Yet trading away stars, or even productive veterans, for prospects with no guarantee that they will perform as hoped could cause a more destructive chain of events.
The Liberal party cannot hope to match the activist armies the progressive parties can now field during campaigns, and with those armies comes experience, insight and the prospect of productive evolution from campaign to campaign, a process of learning and adaptation that only enhances outcomes.
Instead, productive industries face the prospect of more regulation while capital for small businesses continues to dry up.
Although current developments do not appear to have materially diminished the prospects for long-term growth in productivity, excess productive capacity has emerged recently.
"Things are looking pretty grim," said Kerry Brown, a China expert at Chatham House, an international affairs research organization in London, referring to the prospect of anything productive emerging from the meetings.
The benefits of stronger I.P. protection are even less convincing when it comes to copyright: there's little evidence that writers and artists are made more productive or creative by the prospect of earning profits for seventy years after they die, and the historical record suggests only a tenuous connection between stronger I.P. laws and creative output.
To the contrary: capital would flow from "safe haven" assets toward more productive investments, boosting global growth prospects.
Casey was driven by a desire to lead Harvard, the team he was elected to captain, to a second consecutive N.C.A.A. tournament appearance and to bolster his N.B.A. prospects with a productive senior season.
Cashman has held onto his top prospects because cheap, productive players make it possible to carry all those big contracts, or could be dealt in-season for an unexpected short-term need.
Some experts say Mr. Sharon was testing the administration by insulting Mr. Powell, and the prospects for a productive meeting will depend on Mr. Bush, who has endorsed the road map, reassuring the prime minister that Mr. Powell is there to do business.
