__/ [ nessuno@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ] on Friday 04 May 2007 16:43 \__
> . Specifically, by Microsoft's count, the company has
>> > | paid out nearly $100 billion through dividends and repurchasing
>> > | its own stock in the past five years.
>
> A recent article by Paul Krugman (NYT) was saying that many companies
> have been holding up stock prices by repurchacing their own stocks.
> The point of the article was that that is where the money from profits
> in recent years has gone, instead of into investment, and that it's a
> bad sign for the future of the American economy.
As I read your first sentence I was poised to make the same point. The Dow
Jones, for example, despite what people are (mis)led to believe, means
nothing at all. It's like counting your furtune in Japanese Yen instead of
British Pounds. It's assets and knowledge that count at the end of the day.
The east is gaining attraction at America's expense. I think that India has
just boasted some GDP of 1 trillion US dollar (last week?) and a growth of
something like 30% in just one year. I can't recall the numbers, but there's
clearly a trend there...
How many large IT companies are hiring staff in the west? Intel has just
sacked over a thousand (over ten thousand last year) in the west while it
builds factories in China. IBM, Microsoft, Novell and many others are no
exception. I'm not saying whether it's a good or a bad thing because it's
depends on perspective (or geography). Even Gates said that the future is in
the east. That happened a fortnight ago. Might as well get used to the new
reality.... the digital and economic divide is being bridged, but at the
same time the gap between the rich and the poor (in the west) is widening.
Bill and Steve cash in owing to investments overseas while US workers find
themselves unemployed. Then, Gates starts blaming education and skills. He
wants cheaper labour, so it's nothing but a case of crocodile's tears.
--
~~ Best regards
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