What about the people who scraped up and borrowed enough money to get an online degree only to be left with no career after all their hard work? And when was the last time anybody landed a job, let alone even an interview, because of what they taught themselves at the library? If you're poor you're probably working two or three part-time unskilled type of jobs. You buy an XBOX to keep the wife and kids off your back so you don't have to spend bigger bucks or more time on more refined forms of recreation. You may even play yourself when you have a spare half hour. Hey, it beats getting drunk or doing drugs, right?
And yet it is the business gurus that keep screaming that networking is the way to get ahead in life. It's not what you know, it's who you know, etc. Too bad the business gurus don't get deeper into the details unless you pay $1,000.00 to attend their seminar.
Take away the government and I bet you'll be shocked how fast companies will be able to force you to pay for their services, send armed men to do a lot worse than toss you in jail, and draft you into servitude.
Not to mention that this era was noted for the first war of American capitalist imperialism, the Spanish American War, which makes both Vietnam and Gulf War II look like a purely defensive war in comparison. All of the known evidence suggests that the battleship Maine was destroyed by a magazine explosion internal to the ship, not an attack by the Spanish. However, the ensuing war ended with the US occupation of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, and set forward momentum for US intervention into the affairs of other nations around the globe.
This era was also known for the beginnings of Socialist and Communist movements. May Day is celebrated world wide except in the US, even though the event is meant to observe the massacre of American factory workers on strike in Chicago during this same era of economic growth [of a wealthy minority] and a universal middle class [which came later after progressive reforms].
And guess who is going to fill the power gap after Libertarianism does away with the government. Instead of police who have to answer to elected officials you will have private security firms like Academi AKA Blackwater breaking down your door to "enforce" their "property rights".
I have always seen these types of problems with the so-called "hibernate" or "sleep" modes. I always disable this feature the first chance I get. The ridiculous amount of time required for the rebooting process hasn't improved much since Windows 3.1. The more software you use on a daily basis the worse your problem gets. Let's say to like to keep track of your schedule with a PC based organizer. If during any particular weekend day you only need to update your schedule four different times and random intervals throughout the day, you are not going to be using you time efficiently if you wait 5, 10 or 15 minutes to boot up, log in, open your software, etc., especially if the task you want to perform only takes 30 seconds. So, most people who like to use their PC software throughout the day but for short intervals at a time, it almost becomes impractical unless you keep your machine on all day long. Now, of course, you could always turn off your machine and spend 3-4 hours each day doing things that don't involve your PC, but if you need to quickly look up something that you have recorded on your hard drive or somebody calls you and needs you to do something quickly for them, then keeping your machine on all day, even if mostly unused, is an unfortunate fact of life. Mobile apps might help to liberate you from your machine, but that depends a lot on your particular situation. Saving $60 each year might be worth it for some people, but not for everybody.
Why would Russia need a permanent moon base? I could understand if Singapore want some more elbow room, but Russia already has more cold, isolated, and desolate real estate than any other country.
He will probably be asked to resign and receive a nice severance package to sweeten the offer. There is no US law that forbids CEOs, VPs, directors, or any other officer in a corporation from having a felony. The only exceptions are when the companies require a special license to operate. For example, in California your company cannot register as a professional photocopier if you, any general partner, corporate officer, or limited liability company officer/manager has a felony conviction.
I will continue with my cynicism. The fine will not be a percentage of his income or his net worth. For him, the fine will be affordable. He'll probably just write a check the day the judge decides what his fine will be. Now, if a single mother on welfare is stealing diapers from the same store because her kids crap their pants more often than the welfare department allows, that mother will probably spend time in jail. She will have an attorney appointed to "represent" her at trial, but this "representation" will only be to assist her to fill out forms with her guilty plea on them. She could be at home taking care of her kids while waiting for trial, but she won't have the money for bail. She'll be slapped with a felony and ordered to pay fines she might not ever be able to pay off. While the executive probably has strong enough of a professional network to still be VP at another company or to work as a consultant, the single mom will be laid off from whatever job she may have and will be excluded from most other minimum wage work because of her felony conviction. The state will probably even try to take her kids away as she is an unfit mother.
