Passing the Buck

November 26, 2010

Donald Tang writing at The Huffington Post was right to condemn US politicians from both sides of the aisle for blaming China for lost jobs in the US.

China is not responsible. The issue is more complicated than that.

I suggest that most Americans look in a mirror to see whom to blame.

National, consumer and housing debt is part of the problem.

James Wood, an eHow Contributor, says, “Totaling all of the debt outstanding for every adult in the United States yields a stunning result. With $43,000 of national debt, $10,360 of consumer debt and $60,000 of housing debt, the average debt for every adult in the United States is $113,360, as of 2010. With a median household income of just $50,000, that places a huge strain on the ability of people to pay their debts.”

While the government and consumers are paying off this debt, how can they spend money on other items?

Another part of problem is that many Americans are “good” at blaming others.

In fact, many Americans are “good” at blaming others for just about all the problems in the US.

When kids don’t learn, it is the teachers or the unions’ fault—not the kids or the parents, who spend more time with their children than teachers.

I blame the lawyers.

After all, “According to the American Bar Association there are currently 1,116,967 lawyers practicing in the United States. That is approximately one lawyer for every 300 people, or approximately .36% of the total population. These statistics relate only to lawyers currently practicing and maintaining their licenses.” Source: Wise Geek.com

Six Wise.com says, “The U.S. legal system ensures that every American who feels they have been injured or victimized is able to seek justice through the court system.…However, in recent decades the United States has earned the nickname as the most “litigious society” out there, in part due to major increases in lawsuits involving everything from hot spilled coffee to neighbors’ disputes.”

If it weren’t for all these people hiring lawyers to file lawsuits, there would be more money to spend on consumer goods, which would put more people to work.

See how easy it is to blame something or someone else for America’s lost job and economic problems.

There are jobs out there.

After all, there are eleven million illegal aliens in the US working in the fields, cleaning swimming pools and houses, mowing lawn, etc. I see my neighbors Latin housekeepers arrive every week and they drive a late model SUV that I can’t even afford.

The solution might be to stop paying people unemployment benefits and tell them to take one of those jobs the illegal aliens are doing. 

Those jobs might not pay enough to support the average American lifestyle but they would put food on the table.

Discover Another Opinion about China’s Trade Surplus

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

Leave a Comment » | America, American culture, China, Chinese Culture, economy, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Letting China In

November 23, 2010

When I wrote the post about The Economist’s cover for the November 13 issue, The Fear of Mao Buying the World, I had not yet read the feature story the cover represented.

Now that I have seen China buys up the world, And the world should stay open for business, I’m not sure who designed the cover but I don’t believe it was the same person that wrote the feature.

This may have something to do with the unique way The Economist does business.

The Economist describes itself as “a political, literary and general newspaper.… Articles … are not signed, but they are not all the work of the editor alone.… Nowadays, in addition to a worldwide network of stringers, the paper has about 20 staff correspondents abroad.”

In the Western media, I’ve read a few pieces about China that were well done and many that sounded as if someone suffering from Sinophobia wrote them.

This feature in The Economist comes from someone that seems to know China well.

He or she says that the world should not lock China out from buying up businesses in other countries. As is, China owns just 6% of global investment in international businesses compared to both Britain and America that have owned about 50% (Britain in 1914 and the US in 1967).

The Economist says that creating hurdles for China’s state-backed firms from buying companies outside China would be a mistake because most of China’s state-owned companies compete at home and their decision-making is consensual rather than dictatorial.

In fact, I’ve said that “most” decisions in China were consensual and that China is not a dictatorship by definition. The Chinese just make decisions differently than “most”.

However, what does “consensual” mean when doing business?

When doing business, consensual means with permission, without coercion, arriving at a decision or position by mutual consent, involving the willing participation of both or all parties, performed with the consent of all parties involved.

The Economist also says, “not all Chinese companies are state-directed. Some are largely independent and mainly interested in profits.”

The conclusion to the feature demonstrates a rare genius, “As it (China) invests in the global economy, so its interests will become increasingly aligned with the rest of the world…”

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

2 Comments | business, capitalism, China, cultural differences, economy | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Tiger Woods smiles big while golfing in China

November 21, 2010

Lisa Mason shows a gallery of photos of Tiger Woods smiling big at the WGC-HSBC Champions at Sheshan International Gold Club in Shanghai, China on November 3, 2010.

She says, “He looks truly happy in these photos. Maybe he is finding some happiness again.”

