Big Accomplishment

I just wanted to write that today, for the first time probably ever, I got up on time, did two loads of laundry, made my bed AND set up two tables downstairs all before 7:15 a.m. For those who know me well, I am lucky if you can get me out of bed by 7:00 a.m., much less accomplish multiple tasks. It must be Summer Solstice (Juhannus in Finnish). Whatever it is, I am here at work by 8:00 a.m., happy as a lark.

Mini family reunion

The snapshot above shows a scene from a birthday party that was thrown on June 13 at my brother Chris' house. The little happy girl back in the kitchen is my niece Arianna. Starting from Arianna and moving right, the picture shows Chris, my brother Ryan, my sister Lisa with her son Gordon, my yellow-jacketed mother Beverly, me, my brother Loren, and Chris' roommate Chad. Daddy Ray, whose birthday we celebrated, operated the camera.

Note that the food present includes homemade pizza, root beer, and german chocolate cake. Now that's a bona fide Smemoe-hosted birthday party!

Last Wednesday, I accompanied Ryan to the MTC. The MTC, or Missionary Training Center, is a facility that prepares people to perform full-time volunteer church service for a term of years. Ryan is serving a 2-year church mission, and his training includes learning the Spanish language, which he will use during his assignment in the Phoenix, Arizona area. At any given time, a couple thousand volunteers are instructed in over 40 language at the MTC. The duration of the training at the MTC is between 3 and 12 weeks.

About 7 years ago, I began learning the Finnish language in the MTC in preparation for my service in Finland. It was one of the most memorable parts of my mission experience. I am excited for Ryan and am very proud of him!

Currently, I'm staying at Chris' house and preparing to take the California bar exam during the week of July 24. Today, we finished our review of criminal law and procedure. Now I have only one more subject to review before I take a practice bar exam this Friday. Let's hope all goes well.

Magna Cum Laude

Lance, goofing around with the Mac laptop we had for a month or so while his old laptop was being fixed. His next challenge? Jay Leno look alike contest.

Lance just got his grades back from his last semester in Law School. He graduated Magna Cum Laude. Congrats Bubba! I asked him to post this great news to the blog but he didn't want to do so. He was afraid he would sound prideful. So I decided to brag about him instead! He is always diligent about studying.

Saw the puppies last night. There is a little girl puppy that is exceptionally docile and cuddly. I think she may become part of the Smemoe family in five more weeks. I will post a picture of her next time I go over there. Now deciding on a name for her...Any ideas? I think she is just the medicine I need.

Buy or Rent?

We are still trying to decide if we should buy or rent when we move to CA. The housing prices out there are UNBELIEVABLY high. Anyone have an extra half a million hanging around they want to donate so we can afford to purchase a townhome???

We vacillate back and forth...Renting is just as expensive as buying. Buying out there can be risky, especially since most first time buyers have to have a mortgage where they are paying interest only. Hopefully we can come to a decision together and soon. Lots to think about!!!

I am excited for this adventure, though. It will be nice to take walks on the beach in the winter.

My friend's beagle just had puppies. They said they were going to give us one as a moving away gift. They aren't lemon beagle puppies but I am sure they are still cute. We have six weeks to make a decision. Let's see if I can change Lance's mind so I can get my puppy. How can you say no to the cute baby puppy above?

How to Cope

It has been three, difficult, long weeks for Lance and myself. In the early morning hours of this past Friday, hospital staff confirmed I have an ectopic pregnancy. Luckily, I haven't had to have surgery yet (we are praying I won't have to have surgery) and was given strong chemotherapy drugs to help end the pregnancy.

I know many of our family and friends want to help but don't know how and have noticed that I am haven't been myself lately. Many of you are probably thinking...what is going on with Kristi? Why won't she call us or return our calls? I found a great group, RESOLVE, that has lots of educational and helpful resources about infertility/ infertility related problems.

I found a good page that helps put into words how I feel and what I want others to understand: http://www.resolve.org/site/PageServer?pagename=cop_tainf_jffaf

There is also a page of common "myths" about infertility. I have heard many people say certain things about infertility that just aren't true (I bet if you cut down the stress in your life you would get pregnant, you should adopt first and then you will get pregnant, etc.) Go here for more info: http://www.resolve.org/site/PageServer?pagename=cop_demis_home

Feel free to take a look around. We will be okay. We just need some time to deal with this physically and emotionally.