x) As a judge, always find in favor of the bigger business or wealthier individual. Eventually take better paying job at a private arbitration firm where you can crucify the little people, enforce your decisions just the same as US court judgments, all while having no obligation to follow civil procedure, legal precedent, or the US Constitution. x) As a regulator, always ignore violations of the largest and most profitable companies you are supposed to be regulating, while coming down hard on any start-ups that might rock the boat. After a few years of service, assume an executive position for one of the companies you were regulating, or work for them as consultants or lobbyists. x ) Dismantle whatever power the common voter has by closing down courts and outsourcing litigation to private arbitration firms, replace the US military with private security contractors who HAVE NOT taken an oath to defend the Constitution or follow the Geneva Convention, outsource CIA, NSA, FBI and other operations to private intelligence firms that DO NOT have to report to Congress, privatize and offshore prison operations, and drop local law enforcement from the budget so communities end up with amateur neighborhood watch organizations.
Reminds me more of Sonia Sotomayor after she joined the commercial litigation practice group of Pavia & Harcourt in Manhattan as an associate.
Excerpt from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonia_Sotomayor :...In some cases Sotomayor went on-site with the police to Harlem or Chinatown to have illegitimate merchandise seized, in the latter instance pursuing a fleeing culprit while riding on a motorcycle.[10][65] She said at the time that Pavia & Harcourt's efforts were run "much like a drug operation", and the successful rounding up of thousands of counterfeit accessories in 1986 was celebrated by "Fendi Crush", a destruction-by-garbage-truck event at Tavern on the Green.[68]...
Collection Agents Ticket Agents Travel Agents Insurance Agents Patent Agents (btw - they do not enforce or regulate patents) or my favorite, IRS Enrolled Agents (who are not employed by the IRS and have no powers to investigate, make arrests, or enforce any laws).
I don't have a problem when a profiteering pirate is nailed. I do have a problem with single mothers and homeless people being sued beyond their means to provide an adequate defense and receiving judgments in the million$ just because they were accused of sharing an internet connection with someone else who downloaded bootlegged material or because they lent their CD to a friend. Your right to have a lawyer appointed to represent you does not apply in civil hearings.
Leaving your Wifi unsecured shouldn't make you liable to pay all of your disposable income for the rest of your life to the wealthy lawyers of an industry trade organization. There are rapists and murderers who are paroled and allowed to go on with their life after serving much shorter sentences and fewer dollars in fines and restitution.
Arrr! Say here now! What be this talk o' pirates on Slashdot? There be no pirates here. Sir, I am mortally offended that you even suggest such a thing is possible. We are honest business men. It's not our fault if things just happen to fall off of the back of the merchant freighters.
Well, according to statistical models, the so-called "free" software included in most Linux distributions or any other open-source project includes at least some code developed by current Microsoft employees, and their employment contract explicitly states that any software they develop while under the employ of Microsoft is property of Microsoft. Therefore, any distribution of "free" software is presumably pirated distribution of Microsoft's intellectual property. Violators, you have been warned:
Copyright the sequence of letters and numbers that comprise your license plate. Even better, make it a personalized license plate that demonstrates your creativity, and have the design officially recorded at the US Copyright Office. If you have the ability, develop an algorithm that you can fit on a license plate, and submit your application to the US Patent Office. Now set up a website where users pay a fee to see your license plate. Make it known to the world that you will be engaging in performance art by driving to undisclosed locations where a few lucky souls can see your license plate for free. You are doing this to generate interest in your license plate contents and market your copyrighted works and/or patented technology. Occasionally invite random people to take "live" pictures of your performance art for a flat fee of $500 per photo. Sell mass-marketed photos of your license plate online for a nominal fee of only $250 per download.
