American Idiocy: Dying for Shopping on Black Friday

There are few things more pathetic than a consumerist automaton who lives to shop. This American disease has spread around the globe under the guise of various euphemisms--"economic efficiency," "free trade," "globalization," and so forth--but its symptoms are unmistakable. Today's Exhibit A is the phenomenon of "Black Friday," or the day after Thanksgiving when US retailers supposedly break even for the year and offer mega-deals to entice the American shopping classes.

Which would all be well and good if these mega-deals weren't as fake as the American Dream: to engineer "40% off," most retailers work backwards to come up with a suggested retail price (SRP) that the product is rarely if ever offered at:

The common assumption is that retailers stock up on goods and then mark down the ones that don't sell, taking a hit to their profits. But that isn't typically how it plays out. Instead, big retailers work backward with their suppliers to set starting prices that, after all the markdowns, will yield the profit margins they want. The red cardigan sweater with the ruffled neck on sale for more than 40% off at $39.99 was never meant to sell at its $68 starting price. It was designed with the discount built in. 

Being ever-so-gullible, the Yanquis lap up these frauds and are even willing to sacrifice life and limb joining the thronging masses. Witness reports of injuries and fatalities incurred by them last Friday in that all important life cause of, er, availing of larger "discounts":

• In Chicago, a police officer shot a suspected shoplifter driving a car that was dragging a fellow officer at a Kohl's department store. The suspect and the dragged officer were treated in hospital for shoulder injuries. Three people were arrested, reports the Chicago Tribune
• A shopper in Las Vegas who was carrying a big-screen TV home from a Target store on Thanksgiving was shot in the leg as he tried to wrestle the item back from a robber who had just stolen it from him at gunpoint, reports the Las Vegas Sun
• At a southern California Walmart store, a police officer's wrist was broken as he tried to break up a fight between two men in the queue outside; there were two more fights over goods inside, reports the San Bernadino Sun
• A 23-year-old man was doused with pepper spray and arrested after he allegedly attacked a police officer responding to an argument over a television at a Walmart in Garfield, New Jersey, reports the Star-Ledger
• Despite Walmart's pledge to overhaul its crowd-control measures, scenes of mayhem such as this one were apparently filmed at a store in Fort Worth, Texas
• Two arrests were made after a man was stabbed in an argument over a parking space at a Walmart in Virginia, reports local television station WVVA

Americans enjoy styling themselves as exemplars for the rest of us unenlightened colored peoples, but why the hell you would you like to be so shallow and live lives so pointless is beyond me.

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Venezuela Nationalizes Toilet Paper Factory

"I am the Great MADURO", etc., etc.

[NOTE: For those unfamiliar with the "Beavis and Butt-head" reference, see here and here.] If this is an example of socialists taking over the "commanding heights" of the economy, I am at a complete loss for words. To me at least, toilet paper manufacturing as a strategic sector bog-gles the mind, but it may make sense in Venezuela. It is no big secret that the Chavistas have nationalized broad swathes of the Venezuelan economy. Supply problems? Central planning will solve them, free market be damned. From Economics 101, I was taught that price controls and import controls create rather than alleviate goods shortages. Apparently this stupid bourgeois logic holds no water in modern-day Venezuela. Silly me. Instead of relenting on government controls to remedy the supply situation for various goods including toilet paper, the ultimate solution apparently involves nationalizing these enterprises lock, stock and barrel. You got it--TP users of Venezuela, unite!

On Saturday, Vice President Jorge Arreaza announced the "temporary occupation" of the Paper Manufacturing Company's plant in the state of Aragua. The aim, he explained, is to review the "production, marketing and distribution (of) toilet paper [...] The People's Defense from the Economy will not allow hoarding or failures in the production and distribution of essential commodities," the vice president said. 

By the "People's Defense," Arreaza was referring to a government agency created on September 13 by President Nicolas Maduro to "defeat the economic war that has been declared in the country," according to a report from state-run ATV. This group is charged with looking at inefficiencies across various industries in the nation, including foods and other products, and taking action presumably in the South American nation's best interests.

For what it's worth, Venezuela's leaders see a conspiracy to hoard toilet paper--presumably to, ah, dump them when prices have risen sufficiently:

But the government has said private companies aren't doing their part, accusing them of hoarding their products in hopes of selling it later at a higher price. They've also suggested the problem is tied to a broader conspiracy. "There is no deficiency in production," Commerce Minister Alejandro Fleming said in May according to ATV, "but an excessive demand generating purchases by a nervous population because of a media campaign."

Be afraid. Be very, very afraid. To paraphrase Marx, the TP expropriators have been expropriated (or something like that).

