經濟學家Pat Choate在其著作《Hot Property: The Stealing of Ideas in an Age of Globalization 》則明白指出:
「美國因透過國家政策與法律手段(指1793年專利修法),成為世界上最大工業山寨大本營。任何美國人可以竊取並商業化任何外國創意,卻完全不用負擔任何法律責任。( “America thus became, by national policy and legislative act, the world’s premier legal sanctuary for industrial pirates. Any American could bring a foreign innovation to the United States and commercialize the idea, all with total legal immunity)」
a. 美國政府與印地安原住民簽訂800多個「國際條約」,但事後通通不認帳;甚至林肯總統任期發生印地安部落老幼婦孺已經住進戰俘營,還被美軍半夜屠殺的Sand Creek Massacre 事件。
當年的美國軍官Philip Sheridan甚至說出:”The only good Indian is a dead Indian (死掉的印地安人才是好印地安人)”這種話。
b. 1933年,美國遭尼加拉瓜地方游擊隊反抗而從該國撤軍,撤軍前任命該國內戰時期的美軍翻譯Anastasio Somoza García為國民警衛隊司令,Somoza後來推翻尼加拉瓜政府,刺殺總統,自己成為獨裁者。支持Somoza的小羅斯福總統説:「He may be a son of a birtch, but he is our son of a bitch. (就算他是狗娘養的,那也是我們的狗娘養的)」
預期收入損失(For lost income from the destroyed merchandise (minus expenses you may have already paid, such as shipping).Your pre-loss earnings are the basis for reimbursement under business interruption coverage. Lost earnings, also known as the actual loss sustained, are typically defined as revenues minus ongoing expenses. )
額外支出( For extra expenses if you must temporarily relocate your business because of the fire (for example, the cost of rent at the temporary location).)
於是乎我們就見到美國知名四大主廚–Daniel Boulud (米其林兩顆星), Thomas Keller(米其林三顆星), Wolfgang Puck(米其林一顆星) 以及 Jean-Georges Vongerichten(米其林三顆星)– 結盟,並於今年3月底去電美國總統川普,要求逼迫保險公司支付停業的商業損失。
川普果然也在4月份內部會議上提出:「他知悉保險公司對多年支付保費的餐廳業者雨天收傘一事,雖然他也知道保險公司保單涵蓋範圍有限,但如果支付賠償金是公平的,則保險公司就應該支付。(… saying restaurateurs had told him they paid for business-interruption coverage for decades but now they need it and insurers don’t want to pay. He said he understood that some policies have pandemic exclusions, adding: “I would like to see the insurance companies pay if they need to pay, if it’s fair.)」
但此次對「營業中斷」定義爭議卻碰上歷史罕見的大規模被迫停業狀況,根據美國普查局 (United States Census Bureau)的資料顯示,截至今年5月8日,因被迫停業而申請Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)的中小企業高達360萬家,借款金額達$5370億美元。4月26日~5月2日該週資料更是超過51.4%企業受到疫情影響(見圖)。
我讀到George Mason University(薛兆豐母校)的經濟學教授Donald J. Boudreaux這幾天的一篇文章,裡頭指出:「…當整體社會發展得越富裕,富裕到足以支撐越來越多的知識份子整天無所事事地發表撰寫反對自由市場的言論,而偏偏是這個經濟系統提供他們各種平台與資源,他們才有機會吹噓他們如此統一的對市場經濟的憎恨…(… As society grows ever richer as a result of the workings of free markets – as result, that is, of what Deirdre McCloskey calls “innovism” – it supports and equips larger and larger numbers of intellectuals who speak and write (and now also blog and tweet) against the very economic system that makes their existence possible and that provides them with the platforms and tools they use to trumpet their uninformed hostilities. …)」