Free Republic

I shall refute here the proposition that “the economic value of all goods and services is derived from the cost of their production and ultimately from the labor expended on their creation—be it measured in terms of the time, effort, or disutility required to produce the goods or services in question—and the labor expended on the creation of goods necessarily endows them with economic value.” This proposition is the essence of the labor theory of value, a false view nonetheless embraced by such notable thinkers as Thomas Aquinas and Adam Smith and used by Karl Marx to justify socialism. I...

I attended a recent Investment in China and India Summit hosted by Financial Research Associates. I will use this forum to share some of insights that were given at this summit for the benefit of those hoping/thinking/planning on investing in an Asian country -- China, India, or Japan. Growth Capital- Dominant type of fund in Asia by number, especially in country-focused funds; focused on backing firms that are already established but are looking for capital to support strong growth. Buyouts- True control buyouts are a more recent phenomenon in Asia. Most funds focused on buyouts are larger Pan-Asian funds or...

I attended a recent Investment in China and India Summit hosted by Financial Research Associates. I will use this forum to share some of insights that were given at this summit for the benefit of those hoping/thinking/planning on investing in an Asian country -- China, India, or Japan. It is difficult to predict the effect of political events on the investment environment. Potential areas of conflict in Asia include: China and Taiwan - China wants its renegade island back in the fold. India and Pakistan - historical conflicts. North and South Korea (and allies) - North Korea is developing a...

China, number one again; it has turned out more Ph.Ds last year than any other country in the world. But a Ph. D. does not a good teacher make. Quality of teaching is being seriously questioned in China. Professors are caught up in 1. The publish or perish mentality 2. Raising funds and 3. Attending conferences, making them absent from class. Gee, it sounds like the same problem there is with traditional colleges in America, no? As a result, China has had some problems with plagiarism in the recent past. In the near future, the Chinese universities are likely to...

Russia is not quite the bear that the dragon of China is. But Russia still has appeal despite the many real obstacles and challenges a business partner might face. The laws change seemingly on a whim; the government jumps in and out of relationships; work stops; a GM factory faced a temporary shutdown when it couldn't come to terms with a state-owned partner. Still, there are a number of joint ventures in the news. Despite the problems that GM has been having, the automotive retail group Inchcape hopes to team up with Moscow's automotive retailer Independence Group. Inchcape has operations...

Space Adventures, Venture capitalist firm Prodea, and Russian aerospace firm Myasishchev Design Bureau are planning to share their science notes to build suborbital flight vehicles that can take you and me into space. Myasishchev will design and build the ships. Vienna, Va.-based Space Adventures -- which has already sent three tourists to the international space center since 2001 -- will do the selling. Prodea will beam up the necessary funds when required. The spaceship is expected to hold 5 very very wealthy travelers who have lots and lots of time on their hands to prepare for the trip. If I...

Probitas surveyed investors earlier this year about their views on which geographic regions in Asia are most attractive. Here are the results: 7. Southeast Asia - 2.4% 6. Australia - 3.9% 5. Korea - 4.9% 4. PanAsianFunds - 14.1% 3. China - 15.1% 2. India - 16.1% and Number 1 was 1. Japan 18.5% Japan is back; its economy is growing, and investors see it as the best bet these days. So, where in Asia do you plan on investing?

Apollo Group is the biggest of the ForPro education groups. It owns the University of Phoenix. Yesterday its stock fell 2 percent after reporting lower third-quarter profits because of higher costs. Corinthian Colleges is another of the big players. It, too, reported a loss of 3 cents/share. DeVry lost 15 cents, and Educational Services lost 3 cents/share as well. Everybody's trading down, albeit down very little. Does this mean that the quality of education provided by these groups has also dipped? Are students losing out 2% on their classes? or 3 cents/dollar they spend on their tuition? Hardly. One of...

It used to be, well, perhaps it still is, that Indian students did their darndest to come to the US to go to grad school, learn business, or master the technology of the computer. Now, there has been a turn. American college grads are opting to go to India. A stint working in India can be quite an addition to a young worker's resume. India's high-tech and banking companies need skilled workers. A company like Infosys, which has grown from 500 workers to 50,000 workers in the past dozen years, has hired many young Americans. Of course, the biggest obstacle...

While US airlines cut and slash service -- care and feeding -- of their travelers, the Asian airlines have been buying new planes, installing elaborate entertainment systems, and allowing passengers in-flight e-mail and web surfing options. Add to that plush seats and meals created by celebrity chefs, and the result is that America doesn't know service. Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines services beat all American carriers, hands down. On the long-haul flights, choices of movies, frequent meals (America doesn't need this) -- Western or Asian style -- and friendly service are the standard. Not only are the US airlines behind,...

