tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post7039626015633079826..comments2024-03-06T06:34:42.881-05:00Comments on EconoSpeak: The currency quarrel with China is a dangerous distractionUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-79739951360431360102010-01-21T18:15:10.027-05:002010-01-21T18:15:10.027-05:00No worries, Rdan. Go ahead.No worries, Rdan. Go ahead.Myrtle Blackwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07427043367624101075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-60378789525822256552010-01-21T08:58:56.948-05:002010-01-21T08:58:56.948-05:00May I crosspost Brenda with AB?
RdanMay I crosspost Brenda with AB?<br /><br />RdanRdanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15285598945075456626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-9655105279686296802010-01-20T20:22:07.994-05:002010-01-20T20:22:07.994-05:00Thanks for the update, rl love. The establishment...Thanks for the update, rl love. The establishment of an alternative 'free' trade zone and alternaves to the IMF and WB appear to be a predictable response to the 'zero sum game' of empire that the US has engaged in now for a very long time.<br /><br />Minka, my article wasn't intended to be a story in support of China or America. Merely a response to the totally misleading article published in the Washington Post.<br />You ask 'Why the hands off China's predatory policies?' A far more complete article certainly would have incorporated such an exploration. The Washington Post article actually elicited a similar response from me when I read it. "Why the hands off America's predatory policies?" <br /><br />From the viewpoint of someone who lives in Australia I am quite astounded at how Americans tend to display an almost complete lack of knowledge about the extent of the empire their governments have created. The vast majority of citizens who write on online forums such as these don't seem to have been informed of the history of incessant aggression against even some of the most defenceless nations on earth.<br /><br />Other people in other nations are far more informed, it seems. And such knowledge elicits a widespread response that, in the long term, is almost guaranteed to undermine the wellbeing of the largely unconscious US population.<br /><br />How can Americans change their government for the better if they don't know what it's doing?<br /><br />That's why Washington Post articles such as this one need to be highlighted. It's a pretty blatant form of misleading propaganda IMHO.Myrtle Blackwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07427043367624101075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-17869800516670516072010-01-20T15:05:56.962-05:002010-01-20T15:05:56.962-05:00Globalization, as conceived over these past few de...Globalization, as conceived over these past few decades, is beginning to show signs of systemic failure. China now has the World's 3 largest banks, and China now produces more autos than the US. <br /> But of course the original premise of Globalization assigned the dominant roles in lending and auto-making to the US. It seems that the Chinese are unable to find a clear translation for the term "demographic dividend". This should not come as any big surprise though, it seems a great many people who speak English as their first language are a little confused about what "demographic dividend" means as well. <br /> The current circumstances though are exposing that this term describes the process of people who need things producing things, for people who already have too many things. This relationship does however create some upwardly mobile consumers who are then expected to buy goods that only the advanced nations "could" produce. But it seems that the planners of this plan assumed that developing nations were not capable of what they are now clearly capable of. Whether this flaw in the plan stems from underestimating others, or overestimating ourselves, or a combo of both, is hard to say and of little importance now. A more pressing matter is that we need to admit that the original plan is failing and we seem well short of just being able to admit that it was a bad idea in the first place. We should have asked ourselves decades ago, what would we have done had some other powerful nation offered us a similar arrangement? Would we have shared our "demographic dividend" and a portion of the proceeds from the integral lending? <br /> Then if we could only admit that our success resulted not from a superiority of intellect, but instead from the wealth inherent to our natural resources, and from our ruthless exploitation of those resources and of mankind, we may then be able to sort things out going forward.<br /><br /> rayr l lovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00286816802001327725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-79665172395010941992010-01-20T13:35:15.974-05:002010-01-20T13:35:15.974-05:00Is this a 'leave poverty stricken China alone!...Is this a 'leave poverty stricken China alone!' view, or not? <br /><br />I can't even tell, this is so unclear. <br /><br />The Chinese rise has had a direct impact on US employment and wages. You are right: we could manufacture what we import from them. That is not an argument for focusing on fixing "our problems". It is an argument for reducing trade with China and allowing import substitution to take its course. <br /><br />We need job growth to get out of this slowdown. That is not the same thing as increasing consumerism and plundering the environment. We could do it with a combo of import substitution (greener that chinese coal based manufacturing) and green jobs in new industries. <br /><br />What exactly are you advocating?<br />Why the hands-off for China's predatory policies?minkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04067741747813131873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-88915928385377495942010-01-20T11:23:57.991-05:002010-01-20T11:23:57.991-05:00The Chinese are replacing US consumers:
ASEAN-Chi...The Chinese are replacing US consumers:<br /><br />ASEAN-China Free Trade Area: Not a Zero-Sum Game<br />ASEAN Secretariat, 7 January 2010<br />"1 January 2010 did not only usher in a brand new year but at the same time also rang in a new economic space that would have major ramifications for millions of people in Asia. The date marked the full implementation of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area – the world’s third largest free-trade area."<br /><br />"China is a key trading partner of ASEAN – the third largest – and is responsible for 11.3% of total ASEAN trade in 2008 or US$ 192.6 billion. And the statistics clearly show the economic clout of the FTA: a combined GDP of US$ 6.6 trillion, 1.9 billion people and total trade of US$ 4.3 trillion."<br /><br />"Trade between the parties is an impressive 13.3% of global trade or half of the total trade of Asia in 2008. In addition, the two regions attracted a combined 10% global FDI or US$ 167.3 of foreign direct investment in 2008."<br /><br />This trade agreement is expected to remove tariffs on thousands of item.<br /><br />It appears that a replacement for the IMF and the World Bank is also being put in place. The following is from CommodityOnline:<br /><br /> China, Japan contribute $38.4 billion to regional pool<br /> 29 December 2009 12:16:39<br /> <br /> "China and Japan will each contribute $38.4 billion, while South Korea will contribute $19.2 billion to a $120-billion regional foreign-exchange reserve pool designed to help Asian countries deal with a possible foreign capital flow shortage."<br /><br />"The total from the three nations will account for 80% of the $120-billion reserve pool."<br /><br /><br />"The remaining 20% will come from the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations."<br /><br />"The pool is being formed in accordance with the Chiang Mai Initiative, a multilateral currency swap arrangement among China, Japan, South Korea and ASEAN members."<br /><br />"Asian countries currently hold two thirds of the world's foreign exchange reserves, which total $55 trillion. These countries have suffered a huge loss from the depreciation of the U.S. dollar during the global financial crisis."<br /><br /> These developments do not seem to be receiving the attention they deserve here in the US. (not to suggest that I am surprised by that) rayr l lovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00286816802001327725noreply@blogger.com