Suggested Answers To The Short Quiz

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johnkarls
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Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:43 pm

Suggested Answers To The Short Quiz

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Question 1

Who is Nitin Nohria?

Answer 1

The Dean of Harvard Business School.

Question 2

Before becoming Dean of the Harvard Business School in 2010 (and previously serving in many other capacities on the HBS Faculty after receiving his PhD from the MIT Sloan School of Management), did Nitin Nohria grow up in India where his father was CEO of one of India’s largest corporations?

Answer 2

Yes.

Question 3

In his book review of Makers and Takers (our focus book) which is posted under Reference Materials for our 12/14/2016 meeting on http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org, does Dean Nohria criticize our author for criticizing financial markets by pointing out that his father was NEVER able to realize his dream of forming his own company and, indeed, was NOT EVEN able to buy his own home until age 60 -- both problems caused by India’s COMPLETE LACK of any financial markets?

Answer 3

Yes.

Question 4

If Dean Nohria is correct that the lack of any financial markets means that (A) even the most important executives are forced to assemble 100% of the cost of a home for which they must pay cash, and (B) new businesses can only be formed by the super-wealthy who can afford to pay cash for 100% of the initial investments including start-up costs -- who are the owners of the capital that forms America’s financial markets?

Answer 4

The owners of the capital (looking through the intermediary financial institutions) are predominantly pension funds and university endowment funds.

Question 5

If the owners of capital that forms America’s financial markets (looking through the intermediary financial institutions) are predominantly pension funds and university endowment funds, are critics of financial markets often presumptuous in suggesting that the profits on that capital be restricted or re-distributed? In other words, isn’t it easy to suggest restricting or re-distributing wealth when one is oblivious regarding who bears the cost of the suggestion?

Answer 5

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 6

Does our author, Rana Foroohar, correctly analyze that the growing gulf between the wealth/income of the top tier of American society, and the wealth/income of the rest of society is due to the War on American Workers that has been waged by The Establishment at least since the 1990’s?

Answer 6

Of course not!!!

Books of this genre (growing wealth/income gaps) never seem to focus on the War on American Workers!!!

Question 7

Each time we encounter this issue, do we define The Establishment as the billionaires who “own” virtually all the pols of both political parties as a result of campaign contributions and who “own” many members of the media and who “own” many members of academia?

Answer 7

Yes.

Question 8

And each time we encounter this issue, do we recognize that the War on American Workers waged by The Establishment has taken the form of Exporting American Jobs which began in earnest with Bill Clinton negotiating and signing (1) NAFTA -- aka the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement pursuant to which so many American jobs have been exported to Mexico; (2) a free-trade agreement with China -- pursuant to which so many American jobs have been exported to China, (3) the Worldwide Free Trade Agreement creating the World Trade Organization -- pursuant to which so many American jobs have been exported to third-world countries; and (4) approximately 300 additional free-trade agreements?

Answer 8

On numerous occasions we have recognized that --

(A) Yes, Bill Clinton negotiated and signed NAFTA -- aka the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement pursuant to which so many American jobs have been exported to Mexico.

(B) And yes, Bill Clinton negotiated and signed a free-trade agreement with China -- pursuant to which so many American jobs have been exported to China.

(C) And yes, Bill Clinton negotiated and signed the worldwide free trade agreement creating the World Trade Organization -- pursuant to which so many American jobs have been exported to third-world countries.

(D) And yes, Bill Clinton negotiated and signed approximately 300 additional free-trade agreements.

Question 9

And do we also recognize that the War on American Workers also takes the form of Importing Illegal Aliens to compete for American jobs that cannot be exported geographically?

Answer 9

Yes.

Question 10

And have we studied on numerous occasions how Illegal Aliens are de facto slaves because their labor is NOT subject to any minimum-wage laws as a practical matter because (A) employers are free to deduct from the minimum wage whatever they please for meals and housing, and (B) illegal aliens cannot, as a practical matter, complain about anything for fear their employers will report them to Immigration?

