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From: wyle@solaris.UUCP (Mitchell Wyle)
Newsgroups: comp.misc,comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.sys.att
Subject: Re: Dram Prices...
Message-ID: <507@solaris.UUCP>
Date: 16 Jan 89 17:05:21 GMT
References: <18814@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <996@vsi.COM>
Reply-To: wyle@ethz.UUCP (Mitchell Wyle)
Organization: SOT Sun Cluster, ETH Zuerich
Lines: 32

>Why should we reject a gift from the Japanese taxpayer?

I don't claim to understand macro-econ better than you, but I'll bite on
this one.  The argument goes as follows:  MIDI, the taxpayers, and the
corporations of Japan dump drams on us until

1.  small, economically efficient US companies lose their ability
    to make drams,

2.  The *CAPACITY* of the japs rises to the point that their dram
    manufacturing infrastructure is much better,

3.  Their technology base improves to the point no one can catch their
    lead,

4.  Their brand-loyalty, customer-contact, repeat-sales business, and
    feel for client needs entrenches their own drams, and

5.  They have a large enough advantage (via 1-4 above) to maintain
    their very large market share.

I don't know if this answer really holds water as it violates some of
the basic principles of capitalism  (your original question).  I am
having (via paper snail-mail) a debate on this very issue, and am losing.
My thesis has boiled down to the concept of selling *values* as styles,
trends in a free-market system.

Cheers,  -Mitch
-- 
-Mitchell F. Wyle                         wyle@ethz.uucp
Institut fuer Informationsysteme          wyle@inf.ethz.ch
ETH Zentrum / 8092 Zurich, Switzerland    +41 1 256 5237