Lonely, Yet Busy Summer

Helsinki Finland Temple

Lance is in Utah for six weeks as he takes a CA bar review course. I have successfully survived two nights alone! Only 31 more nights to go. (Lance will come home over the 4th of July to visit)

Because Lance is out of school and I have lots of vacation to use up at work before I quit on July 24th, we will be taking many trips. Some are coming up soon, some are later in the summer. Here they are:

• Four day stay in Southern CA - Lance will be taking the bar and I will be looking for housing...I am sure I will take advantage of the beach and other amenities as well
• Three day trip to Nauvoo - Even though they released me from working with the Young Women at church, they still want me to help chaperone the ward (congregation) trip to Nauvoo, IL. I have never been there before so this should be fun!
• Girls Camp - I will be attending Girls Camp with the young women from church. Camp this year is a region gathering. Lots of fun...and "roughing it" is not required.
• Ohio/West Virginia - Off to see my uncle, my brother and my sister-in-law. We plan on spending time in Northern Ohio, Amish Country, some state parks in Ohio, and of course, West Virginie. Vicki's niece, 3 yr. old Katie, can't wait for us to come visit. I am her "friend."
• Branson, MO - This will be a family affair! My dad, brother Luke, Lance's sister Lea, her family and hopefully Lance's dad will all be down in Branson later this summer. I think this is Lance's favorite vacation spot since we have been there every year we have been married. I can't wait to see the new Titanic Museum.

I wish Finland was in this list but alas, we can't find a plane ticket that is in our price range. Lance promises we can return to Finland soon. He has mentioned that we could go for Christmas 2006. I can't wait...especially since the temple opens soon.

The history of industrial policy in America

Industrial policy has been practiced by the government of the United States to a greater or lesser extent since its inception. Tariffs, subsidies, intellectual property protection, industry regulation, labor regulation, and safeguards have all impacted the development and growth of industry. In fact, industrial policy may be politically inevitable because many people want the government to "do something" to improve the economy. Perhaps because of the lack of a nationwide discussion of the attributes of an effective policy, the government has failed to articulate a coherent framework within which its industrial policy choices should fit and a standard against which its industrial policies may be measured. Thus, industrial policy in the United States has included a mix of sectoral, general, and other approaches that have met with varying success.

As early as 1791, Alexander Hamilton advocated a form of infant industry protection and price distortions in order to encourage the development of a favored industry—manufacturing—in the United States. Since that time, the government has used price controls, trade restrictions, tariffs and taxes, and industry regulation to provide special advantages to certain firms in favored industries. These controls provide direct incentives to private firms in the form of increased profits. Advocates of such policies hope that these private firms enhance the welfare of the nation by investing the profits in research, development, and infrastructure that provide benefits to many individuals and firms outside the company. These approaches have been criticized because they involve “picking winners” and because the information and administrative costs associated with the government’s effective implementation and monitoring programs may outweigh the benefits from the policies. Another concern is that the effectiveness of the programs eventually becomes diminished by entrenched interests. For example, the benefited firms might keep the excess profits without reinvesting them or use the rents to create an effective political apparatus whose purpose is simply to perpetuate the policies advantageous to those firms.

In 1993, Steve Charnovitz published a paper that criticized sector approaches to industrial policy and advocated a “general” approach. He suggested that the focus of any policy should be at the national level rather than at the firm level. Providing subsidies for institutional infrastructure, such as public education, job training programs, and financial markets, may improve the welfare of the nation by correcting market failures. In other words, Charnovitz believed that, in some cases, social returns from certain investments were higher than private returns, and that the government could compensate for this by making appropriate investments and eliminating many impediments to private sector growth. Some ways in which a general industrial policy approach could be implemented are reducing the burden of regulation, developing better labor markets with unemployment insurance and information services, and developing venture capital funds for which small businesses must compete. One drawback to general approaches is that the effectiveness of the approaches may be very difficult to measure. Moreover, the effect of a general approach may be too long term to allow a rapid development cycle for the approach.

One effective and interesting industrial policy approach is illustrated in the U.S. Government's loan guarantees given to Chrysler Corporation in 1980. The agreement between the automaker and the government provided an opportunity for the private firm to continue operation, but the assistance was contingent on management and workers agreeing on several concessions. In effect, Chrysler and the government attempted to identify the causes of the problems that were plaguing the firm. Once the bottlenecks were identified, the government and the firm worked together to eliminate them by undoing several constraints to which management and workers had previously agreed. This example may suggest a third approach to industrial policy—one in which government incentives are conditioned on certain benchmarks set by the government. One difficulty of this model is that it is difficult to evaluate whether the continued existence of Chrysler was actually beneficial to the nation. Thus, the measurement difficulties presented by the general approach may also be present in this strategic approach to industrial policy.

I believe that law should seek to facilitate the identification and adoption or, alternatively, the rejection of an industrial policy based on the policy’s effectiveness at achieving benchmarks that are agreed to before the industrial policy is created. In this manner, the government can create more turnover and variety in its approaches, and academics can then develop better theories to describe what approaches work best using the new data. What the country needs are better independent institutions to measure and report progress that polices make towards their agreed-upon goals.