[patientrenter]

I know the insurance business. A company that doesn’t treat its independent agents well dies quickly. Some senior execs hate going to these events. Others love it. But it’s a perk for the agents, and an event is held only if the assessment is that it will pay for itself through more sales from the invited agents. You send only the execs that you think the agents will want/need to see there.

Typically, the events are arranged a year in advance. Cancellation might not have saved much, if anything.

Should AIG have cancelled? Given the sound bites that have been made out of it, probably. But if you’re trying to make sure that a business doesn’t go down the tubes, the last thing you do is send a message to your customers that you are “shutting down”. Sending out cancellation notices to your top agents would have sent that message.

Remember, AIG may be cooked, but its insurance subsidiaries are healthy businesses. AIG is hoping to repay that Fed Reserve loan by selling off its insurance subs. AIG managers should be sued for negligence if they permitted the businesses to lose customers and value unnecessarily.

Maybe it was a dumb call, but it’s not as straightforward as it looks from a distance.

[patientrenter]

I know the insurance business. A company that doesn’t treat its independent agents well dies quickly. Some senior execs hate going to these events. Others love it. But it’s a perk for the agents, and an event is held only if the assessment is that it will pay for itself through more sales from the invited agents. You send only the execs that you think the agents will want/need to see there.

Typically, the events are arranged a year in advance. Cancellation might not have saved much, if anything.

Should AIG have cancelled? Given the sound bites that have been made out of it, probably. But if you’re trying to make sure that a business doesn’t go down the tubes, the last thing you do is send a message to your customers that you are “shutting down”. Sending out cancellation notices to your top agents would have sent that message.

Remember, AIG may be cooked, but its insurance subsidiaries are healthy businesses. AIG is hoping to repay that Fed Reserve loan by selling off its insurance subs. AIG managers should be sued for negligence if they permitted the businesses to lose customers and value unnecessarily.

Maybe it was a dumb call, but it’s not as straightforward as it looks from a distance.

[patientrenter]

I know the insurance business. A company that doesn’t treat its independent agents well dies quickly. Some senior execs hate going to these events. Others love it. But it’s a perk for the agents, and an event is held only if the assessment is that it will pay for itself through more sales from the invited agents. You send only the execs that you think the agents will want/need to see there.

Typically, the events are arranged a year in advance. Cancellation might not have saved much, if anything.

Should AIG have cancelled? Given the sound bites that have been made out of it, probably. But if you’re trying to make sure that a business doesn’t go down the tubes, the last thing you do is send a message to your customers that you are “shutting down”. Sending out cancellation notices to your top agents would have sent that message.

Remember, AIG may be cooked, but its insurance subsidiaries are healthy businesses. AIG is hoping to repay that Fed Reserve loan by selling off its insurance subs. AIG managers should be sued for negligence if they permitted the businesses to lose customers and value unnecessarily.

Maybe it was a dumb call, but it’s not as straightforward as it looks from a distance.

[patientrenter]

I know the insurance business. A company that doesn’t treat its independent agents well dies quickly. Some senior execs hate going to these events. Others love it. But it’s a perk for the agents, and an event is held only if the assessment is that it will pay for itself through more sales from the invited agents. You send only the execs that you think the agents will want/need to see there.

Typically, the events are arranged a year in advance. Cancellation might not have saved much, if anything.

Should AIG have cancelled? Given the sound bites that have been made out of it, probably. But if you’re trying to make sure that a business doesn’t go down the tubes, the last thing you do is send a message to your customers that you are “shutting down”. Sending out cancellation notices to your top agents would have sent that message.

Remember, AIG may be cooked, but its insurance subsidiaries are healthy businesses. AIG is hoping to repay that Fed Reserve loan by selling off its insurance subs. AIG managers should be sued for negligence if they permitted the businesses to lose customers and value unnecessarily.

Maybe it was a dumb call, but it’s not as straightforward as it looks from a distance.

[patientrenter]

TheBreeze wrote: “It’s pretty clear they would like to choose the inflation route. However, I don’t think $700 billion is going to do it.”

Yes. We should expect lots more where that $700 billion came from.

[patientrenter]

TheBreeze wrote: “It’s pretty clear they would like to choose the inflation route. However, I don’t think $700 billion is going to do it.”

Yes. We should expect lots more where that $700 billion came from.

[patientrenter]

TheBreeze wrote: “It’s pretty clear they would like to choose the inflation route. However, I don’t think $700 billion is going to do it.”

Yes. We should expect lots more where that $700 billion came from.

[patientrenter]

TheBreeze wrote: “It’s pretty clear they would like to choose the inflation route. However, I don’t think $700 billion is going to do it.”

Yes. We should expect lots more where that $700 billion came from.

[patientrenter]

TheBreeze wrote: “It’s pretty clear they would like to choose the inflation route. However, I don’t think $700 billion is going to do it.”

Yes. We should expect lots more where that $700 billion came from.

[patientrenter]

Huckleberry,

Why can’t govt intervention permanently change a major economic activity? If the govt imposes a high tax on gasoline and diesel fuel, and stays with it for 30 years, why wouldn’t that lead to an entire economy based on shorter commuting distances, fewer trips, smaller cars, more fuel-efficient technology etc? (Think Europe, if you say that can’t happen.)

I am not saying it’s good, I am just saying it’s conceivable.

[patientrenter]

Huckleberry,

Why can’t govt intervention permanently change a major economic activity? If the govt imposes a high tax on gasoline and diesel fuel, and stays with it for 30 years, why wouldn’t that lead to an entire economy based on shorter commuting distances, fewer trips, smaller cars, more fuel-efficient technology etc? (Think Europe, if you say that can’t happen.)

I am not saying it’s good, I am just saying it’s conceivable.

[patientrenter]

Huckleberry,

Why can’t govt intervention permanently change a major economic activity? If the govt imposes a high tax on gasoline and diesel fuel, and stays with it for 30 years, why wouldn’t that lead to an entire economy based on shorter commuting distances, fewer trips, smaller cars, more fuel-efficient technology etc? (Think Europe, if you say that can’t happen.)

I am not saying it’s good, I am just saying it’s conceivable.

[patientrenter]

Huckleberry,

Why can’t govt intervention permanently change a major economic activity? If the govt imposes a high tax on gasoline and diesel fuel, and stays with it for 30 years, why wouldn’t that lead to an entire economy based on shorter commuting distances, fewer trips, smaller cars, more fuel-efficient technology etc? (Think Europe, if you say that can’t happen.)

I am not saying it’s good, I am just saying it’s conceivable.

[patientrenter]

Huckleberry,

Why can’t govt intervention permanently change a major economic activity? If the govt imposes a high tax on gasoline and diesel fuel, and stays with it for 30 years, why wouldn’t that lead to an entire economy based on shorter commuting distances, fewer trips, smaller cars, more fuel-efficient technology etc? (Think Europe, if you say that can’t happen.)

I am not saying it’s good, I am just saying it’s conceivable.

[patientrenter]

I enjoyed the post and the ripost in the form of a story. Very helpful. Thanks to you both.

One argument is that the wealthy 10th man is going to stop playing the game if he’s taxed too much. The other argument is that no one will stop playing the game because no one really has a choice, an alternative. I think the truth is somewhere in between, because of widespread tax evasion amongst people who work for themselves. If tax rates are low enough, they declare more of their income. If tax rates are high, they hide more income. They are a politically powerful group, so the tax evasion is widely tolerated.

[Author]

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