1、就业难，让家长出钱帮你创业怎么样Many parents see business ownership as a better bet for their kids future than a graduate degree. And in this era of renewed interest in entrepreneurship, some parents described it as the opportunity to control their destiny and have a chance at gaining wealth. Parents often say they
2、 would do anything for their child. Setting a child up in business is surely one big test of that bond. A lot is at stake: Small-business failures are common, and parents risk losing their entire investment, their life savings, or more. They also risk straining their relationships with young-adult c
3、hildren intent at this stage on independence .The setups can be stressful for young adults, too. Jon Kelecys father, a Tampa, Fla., financial executive, set him up recently in a franchise for Fibrenew, a leather- and plastic- restoration business. Jon, 26, of Gainesville, Fla., loves the work and ap
4、preciates his dads support. But he dislikes “being in his pocket,“ he says, amid all the anxiety of a start-up.Many parents choose franchises for their kids because they seem to offer marketing, branding and management support. Start-up costs, including leases for space and equipment, range from rou
5、ghly $5,000 to $10,000 for such low-cost operations as cleaning franchises, to $1 million or more for popular fast-food restaurants. Information on risks and legal pitfalls for franchisees can be found at BlueMauMau.org, an online trade journal. Howard Bundy, a Kirkland, Wash., lawyer who represents
6、 franchisees and franchisors, says parents considering such a venture need an attorney experienced in representing franchisees, and both an accountant and an experienced business mentor familiar with both franchising and the target industry. Mr. Bundy also warns that parents run a high risk of losin
7、g their investment. One mother lost $250,000 when a fast-food franchise she purchased for her son failed, Mr. Bundy says. In another case, parents lost $350,000 on a coffee-shop business they financed for their daughter. For some parents, the potential rewards seem worth the risk. “As a parent, the
8、best gift you can ever receive is to see your children happy and successful,“ and equipped to make a living, Marvin Himel says. A few viewed it as a gift. Some structured it as a loan and deferred repayment. Others took stock in the business, with an agreement that their child would use future earni
9、ngs to buy it back. Some parents look farther ahead, hoping their childs business will support them in retirement. After supporting his own father in old age with proceeds from his Canton, Ohio, restaurant, Walthers Cafe, Mr. Walther says he hopes his daughter will do the same for him.在很多父母眼里，对于孩子的未
10、来而言，拥有一家企业是比一纸毕业文凭更好的选择。在现今这个对创业重燃兴趣的时代，一些家长称创业是一个把握自己命运、致富的机会。他们愿意为自己的孩子做任何事。让孩子经商无疑是对这种承诺的一大考验。风险有很多：小生意失败很常见，父母们可能会失去全部的投资、一辈子的积蓄，甚至更多。他们还可能会与现阶段打算独立的刚成年的孩子变得关系紧张。企业的组织筹划对年轻人来说也可能很有压力。乔恩凯勒西的父亲是一名金融高管，他最近帮儿子开了一家 Fibrenew 皮革塑料修复特许加盟店。现年 26 岁的乔恩热爱这份工作，并感激父亲对他的支持。不过他说他不喜欢呆在父亲的羽翼下，尽管初创企业有那么多让人焦虑的事。很多家
11、长为孩子选择特许加盟店，因为加盟店看来会提供市场推广、品牌打造和管理方面的支持。至于启动成本（包括门脸和设备的租金） ，家政保洁等低成本特许加盟店从约 5,000 美元到一万美元不等，而颇受欢迎的快餐店则要 100 万美元甚至更高。有关加盟商风险和法律隐患的信息可以在在线行业杂志 BlueMauMau.org 上找到。华盛顿州律师霍华德邦迪代表加盟商和特许商。他说，考虑特许加盟店的家长需要一位在代表加盟商方面经验丰富的律师，以及对特许加盟业务和目标行业都非常熟悉的会计师和经验老道的商业导师邦迪还告诫说，家长有很大的风险失去自己的投资。邦迪说，有位母亲给儿子买了一家快餐特许加盟店，小店破产后，损
12、失了 25 万美元。还有一个例子，一对家长为女儿买了一家咖啡店，结果损失了 35 万美元。对一些家长来说，潜在的回报看起来值得冒这些风险。马文希墨尔说，作为一名家长，你能收到的最好礼物就是看着自己的孩子快乐成功，有谋生的能力。一些人把投资看作是一份礼物。一些人把它作为一笔贷款和延期还款。还有人在企业中入股，同时签订协议规定他们的孩子会用未来的收益回购股份。有些家长则更进一步，希望孩子的生意能让自己退休后有所依靠。沃瑟用从自己的饭馆 Walthers Cafe 获得的收入帮助父亲安度了晚年。他说，他希望女儿也能这样对他。Protect eco-technologyAs governments w