Now, fast forward to the moment you "discover" that various public and private servers are storing and possibly even distributing the copyrighted and/or patented information without your express written permission and without paying the artist/inventor. Whine to the MPAA, RIAA, or some other B.S.AA and take the sons of bitches to court for $20k per violation.
Residents who live in a state that charges sales tax are required to report and pay their own sales tax when the purchase goods from vendors located out of state when those vendors do not add sales tax to their invoices. Mail order businesses have been operating this way for decades, but now states are getting extreme at defining "nexus", such as "did you attend a trade show in our state" "did you store data on a server located in our state" or "did one of your employees fly over our state while on a business trip" etc. OK, I made the last one up, but nexus has definitely gone way beyond "brick-and-mortar" presence these days.
They shouldn't, but the US has been putting a lot of pressure onto the Swiss government to reform their bank secrecy laws and to share information about the bank accounts of US citizens. In Switzerland, tax evasion is a civil matter, but the US prosecutes as a crime. Since Switzerland has many banks with international operations, it would be a major blow to Swiss economic objectives if the US government were to shut down all US branches of UBS and Credit Suisse. So they struck a deal to share account info for US citizens that have accounts in Switzerland with UBS and Credit Suisse. And that was a compromise - the IRS wanted Switzerland to share info about American account holders at ALL Swiss banks.
There are thousands of Americans who lie on their tax returns while hiding money in offshore accounts. The IRS is pursuing these account owners more aggressively than any other nation. Which is why it is harder to do business with offshore banks if you are a US citizen. US authorities are harassing bankers who accept US citizens, even threatening jail time if they ever visit the United States for aiding and abetting US tax evaders. They can literally pick them up as soon as they land at an American airport, similar to how an online Casino owner was apprehended when his flight to Costa Rica was diverted to the US (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Carruthers).
Then there is the persecution of offshore ForEx brokers who take on US clients. Just because you are a foreign citizen operating from your own soil according to the laws of your own nation does not mean you escape the long arm of US trans-national jurisdiction. Sure, you can laugh at the US as you are tried in absentia, assessed fines, and sentencing to jail time, but one day a black van with tinted windows is going to roll up and...
The same way a group of 20 coders in a building have a manager, team leader, project engineer, or whatever you call the guy in charge of coordinating and administering all of the group's activities. Adding a secretary/receptionist/office-manager to the group of 20 coders and software engineers might make the group of coders even more efficient. If it didn't, I guarantee you no company would ever choose to put such people into such positions.
You don't necessarily have to add staff to most government agencies if those with decision making authority would network with their peers, organize something that represents a trade organization, and/or pool resources to take advantage of economies of scale. There has been some success with efforts like this, such as the UCC and other uniform acts, but governments could do a whole lot better to cooperate. If given the choice, I would rather see cities and states cooperating than individual governments colluding with wealthy and powerful private companies.
20 separate government agencies operating on different schedules, having different contracts, using different software to perform the same departmental function, having different hiring standards for the same exact type of position, etc. etc. is never going to lead to efficiency. Walmart would never have been as profitable as it is today if each store's general manager separately negotiated contracts for the supply of all the goods sold in each store. But we're expected to believe that government agencies working this way is a good idea.
But if you now dominate the market and your competitors pose no threat, why offer a new discount when you didn't need to before? Company's don't set their prices to be "nice" - they set their prices to bring in as much revenue as possible. Given how much cash Apple had been sitting on for so long after such robust I-phone sales, shouldn't they also be "nice" and slash their prices? There are many strategies for setting prices - new companies entering the market may set extremely low prices to gain a steady following of repeat business, then gradually raising the price later. After a period of months or years, those customers may wake up and realize that they're not saving money anymore, but if they compare to the competitors, if the price is about the same, there will be little or no incentive to leave.
