Invest To Win The Future July 27, 2011March 24, 2017 Robert Reich, from Salon, in part: . . . If consumers can’t and won’t buy, and employers won’t hire without customers, the spender of last resort must be government. We’ve understood this since [massive] government spending on World War II catapulted America out of the Great Depression — reversing the most vicious of vicious cycles. We’ve understood it in every economic downturn since then. Until now. The only way out of the vicious economic cycle is for government to adopt an expansionary fiscal policy — spending more in the short term in order to make up for the shortfall in consumer demand. This would create jobs, which will put money in people’s pockets, which they’d then spend, thereby persuading employers to do more hiring. The consequential job growth will also help reduce the long-term ratio of debt to GDP. It’s a win-win. This is not rocket science. And it’s not difficult for government to do this — through a new WPA or Civilian Conservation Corps, an infrastructure bank, tax incentives for employers to hire, a two-year payroll tax holiday on the first $20K of income, and partial unemployment benefits for those who have lost part-time jobs. . . . ☞ If it were me, I would go light on the payroll tax holiday (as grindingly tough as life is for low-income folks, at least they have jobs) and frame this more as a war: a war on our energy dependence and our decaying infrastructure. Mobilize the country to win that war, creating tremendous job opportunities – and a vision of a lean, mean, modern, competitive economy that would inspire investment. And I would pay for that wonderfully constructive war, at least in significant measure, the way wars had always been paid for until Bush and a Republican Congress took control: by taxing those best able to pay. After so many decades of having the pendulum swing in favor of the very richest, it’s not unreasonable that it would now swing back a bit for a while. CRME Suggested here at $4.60 in November, it closed at $5.59 last night. Guru: “Merck has purchased now all the rights (intravenous and oral) to CRME’s lead drug. That’s the reason for the pop. We’ve been expecting this. It could rally to 6 or more. Now awaiting restart of Phase III intravenous and Phase III oral trials later this year.” Who knows how low it could go in a bad market or with some nasty surprise. Not the worst thing to take a 20% gain in less than a year. But Guru thinks it might top 10 one day, so – assuming you bought this with money you can truly afford to lose – it might pay to hold on for a year or two. BOREF I know. I know. And yet . . . Palestine, Texas, 26 July 2011 WheelTug plc and ETA Global, Inc. announce that they have signed an agreement under which ETA Global will perform final assembly and delivery to customers (“kitting”) of the WheelTug aircraft electrical drive system for Boeing 737NG aircraft. ETA Global will also manage inventories and deliveries of spare parts for the WheelTug system within North America. This agreement adds a key supply chain piece for WheelTug systems for the 737NG model aircraft. All supplier companies in the chain are at least AS9100 compliant and have decades of experience in meeting demanding aerospace customer requirements. The patented and proprietary WheelTug(r) electric drive system uses high-performance electric motors, installed in the nose landing gear wheels of an aircraft, to provide full mobility while on the ground without the use of the aircraft’s jet engines or tugs for both pushback and taxi operations. WheelTug enables aircraft to be electrically driven from the terminal gate to the takeoff runway, and upon landing from runway exit to the gate. The resulting improvements in efficiency, flexibility, fuel savings, and reduced noise and engine foreign object damage (FOD) yield projected savings of more than $500,000 per aircraft per year, plus substantial reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions. The WheelTug system is being developed initially for the Boeing 737NG, one of the world’s most widely-flown aircraft; systems for other commercial and military aircraft will follow. ETA Global, based in Palestine, Texas, is a leading distributor of aerospace, electronic, and mil-spec component hardware, and also supplies kitting and vendor-managed inventory services. Founded in 1978, ETA Global is certified to the AS9100 aerospace-system quality standard. “ETA Global is proud to be part of the Wheel Tug team,” said Ken Wendell, ETA Global’s, Marketing Manager. “Becoming a member of Wheel Tug’s supply chain allows ETA Global to once again demonstrate why we are the leading logistics solution provider in the industry. The benefits that are represented by Wheel Tug’s new pushback and taxi system make their product an obvious solution for an industry that is constantly looking for ways to save money, lengthen equipment service time, and reduce their environmental footprint. We expect Wheel Tug to be a household name in the aerospace industry for many years to come!” “We are delighted to welcome ETA Global as a key partner in the WheelTug supply chain,” said Isaiah W. Cox, WheelTug’s CEO. “We now have in place agreements with manufacturers and suppliers for almost every element of the WheelTug system. We may in future have additional distribution relationships to announce in Europe and Asia.” A full listing of WheelTug suppliers and risk-sharing development partner companies is on the company’s website at www.wheeltug.gi. ETA Global is largely employee-owned. WheelTug plc is a majority-owned subsidiary of Chorus Motors plc. [which is a majority-owned subsidiary of Borealis]. ☞ Will our patience ever pay off? I have to think the odds continue to improve, even if they’re now only – who knows? 50-50? At 50-50, it’s still an even bet you will lose all your money, which is why this is the kind of lottery ticket to buy only with money you can truly afford to lose. But at $2.50 a share and 5 million shares outstanding, the entire parent company, Borealis, is valued at $12.5 million. Nothing, in the scheme of things.