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Sowell: The Ambassador and the Post Office
Creators Syndicate ^ | June 3, 2014 | Thomas Sowell

Posted on 06/02/2014 11:11:00 AM PDT by jazusamo

At one time, people in India had to get on a waiting list to buy Hindustan Motors' Ambassador automobile, even though it was an obvious copy of Britain's Morris Oxford of some decades earlier. The reason was simple: the Indian government would not allow cars to be imported to compete with it.

The fact that the Ambassador was a copy is hardly an automatic reason for condemnation. The first Nikon camera was an obvious copy of a German camera called the Contax, and the first Canon was an obvious copy of the Leica. The difference is that, over the years, Nikons and Canons rose to become state of the art, during both the era of film and in the new digital age.

Not so the Ambassador car. It was notorious for poor finish and poor handling. But, since it was the only game in town — and "town" was all of India, people were on waiting lists for it for months, and sometimes even years.

By contrast, Nikon and Canons were good cameras from day one and they just got better as the companies that produced them gained more experience. With a highly competitive international market for cameras, they had no choice if they wanted to survive.

But the Hindustan Ambassador had no such problem. Only those who bought them had problems.

Toward the end of the 20th century, India began to loosen up some of its jungle of rules and regulations that were strangling India's businesses. Though India is still a long way from a free market, just the relaxing of some of its economic restrictions was enough to promote a higher rate of growth and a substantial reduction in poverty.

(Excerpt) Read more at creators.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: sowell; subsidies; thomassowell; usps

1 posted on 06/02/2014 11:11:00 AM PDT by jazusamo
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2 posted on 06/02/2014 11:12:56 AM PDT by jazusamo (Sometimes I think that this is an era when sanity has become controversial: Thomas Sowell)
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To: jazusamo

Why do we have an uneducated, immoral, and limp-wristed dork like Obama as president when we have intellects like Sowell outside of the gubmit?

For gawd’s sake, I’d vote for Sowell at least ten times...and go back that after noon for ten more votes.

(Hey, multiple voting is good...liberals do it all the time.)


3 posted on 06/02/2014 11:25:14 AM PDT by Da Coyote
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4 posted on 06/02/2014 11:42:23 AM PDT by musicman (Until I see the REAL Long Form Vault BC, he's just "PRES__ENT" Obama = Without "ID")
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To: Da Coyote

I hear you.

It’s very sad how politics and politicians have now degraded to the point that few are even a mere shadow of the Founding Fathers. Our system has become corrupt to the core with few honest people elected to public service.

0bama and others like him are elected by voters who are only interested in what the government will do for them, sadly they seem to be in the majority.


5 posted on 06/02/2014 11:42:46 AM PDT by jazusamo (Sometimes I think that this is an era when sanity has become controversial: Thomas Sowell)
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To: Da Coyote
Hey, multiple voting is good...liberals do it all the time.

One poll worker here in Cincinnati boasted that she voted for Obama six times in the last election! Thankfully, she's in jail now. In Lake County, IN, just south of Chicago, dead people vote multiple times. If voter fraud isn't fixed soon, people will completely lose faith and that, folks, is the end of this Republic.

6 posted on 06/02/2014 11:43:56 AM PDT by econjack (I'm not bossy...I just know what you should be doing.)
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To: Da Coyote

In the case of Sowell, it is because by temperament he is a superb academic but is unsuited to politics. In the long run we can hope to elect people who value and read what he writes & has written.


7 posted on 06/02/2014 11:44:19 AM PDT by MSF BU (n)
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To: Da Coyote

voting 20 times?! I was going to say.....what are you, a leftist???????? heeheehee


8 posted on 06/02/2014 3:02:13 PM PDT by Shimmer1 (The love that dare not speak its name is now the love that will not shut its *bleeping* mouth)
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To: jazusamo
Do not knock Hindustan Motors or its suppliers. They are the only source of NEW parts for many vintage British motorcars.
Besides, the Hindustan was the long-awaited upgrade of the Morris Minor, and although it has had several decades of teething troubles, this is common to all new models. Nothing like a brisk 45 MpH on your 5.60X15s, dodging holy cows with the ultra-responsive steering.

India also built FIATS of the late 1950s, and has recently had stunning success with its retro-debut of the Royal Enfield Motorcycle of the late 1940s. I hope they do the same with the iconic MGB! Also a good place to pick up an old Raleigh or Rudge English bicycle.

Make some outstanding tractors, too.

9 posted on 06/03/2014 6:29:43 PM PDT by Kenny Bunk (The great)
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