BRIC [as the economists call Brazil, Russia, India, and China] are taking over the manufacturing world. I had dinner in Shanghai last November with a GM executive [he runs their parts division] and he's the one who told me the Chinese plant was the biggest producer of Buicks. Maybe, maybe not. My wife and I try to spend at least 4 months a year outside the USA and we've been doing it for years. Nevertheless, I am still taken by surprise when I run into some NYSE company in many foreign countries other than China where you can't turn around without seeing one. On the other hand, I've never seen any in Russia and you don't see many Russian products in the US. Still, you see a LOT of Russian products in the rest of the world so I believe the economists when they say Russia is a big manufacturing country. And, speaking of knives, some of the very best handmade knives in the world come out of Zlastoust, Russia. They range in price from $50.00 to $2,000.00 but, whatever you pay in that range, you get a good knife for the price.