In the 1970's Whirlpool revamped many of their product lines. They cut the number of moving parts by at least 50% on appliances such as washing machines. This cut Whirlpool's manufacturing costs substantially. Then Whirlpool invested the cash windfall in the stock market. The cost savings did not result in price reductions. In fact, the fewer moving parts made their machines even more reliable and as customer's began to prefer their appliances, market forces actually drove the prices higher. Their competitors could still win some market share away from Whirlpool, but there was no business case for starting a price war, as such an action could pressure their competitors to reduce their costs in a similar manner. As long as their competitors were happy with selling a slightly inferior product for a slightly lower price for much lower margins, Whirlpool was happy where it was.
This is where many legislatures were wrong about capping damages for medical malpractice. Supposedly, doctors paid too much in insurance premiums since there was no limit to the physician's liability, and this was driving up the cost of providing medical services. In theory, capping damages would save the insurance companies millions of dollars, and free market forces would drive the insurance companies to lower their premiums, and doctors paying fewer premiums would pass on the cost savings to their patients. However, the only result of this legislation was that insurance companies became much more profitable, and were able to spend millions more on lobbyists to write the The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
That's actually true. Go to any Swiss bank while traveling to Switzerland. Put a briefcase with $20k in unmarked, non-sequential bills on the counter. Tell them you want to set up a numbered account, and tell them you are not a Swiss citizen and you do not have a Swiss residence. There will be no problem or objections until they find out you are a US citizen.
Slashdot Mirror
What about the people who scraped up and borrowed enough money to get an online degree only to be left with no career after all their hard work? And when was the last time anybody landed a job, let alone even an interview, because of what they taught themselves at the library? If you're poor you're probably working two or three part-time unskilled type of jobs. You buy an XBOX to keep the wife and kids off your back so you don't have to spend bigger bucks or more time on more refined forms of recreation. You may even play yourself when you have a spare half hour. Hey, it beats getting drunk or doing drugs, right?
But how do American's get stuck into these ruts when Congress reformed bankruptcy back in 2005?
And yet it is the business gurus that keep screaming that networking is the way to get ahead in life. It's not what you know, it's who you know, etc. Too bad the business gurus don't get deeper into the details unless you pay $1,000.00 to attend their seminar.
I didn't realize that I'm an underpaid engineer living in poverty until now.
Take away the government and I bet you'll be shocked how fast companies will be able to force you to pay for their services, send armed men to do a lot worse than toss you in jail, and draft you into servitude.
Not to mention that this era was noted for the first war of American capitalist imperialism, the Spanish American War, which makes both Vietnam and Gulf War II look like a purely defensive war in comparison. All of the known evidence suggests that the battleship Maine was destroyed by a magazine explosion internal to the ship, not an attack by the Spanish. However, the ensuing war ended with the US occupation of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, and set forward momentum for US intervention into the affairs of other nations around the globe.
This era was also known for the beginnings of Socialist and Communist movements. May Day is celebrated world wide except in the US, even though the event is meant to observe the massacre of American factory workers on strike in Chicago during this same era of economic growth [of a wealthy minority] and a universal middle class [which came later after progressive reforms].
And guess who is going to fill the power gap after Libertarianism does away with the government. Instead of police who have to answer to elected officials you will have private security firms like Academi AKA Blackwater breaking down your door to "enforce" their "property rights".
I have always seen these types of problems with the so-called "hibernate" or "sleep" modes. I always disable this feature the first chance I get. The ridiculous amount of time required for the rebooting process hasn't improved much since Windows 3.1. The more software you use on a daily basis the worse your problem gets. Let's say to like to keep track of your schedule with a PC based organizer. If during any particular weekend day you only need to update your schedule four different times and random intervals throughout the day, you are not going to be using you time efficiently if you wait 5, 10 or 15 minutes to boot up, log in, open your software, etc., especially if the task you want to perform only takes 30 seconds. So, most people who like to use their PC software throughout the day but for short intervals at a time, it almost becomes impractical unless you keep your machine on all day long. Now, of course, you could always turn off your machine and spend 3-4 hours each day doing things that don't involve your PC, but if you need to quickly look up something that you have recorded on your hard drive or somebody calls you and needs you to do something quickly for them, then keeping your machine on all day, even if mostly unused, is an unfortunate fact of life. Mobile apps might help to liberate you from your machine, but that depends a lot on your particular situation. Saving $60 each year might be worth it for some people, but not for everybody.
