Monday, January 29, 2007

The Way It Was (is?)

Hersheys is subcontracting Production in Shanghai to the S. Korean Lotte Confectionary for sale in China. Candy is probably the best Ton-weight Transport product to be shipped. This means you get the best ‘Bang for the Buck’ in transfer, which require only Cool conditions higher than refrigeration. The major difficulty of Transport comes only after arrival in China, where lack of adequate Road networks and Air-Conditioned Retail outlets inhibit Sales of Candied Products. Lotte Confectionary need only supply the Production facilities, while Hersheys still need insure sufficient Sales. It sounds like Expansion Fever without adequate evaluation of the difficulties, but can One tell? I hope Hersheys plans to spend heavy Advertising funds in the developed Asian markets as well as China.

Jeff Cornwall gives a nice Overview of the extra Cash out there for use as Venture capital. The Real Estate market has been a disappointment to the Venture Capitalists, while an alternative to Venture capital, i.e., Hedge Funds, exhibit a marked tendency to be too expensive in managerial terms, with little better Returns than the Open Market. Funds are drifting from the Hedge Funds, adding to the Venture Capital. Entrepreneurs would do well to get their projects online this year.

Felix Salmon gives a good review of articles dealing with Milton Friedman. There is to be a new biography on the man on PBS tonight. The entire Process bores me, like chewing on the bones of the Dead; something which Milton Friedman never did. Milton came, saw, and conquered whether he was right or wrong; never bothering to glance behind himself at the Dead. The best thing, to me, which could be said about Milton Friedman was that he could find three Excuses for being Right, and twice that many for being Wrong. Gad, but I do miss him! lgl

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