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Crackpot Conspiracies: Bilderberg Group Circa 2013

I think it's Hollywood's fault: In any number of action/spy/suspense/thriller movies, there is a good chance that they will depict some kind of shadowy secret organization that really runs the world--usually to fulfil nefarious ends. (You can't sell movies if they were a bunch of do-gooders, can you?) One version of this storyline is that little-known but powerful masterminds get together to plot the global future to suit their purposes. Another version is that well-known public figures in politics and business are ultimately networked to an organization that decides the fate of the world that put them in places of power.

During the years of Bush the Younger, the evil organization du jour was of course the Carlyle Group. With the ebbing of American military adventurism, however, it has receded from the public eye (for now). Bereft of that military-industrial complex, conspiracy theorists have been left with more traditional bogeymen to ponder when their minds naturally wander into evil machinations being hatched.

Given that we now have a Democratic presidency, it's about time the conspiracy theorists revived the Carter-era Trilateral Commission [TLC] whose American component of a North America-Europe-Asia triad was composed mostly of Democratic instead of GOP operatives. Given Obama's seeming penchant for mounting drone attacks, engineering computer viruses, and invading Internet privacy, it's about time someone asked on whose behalf be did all of those things. I was rather amused by the Straight Dope's take on the subject matter:

The TLC's first executive director was Zbigniew Brzezinski, and such well-known figures as Walter Mondale, Caspar Weinberger, and Paul Volcker have been members. Also on the rolls at one time, mainly because the commission needed some representation from the South, was the then-governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter. The prospect of spending hours cooped up with the likes of Walter Mondale would probably send most of us screaming for the exits. But Carter was an impressionable sort who found both the commission's meetings and its members deeply fascinating. He got chummy with many of the latter and appointed more than a dozen to posts in his administration, including Cyrus Vance, Michael Blumenthal, and of course the redoubtable Brzezinski.

This short guided tour of shadowy organizations thus brings us to the eponymous Bilderberg Group. Just as the Carlyle Group is named after the hotel its members prefer to meet at, this one is named after the venue of their first gathering. In terms of membership, however, Bilderberg resembles an older Trilateral Commission. Whereas the TLC is an North American-European-Asian gathering, a more apt name for Bilderberg would be the "Bilateral Commission" since its was intended to be an American-European gathering. But hey, it bears mentioning that the Bilderberg Group was formed in 1954--the world's powers were rather more Western then.

No matter, though. Recently, the Bilderberg Group meeting in London became an occasion for the crackpot conspracists to have a jamboree. Yes, they were partying like it was 1954 as they pondered what sort of dark machinations were being plotted in sequestered grounds...

More than 100 of the world's most powerful people are at the former manor house near London for a secretive annual gathering that has attained legendary status in the eyes of anti-capitalist protesters and conspiracy theorists. The guest list for the Bilderberg meeting includes Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. British Prime Minister David Cameron is due to drop by Friday.

 

The Bilderberg Group was set up in 1954 to support military and economic co-operation between Europe and North America during the Cold War. Named for the site of its first meeting — the Bilderberg Hotel in Oosterbeek, Holland — the forum for prominent politicians, thinkers and business leaders has been held annually at a series of secluded venues in Europe and North America.

I honestly doubt whether the Bilderberg Group is anything but a slightly less transparent World Economic Forum-style gathering where self-important VIPs are willing to spend top dollar to feel ever-so-important hobnobbing with other poo-bahs. While protesters at WEF events are of course ubiquitous, I believe that conspiracy theorists are less prone to ascribing dark, romantic connotations to what is ostensibly an "economic" meeting that videotapes most of its events. Let's just say that the reality of a bunch of guys talking about non-tariff barriers and other dry topics doesn't quite capture the fancy of the conspiracy set used to a steady diet of faceless characters known to viewers only by the plumes of smoke emanating from their tobacco pipes. Lemme put it this way: Do you think a runt like Paul Krugman could be cast in a Tom Clancy film adaptation? I didn't think so.

And so the "mystique" continues. Actually, the delusion is mutually reinforcing: On one hand, the erstwhile secret society members delude themselves into thinking they actually have a hand in shaping the global agenda while gathering with fellow Masters of the Universe. On the other hand, the conspiracy nutters actually buy into the idea that that's what really happens at these gatherings.

In the end, that's probably all the truth out there to be found.

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Does US Want to Isolate China Via an APEC FTA?

Oops, I may have spoken too soon when I mentioned that the US would not seek to antagonize China by excluding it from an Asia-Pacific FTA. This is just a brief follow-up to a recent post I made pooh-poohing prospects for an expanded Trans-Pacific Partnership composed of APEC member countries.

First, after dilly-dallying a bit, PM Yoshihiko Noda now says Japan will join the negotiations:

Japan's decision to join talks on a trade deal spanning the Pacific marks a major boost for the US bid to shape the new order in Asia, but it will likely mean longer, rockier negotiations...The move by Japan, announced by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda just before heading to Honolulu, leaves China as the conspicuous outlier in the emerging trade deal which will now encompass more than one-third of the global economy.

