10/16/24

Some Thoughts On TARIFFS

Tariffs — a tax or customs duty imposed by a country at its border on goods imported from another country — are wildly misunderstood and have come into the lexicon since their use by the Trump admin and during this presidential election campaign.

They are not wildly understood, sort of like calculus, differential equations, and how doorbells work. Let us reason together, dear reader.

Traditional reasons to impose tariffs

Tariffs have been traditionally used (and taught in business schools) in the following situations:

 1. Tariffs are used to protect strategic industries — industries with national security implications — such as high tech, steel, or aviation.

 2. Tariffs are used to protect fledgling, startup businesses during their period of incubation and infancy, again, often technology related.

 3. Tariffs are used to punish bad actors such as China for its theft of technology, its use of slave/prison/child labor to manufacture goods, and to offset low environmental standards.

Pretty straightforward stuff, no? But, there’s more. Continue reading →

10/14/24

Dealing With Chinese Cotton And Xinjiang

I lost power during Helene the Hurricane — lots of wind and rain in Savannah, lots of trees down and windblown tree debris. No power meant no Internet. Adding insult to injury, I had no phone though I could slip into another part of Savannah and get some 5-bar G+. I am now repowered and re-connected.

As I write this post, I am listening to Kris Kristofferson. Rest in peace, Ranger.

So, what’s up with China, cotton, and Xinjiang, Big Red Car?

China is, of course, a rotten bunch of Communists (you cannot overstate what cruel fuckers these guys are). They grow cotton — 90% of China’s cotton — in Xijiang province:

Chinese workers picking ripe cotton by hand. Lots of hands and mouths to feed in China.

 1. China is the largest producer of cotton (2023 numbers) in the world (24%, 27.34 million pounds) followed by: Continue reading →

10/9/24

The Steamboat Institute And Virginia Military Institute, An Exemplar For Intelligent Debate

The Steamboat Institute, a think tank in lovely Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and my alma mater, The Virginia Military Institute (a jewel of a school in the spectacular Shenandoah Valley of Virginia) teamed up to debate:

Should the US Use its Diplomatic and Military Power

Around the Globe to Ensure America’s Security?

If you highlight and click on the first sentence of the question, you can see a video of the debate between John Bolton and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Continue reading →

09/16/24

The Absurd Opportunity Economy Faux $50,000 First Year Startup Business Deduction

Vice President and Dem Presidential nominee Kamala Harris has never spent a day in business. Not an indictment, but something that bears consideration by discerning voters when listening to the charming lady.

“Hahaha, WTF do I know about business? Nothing. I’m running on JOY, baby, and make believe startup first year business deductions.”

Continue reading →

09/13/24

Get Out The Crowd

Most politicians work on getting out the vote, driving the voters in their party to the polls to vote for them. In the USA we will only see 60-70% of registered voters cast a vote — a bloody inexcusable miserable performance — so if you can get YOUR voters out, you can win.

BTW, believe it or not, there are still millions of “eligible voters” who are unregistered and every year a new crop of voters becomes eligible to vote.

 

But, this post today is not about GOTV (get out the vote), but the seeming war of crowd sizes and the lengths that candidates will go to brag about their crowd size. Continue reading →

09/11/24

Dispute Resolution – How To Avoid It And How To Deal With It

I was looking back at some old notes from when I first got into the CEO coaching business a dozen years ago and reflected on the nature of my relationships with CEOs. One of the things that bubbled to the surface is I have been involved in a lot of internal and external dispute resolutions.

There is a distinct difference between internal disputes such as removing a key C-suite team member and external disputes such a dealing with a board of directors or venture capitalist. Some are both internal and external — a board of directors fighting amongst itself about replacing a CEO.

[Almost every startup company CEO will be replaced within 5 years of venture capital funding.] Continue reading →

09/3/24

Reagan – The Movie

Last night I went to the movies — probably haven’t been three times since the beginning of the Pandemic — and watched Reagan, the movie about . . . wait for it . . .  Ronald Reagan our 40th President.

I was in my thirties and out of the Vietnam Era Army in the 1980s when he was President so I was intimately familiar with his presidency, but not his entire life. I learned a few things.

Continue reading →

08/22/24

The Kamala Honeymoon Countdown Has Begun

The Democrats are filled with joy — joy and hating Trump is the campaign strategy for the Dems — at the replacement of the cadaverous, demented Joe Biden with someone with a heartbeat even if it is Kamala Harris. Who would not be?

“I borrowed a few pants suits from Hillary. So what?”

Do you remember that Nascar feeling when Joe Biden spoke publicly, holding your breath to see if he’d shit himself verbally or get lost in his own conversation with the voices in his head.

Now, with Kamala, we don’t have that fear, but we do have THE CACKLE. Well, sure, partly because Kam Girl doesn’t actually speak to the press, but she’s not demented like Joe. Continue reading →