Read the thread with interest. A few points I would like to share with the group.
First, I am a Trader between China and US. Born and raised in Washington, and I have been to China numerous time since 2004. Many HUGE change.
From my perspective, we are fed propoganda through the MSM that skews reality between both sides really.
Thier inflation over there is fueled by servicing our debt. We need them as our debt host.
I hear talk of how they are manipulating currency that sends jobs their direction. In 2004 the currency exchange was 12.57 RMB to the dollar. Now it is around 6 RMB to the dollar and accelerating downward. This is casing REAL inflation of our purchasing power here. I shudder to think if they actually decelerate the purchase of our T Bills, and unpeg the currency completly.
This trend allows us to have cheaper goods to sell there, but we manufacture most everything there. Even Budweiser is brewed there now and an be bought for around 50 cents for a 22 oz bottle. The computer industry still has a stranglehold though. Even though the computers are manufactured ther, name brands are at a 25 to 30 percent premium, but accesories are deeply discounted. I paid 6 usd for a nice wireless Logitech mouse for my laptop. In 2004 it would have been around 2.75 for the same thing just to point how much our purchasing power has already been lost.
The classes are still greatly divided, but the midle class is rising very rapidly there. Vietnam has now become THEIR manufacturing spotlight because as pointed out, goods are really not that cheap there anymore.
And I see that they will continue to accelerate the middle class. WHY? Education!
I recently staye two weeks with a family and their youngest daughter is a senior in High School. She started school at 7 am and got a 1.5 hour break for lunch to go home and be with family. Then back to school to finish at 10 pm. This is 6 days a wek. They only have a half day on Sunday. This is the norm there although some cities ban school hours on weekends altogether, but they are few.
China is more capitalistic than we are. Businesses pay their 20 percent tax and go, go , go! Businesses are left alone, in fact if they recycle and reclaim they get tax breaks, and many companies provide low cost housing purchase options.
We could learn some things from them as well as they from us. Germany has a very close business/ education relationship with China and it works both ways. I often wonder why our government would not want the same.
Just a few observations of my own. Thanks for reading.
First, I am a Trader between China and US. Born and raised in Washington, and I have been to China numerous time since 2004. Many HUGE change.
From my perspective, we are fed propoganda through the MSM that skews reality between both sides really.
Thier inflation over there is fueled by servicing our debt. We need them as our debt host.
I hear talk of how they are manipulating currency that sends jobs their direction. In 2004 the currency exchange was 12.57 RMB to the dollar. Now it is around 6 RMB to the dollar and accelerating downward. This is casing REAL inflation of our purchasing power here. I shudder to think if they actually decelerate the purchase of our T Bills, and unpeg the currency completly.
This trend allows us to have cheaper goods to sell there, but we manufacture most everything there. Even Budweiser is brewed there now and an be bought for around 50 cents for a 22 oz bottle. The computer industry still has a stranglehold though. Even though the computers are manufactured ther, name brands are at a 25 to 30 percent premium, but accesories are deeply discounted. I paid 6 usd for a nice wireless Logitech mouse for my laptop. In 2004 it would have been around 2.75 for the same thing just to point how much our purchasing power has already been lost.
The classes are still greatly divided, but the midle class is rising very rapidly there. Vietnam has now become THEIR manufacturing spotlight because as pointed out, goods are really not that cheap there anymore.
And I see that they will continue to accelerate the middle class. WHY? Education!
I recently staye two weeks with a family and their youngest daughter is a senior in High School. She started school at 7 am and got a 1.5 hour break for lunch to go home and be with family. Then back to school to finish at 10 pm. This is 6 days a wek. They only have a half day on Sunday. This is the norm there although some cities ban school hours on weekends altogether, but they are few.
China is more capitalistic than we are. Businesses pay their 20 percent tax and go, go , go! Businesses are left alone, in fact if they recycle and reclaim they get tax breaks, and many companies provide low cost housing purchase options.
We could learn some things from them as well as they from us. Germany has a very close business/ education relationship with China and it works both ways. I often wonder why our government would not want the same.
Just a few observations of my own. Thanks for reading.
