What’s this? Manufacturing plants being built in the US?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/16/us-apple-samsung-idUSTRE7BF0D420111216

The US a net exporter of energy in Q4?
http://online.wsj.com/article/APf917509ee61344a38638e2c08bc47090.html

Once again the conventional wisdom of the US being dead is, well, dying. As I always say about conventional wisdom: always bet the other way.

I’m disgusted. I’m disgusted with our government being more concerned about protecting its big donors than making this a country we can all be proud of. We have had this fight over PIPA and SOPA (a great video here that explains it all), two privacy bills that would let the government shut down YouTube, Facebook and other web sites when a third-party posts copyrighted material. Makes me want to go BitTorrent all my movies rather than pay for them.

And then this report hits Bloomberg two days ago that I am seeing in none of the media. The report says that the banks didn’t get bailed out to the tune of $700 billion as the government said it did. It got bailed out to the tune of $8 TRILLION with below market loans. What did the banks do with it? Turn it into a $13 billion profit, by the way, not to mention pay themselves exorbitant bonuses for their “good work.”

Every day passes and every day feels more like we are participating in the great American con job. Nothing to see here, our government says.

There is a revolt that is going to happen here sooner or later. Throughout history this country has never stood long for this lunacy. When the gap between rich and poor, the gap between better off and less-to-do, becomes wide enough, the tendons that bind this country together snap and a third-party rises from the ashes to correct the wrongs.

This one, Democrats and Republicans, isn’t going to go away.

I was going to write about something else this week but this interview of Carlota Perez by Fred Wilson was way too interesting not to share. If you care about what is happening to our economy and the transition we are undergoing and dying for a positive outlook, take a half hour to review:

If you want to learn a little more, here is Fred’s article leading into the interview.

Support makes a huge difference in whom I choose to buy products from. A few examples:

• From the time I bought my first Macbook in 2008, the first unibody version, I was having troubles. It didn’t seem to sit flat on the desk and the CD had a hard time going in. It was just enough to be annoying but not enough to make me want to give up my primary computer for a week or two. About a year later, as I was finally preparing to take the thing into Apple, I dropped it and dented the corner. When I took the computer in, I explained what the problem was originally, that I had dropped the computer, and was willing to pay for it because of my own stupidity. The Apple rep went through all the paperwork and then changed his mind at the very end, comping me the fixes. This happened again last week for a friend who dropped his iPad. I’m partially willing to buy Apple products because they treat me right.
• In the mid-2000s I bought a bunch of Dell computers.  Even though we bought and paid for Windows XP Pro and even though the disk said Windows XP Pro, when we went to reinstall, the version of the OS was Windows XP Home. I called Dell to get a replacement disk and the guy refused to send me one, eventually sending me to a manager who begrudgingly sent one out. It took me 45 minutes to get what they owed me. I wasn’t asking for a new registration key — just the disk.
• I know Netflix is taking a pounding right now but every time they have a network problem, I get an email offering me a pro-rated portion of my monthly bill back, if I want it.
• Last year I got involved in a Kickstarter project for a book. I didn’t hear anything for a long time and then received an early release version of the book some time this summer. That was a nice touch. I even sent back some feedback but never heard anything. When the book was actually released — for twice what I put in on the project — I heard nothing. I reached out to the person who wrote the book and he kicked it over to an assistant who ordered one for me on Amazon.com. What a missed opportunity. A little note from the author thanking me for having faith in him, a signed edition, something special that would make me want to brag about this book to everyone I know and make me feel better about the fact I could have bought it for half as much if I wouldn’t have helped out. Instead… I’m telling you this story.
• I ordered a couple of books from Amazon recently and after it shipped but before I received them, the price dropped. I emailed Amazon to tell them this and they issued me a $12 refund without any fuss. For the record, Amazon will automatically charge you less if the price drops before it ships but they generally don’t once it ships.

Each company has two choices: we can either treat our customers as enemies or we can treat them as friends. Go the extra mile for them and I believe it will come back ten fold.

While there are lots of new and interesting things going on in mobile, an article from a college student this morning bemoaning what Congress and the President are doing to help their job prospects caught my eye.

Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana apparently spoke at Georgetown University, saying that 14 million unemployed is the “red menace” but there are limits to what government can do to resolve the issue.

Fred Messner, writing at FrumForum, responded:

While Daniels’ lived up to his reputation, speaking about concrete policy proposals, as a college student I worry about a job in 2014, not a government check in 2054, especially since I’m not planning on getting any government checks at all anyway. Regulatory, entitlement, and tax reform have little to offer us in the short term.

…

I admire his honesty, but is this really the Republican Party’s attitude toward massive, crushing unemployment? Can nothing be done for laid-off workers and future workers (like myself) whose only crime will be timing their graduations badly?

Well, Fred, welcome to the real world. While we would all like to bury our heads in the sand and let someone else take care of our problems, that’s not always possible. Sometimes we have to make our own destinies.

When I went to college, 1991, we were in the worst recession we had had in a while. Everyone at school was bemoaning the fact that jobs were scarce for college students entering the work force. By the time I graduated I decided I would take the bull by the horns and make my own future — I started a company and am still running it, to this day, 14 years later.

Fred, you are in an enviable position. You are likely young and without family obligations. Your expenses are probably pretty low. And because of this you have a distinct advantage: you have a huge run-way to make your own way. Sure, you probably have debts but so did I (~$60,000 in 1997 prices) and so did my cousin (+$100,000 in 2003 prices) and both of us managed to pay them off while starting businesses.

My advice to you: if you are waiting for the government to come through for you, you will have a very long wait. Grab the bull by the horns. Make your own future.