Re: National Socio-Economic Security Need for Encryption Technology

[Sandy Sandfort <sandfort@crl.com>]

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                          SANDY SANDFORT
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C'punks,

On Thu, 15 Aug 1996, Bart Croughs wrote:

> 2) The word is also used as a term for financial ASSETS.

Dollar bills are a financial asset, but they are not a capital
asset.  

> So, I fear that it's Sandy who is confused about the meaning of
> the word 'capital', not me.

Bart may fear all he wants, but he is still confusing the two
meanings of the word.

> But even if it is me who is confused about the meaning of the
> word 'capital' (which isn't the case), this confusion wouldn't
> affect my argument at all. If American capital is invested in
> foreign countries instead of in the US, then the total amount
> of capital invested in the US will be lower than it would have
> been if the capital had been invested in the US.

Here is where Bart's confusion lies.  If he is talking about
investment dollars, they none of his Austrian quotes bear any
relationship to his conclusion.  If he is talking about shipping
steel mills overseas, there might be some justification, but I
don't think that's what he is talking about.  

Finally, he as not shown why US investors would move their
capital (of whatever nature) from non-competitive US companies
to foreign ones.  As I said in a previous post, the most likely
to happen is that US investors will move their capital (of
whatever nature) from non-competitive US companies to other US
companies that do enjoy a competitive advantage.

On a personal note:  Bart the people on this list are highly
intelligent.  Many if not most are students of Austrian 
economics.  By the tone of your posts my best guess is that you
are young (20's?) and have little practical experience in "the
real world."  This is not a crime, but it's no great honor 
either.  The people you have been tilting with are not arguing
just to be arguing.  They have a firm grasp of the subject matter
and fine analytical minds.  Your arguments to authority are okay,
but you show a serious intellectual inflexiblity.  I sincerely 
suggest you reconsider your demeanor on this list to date, and 
work to improve it.  Don't waste your reputation capital being a
jerk.


 S a n d y

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