OT, regarding the glasses in hong kong on ebay,

[Bill R.]

I'm sure it will please whoever was carping to me about buying american that i've now ordered 7 pairs total from the Optics guys in hong kong and i've had at least 8 of my customers order glasses from them as well after they saw mine...

[winfred]

oh my god you are going to bring about the end of civilization as we know it

[Jr ///M5]

Don't feel too bad Bill, look at it this way, you're just doing your part to help those poor starving Hong Kong children....

Send me the link and I'll check them out, I need some new glasses, and hair and joints for my knees, elbows, wrists....this getting old crap sucks.

Hey, you and Yvonne should fly into Chicago for the E34 meet picnic....I'll buy your lunch!

[shogun]

Good, cheap, and fast service.
I lived 5 years in HK. Many visitors from overseas I had bought glasses in the optical shop I used.
Usually next day delivery. Had one case where we went there in the early morning to the shop, late afternoon delivery, as the visitor was leaving HK in the evening.
Price much cheaper (>50%) compared to European countries where most of the visitors came from.

[Evan]

Bill, you're gonna put America out of business

[632 Regal]

your on crack man, almost everythings from china, just cutting out about 5 middlemen by going this route. This USA country is going wayside quick so for what its worth why not buy direct and save?

Bill, you're gonna put America out of business

[genphreak]

your on crack man, almost everythings from china, just cutting out about 5 middlemen by going this route. This USA country is going wayside quick so for what its worth why not buy direct and save?

I am not passing any judgement on the merits of buying foreign consumer goods, but since we are back on this long-standing topic, the parallels with England being overtaken by the US all those years ago are interesting. To some they might be frightening; For example, if you consider that Japan could have done it by now, but hasn't, primarily because it never allowed foriegn investment (as China now welcomes), it not hard to argue that China will overtake US economic dominance within our lifetimes.

Check out this talk from the East Meets West session at Pop!Tech, by Oded Shenkar if you want to hear some interesting viewpoints most of us miss. It's a 16Mb Mp3 you can listen to, and here's a quick summary;

"Shanghai Automotive has declared its intention to go from selling no cars to being one of the five or six largest car makers in the world. Within ten years they could be selling cars under the Rover brand for $119/month with zero down. This is just one example of the rise of the Chinese economy.

No economy has been dominant forever, so why do we believe that the US economy is any different? Oded Shenkar is one of the world's experts on China and the effect of its rising economic trajectory on the US economy. Shenkar, the author of The Chinese Century: The Rising Chinese Economy and Its Impact on the Global Economy, the Balance of Power, and Your Job, says that China will overtake the US as the world's largest economy within the next 20 years.


Thus the question isn't whether the US will remain the biggest, but whether it will remain the best. Britain faced a similar upstart economy in the 19th century. Their reaction was to say "let the Americans make our garments–we're making steam engines." That arrangement didn't last long. Soon the US was innovating, coming up with new ideas, and, ultimately, creating more jobs.


What will happen to the US and European economies as China comes into its own? We are in uncharted territory with no precedents. In this provocative presentation, Shenkar admits that there are a lot more questions than answers--challenging many of the comforting aphorisms that commonly surround this topic.


Hope you all enjoy it Nick

[rob101]

your on crack man

don't get me started on colombia, you should buy local cocaine

[shogun]

Clever made how to select
http://myopticalshop.com/ebay.htm#howtoorder

If you consider that Japan could have done it by now, but hasn't, primarily because it never allowed foriegn investment

No, no, Nick.
You can invest freely in Japan. A foreigner can buy land/apts., establich a 100% wholly foreign owned company, transfer profits and whatever you like.

When we established our company in 1970 it was still the case that a foreign company could only own 49% shares in a Japanese registered company. But this time is long over.
Since 1985 we bought back all shares from our japanese partners and are 100% foreign owned Japanese registered company.

The japanese government even promotes investment in Japan
http://www.jetro.go.jp/en/invest/
http://www.jetro.go.jp/en/invest/why...ccess_stories/

Look for example at Renault, which controls Nissan. That was a very good example how to turn around a debit ridden japanese company and make it profitable.
Mercedes Benz or Daimler Chrysler failed with Mitsubishi and sold their shares.
GM is selling their shares in nice japanese car companies as they need money to restructure the whole worldwide operations. In my opinion a mistake. Suzuki for example is a juwel in minicar production.

[genphreak]

No, no, Nick...

HaHaaaa of course that's true, thanks Erich, how silly of me. I think the point is that Japan has not taken the lead yet partly because it took some time to reach a point where it did allow foreign investment (in the meanwhile missing the great window of opportunity it had with its cheap, industrious labour and capacity presented after the war). Perhaps there are other reasons too (incoming immigration, etc.) but I don't know how easy it is to immigrate into China either. I doubt however that if one had to move there for business that it would pose a problem. Thanks for the catching that. Nick