China!

Financial predictors, having failed totally at their jobs, now have a new focus for us to think about: China.

China is not something we need to worry about. They do not have the legal infrastructure to enforce contracts from one end of the country to another. How can you build an economy on that? And contracts are only reflective of a snapshot in time based on who is in power at the time the contract is signed. Try making major business decisions based on that.

And that is setting aside the problems with innovation and risk-taking that are not rewarded in the Chinese culture, which are still present.

The United States has nothing to worry about from China.

"The Communist Party is the Most Sympathetic"

"Nature has no sympathy, people have sympathy, but the Communist Party is the most sympathetic."

A banner with this saying was displayed for the relatives of the 181 Chinese coal miners who are trapped in a flooded mine. Convincing, eh? People often talk about the power of propaganda. But the power of observation wins every time.

If the Chinese Communist Party is the "most sympathetic" how did this happen? Why is the Chinese environment polluted so badly? The Chinese Government is more sympathetic to profits than people and workers.

The relatives of the trapped miners know this and demonstrated it by violence. If you can believe it, the families were told to go home and wait for news, and not to talk to anyone. No news came. Frustrated that international journalists were being given information when they were not, about eight relatives smashed the offices of the coal mine company.

Communism and industrialization were to go hand in hand. Wouldn't it be ironic if now that China is really becoming industrialized that Chinese workers begin to organize and strike?

Food Quality Through Public Executions

So the Chinese have shot the guy in charge of their food quality. Do you feel better now? Given the Chinese government's penchant for shooting people it hardly gives me any comfort, anyway.

Fundamentally, if someone at the top is allowing lousy and dangerous food to be exported, no one in China cares until they get caught. China doesn't even have one consistent set of trade laws. How are they going to enforce "quality" even assuming they agree with us on what that means.

If you want a great example of the failures of deregulation of business, the import of bad foodstuffs into the American diet would be a good place to start. Profit motive fails as a substitute for good policy. Profit motives are short-term and short-sighted. U.S. business has an equal share in the blame for poisoning our food supply.

Imagine: all the dogs that died from bad food from China could have been children. Would we be embracing the free market then?

Foreign Perspectives on the Dollar

"They are getting rid of the dollar to,but slowly slowly.So in the end no one will pay you interests for the green paper,will get rid of it,and then you'll end up trillionaires: in worthless paper." Comment on Econo-Girl

At 9:12:00 AM, vader said...

"It is strange that no one in the usa dares to talk about this.To warn the people that HEY maybe in a few years your savings will worth nothing..."

Your ideas are interesting, but a little lacking.

Yes, other countries are conducting international business in Euro. Yes, some of that business used to be conducted in Dollars. But that is only part of what supports the value of the dollar.

The United States is an extremely stable country that is also a huge marketplace. We allow and encourage innovation like no other country, and don't place impediments in the way of instant success. You can get as rich as you want, as fast as you want, if you are smart enough.

Another factor supporting the value of the Dollar is that people all over the world NEED the dollar to have value. First, many non-Americans put their money in Dollars in the United States because they know it will be safe.

Second, you mention the exchange of goods and services in exchange for Dollars. Remember the end results of that exchange: we have their goods, they have the Dollars. If the bottom falls out of the value of the Dollar, it is the the trading partners who will be hit hard, not the U.S. After all, we are not holding those Dollars. China et. al. is. Even China's recent diversification won't change the billions in Dollar assets that make up their wealth. It is China at risk, not the U.S.

Third, the U.S. population has a horrible savings rate. To answer your question, what savings?

'No Space Race' Claims U.S. State Department

Our U.S. State Department is deeply concerned about television viewing options here in the United States. Alternatively, they are a little worried about the Chinese getting real about the militarization of space.

"Oh, let's not endanger our astronauts or add to pollution and debris orbiting the Earth," Tom Casey of the State Department, in effect, cries. Like that's the problem. "Let's not endanger our way of television viewing." Or, let's pretend that all those millions of NASA dollars were for the sake of science, knowledge and humanity. Not as setting the stage for future military domination.

On the other hand, having just gotten out of the Cold War, maybe our leaders aren't interested in everyone in the States wanting to know about the problems of our space program.

In the U.S. bid for military domination through space technology, we are bumping into other countries intent on doing the same thing. Like China. You know, the people who blew up that satellite the other day?

So maybe space pollution isn't the real issue here.

Space Race: Military Might in the Sky

China shot one of its own satellites out of the sky the other day. This is important because it implies that China could shoot one of our satellites out of the sky. Not that they said they would do that, far from it. China went out of its way to inform Japan and the United States of its action.

More important is that supremacy of space will determine who the next superpower is.

Controlling space means controlling the skies, communications and transportation. So China has thrown its hat in the ring. That little missile has hit a big target indeed.

Stay tuned. The fallout should be big.