13、orldwide address climate change, they are looking to inventors and research organisations for ideas.They are also hoping that investors and manufacturing companies will play a part in development, motivated by the prospect of getting a return on investment through the exploitation of intellectual pr
14、operty (IP) rights, such as patents.IP rights accrue to inventors and developers, and offer legal protection against plagiarists, as well as the right to decide who can use the technology and what it will cost.Most green technologies will be protected by patents for new and industrially useful proce
15、sses, methods, manufacture or machines, or for notable improvements to existing ones.Although the application process can be long and costly, the owner of the patent has an exclusive right that stops others from making, using, selling, importing or copying without permission.The success of eco-techn
16、ology will owe as much to strategies for using and protecting IP as to the underlying processes or concepts.Global distribution of technologies will mean having to make sure IP is protected in other jurisdictions and, as exclusivity is limited to 20 years, owners will need to capitalise on “newness”
17、 to break into important markets and then licensing for continuing revenue.Green innovation is so important that the worlds largest economy has invested heavily. US patents for clean energy technologies in 2009 were at an all-time high, at 1,125.The UK, US and Australia have all introduced fast-trac
18、k schemes. “This Green Channel should bring low-carbon technology to markets quicker, by avoiding a backlog of applications,” says Justin Watts, IP partner at Freshfields, the law firm.Despite a decline during the economic downturn, the UK Patent Office receives more than 20,000 applications a week
19、of which 200 are “green” focused. The US pilot scheme aims to reduce the application process from as long as four years, to 12 months. Patent offices warn, though, that public disclosure will come earlier so details may be discovered by competitors.In the decade following the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, th
20、e European Patent Office has seen steady growth in environmental patent applications, particularly for clean energy technologies.According to David Sant, a patent attorney at law firm CMS Cameron McKenna, “Fuel cell patents dominate, at quadruple the number of competing eco-technologies. Wind energy
21、 has shown significant increases over seven years although solar energy is up 60 per cent on last year and is likely to overtake it.“There has been a huge jump in biomass, too. In contrast, hydro-electric and tidal patents decreased during 2009.”The highest number of clean energy patent applications
22、 is lodged by the US, which accounts for a quarter, followed by Germany and Japan at 18 and 16 per cent respectively in 2008. The same countries dominate in ownership of patents, with the US estimated to own about half, Japan just under a third and Germany almost a 10th globally.Among emerging econo
23、mies, most international applications came from South Korea, China, India, Singapore and Brazil, with China accounting for 10 per cent. South Korea owns three times as many clean energy patents as the UK.“Surprisingly,” says Isabel Davies, an IP partner at CMS Cameron McKenna, “the top companies for
24、 owning clean energy patents are automobile companies, namely Honda, General Motors, Toyota and Nissan.“Other less obvious players are General Electric a leader in wind patents Samsung for fuel cells and Canon in solar power.“The Eco-Patent Commons, set up in 2008 through the World Business Council
25、for Sustainable Development and in partnership with large corporations, has resulted in 100 patents being donated by companies (including Bosch, Dow, DuPont, Fuji-Xerox, IBM, Nokia, Pitney Bowes, Ricoh, Sony and Xerox) to facilitate collaboration to discover products that are environmentally benefic
