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Matters Financial |
2 June 2003
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AOL and Microsoft Settle; Be Afraid
AOL and Microsoft have settled their differences over Netscape and Explorer, their internet browsers. AOL needs the cash and Microsoft has found a way to kill of a competing technology. Make no mistake, by accommodating Microsoft, AOL will wind up dropping Netscape. The computer world is becoming more monolithic, and that is not good. Click here to read more.
Rabobank Offers Interest in Coffee
The price of coffee hasn't been this low in ages. Which is good news for the consumer but is dreadful news for coffee farmers. There are a great many kind thoughts and statements of support coming out, but a Dutch bank, Rabobank, has actually done something about it. One can get paid interest, not in Euros, but in coffee. The gimmick may not solve the problem, but it is action of the right sort. The problem is that it does not increase demand, rather it shifts the purchase from one transaction base to another. Click here to read more.
China Approves Foreign Brokers
If one listens carefully in Beijing, one can hear Mao turning over in his grave. The Communist Party of the People's Republic of China has allowed United Bank of Switzerland and Japan's Nomura Securities to set up shop in the world's largest communist state. The Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor [QFII] plan, launched in November, appears to be one of the last legs of the Long March to Capitalism. Click here for our view.