Second, it may be or likely is the case that Japan--a heavyweight with a complex domestic political economy similar to the US--will further complicate negotiations. Think of the WTO Doha Development Agenda and its non-completion due to the ever-expanding number of members and their different agendas. We even have the Stone Age fear of US automakers and Japan Inc [?!]:

But Japan's political leaders decided that "it is a strategic agreement to ensure that Japan is part of the rule-making process," said Michael Green, a Japan expert who was a top aide to former president George W. Bush. Green, now a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Georgetown University, said US trade negotiators are likely nervous as they must now contend with a "large and sophisticated and complicated counterpart.""It may complicate the negotiations in the short-run by having the third largest economy entering, but it also makes the TPP a much more credible pillar for an Asia-Pacific-wide free trade agreement," he said.

The United States has said it wants to move quickly to wrap up the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but many observers believe that the deal will take years -- especially now that Japan is involved.

While the United States has saluted Japan's decision to join the talks, a number of US lawmakers and industries are haunted by bruising trade negotiations with the Asian ally in the 1980s. The American Automotive Policy Council, which represents General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, said that a free trade agreement with the land of auto giants such as Toyota would devastate a recovering Detroit. "Providing preferential trade benefits to Japan, while they continue to embrace closed-market policies, would only serve to undermine the competitive gains made by American automakers," said Matt Blunt, the council's president. US automakers had initially fought against a US free trade agreement with South Korea, which was approved last month by Congress after marathon talks and concessions to Detroit.

American automakers have kept trying to sell their crapmobiles--often oversized left hand-drive vehicles in an RHD country--but haven't learned their lesson is all I have to say about the latter.

Third, China is indeed coming around to being excluded from the process despite after all being an APEC member country:

But the trade pact also has a political dimension. Chinese media have characterized it as a way to isolate the growing power, although a senior official, Yu Jianhua, said in Hawaii that China would consider the pact if invited.

Fourth, here's the most galling part. In a recent speech at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hillary "Internet Freedom" Clinton recycles her freedom 'n' growth schtick in describing the rationale for expanding TPP. Not exactly China-friendly talk, eh?

There is new momentum in our trade agenda with the recent passage of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement and our ongoing work on a binding, high-quality Trans-Pacific Partnership, the so-called TPP. The TPP will bring together economies from across the Pacific, developed and developing alike, into a single 21st century trading community. A rules-based order will also be critical to meeting APEC’s goal of eventually creating a free trade area of the Asia Pacific.

The United States will continue to make the case that, as a region, we must pursue not just more growth but better growth. This is not merely a matter of economics. It goes to the central question of which values we will embrace and defend. Openness, freedom, transparency, and fairness have meaning far beyond the business realm. Just as the United States advocates for them in an economic context, we also advocate for them in political and social contexts.

While I appreciate the mom, apple pie & Guantanamo Ghraib sentiment, there are two big troubles with this shtick. Let's start with founding TPP member Brunei. It is an absolute monarchy with next to no press freedom. Do you think it's appropriate for Johnny-come-lately USA to dictate to Brunei what standards TPP member countries should be held to, or the other way around? Next let's move on to Vietnam. Returning to the AFP article...

Critics say that communist Vietnam's membership weakens the US message that the deal is about fundamental freedoms.

You don't need to ask Freedom House about that one.

Message to Hillary Clinton: Save it for the next Sarah Palin rally, girlfriend (even if you should not personally deliver the message if you knew any better). Nevertheless, why do certain folks keep thinking that this schmaltz pass without notice?

UPDATE: Reuters has more on China and the TPP. As an important aside, shouldn't news agencies point out that the TPP is a preexisting FTA instead of one that is just coming into fruition due to US-led efforts fer crying out loud?

China is not part of these trade talks, and views them warily. The differing views were captured on Friday in a politely pointed public exchange between top American and Chinese trade officials.

Asked whether China would join the TPP, as the talks are known, a Chinese official, Assistant Commerce Minister Yu Jianhua, noted that no invitation had been sent to Beijing. "If one day we receive such an invitation, we will seriously study" it, Yu said.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk responded that the trade deal "is not designed to be a closed clubhouse. All are welcome. But it is also not one where you should wait for an invitation."

Also:

A commentary in China's state-owned news agency Xinhua said Washington was using the trade deal as a way to enhance its influence in Asia on its own terms. "The United States' primary reason for actively promoting the development and expansion of the TPP is to raise its leadership in the Asia-Pacific region," Xinhua wrote.

"The United States does not want to miss a golden opportunity with the economic development in the Asia-Pacific, and at the same time it hopes to install a fixed set of rules to guide changes in the region's future political and economic structure."

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