NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #30/NN_1992_30.iso/spool/sci/econ/9385

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-14 | 2.9 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!emory!ncratl!mwilson
From: [e-mail] (Mark Wilson)
Newsgroups: sci.econ
Subject: Re: An American strategy for world trade
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 14 Dec 92 17:20:24 GMT
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
Distribution: na
Organization: NCR Engineering and Manufacturing Atlanta -- Atlanta, GA
Lines: 45

In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Louis Schmittroth) writes:

|2.  Establish *something like* the Japanese MITI, the Ministry of
|    International Trade and Industry.  but American in conception
|    and implementation.

MITI's greatest success has been in self promotion.  If you look at the
entire record, not just the advertised successes, you will find that MITI
has been an abject failure.
Below, you mention HDTV and microelectronics, let me talk about these two
further.
HDTV, seeing an opportunity to further dominate the TV market, MITI pushed
manufacturers to invest billions in developing several HDTV systems.  These
systems are analog based since that was the best technology at the time.
The american companies decided to bide their time.  Now the americans and
the europeans are designing systems using digital technology that promises
to blow the pants of the Japanese systems.  The Japanase systems are closer
to market, but so what.  Their systems were obsolete before they were
installed and will never be installed anywhere outside of Japan.

Microelectronics.  MITI thought that if Japan were to become the dominant
player in the DRAM market, they could use the profits and knowledge to
lever a takeover of the other sectors of the microelectronics markets.
This did not happen.  At one time, one of the most expensive portions of
your PC was the memory, now it is almost an after thought.
The knowledge of how to make faster and cheaper memory chips has led to
only one thing, faster and cheaper memory chips.  The Japanese were
unable to take what they learned making DRAM's and apply it to things
like programmable array's and CPU's.  These high level chips are where
the value is inside your PC, America leads in these areas, and our lead
is increasing.
Meanwhile the Koreans and others are doing to the Japanese, what the Japanese
did to the US.  They are becoming the low cost producers of commodity
parts.

|5.  Put some rules on all foreign investment.  Welcome it, but not at
|    the expense of US jobs.

How do you think foreign investment hurts US jobs.

--
Mob rule doesn't become any prettier, just because the mob start to call itself
a government.
It ain't charity if you are using someone else's money.
[e-mail]