I certainly am--or was, but the lack of responses to it makes me think that either:

a) I am not the person to propose it

and/or

b) now is not the time

and/or

c) this is not (in) ET's interest

I know I took you and Chris's and Sven's names a bit in vain--I sorta wanted to see a £120 (suggested by Chris as the cost for setting up an LLP in the UK) "money where your mouth is" gesture re an LLP.

I particularly like the idea of the Milo Minderbinder Memorial LLP because it would specifically NOT be ET LLP, because it has humour in its essence but also a humour that requires a level of interest, knowledge and critical distance to get...I even like Minderbender but thought maybe that would be an offshoot of the original LLP--for the more crazy projecs.

But...I can't do anything.  I can't set up an LLP (no knowledge), I can't find out about printing costs--well, I could but it would be me phoning a company and I'm sure at least one person here at ET has more "in" to the process than this.

So--I wanted the diary to be humorous (Ker....splunk...heh!), so maybe my attempt killed the idea, or the idea just doesn't interest people here (a think tank that doesn't publish documents?)...I dunno, I think there's a danger (at least for me) that ET becomes a "place to gather and chat" on the net, sorta like a group of friends at the pub--over time, old ones disappear new ones turn up, but...I've got a pub near my house for that.  I was hoping--all those people here I'd like to meet, but jetting around Europe while talking about restructuring its entire economic base (or maybe that of the world)....ach...I thought an "edit-to-see-what-we-get" idea might work...I think it still will, and I expect Migeru will do just so with the Socratic economics series--which is where the idea was born in my head--in italian, hmmm--I mean, maybe I'm the only one that thinks a small book (a slim volume with an elegant cover (I was thinking along the lines of Faber & Faber:

...though I also think the idea of an ET photo as a cover design, with simple text, something like:

TITLE

...and then I couldn't decide, You'd need the Milo Minderbinder LLP on the spine, and the first page would say (and only this:)

"The following text(s) originally appeared at eurotrib.com, where they can still be found (along with accompanying articles.  The complete text is freely available as a .pdf"

That kinda thing.

But...it's a no go if we can't find out a basic price, which means contacting printers or paper manufacturers, and for some reason I thought Sven might have contacts in those areas, that he could throw out a rough number (I was guessing £20 for a book--with two free copies--would cover it.  I was also guessing that a well-produced book would have, say, 50 guaranteed buyers here at ET, so that's £1,000 start-up money.

But....so....

I grabbed your name because you came up with the most excellent name of the LLP!  Plus, you are my prefered candidate for president, plus you have run things in the past....etc...so yeah!  I am both serious and unserious (in the way maybe that Sven sees no difference between work and pleasure...so, hmmm).

I really would like Chris to set up the LLP.  I mean, I think until this beast--it lives!

Until it's built I don't think any of us can really give it a good drive around.  So far it's an idea, so if ET LLP Thonk Tink etc. is the idea, fine.  I had a different one, one that I could participate in (I would be interested in editing a book or two--I can see that 4-6% generating me some income in the medium term...)

And no one commented on the 4-6% aspect, so I must have explained it wrong (perceptions, dear boy, sayeth the silent Sven), but I thought just the idea of setting up a members-driven modern-style post-deficit-capital company might be interesting as an exercise if nothing else.

I thought: surely a book of Jerome's essays is a necessary object to produce.

But, I dunno, no recommends, no comments, no readers, so...okay...sorta put me right off I have to say (Readers: "Yes, that is the sensation!")--though I think that's just me thinking "My baby, you are so beautiful!" and showing the photos and....no interest, no one looks at the photos of my baby--our baby!

So, there's no baby, just a photo.  I'd like Chris to create this wee thing and then I would like to get involved in writing (with mucho humour, oh yes) the Milo Minderbinder Memorial LLP articles of Incorporation....heh...I know this is a minority interest but when I realised I was in a minority of two (me and Chris!  And he hasn't said anything of the yay/nay type re: "Actually creating this thing", so that's still up in the air...)

Ach!  Paul!  You dragged this comment out of me, I hope it has in some way shed light on whatever is lurking here.

Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.