BATMAN The world seems to work in mysterious ways. A good way to look at the financial end of it is to look at it like physics. To every action there is a equal reaction somewhere else. The only trouble is when it comes to planetary finances the reaction is usually somewhat long in coming. All countries have different tax rates. Some countries have different levels of Government that all want their pound of flesh. Be it income tax, corporate tax, property tax, water rates.....on and on. Then there are import duties, Tariffs etc. When the leaders of the G8 meet, to decide the course the world will be set on, we all see the press pictures in the photo ops on TV and to most of us that is as far as it goes. One really has to go out of their way to be informed on why things are the way they are. Canadians pour over the border to buy products in the United States. Why? Because all those made in China products are way cheaper in the U.S. than in Canada. Why? Because Canada puts big tariffs on Chinese imports to protect manufacturing jobs in Canada. The U.S. puts little or no tariffs on Chinese imports Why? I'll let anyone that's curious do their own research on it. The reasons are straight forward and completely understandable. In the 1970s Canada decided to join the rest of the world and go to the metric system. All political parties unanimously voted in favour of it. However the outrage from the population was loud to say the least (people hate change) The Government quickly embarked on an educational campaign on the benefits of being on side with the rest of the world. The loss of export opportunities which translates into loss jobs and a loss of billions in revenue to the Government from not going metric was huge to say the least. I was watching a PBS show that was following a Platoon of U.S. Marines in Afghanistan. The Briefing was all in metric, as in "we will go out 3 Kilometres before turning West etc. Later in the show they were pinned down and were calling in air strikes. Bering 240 degrees at 800 Metres from our position etc. Nasa works in Metric. If you ever heard the telemetry when the shuttle was approaching the space station they say things like "closure rate 2 metres per second. It is obvious why the military and Nasa use metric but for the life of me I cannot understand why the U.S. doesn't go metric. The cost to business and thus country through loss of jobs of not being metric is staggering. The so called facts and figures are in many business magazines. But then maybe we shouldn't believe everything we read. The United States is Canada's largest trading partner. We have a saying North of the Forty ninth that go's "when the United States catches a cold Canada gets Pneumonia" It is to the benefit of the entire planet to get the U.S. back on a stable footing. Instead of China bashing for economic woes. As a change of course I would like to hear opinions from Americans on why the U.S. does not go metric. Improvement in the economy will come a step at a time, so why not take a couple of free steps that going metric will give. Just wondering. Brent
The world seems to work in mysterious ways. A good way to look at the financial end of it is to look at it like physics. To every action there is a equal reaction somewhere else. The only trouble is when it comes to planetary finances the reaction is usually somewhat long in coming.
All countries have different tax rates. Some countries have different levels of Government that all want their pound of flesh. Be it income tax, corporate tax, property tax, water rates.....on and on. Then there are import duties, Tariffs etc.
When the leaders of the G8 meet, to decide the course the world will be set on, we all see the press pictures in the photo ops on TV and to most of us that is as far as it goes. One really has to go out of their way to be informed on why things are the way they are.
Canadians pour over the border to buy products in the United States. Why? Because all those made in China products are way cheaper in the U.S. than in Canada. Why? Because Canada puts big tariffs on Chinese imports to protect manufacturing jobs in Canada. The U.S. puts little or no tariffs on Chinese imports Why? I'll let anyone that's curious do their own research on it. The reasons are straight forward and completely understandable.
In the 1970s Canada decided to join the rest of the world and go to the metric system. All political parties unanimously voted in favour of it. However the outrage from the population was loud to say the least (people hate change) The Government quickly embarked on an educational campaign on the benefits of being on side with the rest of the world. The loss of export opportunities which translates into loss jobs and a loss of billions in revenue to the Government from not going metric was huge to say the least.
I was watching a PBS show that was following a Platoon of U.S. Marines in Afghanistan. The Briefing was all in metric, as in "we will go out 3 Kilometres before turning West etc. Later in the show they were pinned down and were calling in air strikes. Bering 240 degrees at 800 Metres from our position etc.
Nasa works in Metric. If you ever heard the telemetry when the shuttle was approaching the space station they say things like "closure rate 2 metres per second.