Online learning will continue to grow for several reasons. The first reason is because of the advent of high-speed Internet. Anybody with a home PC can now take a course online. If you have a laptop, you can take your course online and take it with you to the coffice (coffee house/office). That is where I am writing this. PCs and Macs are also becoming more affordable. For the price of one credit hour at some schools, a student can now buy a good desktop Dell or Gateway PC. There is no more driving to school, finding a parking place,...

How many ways can you think of to make money off of students? Well, here's another. I read a report the other day where an independent college counselor in Oregon charged up to $36,000 per student to just help him get into college -- no guarantee! Holy cow! I am definitely in the wrong business. Well, I might be in the right business (education), but I am doing the wrong thing. No matter that the price of college tuition, not to mention room and board and flights back and forth for the holidays and dorm furnishings and cars and and...

Jack Welch gives advice on how the new graduate can succeed in American companies. It seems to be good advice to succeed in any company -- anywhere. His number one piece of advice: OVERDELIVER - This is very un-American -- and very un-student-like. In school, students learn to meet certain objectives -- answer certain questions within certain time parameters. In the workforce -- it's not that way anymore. To get an A+ in business, Welch says, a person -- 22 years old or 62 years old -- needs to: 1. Expand the organization's expectations of what you can do --...

Russia is growing, and so are the shadows that are cast over the business proceedings there. The bureaucracy is still extremely burdensome and growing. And laws are a matter of convenience and seemingly circumvented at will -- or at least when you have the right connections. Corruption and middlemen are a matter of course, and bribes are expected and given. Confiscation of private goods -- i.e., Motorola's ongoing fiasco -- and resale for profit is old news. Legitimate dealings are called smuggling. And smuggling is called smuggling. Russian law allows confiscated material in criminal investigations to be sold or destroyed...

In the 1960s, 85% of the oil in the world was available for ownership, development, partnerships, and such. At the time, 14% of the oil reserves belonged to the Soviet Union. Today it is the reverse of that: 16% of the world's oil is available. 65% is owned by the nations that possess the fields and 19% has limited access -- that is, nations, including Russia, will allow others to invest in and partially own their oil fields. It's different now. And, shall we not forget there are some nations that will allow investment and development and then, when all...

Asia has a paltry 5% of the world's oil reserves. Compare that to the former Soviet Union which has more than one fifth (20.8%) and Africa and the Middle East, which have nearly 2/3s of the oil reserves (60.5%). What to do...China National Petroleum Co. and India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp. teamed up to buy a Syrian oil field! I thought about doing that once -- buying a gas station. But then, I realized I still had to buy the gas before I could pump it out. The reason India and China went in to buy the field together...

Higher-ed accreditation practice does not have the trust it once had. Just because a school is accredited, it no longer means that the school can be relied on to deliver quality education. How many full-timers are there? It doesn't matter as much because they are not available. How many books are there in the library? It doesn't matter any more, because nearly all resources needed are now online. How much classroom space is there? It doesn't matter anymore, because students are taking classes online. How stable is the school financially? It matters a lot, because schools ought not be allowed...

Enrollments in online courses are increasing 10 times faster than traditional enrollments. Let's see, every time someone visits a campus, takes a tour, visits a book store, eats in a cafeteria, looks at an empty gym or stadium, and then sits with a counselor for an hour or so, and then finally signs the enrollment form...10 people sign up online! Uh...gee...I wonder ...If I were a school, where should I apply my time and effort? Hard question. Schools like Arizona State University expect enrollment in at least one online course to soar from 15,000 to 100,000 within the next five...

Grand Canyon University might be a school for ultramarathoners (super marathoners) -- guys and gals who run multiple marathons in one day. I know of one race that goes from rim to rim of the Grand Canyon and back all in one day. But that is not relevant here. Sorry. Grand Canyon School was a traditional University with an annual shortfall of $12 million to $15 million as late as 2004. It broke even last year and is now turning a profit. The difference is, it was bought by a significant other -- Significant Education -- and turned into a...

Former Toyota President Shoichiro Toyoda has founded Kaiyo Academy, a $175-million school that he modeled after Britain's Eton Academy -- a school that boasts 19 British Prime Ministers among her alumni and the second-in-line to the throne, Prince William. In Japan there is dissatisfaction with the 'dumbing-down' of its curriculum. Four years ago, the government cut 30% of the workload off the elementary and junior high school curriculum. Toyota's Kaiyo academy is attractive for many reasons. 1. It is backed by Toyota. 2. It is focusing on developing kids who can do more than just pass exams. 3. It is...