China and World Economy

In the news, the Chinese economy now accounts for 15% of the world's total, and contributed 33% to the global economic growth in 2016. That's according to He Lifeng, director of the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner. May China and the World continue to cooperate, develop and prosper. Peace !

Is China's Economic Boom A Miracle or Myth?

Just finished watching an Al Jazeera news video in Youtube titled Upfront - China's economic boom: Miracle or myth?

Here are my thoughts and comments:

China's economic boom is not a myth. It is real. China has already become the largest trading country in the world. It is the second largest economy after USA. By some measurements, it is already the largest economy in the world. The whole world looks to China for economic growth. The Chinese Renminbi or Yuan is becoming a world trading and reserve currency. The U.S. owes China trillions of dollars. One would be stupid or delusional to think that these facts are all myths.

The so-called stock market 'crash' last summer in China was not a 'crash'. It was a market correction or leveling off. There was some Government intervention, too, to prevent the market from free fall. The U.S. and Western media called it a 'crash' and drastic fall of 30%, but they didn't tell you that before that so-called 'crash', there had been a climb of 150% over just a few months. Would it be a good thing to let stock prices keep going up crazy forever? Be real ! In China, just the stock market would not tell you the whole picture of the Chinese economy. On the other hand, the USA 'crash' in 2008 was a real 'crash'.

Now, regarding Government data, it is highly possible that they would be manipulated, exaggerated or reduced. Both China and the U.S. would do the same thing. In the U.S., the data about unemployment, economic conditions, etc. etc. would not be perfectly and openly honest either.  

The economic slowdown in China is not a sign of failure. The Chinese economy is going through a structural change, moving from strong exporting to domestic consumption and more focus on high-tech development.

Is the Chinese economic boom a miracle? Yes and No. In only a few decades, 700 millions of Chinese have been lifted out of poverty. It is not wrong to call it a miracle, is it? But is it a miracle in the religious and magical sense? No. It is real accomplishment through good governance, management, hard work and development.

Of course, there are many China bashers who would criticize anything and everything Chinese. They always blame China for their own failure or lack of success. Chinese economic slow down? Yeah, but the reported GDP of 2015, for example, was still 6.9%. Even if it was an exaggerated number, it would be at least 5% or so. What was the GDP growth of your country? 1, 2, or 3%?

Made in China

In the news (AJ+YouTube), China just revealed its first large passenger plane, the C919, and had a giant party to celebrate. It is targeted as a competitor to the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737. The first C919 is due to take off in 2016. A celebration in China, and a great opportunity for China Bashers to thumbs-down everything and anything made in China !

Talking about China Bashers, it is ironical that many of them purchase and use things made in China themselves. They purchased the Chinese goods at very affordable prices, but always complain that they are of poor quality. Some negative exaggeration and knee-jerk reaction of the China Bashers ! It is like some common folks who purchased a cheap economy car but complain that it is not good like a luxury car. Or like an economy class passenger complains about not receiving the same good services given to the first class passengers.

Of course it is only a joke that God created the world, and everything else was made in China. But it is true that if you go to Wal-Mart, Dollar Shops, or other such economy stores, you'll find many products made in China at reasonably affordable prices. Want to buy high-quality luxury Chinese goods? Yes, they are available, too, but don't complain that the prices are too expensive.

While there are many China Bashers, there are also some China Worshipers who accept everything and anything Chinese is good. Neither is reasonable and tells the truth. The truth is that you can find both good and bad things in any country. I don't know any perfect country on earth, do you? 

Is Saudi Arabia Going Bankrupt?

Just finished watching a YouTube video of TestTube News titled ' Is Saudi Arabia Going Bankrupt ' ? It says 80% of Saudi Arabia's economy relies on oil revenue. At the current price of less than $50 a barrel, economists have predicted that Saudi Arabia could run out of cash in 5 years. Would that come true? I don't know, but it is not impossible.

I said it in the past, and now again, that if not for its oil, Saudi Arabia would be reduced to a backward and poor country. Burning fossil fuel for energy is ' primitive ', not advanced. The whole world should reduce the use of fossil fuel and switch to renewable and clean energy. It is not only good for the environment, but also good for human health and the world economy in the long run.

Yes, eventually, the world economy will rely more and more on renewable and clean energy, although it is not that obvious to people whose mind just got stuck in the past. One day, oil as the main source of energy will become something of the past.

I don't want to see Saudi Arabia or any country become poor and bankrupt. I only wish that all countries, including Saud Arabia, would live in peace.
  

Chinese Stock Market Crash ?