26、ial.”Green branding has become big business, as increasing consumer awareness has made eco-trademarks valuable. Companies are registering eco-trademarks to prevent competitors from copying branding symbols or attempting to pass off their products as those of others.Andrew Hobson of law firm Reynolds
27、 Porter Chamberlain points out that “there is a second tier of green technology consisting of low-technology and low-cost products, which are nevertheless widely used, such as environmentally friendlier cleaning products”.在全球各国政府应对气候变化之际，它们正向发明者和研究机构寻求建议。它们还希望，投资者和制造业企业将会在专利等知识产权投资回报前景的激励下，参与开发。知识产权
28、令发明者和开发者受益。它们为打击盗版提供法律保护，并让专利所有人有权决定专利使用人和费用。大多数绿色技术将受到专利的保护，包括在工业上有用的新工艺、方法、工业品或设备，或对现有技术的显著改善。尽管申请过程可能很长，而且费用不菲，但专利所有人拥有专有权利，可禁止他人在未经许可的情况下制造、使用、出售、进口或拷贝技术。生态技术的成功，将不仅归功于根本的工艺或理念，还将归功于利用和保护知识产权的战略。在全球范围内应用技术，将意味着必须确保知识产权在其它司法管辖地受到保护，而且由于专有权的有效期限制在 20 年，所有者将需要利用“新颖性” 打入重要市场，然后通过授权获得持续收入。绿色创新非常重要，以至
29、于全球最大的经济体为此投入巨资。2009 年，美国清洁能源技术专利数达到1125 件，创历史新高。英国、美国和澳大利亚都推出了快速通道方案。富而德律师事务所(Freshfields)知识产权合伙人贾斯廷 沃茨(Justin Watts)表示：“这种绿色通道避免了申请积压，有助于更快向市场推出低碳技术。 ”尽管申请数量在经济衰退期间有所下降，但英国专利局(Patent Office)每周仍收到逾 2 万份申请 其中有 200 份是聚焦于“绿色” 技术的。美国的试点方案旨在将申请过程从长达 4 年缩减到 12 个月。不过，专利部门警告称，专利申请公开说明书将更早发表，因此专利细节可能会被竞争对手发
30、现。在 1997 年京都议定书(Kyoto protocol)签订后的十年里，欧洲专利局(European Patent Office)收到的环境专利技术申请一直在稳步增长，尤其是清洁能源技术金马伦麦坚拿律师事务所(CMS Cameron McKenna)专利律师戴维 桑特 (David Sant)表示：“燃料电池专利申请占主导地位，数量是其它生态技术的四倍。过去 7 年来，风能专利申请数量大幅增加，尽管太阳能专利申请数比去年高出 60%，有望超过风能专利。 ”“生物质专利申请数也大幅增长。相比之下，水电和潮汐专利申请在 2009 年有所下降。 ”清洁能源专利申请数量最高的是美国，占到申请总数
31、的四分之一，其次是德国和日本 在 2008 年的比例分别为 18%和 16%。这些国家拥有的专利数量也占据主导地位 美国拥有的专利估计占到全球总数的一半左右，日本接近三分之一，德国接近十分之一。在新兴经济体中，大多数国际申请来自韩国、中国、印度、新加坡和巴西，其中中国占 10%，韩国拥有的清洁能源专利是英国的三倍。金马伦麦坚拿律师事务所知识产权合伙人伊莎贝尔戴维斯(Isabel Davies)表示：“ 令人意外的是，拥有清洁能源专利的顶尖企业是汽车公司，即本田(Honda)、通用汽车(General Motors)、丰田(Toyota)和日产(Nissan)。 “其它不那么容易想到的公司是通用
32、电气(General Electric)风能专利的领军者、三星(Samsung) 燃料电池、以及佳能(Canon) 太阳能。律师事务所 Reynolds Porter Chamberlain 的安德鲁 霍布森(Andrew Hobson)指出， “还有一类二等绿色技术，由低技术含量、低成本、但广泛使用的产品组成，比如对环境更为友好的清洁产品。 ”随着消费者意识不断提高，生态商标变得非常有价值，绿色品牌的运作已成为巨大业务。企业正在注册生态商标，以阻止竞争对手拷贝品牌符号或假冒其它公司产品。 “世界可持续发展工商理事会(WBCSD)在 2008 年创建了 生态专利共享计划(Eco-Patent
33、Commons)。该计划与大企业建立合作关系，已经使得包括博世(Bosch)、陶氏化学(Dow Chemical)、杜邦(DuPont)、富士施乐(Fuji-Xerox)、IBM、诺基亚(Nokia)、Pitney Bowes、理光(Ricoh) 、索尼(Sony)和施乐(Xerox)在内的企业捐赠了 100 项专利，以促进协作，开发有益环境的产品。 ”theres still a tough road aheadInvigorated China: theres still a tough road aheadIve just returned from a wonderful two-we
34、ek trip to China and I defy anyone who visits this vast country not to return brimming with confidence in the future. I did even though the local stock markets tanked during my stay.While I was there, I wanted to look at the wider macroeconomic picture and for this my guide was US economist Michael
35、Pettis. He is a finance professor at Peking Universitys Guanghua School of Management, as well as being chief strategist at Shenyin Wanguo Securities in Hong Kong, and author of the China Financial Markets blog at .At the core of his argument is this simple idea. China is expanding at a rapid rate,
36、fuelled by cheap credit and massive government spending on infrastructure. This massive increase in output and capacity must be paid for in some way and the real cost is to consumers who dont receive a fair return on their savings because interest rates are kept artificially low. So every time you t
37、ravel on one of Chinas impressive new high-speed trains, youre actually travelling on a fiscal black hole! )Pettis believes China is experiencing a major mis-allocation of capital to a range of massive projects, which have the net effect of repressing household income and consumption at the expense
