Gots to Go Along, to Get Along.
"CURRENCY ROW
Diplomats say China has still not forgiven the fund for introducing new currency surveillance rules in June 2007, at Washington's behest, that make it easier for it to determine whether a country is keeping its exchange rate fundamentally misaligned to boost exports.
Beijing objected to the rulebook, regarding it as a U.S. ploy to enlist the fund in its campaign for a stronger yuan."
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090209/n_top_news/cnews_us_g20_chinaAs I wrote earlier, China simply does not want to play the game according to the rules. They have had their leg up with a low currency boosting their already huge wage advantage, but they just don't want to give up that currency advantage.
Then there are the feudal lords who are wielding their mighty mouths too..
http://tobefree.wordpress.com/2008/12/25/why-jim-rogers-moved-his-family-close-to-china/
Mr. Rogers says;
“Moving to Asia now is like moving to New York City in 1907,” he said. Also, he is quoted to say: “If you were smart in 1807 you moved to London, if you were smart in 1907 you moved to New York City, and if you are smart in 2007 you move to Asia.
In an CNBC interview with Maria Bartiromo broadcast on May 5, 2008, Rogers said that people in Asia are extremely motivated and driven, and he wants to be in that type of environment so his daughters are motivated and driven. He said during that interview that, this is how America and Europe used to be.
CNN MONEY: Why move to Singapore and not Shanghai or Beijing?
ROGERS: Well, we would like to move to China, but the air is so terrible, the pollution is so bad, that we can’t bring ourselves to do it."
Yes Mr. Rogers, but it's ok for those extremely motivated and driven people. Wot?
I think that much of what Mr. Rogers says is indicative of the frame of mind of the very wealthy. Much of this is based on where the well off should invest, and the common denominator is availability of high levels of cheap labor. Plus no Unions, limited government controls on business, autocratic government and a willingness to abuse the environment. When he does refer to environment, it's from an investment/money making view. Also telling is his statements on owning investments for 30 years and hoping to own them for another 30. Cryostacis maybe? As Austin Powers would say, "yeah baby".
The article above is entitled, "tobefree". I suggest a world free of his kind would be a better place.
You really don’t want to read this either:
ReplyDelete“comforting the comfortable while afflicting the afflicted”, in the text of
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/09/opinion/09krugman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
Ok, I'll see that one and raise you the excuse of last resort. Very similar to "we were just following orders".
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQUDNdQd7zc
I got this from a commenter over at Martha's Squirrel Stew Recipes site. Chuckle, chortle ..snerk snerk..
I think the battle about China is ironic.
ReplyDeleteChina was seen as undeveloped nation to be taken advantage of by the big corporations. Corporations saw nothing but cheap labour and profits. The Chinese? Work and ability to save money. The Corporations made them what they are today. They are learning and evolving. The U.S. start wars to get at oil and leave the 'bits' for China. I don't see China going to war to access oil.
IMF and World Bank talk out of their arses. Their recommendations are generally more toxic than the methane they blow.
Why always pick on China? Last time I checked Germany was also holding a huge account in U.S. currency.
Herb?
ReplyDeleteI thought Krugman's opinion piece was brilliant.
He had this link on his blog.
http://washingtonindependent.com/29076/its-all-part-of-my-stimulus-fantasy
They just don't get it do they? I was chuckling while reading it.
Someone said that those who adapt to the changes will do a lot better than those who are stuck in the 'old ways'. I love changes. It makes life so much more interesting.
Why China Dee? Well it's a pecking order thing. The higher up the order, the more pecking you get.
ReplyDeleteBesides, they export a lot of cheap junk and knock offs that simply usurps manufacturing in other countries. The only ones who gain when someone buys an item for half price that wears out times faster is China and the Mister Rogers of the world. They are also one of the first to squawk about free trade, but want their currency to remain artificially low. Then there's the wages, environment and freedoms issues to name a few things.
Germany's currency isn't undervalued to my knowledge and therefore they are not trying to maintain an unfair trade advantage. Besides that, they are known for very high quality goods.
I'm of the mind set that we should look at the faults within our own country before pointing the finger at others.
ReplyDeleteWe bitch and complain when prices are too high for our own products. We bitch and complain when exporting countries don't follow our ethical standards. As far as I'm concerned some of our business ethics are no better than theirs.
As far as the crap products? People are buying them aren't they? Even our own government is buying military knives from China instead of right here in Canada. Can't blame China for that. The government/corporation gives them the parameters. They follow it.
Some of China's provinces are ahead of us in technology. Why is that? Perhaps it's because they didn't deregulate everything. Free market capitalism? Look where that's gotten us? Corporations that don't want to spend their capital for upgrades because shareholders wanted their money yesterday.
I'm not saying China doesn't have some of the burden. They do. They just don't have All the burden.
We have to take some of the responsibility. I haven't heard anything like that coming from the West. Just the blame game.
Dee,
ReplyDeleteSome corporations don't want to spend for upgrades because they have interests or are considering them in countries such as china where there are inherent wage and regulation advantages.
Remember, in Western countries everything is based on what people can pay, and most importantly housing. Ex. interest rates go up, house prices go down. And the reverse. So if people paid more for home grown goods of better quality, housing prices wouldn't rise to the levels they have and there would still be the same basic budget balance in the end.
You say; "As far as the crap products? People are buying them aren't they? Even our own government is buying military knives from China instead of right here in Canada."
What does that justify? People are buying them because it is the short route to paying for greater toys or because of the wage stagnation issue, housing costs, or simply because they depend on one income and have been out scaled. Etc.
As far as Peter McKay is concerned, I hope he had those knives tested for tensile strength and tempering before committing to the purchase. Otherwise, he may well have bought Dollar store knives at a cost of $34 each. I don't know, do you? Do you remember the Tanks they bought to be used in Afghan? Once we owned them they then said they needed so much work they wouldn't be ready for use until after the scheduled withdrawal date. If I remember correctly, even the upgrade work was contracted outside of Canada.
Good planning there.
About technological advancement, I'm wondering why they haven't developed competitive auto products and things like motorcycles? There are videos on youtube of testing on the Cherry car and it's a safety nightmare. Also, the vast array of motorbikes and ATV's they have imported here during the last couple of years are truly user beware jobbies. The greatest weakness and safety hazard being the low grade hardware used and hasty assembly. These units were so poor they couldn't develop a dealer network, so they off loaded them cheap via Ebay from Vancouver. As demand dwindled in response to the reputation they earned, the main vendors have disappeared. Along with parts availability.
Basically this was dumping. We are supposed to have anti dumping laws in this country.
As to the bitching, what else would we occupy ourselves with? Hockey? Personally, the only things I bitch about stringently is energy prices. More specifically gas and diesel prices and electricity costs. The main reason for that is I have some background in the petroleum industry and know what a collection of fleece artists they are. Did you notice the profits they obtained last year while busy whining about the high cost of oil? Not to mention sticking it to everyone for every mini crisis, whether real or not.
They are at it again right now as a matter of fact, as there is a glut of crude but gas supplies are running short. Demand is down so why is gas on the verge of short supply? Who determines how much gas and diesel is produced? Supply shortages = higher prices. Warren Buffet bought $500 million worth of Exxon stock recently for a reason.