No, I don't think it was a Chinese stock market crash, but yes, it was a big drop which did affect the economies of the whole world, especially those of the resources-based exporting countries like Australia and Canada.

China's economy is slowing down. It doesn't want to buy your coal and oil, so what you gonna do? Even with the slow down, China's economic growth is still 7% more or less, an envy of many countries.

How well has Canada been doing economically? Not very well, but not very bad either. Election is on, so if you ask the leaders running for the Prime Minister's office, you'll certainly get different political answers. Tom Mulcair of the New Democratic Party (NDP) and Justin Trudeau of the Liberal Party (LP) will tell you that Stephen Harper of the Conservative Party (CP) sucks, but of course Stephen Harper will tell you that he's been doing a great job and you should continue to let him be your prime minister. 

The world economy is a big monster. Nobody is able to manage it alone. We should rather focus on our own personal economy, our own finances, to maintain and improve our ' financial health '. 

Donald Trump For U.S. President ?

Just finished watching a Youtube video titled 'Exclusive Donald Trump Interview: I Love China / msnbc'.

Here are my thoughts and comments: .  

I have mixed feelings about Donald Trump. He is a shameless self-promoter, and yes, with a huge ego and narcissistic personality. He talks like he is the smartest and richest person in the world, but he is not.Yet, when it comes to business and economics, he does know what he is talking about. He is very blunt and to the point, and tells you as it is, with no sensitivity or apology whatsoever. 

I doubt Donald Trump really loves China, but I think he sort of respects China as a great challenger or competitor. There is a Chinese saying which goes like this, " A hero respects another hero". At the present, China is playing the game of capitalism (the Chinese way) very well, even better than capitalistic America. Donald Trump is not wrong in saying that the U.S. needs better and tougher negotiators to deal with China. 

Competition is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as it is a fair game, and that it benefits one's country and people, and better still, it also benefits other countries and people.We need world leaders who are able to solve problems and improve the lives of the people of their countries "and" other countries, all by peaceful means. No violence, no killing, no war. Negotiation is fine. Fair competition is fine. Would Donald Trump make a good U.S. President? I don't know. What do you think ?

Economic Freedom

In the news, the U.S. ranks 12 in a report of Economic Freedom by the Heritage Foundation. These are the top five with the most Economic Freedom: (1) Hong Kong, (2) Singapore, (3) New Zealand, (4) Australia, (5) Switzerland.

Canada is (6), which is not bad. The falling of Oil Price and the value of Loonie is good news to some, but bad news to others. There is no perfect country on Earth. On the whole, Canada is still a great country to live in. What do you think ?

Global Wealth

The 99% complaint about the 1% is becoming real.

According to a report of anti-poverty charity Oxfam International, by next year, 1% of the world population will own more than 50% of the wealth in the whole world. The combined wealth of the 99% will be less than the combined wealth of the 1%.

1% of the world population will own more wealth than the rest of 99%. Something is wrong about this reality. What do you think?

U.S. Sanction Against Russia

U.S. sanction against Russia, and probably also the dropping of oil prices, got to be an economic, geopolitical and currency war of the U.S. against Russia.

Does sanction work? Yes and No, if you ask Obama. For Cuba, with whom the U.S. has just re-established diplomatic relationship, Obama said No. For Russia, Obama said Yes. If it didn't work on small Cuba, having been proved for more than 50 years, how would it be possible to work and hurt big Russia ? Mr. President Obama, please tell us ! 

U.S. sanction would hurt Russia and make it difficult for Putin for a while, yes, but not for a long time. It won't take 50 years or more, like in the case of Cuba, to find out. We'll wait and see. 

Sanction, in my opinion, largely hurts only the people - your own people, those of your allies, and those of the sanctioned country you try to hurt, but not so much the elites and governments in power. 

U.S. sanction against Russia has pushed Russia even closer to China. It hurts not only Russia, but also Europeans who do business with Russia. Maybe Germany, France and a few other European countries didn't really like the sanction against Russia, but wouldn't dare not to "obey" Uncle Sam, being under political pressure to follow.

The American Dollar

The American Dollar is no longer as mighty as it was. The Almighty Dollar doesn't sound Almighty any more.On the latest trip of Stephen Harper to Beijing, Canada signed a currency deal with China. Business between the two countries can now be conducted in their own currencies of Canadian Dollar and Chinese Yuan.

Canada is not the first country which has signed such a currency deal with China. Many countries have already done so. This enables business between countries to be conducted directly in their own currencies, without having to take the extra step of converting them  to U.S. money.  