It is obvious why the military and Nasa use metric but for the life of me I cannot understand why the U.S. doesn't go metric. The cost to business and thus country through loss of jobs of not being metric is staggering. The so called facts and figures are in many business magazines. But then maybe we shouldn't believe everything we read.
The United States is Canada's largest trading partner. We have a saying North of the Forty ninth that go's "when the United States catches a cold Canada gets Pneumonia" It is to the benefit of the entire planet to get the U.S. back on a stable footing.
Instead of China bashing for economic woes. As a change of course I would like to hear opinions from Americans on why the U.S. does not go metric. Improvement in the economy will come a step at a time, so why not take a couple of free steps that going metric will give. Just wondering.
Brent
BATMAN richg1998: How many, any kind of business? Rich I had a fencing/ light construction company for a while. We modeled it after the student painting companies. We went from nothing to 16 employees instantly and couldn't handle all the business. I was making money hand over fist. I hated it in short order even though I came up with the idea. I was to young to pace myself and if I wanted to work that hard I would have been a professional like everyone else in the family. I left the company to my partner and moved on. I never had a problem making money be it buying rental properties or day trading before people new what that was. I worked 38 yrs for the Government of Canada. I would work copious amounts of overtime that I would take as time off instead of the pay. I would take months off and travel the world or spend all my time skiing, golfing or mountain biking or hang gliding or flying or scuba diving. People wonder why I didn't get married until I was forty, it was because I was to busy to think about it. Besides I almost always had a girl friend anyway. My hat goes off to anyone that owns a business. In most cases you're chained to it. Like professional life it wasn't for me and looking back I made the right choice. I am comfortably retired at 55, though too beat up to take full advantage of it. I'm glad I've got my trainroom. Brent
richg1998: How many, any kind of business? Rich
How many, any kind of business?
Rich
I had a fencing/ light construction company for a while. We modeled it after the student painting companies. We went from nothing to 16 employees instantly and couldn't handle all the business. I was making money hand over fist. I hated it in short order even though I came up with the idea. I was to young to pace myself and if I wanted to work that hard I would have been a professional like everyone else in the family. I left the company to my partner and moved on.
I never had a problem making money be it buying rental properties or day trading before people new what that was. I worked 38 yrs for the Government of Canada. I would work copious amounts of overtime that I would take as time off instead of the pay. I would take months off and travel the world or spend all my time skiing, golfing or mountain biking or hang gliding or flying or scuba diving. People wonder why I didn't get married until I was forty, it was because I was to busy to think about it. Besides I almost always had a girl friend anyway.
My hat goes off to anyone that owns a business. In most cases you're chained to it. Like professional life it wasn't for me and looking back I made the right choice. I am comfortably retired at 55, though too beat up to take full advantage of it. I'm glad I've got my trainroom.
Gentlemen,
The question is: Why Hobby Shops Fail.
Not, can someone explain the macroeconomic impact of international trade on large manufacturing companies.
I have never seen a thread drift so far off course as this one. Nine pages of this kind of stuff and, still, the thread goes on.
LOL
Let me assure you, Roger, a retired Rock Island engineer who ran our LHS, and Howard, his faithful assistant who was a retired Thrall Car Mfg. Co, employee, never owned a metric tool, never visited China, and never owned a computer or surfed the Net.
They ran a storefront model train shop. Primarily HO scale. They wouldn't be caught dead stocking or selling RC stuff.
That's the definition of a LHS.
Even Lee Mazengarb concedes that he never owned or ran a LHS in the true sense of the word.
Alton Junction
Hobby shops likely fail the most often from the shifting interests of the public. People do not build models now-a-days, which was the basis for a hobby shop in the past, when these types of activities was far more popular. If a large and at one point extremely successful INTERNET hobby dealer such as 1st Place Hobbies can fail, what else can it be; but, peoples interests changing. That and a long faltering economy!
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
Isn´t it time to move on now?
We have at length discussed why hobby shops fail or don´t, whether it is world economics or politics, buying habits and whatsoever.
Fact is that some shops fail and others thrive. Fact is also that times are changing and that we have to adapt to those changes.
Back to model railroading!