Answer 10

Yes.

Question 11

And haven’t we always recognized that unless action is taken, the War on American Workers will not end until American wages have been driven down to third-world poverty levels, since it is impoverished third-world workers who are being given the American jobs? And in fact these third-world poverty levels include child labor, no workplace safety rules and, for manufacturing, no environmental rules?

Answer 11

Yes. Yes.

Question 12

So isn’t the real solution to the War on American Workers simply halting the War on American Workers???

Answer 12

So one would think.

Question 13

Isn’t the simplest way to halt the War on American Workers renewing 1968 Executive Order 11387 which prohibited the Export of American Capital for the last year of Lyndon Johnson’s Presidency AND THE FIRST FIVE YEARS (!!!) of Richard Nixon’s Presidency?

Answer 13

So we have concluded on numerous occasions.

Question 14

Didn’t we implore President Obama in our 2/12/2014 Six-Degrees-Of-Separation E-mail Campaign only a month after his “I Have A Pen And A Phone” solicitation of suggestions for Executive Orders, to renew 1968 Executive Order 11387 because (A) the retention of more American capital in the U.S. would mean that the additional capital would have to be invested in domestic projects that would employ more American workers, thereby reducing or eliminating American unemployment; and (B) the resulting increase in the ratio of capital employed per American worker would cause the real income of American workers to rise once more?

Answer 14

Yes.

Question 15

And weren’t we disappointed that even a Lame Duck that will never fly again is still “owned” by The Establishment because he believes that it is more important to raise campaign contributions for other politicians in the 2014 and 2016 elections, than to (as we put it) “lift a finger (or at least a pen) on behalf of American workers”?

Answer 15

Yes.

Question 16

Does our author claim that the cause(s) of the 2008 Economic Meltdown has/have not been addressed?

Answer 16

Yes.

Question 17

Does our author even know what the cause of the 2008 Economic Meltdown was? Or does she just mindlessly “follow the herd” in embracing the myth that it was caused by subprime mortgages and by old-fashioned insurance of the value of mortgage pools (called “credit-default swaps” in order to fool the NY Insurance Commissioner into believing that such insurance should not require adequate insurance reserves)?

Answer 17

Obviously not!!! She just mindlessly “follows the herd” in embracing the myth!!!

Question 18

Haven’t we studied and concluded many times that the real cause of the 2008 Economic Meltdown was the sudden one-time reduction of the 35% income tax on repatriating dividends from the tax-haven subsidiaries (primarily non-resident Singapore companies) of the approximately $5 TRillion of earnings that had piled up there FROM EXPORTING AMERICAN JOBS?

Answer 18

Yes.

Question 19

And that since the U.S.-based Multi-National Companies (“US MNC’s”) that had exported American jobs were NOT stupid enough to STUFF THE $5 TRILLION IN SINGAPORE MATTRESSES, they had done the only thing effectively permitted by the U.S. tax law, which was to loan the $5 TRillion to the CHUMP American companies that had NOT exported American jobs?

Answer 19

Yes.

Question 20

So when the 35% income tax on dividends from tax-haven subs was suddenly reduced on a one-time basis to 5.25%, the tax-haven subs immediately demanded that the CHUMP American companies that had NOT exported American jobs REDUCE AMERICAN PAYROLL AND AMERICAN CAPITAL EXPENDITURES by $5 TRillion so that they could repay the tax-haven subs?

Answer 20

Yes.

Question 21

So why is there any mystery that newspaper headlines during the 2008-2010 Economic Meltdown were screaming that The Federal Reserve was trumpeting the tragedy that the CHUMP American companies that had NOT exported American jobs were in desperate need of loans, and nobody was loaning them any money?