38、of the countrys rampant export sector. He finds little evidence that this is about to change soon exports are booming again and the government continues to invest like theres no tomorrow. But Pettis suggests a crunch is not far away and well see it first in what he calls “debt capacity”. He argues t
39、hat government debt is much higher than the official 20 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) because it needs to include all the debt at municipal and provincial level, which is guaranteed by central government. He thinks this is nearer 70-80 per cent of GDP and growing quickly.This alternative
40、take on Chinas economic vulnerability leads to some difficult conclusions for equity investors.First, Pettis reckons that investing in China will be a roller-coaster ride. “The government is very worried about the real estate bubble and is trying to hammer it down, but theyre not addressing underlyi
41、ng liquidity, so its going to go somewhere else,” he argues. “My guess is, that after a period of stability in the equity markets in China, theyre going to surge”. Then, Pettis reckons, well see another bust, followed by years of below par economic growth as domestic consumption starts to recover.Se
42、cond, Pettis is deeply suspicious of fund managers who reckon they can find value stocks in China. “To be a fundamental investor, you need good macro data. We dont really have it. You need good financial statement data. Impossible. When you take fund managers out to drinks, they tell you what matter
43、s: underlying liquidity, and government policy!”Third, he is cynical about fund managers tracking down fast-growing small and mid-cap companies “If you assume weve reached an end to that exporting process and we now need Chinese consumption, then weve got a really big problem because in order to get
44、 consumption to grow . . . youve got to stop the household sector subsidising manufacturers. If you remove those subsidies, what happens to the growth of those companies? We dont really know.”So, how should investors react? “If I were going to invest in China, I would want to invest in good, solid c
45、ompanies that will benefit from consumption growth,” Pettis told me. “Stay in the best, most liquid stuff at least for a few more years because weve got a really tough road ahead of us. Then at some point, it makes sense to go back intothe risky assets like developing countries and consumer orientat
46、ed companies in China.”I hope to be going back to visit both, very soon.目前非投资中国股市最佳时机 我刚刚结束了为期两周的精彩中国之旅。我相信，每个造访这个泱泱大国的人，返程时都会对未来充满信心。我就是这样尽管在我旅行期间，当地股市大幅下挫。我在中国的时候，希望对中国的经济形势有一个更宏观的了解因此我的向导是美国经济学家迈克尔佩蒂斯(Michael Pettis)。佩蒂斯是北京大学光华管理学院(Peking Universitys Guanghua School of Management)金融学教授，申银万国证券(She
47、nyin Wanguo Securities)驻香港首席策略师，以及“中国金融市场”(China Financial Markets)博客的作者。佩蒂斯论点的核心是一个简单的观点：在廉价信贷和政府大规模基础设施支出的推动下，中国正在快速扩张。这种产出和产能的大幅增长必定要有人付出代价消费者承担了真正的成本：由于利率被人为保持在低位，他们的储蓄没有获得公平回报。因此每当你乘坐中国令人印象深刻的新高速列车时，你实际上乘坐的是一个财政黑洞！佩蒂斯认为，中国目前的情况，是将大量资本不适当地配置到了一系列大型项目上，其后果是抑制了家庭收入和消费，损害了中国强劲的出口行业。他几乎没有找到这种情况很快会改变
48、的证据出口再次繁荣，政府继续大举投资，就像世界末日来临一样。但佩蒂斯认为，一场危机已为时不远，我们会首先在他所称的“借债能力”上看到这一点。他认为，中国政府债务占国内生产总值(GDP)的比例远高于官方宣称的 20%，因为政府债务应当包括由中央政府担保的所有省市级债务。他提出，这一比例更接近 GDP 的 70%至 80%，而且在迅速上升。对股票投资者而言，这种对中国经济弱点的另一种看法会得出一些艰难的结论。首先，佩蒂斯估计在中国投资将经历过山车行情。他认为：“中国政府非常担心房地产泡沫，并努力进行抑制，但他们没有解决潜在的流动性，因此它将流向其它领域。我猜测，经过一段时期的稳定之后，中国股市将大
49、幅上涨。 ”然后，佩蒂斯认为，股市将再次崩盘，随后在国内消费开始复苏之际，经济出现多年的低增长。其次，佩蒂斯对认为能够在中国找到价值股票的基金经理深表怀疑。 “要成为一名基本面投资者，你需要良好的宏观数据 眼下我们的确没有。你还需要良好的财务报表数据 这是根本不可能的。当你邀请基金经理出去喝酒时，他们会告诉你什么才是重要的：潜在的流动性和政府政策！”第三，佩蒂斯对基金经理跟踪快速成长的中小市值公司的说法感到怀疑。 “如果你认为我们已经结束了那种（出口）进程，现在需要中国消费了，那么我们就会遇到真正的大问题因为为了实现消费的增长你不得不（停止）家庭部门对制造业的补贴。如果去掉这些补贴，那些公司的增长怎么办？我们真的不知道。 ”我希望很快就能重新投资于上述两种资产。那么，投资者应该怎么做呢？佩蒂斯告诉我：“如果我要到中国投资，我会希望投资那些将受益于消费增长、实力强劲的好公司。我们至少还得在最好、最具流动性的资产上呆上几年，因为未来的道路真的还很艰难。然后到了某个时刻，就有必要重新投资于发展中国家和中国的消费主导型公司等高风险资产了。 ”On the first d
