[Info-vax] Looks like HP has been stepping in the doo-doo again

[Neil Rieck]

On Nov 2, 10:28 am, JF Mezei <jfmezei.spam... at vaxination.ca> wrote:
> VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG wrote:
> > Open your eyes and look around; oblivion days are here...
>
> If China were able to uncouple its currency from the USD, the Yuan would
> rise significantly and the USD would drop and this would allow normal
> mechanisms to work and reduce Chinese exports and increase Chinese imports.
>
> But China has billions (if not trillions) invested in the USA (such as
> govt bonds) and would lose a good chunk of that (relative to the Yuan)
> if it allowed the Yuan-USD relationship to spread apart.
>
> The link between Yuan and USD means that China is effectly part of the
> United States except chinese workers/businesses don't pay tax to the US
> govt.
>
> While China has taken manufacturing jobs, India has been taking IT and
> telephone support jobs from just about every english speaking country.
> Currency is free to move against the USD and has risen, but from what I
> read, the "outsourcing" business is still relatively small compared to
> the whole indian economy and thus the currency impact is not very big.

Read this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchantilism#Mercantilism_today

Originally, mercantilism was limited by the speed and economy of
sailing ships. As long as "IT work" can be easily pushed around the
world via the internet, high-tech work will always be treated
differently. Not sure why HP thought it was necessary to bring
foreigners to the US on a two-year visa.

But whether you bring in foreigners or outsource the work to their
countries, there is a downside for Western companies: Many Asian
business people do not respect copyrights or royalties (I heard a
piece on NPR last month about the Chinese constantly attempting to
copy WD40. They even copy the can and its colors). I wonder how
western companies manufacture anything (think BlackBerry) over there
without having their intellectual property stolen. Good luck defending
IP in foreign courts. Copying software would be even easier. I know
the Chinese promote a legal OS called Red Flag Linux...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Flag_Linux
...but it makes you wonder how many copies of "Long March VMS" or
"Bangalore VMS" are floating around Asia.

NSR