Maybe the concern over counterfeiting or forgeries, but I really don't know for sure either.
Why would Russia need a permanent moon base? I could understand if Singapore want some more elbow room, but Russia already has more cold, isolated, and desolate real estate than any other country.
He will probably be asked to resign and receive a nice severance package to sweeten the offer. There is no US law that forbids CEOs, VPs, directors, or any other officer in a corporation from having a felony. The only exceptions are when the companies require a special license to operate. For example, in California your company cannot register as a professional photocopier if you, any general partner, corporate officer, or limited liability company officer/manager has a felony conviction.
I will continue with my cynicism. The fine will not be a percentage of his income or his net worth. For him, the fine will be affordable. He'll probably just write a check the day the judge decides what his fine will be. Now, if a single mother on welfare is stealing diapers from the same store because her kids crap their pants more often than the welfare department allows, that mother will probably spend time in jail. She will have an attorney appointed to "represent" her at trial, but this "representation" will only be to assist her to fill out forms with her guilty plea on them. She could be at home taking care of her kids while waiting for trial, but she won't have the money for bail. She'll be slapped with a felony and ordered to pay fines she might not ever be able to pay off. While the executive probably has strong enough of a professional network to still be VP at another company or to work as a consultant, the single mom will be laid off from whatever job she may have and will be excluded from most other minimum wage work because of her felony conviction. The state will probably even try to take her kids away as she is an unfit mother.
You need to work the following into your loop:
x) As a judge, always find in favor of the bigger business or wealthier individual. Eventually take better paying job at a private arbitration firm where you can crucify the little people, enforce your decisions just the same as US court judgments, all while having no obligation to follow civil procedure, legal precedent, or the US Constitution.
x) As a regulator, always ignore violations of the largest and most profitable companies you are supposed to be regulating, while coming down hard on any start-ups that might rock the boat. After a few years of service, assume an executive position for one of the companies you were regulating, or work for them as consultants or lobbyists.
x ) Dismantle whatever power the common voter has by closing down courts and outsourcing litigation to private arbitration firms, replace the US military with private security contractors who HAVE NOT taken an oath to defend the Constitution or follow the Geneva Convention, outsource CIA, NSA, FBI and other operations to private intelligence firms that DO NOT have to report to Congress, privatize and offshore prison operations, and drop local law enforcement from the budget so communities end up with amateur neighborhood watch organizations.
Just wait until Blackwater, I mean "Academi", merges with one of the __AAs to provide their security and enforcement services.
Reminds me more of Sonia Sotomayor after she joined the commercial litigation practice group of Pavia & Harcourt in Manhattan as an associate.
Excerpt from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonia_Sotomayor : ...In some cases Sotomayor went on-site with the police to Harlem or Chinatown to have illegitimate merchandise seized, in the latter instance pursuing a fleeing culprit while riding on a motorcycle.[10][65] She said at the time that Pavia & Harcourt's efforts were run "much like a drug operation", and the successful rounding up of thousands of counterfeit accessories in 1986 was celebrated by "Fendi Crush", a destruction-by-garbage-truck event at Tavern on the Green.[68] ...
How do you feel about
Collection Agents
Ticket Agents
Travel Agents
Insurance Agents
Patent Agents (btw - they do not enforce or regulate patents)
or my favorite, IRS Enrolled Agents (who are not employed by the IRS and have no powers to investigate, make arrests, or enforce any laws).
