What, if anything to do about China?

Ford and GM kicked themselves in the crotch with product design. Similarly, Colt kicked itself in the crotch as compared to Glock kicking them in the crotch.

Compare the Colt 2000 and the Glock 17.

We've had good runs with Honda Civics. Our Ford is a money vampire.

The thing that worries me most is the export of jobs. However, it seems to be that while folks rave about social conservative issues they are quite happy to see their economic conservative true masters sell their jobs to the lowest bidder.
 
Guess what - Walmart - the irresistable force, has invaded China. They have 46 stores there now, and plan to double that within two years. I find that both strange and fascinating. The stadium-sized store must be quite a shock for Chinese consumers, but they seem to be embracing them.

I know some Chinese folks who have been back within the last couple of years, and they say they literally cannot recognize their home cities, because of all the new construction and infrastructure changes.

What a wild ride it must be over there!
 
Walmart is nothing new to Chinese. Actually, 10% of all products Chinese make end up on the Walmart shelf. China has been making Honda cars for years now.

Only you have been there, you would believe the advancement of China. The big difference between China and US is in US, we feel secure and politically, USA is very very stable - ie the government will not seize all your properties; there won't be any foreseeable civil wars - the terrorists things are actually made in USA.

If you drive miles outside of any major city, you don't see much difference in USA, but in China, you will see a lot of poor people. Yes, China is getting richer, but more than half of the population is still under poverty. 80% of chinese live without any social security or welfare system - so much for socialism which US has done much better.
 
80% of chinese live without any social security or welfare system - so much for socialism which US has done much better.
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Stupid - my understanding is that the traditional social safety nets of China are gone now. Likewise with the former Soviet Union, which I am more familiar with. So, today, people are no longer guaranteed a job, or good vacation, disability, pensions, etc... but that's all new, part of the "progress"... which obviously hasn't all been progress. It wasn't that way during the time of planned economies (and inefficiency) though - during that time, the State took responsibility for the welfare of the people... which it doesn't anymore. In the FSU, there have been large demonstrations recently by pensioners and veterans, because their benefits have been cut so severely.
 
CarbineCaleb, China copied the Soviet system in the 50-70s, and started to abondon it (unwillingly maybe) from late 70s (so called Reform of 1978). However, the Chinese system has two folds: A, for people living in cities, they get full benefit; B, for people living in farms/villiges (80% of the population), nada.

Today, even people living in cities are losing the benefit unless they work for the government. It used to be that everything is owned by the government, but nowadays, privately own businesses are just everywhere, and more and more state owned businesses are being transformed into privately owned or publicly owned. More and more city people who formerly had benefit are now being cut off.

Also keep in mind, China's achievement today has a lot to do with USA. In 1972, USA and all NATO countries ended 20 years' long trade embargo trying to strangle China. Since then, western technology and capital have been flooding into China.
 
Since then, western technology and capital have been flooding into China.
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That's true - as more sophisticated operations are being conducted in these developing countries, like India for example, it is also training a new generation of workers there, giving them new skills and knowledge. As the jobs have become available, universities there have begun to adapt to cater to this new job market. I know in the Pharma/Biotechnology industry that I work in, companies began by outsourcing the simplest work - it was done well, and much more cheaply... so, they just keep on outsourcing more and more sophisticated work there (India is very big), and many international companies are building research centers and sophisticated business operations there now (or have them operating already). I know that for adventurous young people just starting out with M.S. and PhD degrees from top universities (and say 2-5 years experience), some of the most ambitious are heading east, because that's where the action is.

As you say though, China (and India) have very large populations, and even these seismic shifts, while visible to all, certainly haven't benefitted all. That will take more time, and the further into the future we are talking about, the less comfortable I am about making any predictions.
 
Actually, in the old time, whenever there's a war, the empror's sons were always sent to the front.
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You have no idea how right you are. Today a significant minority of the world's Y chromosomes are traceable to the Khan family. Imagine the impact of one single man who had over 2000 formal wives and numerous one night rapes, who reserved the most beautiful women in all his conquered lands for himself and the second tier of beauty for his sons' pleasure, all while killing any man who opposed him and you get the point.
 
I'm Chinese and the Chinese scare me!

After the USSR fell, the US has been the only dominant power on the planet. Europe is trying to fill the void but the EU can only go so far. Most of Western Europe is barely growing because their benefits are too rich (socialist) and the populations are shrinking. (I say "F the EU" but that is for another debate) China is going to be our USSR, or dare I say our USSR. Will we ever get into an all out conflict with them, everyone knows there is far too much to lose.

What do the Chinese have? Lots of cheap manual labor, low living standards, and very lax if not nonexistant protection for intellectual property. The US must act NOW to level the playing field or else China will consume the US economically. I feel that the threat to levy tarrifs is a great first step. China has been enjoying almost unhindered trade with the US for a VERY LONG TIME by pegging the Yuan to the Dollar. Their economy is growing tremendously but there is NO inflationary pressure from the US. This is not fair economically and puts the US at a serious disadvantage. The US benefitted from a strong Euro as European imports got more expensive. Less Americans spent US Dollars overseas but more Europeans spent Euros here in the states. Why do you think the Euro didn't keep rising against the Dollar? Things have a way of balancing themselves out PROVIDED IT IS A FREE MARKET!!!

China has almost NO respect for intellectual property. They basically get a free ride off the R&D and talent from other countries and pop out cheap copies. What about boot leg movies and CDs? Do you think American artists get a fraction of what they are supposed to from China? How else do you think they can sell things so cheaply? How can this be stopped? Keep high tech out of China until they learn some respect. Boycott or tax the hell out of cheap copies so they are no longer cheap. Lord knows the US government can use the tax revenue to balance out the trade defecit.

Are there serious consequences to this kind of action? I'm sure there will be. Failure to act soon will result in total economic dependance. The US regulates and prohibits monopolistic and predatory behavior within our borders but little is being done to stop the abuses crossing our borders. Prices will increase for everyone but the trade defecit will decrease.

Just few comments for some of the posts I read...

Beretta Couger: if you stick you head in the sand long enough, hoping the problem will go away, you will either get you head lopped off or a nuke up your butt.

For the poster who said why don't we take out North Korea if we can move on Iraq? You need to remember why is backing North Korea and who was backing Saddam Hussein. Hussein wasn't liked by any of the "non-extremist" Arab states. Even then, they probably only moderately supported him to band against the US.

My biggest hope is that communism will eventually fall in China. Corruption is rampant but capitalism is making its mark and much has changed. There has been significant progress and China is enjoying its weath. I feel that if another uprising like in Tianamen Square occured, the people would be met with open arms rather than firearms. The leaders must give up their doministic mentalities and accept the fact that countries are interdependant rather than independant.
 
CNN was discussing this today. It seems China is developing a formidable navy complete with 10 sophisticated fast attack and missile subs. DOD thinks they're building up for a showdown over Taiwan, and that they'll be ready in less than 10 years. :(
 
It's pretty murky where Taiwan belongs... and it doesn't seem that the Communist government in mainland China has ever forgotten about it, or about the KMT government that retreated there. If there is going to be some military conflict involving China, either Taiwan, or the murky territorial dispute with Japan over the East China Sea (and underlying oil) seem like the most likely suspects.
 
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