear about factors like Globalization, competition and similiar "evils". This fear in view of global developments brought Social Democratic parties (positioned to the left of Your Democrats of the US) in power. Often aligned with parties even further left or with environmental groupings (or wackos as Rush L. would call them <g>). Anyway their regulatory zeal is even greater and their agenda is slowly unfolding. Just look to the wording of G7 documents. The only guy with some understanding of markets is a sort of a "NEw Labour" clone, Mr. Tony Blair. He not only pledged to let all the achievements of the Thatcher era in place (to the opposition of the left wing of his own party). He even marches ahead to the Drum of "New Democrat" music. Summing up, IMHO the EU changed its face from a laissez-faire to a pork-barrel tax&spend project. Instead of pressuring high-taxing governments to ease the opposite forces are mounting. The only thing left putting this tendency in check is GLOBAL COMPETITION. Even European Socialists realize they can't COMMAND the economy any more how to "behave". It's good that this powerful force is still in place. If not, I don't see any chance for growth here. In general: Europe lacks a dynamic climate that is apprehensive for growth and productivity, perhaps with the exceptions of the UK, Netherlands, Belgium and Spain. Our governments are caring too much about the "social stability" day-to-day operations while lacking farsighted ideas. We got no Silicon Valley, no software industry - nothing. What remains ?'I'm unsure. Many who don't like this style already left the continent, or moved to the places I describe above. I only wonder when I'll be next... <g> Sorry, no rosy picture but what the heck... best wishes CROSSY facit: the politicians don't care. Let them talk and talk and talk. While the conomy makes the next milestone. We are in a GATT/WTO environment, so protectionism won't work.- this means it's too late for some pol's to change it so they better got used to it..