I don't have a problem when a profiteering pirate is nailed. I do have a problem with single mothers and homeless people being sued beyond their means to provide an adequate defense and receiving judgments in the million$ just because they were accused of sharing an internet connection with someone else who downloaded bootlegged material or because they lent their CD to a friend. Your right to have a lawyer appointed to represent you does not apply in civil hearings.
Leaving your Wifi unsecured shouldn't make you liable to pay all of your disposable income for the rest of your life to the wealthy lawyers of an industry trade organization. There are rapists and murderers who are paroled and allowed to go on with their life after serving much shorter sentences and fewer dollars in fines and restitution.
Arrr! Say here now! What be this talk o' pirates on Slashdot? There be no pirates here. Sir, I am mortally offended that you even suggest such a thing is possible.
We are honest business men. It's not our fault if things just happen to fall off of the back of the merchant freighters.
Well, according to statistical models, the so-called "free" software included in most Linux distributions or any other open-source project includes at least some code developed by current Microsoft employees, and their employment contract explicitly states that any software they develop while under the employ of Microsoft is property of Microsoft. Therefore, any distribution of "free" software is presumably pirated distribution of Microsoft's intellectual property. Violators, you have been warned:
http://blogs.pcworld.co.nz/pcworld/tux-love/2006/11/ms_owns_linux_intel_patents_sk.html
Copyright the sequence of letters and numbers that comprise your license plate. Even better, make it a personalized license plate that demonstrates your creativity, and have the design officially recorded at the US Copyright Office. If you have the ability, develop an algorithm that you can fit on a license plate, and submit your application to the US Patent Office. Now set up a website where users pay a fee to see your license plate. Make it known to the world that you will be engaging in performance art by driving to undisclosed locations where a few lucky souls can see your license plate for free. You are doing this to generate interest in your license plate contents and market your copyrighted works and/or patented technology. Occasionally invite random people to take "live" pictures of your performance art for a flat fee of $500 per photo. Sell mass-marketed photos of your license plate online for a nominal fee of only $250 per download.
Now, fast forward to the moment you "discover" that various public and private servers are storing and possibly even distributing the copyrighted and/or patented information without your express written permission and without paying the artist/inventor. Whine to the MPAA, RIAA, or some other B.S.AA and take the sons of bitches to court for $20k per violation.
Alaska
Delaware
Montana
New Hampshire
and Oregon
Do not have state sales tax.
Residents who live in a state that charges sales tax are required to report and pay their own sales tax when the purchase goods from vendors located out of state when those vendors do not add sales tax to their invoices. Mail order businesses have been operating this way for decades, but now states are getting extreme at defining "nexus", such as "did you attend a trade show in our state" "did you store data on a server located in our state" or "did one of your employees fly over our state while on a business trip" etc. OK, I made the last one up, but nexus has definitely gone way beyond "brick-and-mortar" presence these days.
They shouldn't, but the US has been putting a lot of pressure onto the Swiss government to reform their bank secrecy laws and to share information about the bank accounts of US citizens. In Switzerland, tax evasion is a civil matter, but the US prosecutes as a crime. Since Switzerland has many banks with international operations, it would be a major blow to Swiss economic objectives if the US government were to shut down all US branches of UBS and Credit Suisse. So they struck a deal to share account info for US citizens that have accounts in Switzerland with UBS and Credit Suisse. And that was a compromise - the IRS wanted Switzerland to share info about American account holders at ALL Swiss banks.
There are thousands of Americans who lie on their tax returns while hiding money in offshore accounts. The IRS is pursuing these account owners more aggressively than any other nation. Which is why it is harder to do business with offshore banks if you are a US citizen. US authorities are harassing bankers who accept US citizens, even threatening jail time if they ever visit the United States for aiding and abetting US tax evaders. They can literally pick them up as soon as they land at an American airport, similar to how an online Casino owner was apprehended when his flight to Costa Rica was diverted to the US (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Carruthers).
