Australia and Canada

Australia's exports largely go to China and Canada's exports largely go to USA. Both Australia and Canada are politically dominated by the US of A, but would benefit economically to be friendly with China. At the present , Canada has rather poor relations with China, India and Russia, sigh ! 

Both Australia and Canada are trying to improve their relations with China, but are under political pressure from the US not to do so.

Edi Lee for Peace   *****   Fast Edi Thoughts and Comments  

This Year 2024

This year 2024 will be a "difficult" year in terms of global politics and economics, not to mention wars and natural disasters. In any case, we must say yes to peace and no to war.

Edi Lee for Peace   ***  Fast Edi Thoughts and Comments  

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%?

Sino-British Golden Age

Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting the U.K. China and the U.K. are entering a Golden Age of bilateral ties. I felt hopeful in watching and listening to President Xi addressing the British Parliament.These days, when it comes to economic growth, peace and development, which country would you think of first? It's got to be China.

Being a Canadian who grew up in Hong Kong, I am very interested in seeing a good China-U.K. relation. Being a Pacifist, I would like to see the world stop fighting and killing one another.

Trans Pacific Partnership (2)

On August 1, 2015, I wrote about the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), which failed to reach an agreement then. Now in the news, the U.S., Canada, in total 12 countries, have signed the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal.

As I said before, and now again, this is not just about business, trade and economics, but also politics. If not for politics and counter-balancing the growing might of China, it just doesn't make sense that China being the biggest country in Asia Pacific was left out in the TPP deal. However, there may be a TPP2 coming, that China may eventually join later. 

Uncle Sam just doesn't want China to set the rules in international business, trading and economic games, especially with the Asia Pacific countries. The creation of the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was China's win. The TPP deal is the U.S.' win. China's rise is a certainty, but the US decline is not, so the game goes on. 

In any economic policy or trade deal, there will be winners and losers. Instead of arguing too much about whether the TPP is a good deal or not for your country, please focus more on your own situation and see if it is something good or bad for you, and make all the necessary adaptations and adjustments to face the new reality. Take care.

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 '. 

Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)

In the news, the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal fails to come to an agreement.

My thoughts and comments:

The TPP is not just about economics. It also has to do with politics. It is Uncle Sam's effort trying to control and counter-balance the rise of China, especially in Asia Pacific. Does it make any sense at all, if not for politics, that the TPP does not include China, the largest country in Asia Pacific?

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 ?

Greece and China

In the news, 3 Chinese warships have arrived in Athens for visit.

My thoughts and comments:

The Eastern Civilization was much influenced by the Chinese Culture, and the Western Civilization was much influenced by the Greek Culture. Right now, Greece is having a very tough financial time. The country is near bankruptcy, and it may leave the EU (?). Who is going to help Greece? Greece may have to turn East to China for help.

It is already happening, that China has been investing billions of dollars in Greece, from railways to sea port, and from container terminal to air port, etc. etc. Allowing foreign navy and warships to visit your country is a good sign of friendship and acceptance. I always feel happy to see countries make deals and secure agreements peacefully, instead of fighting, killing, engaging in warfare and screwing one another.

Happy New Year of the Sheep. Peace to the World !

 

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 !!!       

Hong Kong Protest

It's amazing that the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong so far has been largely non-violent. If this kind of protest and stand-off happened in the U.S., or in Beijing, the police would have already opened fire and shot the students dead. I still hope peace and calm will prevail in H.K., but I am a bit worried.

Young people in Hong Kong are not stupid, but they need to learn more about history, economics and the geopolitics where they live, and in the world, and be aware of some hidden or not-too-obvious dark forces in the U.S. and other countries, which keep creating troubles and conflicts everywhere, to screw up other countries for selfish financial and power gains. There are people who do not want to see a united and rising China.

American democracy has become a plutocracy. It is free and democratic, yes, but it has become more a plutocracy than a democracy for the good of the common people. The elites work for the rich and powerful, not for the common people. Is that what you want ?

Dear Hong Kong people: Britain was your old master and your past. China is your distant past and future, not your enemy. You don't even pay federal taxes to Beijing, while Americans have to pay taxes to Uncle Sam wherever they live. Think about it.

Beijing, H.K. Government, pro-China and pro-democracy people, please be rational and don't screw it all up. Don't shoot your own foot. Good luck !!!

Foreign Policy

American Foreign Policy: let's drop a bomb.
Canadian Foreign Policy: let's follow Uncle Sam.
Chinese Foreign Policy: let's make a deal.
Russian Foreign Policy: what foreign policy ? It is a domestic Russian issue !
My Foreign Policy: same as John and Yoko Policy. Give peace a chance !!!

Spring Shooting

In the news, 6 were killed in suburban Houston, Texas, including 4 children. Is this even news, or rather just the same old story? Mass shooting is nothing new in America. It happens frequently. Even the headline of the news article I read implies that it is something seasonal.

To be fair, the headline of 'Spring Shooting' is probably intended to mean that the tragedy is happening in Spring, but to me, it sounds like an expected seasonal event. Don't be surprised if you see this same old story happen yet again: summer shooting, fall shooting and winter shooting! It is like a popular movie, with continued sequels.

Unfortunately, such mass murders are not movies. Real people actually died. In terms of gun possession, U.S.A. is number one in the whole world. One recent report shows that there are 97 guns for every 100 U.S.residents. Whao, that means there are more than 300 million guns in America !

"Guns don't kill people.Only people kill people", so they say. I heard that in Texas, a man would propose to marry a woman by giving her not only a ring, but also a gun. Dear friends in Texas, is this true or not ? Don't know what to say really, in spite of the fact that mass shooting causing multiple deaths is a very serious problem.Why ? Because bearing arms is a constitutional right of the Americans.

Guns are very much part of the American culture. It is not easy to change a culture, unless both government and people come to an agreement. Politics and economics only make the gun issue even more difficult and complicated. It is a mission impossible, or is it ?, to tell the Americans to stop playing with guns, the Russians to stop drinking volka, or the Canadians to stop playing hockey ?!

American Plutocracy

Paraphrase: as senator Bernie Sanders said, " Today the United States is number one in billionaires, corporate profits, CEO salaries, childhood poverty, and number one in income and wealth inequality in the industrial world. One in four corporations doesn't pay taxes.Congress doesn't control Wall Street. Wall Street controls Congress."

I'm afraid to say that American democracy has become a plutocracy due to selfish individualism, extreme capitalism and legalized corruption. Obama Obama ... I know it's tough, but what are you going to do?      

Reality Show

Forget the manufactured Reality Shows on American T.V. This is the true Reality Show of the world we live in: international economics and geopolitics.

 

We are living in interesting time. It is very exciting and hopeful, but also very worrisome and dangerous. The problem is that world leaders do not genuinely work 'with' one another, but 'against' one another. It's like different gangs fighting for control and influence in different territories.

 

Uncle Sam, USA, while already in heavy debts and with so many big problems at home, continues to insist on being the big boss of the world and refuse to let other countries rise up peacefully. Just creating fiat money from thin air is only an illusion, not a solution. How long can Uncle Sam fool people to accept his fiat money? Sooner or later, the American Dollar will lose its international value and trading status. Is World War 3 coming? I don't know. It's possible, but I hope not !!!

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).