Monday, April 28, 2008

For Better or Worse, Richer or Poorer

Jeff Cornwell writes good stuff, and this time it was about ‘niche’ businesses. There are certain things which he did not mention about niches, which I will take a pass at. The First is Be Prepared: hitting a niche is like an Oil Well which is a Smackover, Orders will be coming in as rapidly as if you were a national business if you access a genuine niche, expansion will be at runaway train rates. The immediacy of the business will be unbelievable, and quick fulfillment of Orders must be made to maintain the reputation of your business. This element is so important that if the rush of Orders does not come, you can expect not to have hit the niche desired exactly, calling for almost immediate change of Product or Service. The Internet is vital to modern Business, but it turns Market conditions into High Water scenarios, notorious for Floods placed upon normal business organizations. Remember that niche markets depend upon a developed national Distribution system. Watch your Credit Sources: you will need immediate expansion funds, be sure to possess access to immediate levels of adequate Credit; original financing may seem adequate, until you must triple your Productive capacity. Finally, watch your personnel: hire exactly Those who have previously worked in a high stress, mass productive business; niche businesses have to gear up, and need experienced labor who know Shortcut methods. Keep these fundamentals in mind, and the Racehorse nature of niche business can be survived.

Dani Rodrik and Tyler Cowen are both Right, and both Wrong. Tyler was correct in his assessment that ‘One Size fits All’ does not fit any. The basic argument I find relevant here states the degree of Product involvement in Trade remains the elemental issue. You must discuss this in terms of the percentage of Trade product coming in the form of Rice, and the percentage of Rice which is consumed domestically. World and national economies vary in economic advantages gained from Trade, and understanding of those variances are vital in consideration of the value of Trade to both the World economy and the specific national economy. The World economy would like to control the national economies, but governments hold control on the ground. I have always been an advocate of rational Tariff policy, though I have criticized other forms of Trade restrictions. The basic rationale behind this position states that Tariffs are the real means by which the benefits to national and World economies can be equalized, through a process of evaluation of the above criteria of national domestic access of both domestic and World markets. I love my rational Tariffs!

Will the Tax Rebate work? An interesting Question which has a relatively nonexistent Answer. One has to understand We are already dealing with an ailing economy, which might not actually be Sick, and only responding to Supply Shocks from Energy prices and other criteria. The expected outcome of the Rebates is much less, if current economic conditions are only a response to the Supply Shocks. The Rebates will function quite well, if Household Income has been financially constrained–providing relief. What is the impact, though, if both Household Income has been constrained and Supply Shocks are in force? Well, the Answer may state that the Rebates will make the situation worse, magnifying the impact of the Supply Shocks through higher Prices, and doing nothing for constrained Household Income. lgl

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