China is building golf courses and China’s growing middle class is taking up golf.

The Golf Travel Gurusays that Hainan Island in the South China Sea is China’s answer to Hawaii and is one of Asia’s finest golfing destinations, with several world-class courses.

Golf Todaysays the first thing one notices about golf in China – after marveling at the game’s sudden popularity – is how many players seem to have decent swings.

In fact, Golf Today says, golf is the latest fashion in Beijing and it is estimated there are 100,000 golfers in China.  “The number should double in five years,” T. K. Pen, a Taiwanese-American investor says.

Meanwhile, officials in China are being careful. Golf Today says there are so manygolf courses in China the government is losing count.

Golf courses take up a lot of land. With more than 1.3 billion people to feed, the central government has declared a moratorium on course construction.

However, Slate says, “Almost all of the nation’s 600 or so completed golf courses are illegal in some way.”

Since China grows food on about 10% of its land, turning croplands into golf courses may not be the best way to make a profit.

Discover the Winemaker from Shanxi Province to learn how others are using farmland in China.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the lusty love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

#1 - Joanna Daneman review posted June 19 2014

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3 Comments | business, capitalism, China, Chinese food, Chinese middle class, economy, environment, food, government, legal system, tourism | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Sending a Message the Wrong Way

November 20, 2010

Yasheng Huang at Foreign Policy magazine says in an opinion piece — identified as an “argument” — that the US should bypass China’s government and “somehow” directly reach the Chinese people with the message that the US knows what’s best for China.

Considering China’s history with the West starting with the first Opium War and the West’s support of the Dalai Lama, Tibetan and Islamic Separatists, outspoken Chinese democracy activists and religious cults such as the Falun Gong, I’m sure that would be well received — not.

Wanting to know more about Yasheng Huang, I discovered that he has a long title and is a professor of political economy and international management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also holds a special-term professorship at Fudan University with an honorary professorship at Hunan University.

Impressive resume. You may want to check it out. Just click on his name above. I’m sure the good professor wears his many titles well.

Professor Yasheng Huang may be right when he says, “To be sure, the vast majority of serious economists are absolutely right that in the long run, a currency revaluation is in the interest of the Chinese. But this is politics, where the issue is not about the technocratic intricacies of who is right and who is wrong.”

However, the professor is wrong to suggest that Washington D.C. find a way to communicate more effectively with the Chinese people by bypassing China’s government.

Consider how Americans would take to China’s Communist Party bypassing Washington and going directly to the entire US population with a huge media campaign to win them over.

The US already tried that in the Middle East and that hasn’t worked well. Islamic Fundamentalists have done a much better job winning Muslims over to their cause than the US has.

In fact, a report by Professor Frank Griffel at YaleGlobal Online makes a good case for why Professor Yasheng Huang’s suggestion won’t work in China.

Griffel writes, “Muslim fundamentalist movements encourage the use of the internet among their followers, for instance, not in order to sell something by e-mail order, but rather to promote the creation of a network of like-minded people who share a common understanding of what ‘Islam’ means and what it advocates.”

The same is true of the Chinese, who use the Internet differently than people in the West and are promoting a network of like-minded people who share a common understanding of what being “Chinese” means.

Most Chinese are not interested in being told how to think or what to do by anyone outside China.

I suggest that the good professor stick to economics and let the politicians do their job even if they don’t always get it right. Doesn’t he understand that it is impossible to even get a majority of Americans to listen and agree on one concept?

Learn about the Power of the Peasant

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

Leave a Comment » | America, capitalism, China, Chinese Culture, Communism, cultural differences, economy, government, politics | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Macao a decade after Handover to China

November 20, 2010

The last decade has seen Macao’s gambling industry grow at supersonic speeds.

Since Macau was returned to China in 1999, it has overtaken Las Vegas to become the world’s biggest gambling mecca.

The next building trend was to expand into a global entertainment and high end shopping hub along with leisure activities, but that has not matched the success of gambling.

Gambling remains Macao’s main money maker. Almost every business depends on gambling to survive.

However, the days of Chinese Triads having shooting wars for control of the streets have gone.

Instead, Macao has become a territory where Chinese democracy advocates may speak out without fear and become elected to Macao’s legislature.

The PRC has promised not to meddle in Macao’s politics. 

One thing seems apparent. Many in Macao want the economy to have diversity that does not need to rely on gambling.

Learn about crime and the Chinese Triads in Macao

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

1 Comment | capitalism, China, Chinese Culture, economy, politics, tourism | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

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