Then there is the persecution of offshore ForEx brokers who take on US clients. Just because you are a foreign citizen operating from your own soil according to the laws of your own nation does not mean you escape the long arm of US trans-national jurisdiction. Sure, you can laugh at the US as you are tried in absentia, assessed fines, and sentencing to jail time, but one day a black van with tinted windows is going to roll up and ...
See http://www.findyourfx.com/blog/2012/03/07/us-citizens-can-not-open-account-with-overseas-forex-brokers/
Brokers not allowing U.S. clients
4Runner
4XP
ActivTrades
Alpari UK
CMS Forex
Dukascopy
I Am FX
FXCBS
FXPro
Go Markets
LiteForex
MIG Bank
TadawulFX
Pepperstone
Varengold
The same way a group of 20 coders in a building have a manager, team leader, project engineer, or whatever you call the guy in charge of coordinating and administering all of the group's activities. Adding a secretary/receptionist/office-manager to the group of 20 coders and software engineers might make the group of coders even more efficient. If it didn't, I guarantee you no company would ever choose to put such people into such positions.
You don't necessarily have to add staff to most government agencies if those with decision making authority would network with their peers, organize something that represents a trade organization, and/or pool resources to take advantage of economies of scale. There has been some success with efforts like this, such as the UCC and other uniform acts, but governments could do a whole lot better to cooperate. If given the choice, I would rather see cities and states cooperating than individual governments colluding with wealthy and powerful private companies.
20 separate government agencies operating on different schedules, having different contracts, using different software to perform the same departmental function, having different hiring standards for the same exact type of position, etc. etc. is never going to lead to efficiency. Walmart would never have been as profitable as it is today if each store's general manager separately negotiated contracts for the supply of all the goods sold in each store. But we're expected to believe that government agencies working this way is a good idea.
But if you now dominate the market and your competitors pose no threat, why offer a new discount when you didn't need to before? Company's don't set their prices to be "nice" - they set their prices to bring in as much revenue as possible. Given how much cash Apple had been sitting on for so long after such robust I-phone sales, shouldn't they also be "nice" and slash their prices? There are many strategies for setting prices - new companies entering the market may set extremely low prices to gain a steady following of repeat business, then gradually raising the price later. After a period of months or years, those customers may wake up and realize that they're not saving money anymore, but if they compare to the competitors, if the price is about the same, there will be little or no incentive to leave.
In the 1970's Whirlpool revamped many of their product lines. They cut the number of moving parts by at least 50% on appliances such as washing machines. This cut Whirlpool's manufacturing costs substantially. Then Whirlpool invested the cash windfall in the stock market. The cost savings did not result in price reductions. In fact, the fewer moving parts made their machines even more reliable and as customer's began to prefer their appliances, market forces actually drove the prices higher. Their competitors could still win some market share away from Whirlpool, but there was no business case for starting a price war, as such an action could pressure their competitors to reduce their costs in a similar manner. As long as their competitors were happy with selling a slightly inferior product for a slightly lower price for much lower margins, Whirlpool was happy where it was.
This is where many legislatures were wrong about capping damages for medical malpractice. Supposedly, doctors paid too much in insurance premiums since there was no limit to the physician's liability, and this was driving up the cost of providing medical services. In theory, capping damages would save the insurance companies millions of dollars, and free market forces would drive the insurance companies to lower their premiums, and doctors paying fewer premiums would pass on the cost savings to their patients. However, the only result of this legislation was that insurance companies became much more profitable, and were able to spend millions more on lobbyists to write the The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
That's actually true. Go to any Swiss bank while traveling to Switzerland. Put a briefcase with $20k in unmarked, non-sequential bills on the counter. Tell them you want to set up a numbered account, and tell them you are not a Swiss citizen and you do not have a Swiss residence. There will be no problem or objections until they find out you are a US citizen.