I just finished reading a lengthy Kipplinger Report/Letter from their senior tax editor. At the very least it was scary. The way things are going, there will be massive tax increases in the U.S. beginning January 2011, many of which will heavily impact businesses of all sizes.

Import tariffs are already sky high, and slated to increase by a significant margin. You have to wonder what impact this will have on manufacturers of arranger keyboards. Obviously there will be substantial price increases, and the feds are already talking about a VAT (Value Added Tax) here that will jack some prices out of sight.

Looking at the recent history of arranger keyboard manufacturers, it makes me wonder who will be around five years from now. I suspect that at most, one or two current manufacturers will still be making TOTL and mid-price arrangers and all others will either get out of the arranger business altogether, or switch to manufacturing a few synths and other components that are more lucrative.

I could be way off base with this one, but I don't think so.

Gary