Hi ardent,I was never much of a Skinner fan so I was pleased...

Hi ardent,

I was never much of a Skinner fan so I was pleased when some of his work was discredited however, I think some of the stuff he did does cross over into human behaviour. WHo says you have to be old to know about Skinner. Bet if you asked a young psych student they'd know!

Haven't noticed any of your posts here before. You have correctly picked up on what I was implying re "the expense of others" and thanks for that.

Yes Tariq Ali does argue that well but he will be dismissed as a commie sympathiser by the Rabid Right no doubt!

The issue however is much more complex than even you or he has pointed out. Some countries such as China have been able to pass through the cheap labour phase and have actually built their own industries on top of the parasitic (perhaps in some cases, symbiotic) multinationals. Others have not been so fortunate. No doubt Grant 62 could give us a well researched list of reasons why this might be so, but I'm sure there are a number of factors involved here.

I have just been reading a fascinating book called The Mystery of Capital by Hernando de Soto. In this book De Soto seeks the reason why capitalism has succeeded so well in the West but seems to have failed almost everywhere else. His main thesis is that the west has a tradition of documentation, title deeds, mortgage documents, statements etc that enables the establishment of ownership. It is the lack of ability to establish ownership, he argues that prevents individuals who may indeed be asset rich from leveraging these assets and thereby realising the full wealth potential. It's actually quite a simple idea. I'd like to hear if anyone else has read this book and what they think.

AnnaP