As many know, the American Dollar was backed by gold in the past. In 1971, president Nixon untied the American Dollar from gold. It then became the Petro Dollar. International trading of oil and other commodities was then conducted in U.S. currency. At the present, the American Dollar is just fiat money backed by nothing, except you may say that it is backed by bullets and bombs. In other words, Uncle Sam would get mad and force you to use the American Dollar, and if you refused to comply, he would make your life difficult, by using political pressure, economic sanction, and even military action.   

The game of creating American money from thin air will be over. It may not be completely replaced by another new game, but it will not be the only game, or the primary game.

Some economists, investors, financial people, or even conspiracy theorists predict that the American Dollar will collapse soon. I don't agree with them entirely. I don't think that it will be a sudden and quick collapse. I believe it will gradually lose its status as the international trading and reserved currency. It is already happening. All said, I could be wrong, so please don't point finger at me, if the American Dollar suddenly collapsed. I pray that it won't, because if it happens this way, the American people will suffer greatly beyond words.     

Uncle Sam is in heavy debt, owing trillions of dollars to China and other countries. It is a losing game, to keep borrowing and printing money, in order to maintain a false or exaggerated economy, and to finance the very expensive military adventures everywhere.

Will the Almighty Dollar, the American Greenback, give way to the Chinese Yuan (Dollar) or Reminbi (people's money) ? Just wait and see !!!       

Gordon Chang, America and China Bashing

This guy Gordan Chang is very biased against China. I've watched him talk in some Youtube videos. He wrote a book called "The Coming Collapse of China"'.
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USA and China are frienemies, with a love-hate relationship. American ( or any) capitalists and industrialists worship money, not Uncle Sam or some imaginary god. From a purely economic point of view, that's what they do, to minimize cost and maximize profit; money is much sexier than nationalism.
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Many big companies and factories in China are owned, co-owned or controlled by Americans. American workers lost jobs to Chinese workers not because Chinese workers "stole" their jobs. It was due to cheaper labor cost in China and other political and economic reasons.
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Complaining about pollution in China and Chinese stealing jobs from Americans must include the understanding that the Americans themselves are the consumers of these many affordable Chinese-made goods. If the American capitalists and industrialists stay home to create the same Chinese-made goods, American labor cost will be much higher, and the American-made goods will be much more expensive. Also pollution and poor air quality will stay home for the Americans to suffer.
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A recent world survey shows the least peaceful and most dangerous country in the world is not China, Russia, North Korea or Iran. It is U.S.A. The country with the most deadly killing machines and weapons of mass destruction is U.S.A., not China or Russia. The rise of China is certain, but the decline of USA is not. Who is going to collapse first ? If you ask Gordon Chang, he'll say China. If you ask many other political and economic analysts, they'll say USA. Let's wait and see who is right ! ( I hope nobody is right, that neither USA nor China will collapse. I hope all countries will stop fighting and give world peace a chance ).

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P.S. Gordan Chang has been predicting the economic collapse of China for years, even providing a timeline when it would happen. He published his book "The Coming Collapse of China" in 2001, and predicted that China would collapse in 2006. He was wrong. Instead, USA had a financial collapse in 2008. He was wrong each and every time, again and again, and his followers (who ? people looking for entertainment ?) are still waiting for China to fall. Will Gordan Chang shut up, if and when China overtakes USA as the largest economy in the world, possibly in the next few years ???

Economic Freedom

Which countries / places have the most economic freedom in the world ? Top 10 ranking for 2012 (don't know 2013 or current ranking, but it should be similar): 1. Hong Kong (previous British Crown Colony, now a special administrative region of China), 2. Singapore, 3. Australia, 4. New Zealand, 5. Switzerland, 6. Canada, 7. Chile, 8. Mauritius, 9. Denmark, 10. U.S.A. Economic freedom, political freedom, and religious freedom are not the same thing. A friend has just posted in Facebook that New Zealand is the country with the most freedom (I presume he means overall freedom).

US Dollar and World Trade

It's only a matter of time that the US Dollar will lose its status of being the international trading currency. It's already happening. Super rich Americans have either transferred a large chunk of their money and wealth out of USA, or they themselves have moved to another country. Singapore is a favorite choice. The center of world economy has already gone to Asia. In just a few more years, China will overtake USA and become the largest economy in the world.

US Government Shutdown

Jim Rogers says the US Government shutdown is a sham and charade to jerk us around. Whether you agree with him or not, this whole thing can't be something good. Is this a sign that USA is actually declining? Uncle Sam doesn't seem to care about his behavior, which affects not only America but the whole world, why? Just because he has a US Money printing machine? What if we don't want to play the game with US money anymore?!