India exports high-tech manufactures, too

This blog has focused a lot on India's exports of IT services. But India's high-tech goods exporters are rapidly emerging, too, as this story from the New York Times reports.

There's another lesson that's implicit (to me, anyway) in this story. The founders of the company profiled in the story earned their doctorates in the United States before returning to India. These are exactly the sort of people we should be trying our best to keep in the United States rather than run out with self-defeating immigration policies. They are innovators and job creators.

Is the U.S. patent system broken?

I have read critiques of the present state of the U.S. patent system, but none so powerfully delivered as this story that ran on National Public Radio yesterday evening. It suggests that the patent system has gotten so deluged with lawsuits and frivolous "inventions" that it is undermining the prospects for true innovation, and generating enormous economic waste from litigation and defensive patent acquisitions by technology and software companies.

The arguments for protection of intellectual property are compelling, but surely we can do better than this.

Open Letter to Senator Mikulski

Below is the text of a letter I wrote to one of my senators, Ms. Barbara Mikulski, this evening:

Dear Senator Mikulski,

My name is Matthew Reisman, and I am a resident of Cheverly, Maryland. Tonight, President Obama asked Americans to write to their congressional representatives to let them know that we support "a balanced approach to reducing the deficit." I support such an approach, even if it means making some painful cuts to important entitlement programs--and eliminating tax breaks that I personally benefit from. Please do your part to come to a solution to our nation's debt and recurring budget deficits. And first and foremost, please do your part to resolve the debt ceiling crisis immediately.

The prospects for our prosperity in the near and more distant future depend on all parties abandoning sacred cows and compromising. I believe the President has done his part (and the Republicans in Congress have not), but it also time for the Democrats in Congress to do their part, too. That includes seriously considering reforms to entitlement programs that, while important, will prove unsustainable unless they are reformed.

I appreciate your consideration of my views.

Sincerely,
Matthew Reisman

An opening for Indian retail?

The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that the Indian government may be taking steps toward opening up multibrand retailing to foreign direct investment. It will be very interesting to see how this story unfolds in the coming days and weeks.

One potentially troubling aspect of the government's plans is a reported requirement that investments equal or exceed $100 million, with at least half of that value being devoted to developing "back-end infrastructure." Such a condition could impose an unnecessary and artificial burden on potential investing firms. Infrastructure is certain to be an important part of their investments in any event, but it may not make sense for infrastructure to account for 50 percent or more of their investments in every circumstance. Imposing such a requirement could lead to suboptimal outcomes for individual investors and the sector as a whole.

Cashing in on Amy Winehouse's death: unseemly behavior by online retailers?

Matthew Linder writes in The Atlantic about the moves by iTunes and Amazon to increase sales of Amy Winehouse's albums in light of her recent passing. The author takes a nuanced view of their actions, arguing, for instance, that iTunes is "instantly connecting Winehouse fans to her music at a time when it is perhaps most emotionally poignant to listen." He also notes, though, that Amazon's link stating "Read more about Amy Winehouse" simply leads to a page from which to purchase her music.

It is this latter point that bothers me. It is not unseemly to respond to what is surely to be an increase in demand for a recently-deceased, star artist's music. But it is definitely unseemly to engage in deception. There was no need for Amazon or iTunes to be sneaky; mourning Winehouse fans who are visiting the Amazon or iTunes sites are probably likely candidates to make purchases anyway.

Capital offenses? No. Tacky? Absolutely.

The debt ceiling: no laughing matter

Like many others in the United States and around the world, I have been following the negotiations between Republicans and Democrats in Congress and the President about raising our debt ceiling with a mixture of anger, fear, and profound frustration. It is extraordinarily important that a deal get done, yesterday.

The thing that rankles me most is that critics of raising the debt ceiling liken it to expanding a profligate's limit on his credit card. As the Washington Post recently explained, this analogy is false. What we are talking about is not expanding our ability to incur additional debt, but agreeing to pay creditors we already owe. In other words, we've already swiped the credit card, and now we need to pay the bill. And like all debtors, if we don't pay our bills in a timely fashion, our creditworthiness will suffer.

This is an entirely separate issue from the need to reduce the nation's debt over the medium- and long-term, which is indeed of the utmost importance. But the conflation of the two issues is leading us down a foolish and dangerous path towards default.

The Onion recently provided its take on the issue, which would be funny if it were not so close to reality.

Retail trade in India: time to open up?

The East-West Center recently published a note that I wrote arguing that India's ban on foreign direct investment in retail trading harms the welfare of Indian consumers and farmers. Do you agree, or do you think I've got it wrong? I'd welcome your comments.

Source: www.eastwestcenter.org 

Good-bye Amy Winehouse

Photo by Daniel Arnold (Wikimedia Commons)

I was very sad to learn of the passing of Amy Winehouse today. She was singularly talented. The first time I heard Amy, I didn't know it was her -- I was at a friend's home and her "Back to Black" album came up on his stereo. I was stunned by how good she sounded and asked who she was. I sought out her albums soon afterwards. The more I listened, the more I was taken with her music: lyrics filled with raw honesty, sadness, anger, and humor, coupled with irresistible bass lines, ensembles of funky retro horns, and always, above all else, that extraordinarily soulful voice.

We'll miss you, Amy.

Music at work (first in a series): Lydia Loveless

Sometimes, a little background music provides an essential boost to productivity. I thought I'd use this blog to share some of the music I'm enjoying most during my workday.

Photo source: Bloodshot Records

The first featured artist is Lydia Loveless. She has a soaring, twangy voice similar to that of my very favorite artist, Neko Case. She's only 20 years old but sings with the soul of someone much older. Check her out here. She has an album due out in September