Friday, August 3, 2018

Change of Address

Long-time readers will recall my negative-love of Google.  They were the first company I recognized whose business model was to monetize your privacy for their profit.  (I marveled and still marvel that nobody cares.)  But Google is like a toilet-paper, a necessary convenience, especially for bloggers.

For years, they have hosted this blog but have now decided to "update" the program.  Therefore, the address changes from the old baycapitaladvice.blogspot.com to:


I apologize to you for this inconvenience, but Google does not.

Thursday, August 2, 2018

When Worlds Collide

When I was doing graduate work at the University of Dallas in international trade, we had to also study cultural distinctions and how such distinctions impact business.  For example, never prop your feet up in the presence of Arabs, as showing the sole of your feet is considered dis-respectable.  Another example is the importance of "face" in China.  In fact, it is so important that it's importance has its own word - Mian zi.  The rules of respecting "face" are equally as complicated.  The difficulty of negotiating with the Chinese is legendary.

But, what happens when Mian zi comes face-to-face with a gigantic American ego?

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Blaming Bill and Newt

I believe Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich deserve a good portion of the blame for our poisonous political environment.  They accepted the economic advice from both Republican economists and from  Democratic economists that multi-lateral trade agreements improved the economy of all trading partners.  Bill and Newt then ushered NAFTA into existence.

But, the Republican economists and Democratic economists also advised that millions of workers would be damaged by NAFTA and that programs to retrain and/or relocate those workers were essential.  Bill and Newt only paid lip-service to that economic advice.

Those millions of Americans who were robbed of the America dream became understandably angry.  (Read Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance.)  They were the "forgotten Americans."  These millions wanted revenge and became Trump's "base."  They wanted to break everything in Washington, and Trump is doing their bidding.  The poison in our political body is the totally unnecessary anger from globalization.

Bill and Newt paved the way for The Donald.