Answer 21

It is respectfully suggested that The Establishment (including the pols, news-media members and academicians that they “own”) have a vested interest in perpetrating and perpetuating the myth that the 2008-2010 Economic Meltdown was caused by subprime mortgages and the insurance of subprime mortgage pools without adequate insurance reserves (aka Credit Default Swaps).

After all, The Establishment knew in 2008-2010 that another $5 TRillion of profits FROM EXPORTING AMERICAN JOBS would soon pile up in the tax-haven subs which would loan them to the CHUMP American companies that had NOT exported American jobs.

As has now happened!!!

So The Establishment knew in 2008 that it would be necessary to FOOL EVERYONE ALL OVER AGAIN about what would happen if the 35% corporate income tax rate were suddenly reduced again on dividends from the tax-haven subs so that they would immediately demand that the CHUMP American companies that had NOT exported American jobs REDUCE AMERICAN PAYROLL AND CAPITAL EXPENDITURES BY ANOTHER $5 TRILLION so that they could repay their loans from the tax-haven subs.

Question 22

And why does any economist with a positive IQ (as opposed to a negative IQ if that is possible) believe for a moment that the economy would not have tanked in 2008 EVEN IF THERE HAD NEVER BEEN A SUB-PRIME MORTGAGE??? Since the $5 TRillion that was extracted from the CHUMP companies was NEVER invested by the U.S.-MNC’s that Exported American Jobs in U.S. bricks and mortar (vs., primarily, used for stock redemptions) AND DID NOT (PER THE LAMENTS OF THE FED) MAKE ITS WAY BACK TO THE CHUMP COMPANIES???

Answer 22

It is respectfully suggested that The Establishment probably succeeded in getting influential academicians that they “own” to perpetrate and perpetuate this myth.

So it would be understandable why not-so-influential academicians would be intimidated into “following the herd.”

Question 23

Have the U.S. MNC’s piled up another $5 TRillion in their tax haven subsidiaries from Exporting American Jobs?

Answer 23

Yes.

Question 24

And have they fooled the pols and the American news media once again into falsely believing that the $5 TRillion is “offshore” rather than long-since loaned to the CHUMP American companies that have NOT exported American jobs?

Answer 24

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

After all, it seems highly improbable that the pols and the American news media could ONCE AGAIN actually believe that $5 TRillion has been STUFFED INTO MATTRESSES IN SINGAPORE!!!

Which suggests that they may not really be that stupid and are merely lying on behalf of The Establishment that owns them.

Question 25

So are we poised for another Economic Meltdown on the order of 2008 as the pols, once again, lower the U.S. corporate tax on repatriating dividends from the tax-haven subs which will then immediately, of course, require the CHUMP American companies that have NOT exported American jobs to ONCE AGAIN REDUCE AMERICAN PAYROLL AND AMERICAN CAPITAL EXPENDITURES by $5 TRillion?

Answer 25

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 26

Have we recognized on at least two occasions (our 7/13/2016 meeting and our 10/14/2015 meeting) that the only way to avert another Economic Meltdown is to SHAME THE FED into printing dollars (aka quantitative easing) in order to loan as much as $5 TRillion to the CHUMP American companies so that they do NOT have to reduce American payroll and American capital expenditures by $5 Trillion?

Answer 26

Yes, that was the consensus on both occasions.

Question 27

BTW, was Yours Truly hoping that we would not achieve our minimum quorum for our Dec 14 meeting so that he would have time to write letters to each of the Presidents of the 12 Regional Federal Reserve Banks to put them on notice to be ready to loan $5 TRillion to the CHUMP American companies, similarly to the way the Regional Federal Reserve Banks loan substantial amounts to other companies in their regions in order to keep their regional economies healthy?

Answer 27

Yes.

Why do I always feel compelled to do the honorable thing???

[In this case, to send out last Wednesday the standard reminder e-mail that we were short of our minimum-quorum of 6 RSVP’s and our Dec 14 meeting was due to be cancelled pre-dawn last Saturday -- we now have 9 RSVP’s and counting.]

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