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Mr Alan
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Quote: from DaffyDuck on 12:38 pm on June 8, 2005
[I do agree that the US has great opportunities in tech and bio-tech sectors, but the administration is either not supporting it enough (tech), or letting stupid religious views drive our bio-tech engineers and scientists to other countries (Fortunately, California has established stem-cell budgets). Couple that with shamelessly supporting and encouraging outsourcing, and we have our intellectual property leaving the country at an alarming rate -- especially with foreign countries luring and offering bright rewards.
I will comment on a few things you said above.
First, President Bush is the first president in US history to ever approve funding for stem cell research using embryos of human fetuses. He approved federal funding for lines that were already in existence. He did not approve federal funding for new lines of stem cell research using human embryos. There is no law prohibiting anyone in the US from doing stem cell research using human embryos, nor has outlawing such research ever been proposed by the Bush administration.
In several European countries, stem cell research is completely illegal by anyone due to ethical concerns. This includes Germany and other countries. Not just unfunded by the government, but completely illegal. Stem cell research on human embryos is completely legal in the US.
How is it that liberals complain about big pharmaceutical companies, who have to charge high prices on existing for drugs to fund R&D on new drugs, and now the liberals want the government to fund such research for them? I will tell you why: it is shear demagoguery.
Regarding outsourcing (actually off-shoring) : there is nothing the Bush administration has ever done in its policy decisions that have in any way encouraged off-shoring, unless such policies were already in place when he took office (but I don’t know of any such policies). If someone has an idea about how to discourage such practices, and not hurt American consumers, then I would like to hear about it.
A (former) Bush administration economist once said that there are benefits to off-shoring, such as lower prices to American consumers for manufactured goods. But just because he said that there are advantages (which is indisputable), that does not mean that the Bush administration has ever done anything to encourage it. Again, this subject is more demagoguery by the foes of the Bush administration. This was a big issue a few years ago when unemployment rate was higher, but seems to be settling down now as unemployment rates are close to 5% in the US.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 3:35 pm on June 8, 2005
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Golden Star
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Mr Alan,
You seem to divide things into black vs. white, Clinton vs. Bush, GOP vs. Democrats, etc. Forget the old divisions for a second. I divide things into common sense vs. douche-bagging. Most politicians are douche bags, so all this Bush vs. Clinton talk is beside the point. Both are totally clueless about the economy anyway. Clinton never was a businessman (he never even had a proper job - 2 years as a lawyer and then straight into politics!) and Bush ran two companies into the ground. Typical politicians.
It is no secret that Daily Reckong contributors are long gold and short US dollar. They certainly don't hide it from their readers and they sure as hell have a bias. But...their arguments are supported by fundamentals. Yes, the US always ran deficits, but never as staggering as now. The US GDP is $10 trillion, but the total US debt (corporations+personal debt+Uncle Sam) is $30 trillion - triple the GDP! This is completely unprecedented. This was aggravated by Greenspan's actions after the tech bubble burst - they should have let it go and let the stock market prices sink to their intrinsic values, but they did not want a (much-needed!) stock market correction, so they pumped up the system with all this liquidity - a huge mistake because when consumption slows and recession starts (which will happen as part of a normal business cycle), it's going to be worse that it could have been.
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 3:40 pm on June 8, 2005
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Mr Alan
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Golden Star,
There are two issues here. The budget and the deficit trade deficit. They are two completely different things.
As I previously documented, the cumulative US budget deficit is about average for Western nations as a percent of GDP. Combine that with the fact that the interest on debt is now paid with much smaller interest rates than previously, and therefore it is not a catastrophe, although it certainly is a concern. I personally don't think it is enough of a concern yet to be seriously raised as an issue in a pussy forum.
The US has had an ever-increasing trade deficit for over 20 years. That also sounds troubling. However, the US economy and stock market have done well over the last 20 years, with a few moderate blips that we recovered from.
So while both the budget deficit and the trade deficit seem alarming on the face of it, there is no negative correlation between these indicators and the performance of the US economy. So my philosophy is: when the economy gets worse, then let me know. Otherwise, I don’t take much stock in these indicators.
What I do take more seriously is the level of government spending as a percent of GDP. Unfortunately, the US has had to spend a lot of money in the aftermath of 9/11 ($40 billion to repair NYC alone). Hopefully the level of government spending will become more of an issue in the future.
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 3:58 pm on June 8, 2005
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Golden Star
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Mr. Alan,
Then the only thing we can do is wait and see! And hope that we prosper in spite of whatever the future throws at us. Regardless of our disagreements, I wish you all the best in your investments and hope that they fulfil all your dreams and then some in the beautiful Land of Smiles.
Cheers,
GS
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 8:27 pm on June 8, 2005
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