Re: WTO and OPEC

["廖子光 Henry C.K.Liu 郭??" <hliu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Barley, the real blow to the diamond cartel comes from synthetic
diamonds.  There is a new strain, whose name I forgot, that is brighter
and harder than the real stuff that has just become commercially
available.  Social climbers wear the real stuff, and old money dowagers
are wearing the synthetics.  That is the economics of insecurity.

When prices are high enough, it will produce substitutes.  That is the
basic economics behind the development of chemistry.

Henry

"J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." wrote:

>      I was only referring to currently existing ones, or
> recently existing ones.  Actually, I gather the old
> diamond cartel has taken a beating recently.  But it
> has had a good run of about 70 years or so, at least.
> Barkley Rosser
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Greg Nowell <GN842@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: POST-KEYNESIAN THOUGHT <pkt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Tuesday, March 14, 2000 6:18 PM
> Subject: Re: WTO and OPEC
>
> >Maybe in modern history.  I haven't really checked to see how
> >long some of the old "trading companies" lasted with their
> >state-sponsored exclusive rights to trade in x, y, z
> >commodities.  -gn.
> >
> >"J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." wrote:
> >
> >>      The most successful and longest running cartel
> >> in the world has been the diamond cartel.
> >> Barkley Rosser
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: renatopompeu <renatopompeu@xxxxxxxxxx>
> >> To: POST-KEYNESIAN THOUGHT <pkt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >> Date: Wednesday, March 08, 2000 7:18 PM
> >> Subject: Re: WTO and OPEC
> >>
> >> >> At 04:06 PM 03/07/2000 , Henry wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> >I should have written that OPEC came into existence as
> >> >an effective cartel in
> >> >> >1973.  I remember being in New York in 1973 where
> >> >several diplomat
> >> >> >acqaintances
> >> >> >of mine from the Southern Hemisphere were very excited
> >> >about the new OPEC and
> >> >> >thought that coffee, banana and other commodities
> >> >cartels can be patterned
> >> >> >after
> >> >> >OPEC.
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> But of course there were other commodity cartels at
> >> >that time (usually
> >> >> sponsored by producing country governments), e.g., the
> >> >tin cartel, the
> >> >> cocoa cartel, etc.
> >> >
> >> >As a matter of fact, what you are calling the coffee
> >> >cartel was never patterned after OPEC or any producers'
> >> >cartel. The International Coffee Agreement (I am
> >> >translating from its name in Portuguese, I do not know
> >> >the official name in English) involved not only producing
> >> >countries, but also consumer countries. It established
> >> >quotas and prices for production, exports and imports.
> >> >As for the oil prices and the bubble in Wall Street, I
> >> >just have no idea of what will happen. I just hope these
> >> >problems and others of the same huge size do not
> >> >degenerate in a concentrated planetary war, for there is
> >> >in the horizon no hope to stop the already ongoing
> >> >protracted and segmented war between Otan and the axis
> >> >Russia-China.
> >> >Renato Pompeu
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >______________________________________________
> >> >Coloque o BOL entre os Top 3 do iBest!
> >> >?s?at?ter? - Vote j?>
> >> >http://www.bol.com.br/ibest.html
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >
> >--
> >Gregory P. Nowell
> >Associate Professor
> >Department of Political Science, Milne 100
> >State University of New York
> >135 Western Ave.
> >Albany, New York 12222
> >
> >Fax 518-442-5298
> >
> >