Chinese Economics Thread

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That's true, but income inequality is overall a progressively worsening problem in China. It needs to be addressed, If only to maintain social stability. People who have read Chinese history will know that there have been revolts over the perceived excesses of the rich, while most everyone else is struggling to get by.

Income inequality are every where in every country. Why is it some perceive it to be a Chinese problem for social instability? Heck it's happening in America too.

Both the U.S. and Israel have seen inequality grow faster in part because of comparatively low spending on social programs and benefits, said Mark Pearson, the author of the 330-page report. Other countries, such as France, are better at redistributing wealth using taxes and benefits, he said.

Another factor contributing to inequality in the U.S. is a wide skill gap in the workforce. That means highly skilled people can command significantly bigger salaries than low skilled workers.

For example, U.S.-based doctors can make a lot more money than they can in the U.K. and Germany. And low skilled laborers in the U.S. tend to have lower incomes than they would in other countries, said Pearson.

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[solarz]

I think modern agriculture is productive enough to feed everyone on earth. It shoudn't be expensive to feed everyone for free (especially if you provide canned veggies). People may not be able to work for one reason or another. Instead of making perverse excuses for people to apply for welfare and have an entire bureaucracy to verify their claims and continue to check on them, just give everyone free food if they ask for it

Here in Toronto, i think welfare is ike $600 per month, not exactly living with luxury with that kind of money

Europeans get paid less i think. I read somewhere that it is a tradeoff they are willing to accept. I worked for a French company once and it was hard to ger stuff done with the headquarter people during the summer because they can take a whole month off

Why should you be able to live with any kind of luxury on other people's dime?

It's not about having enough food produced or not, it's the mentality of not having to work to live that is so destructive.

First, it breeds a parasitic class of people who feel entitled to other people's money and who believe that society owes them something.

Second, it discourages people from taking low wage jobs since they can just get welfare instead, thus increasing the number of peopel who don't work.

Third, the typical solution to the second problem is then increasing minimum wage, which has two repercussions: decrease the number of jobs available and increase the cost of living. The latter then drives the welfare recipients to ask for more money from the government, and thus perpetuating the cycle.

A lot of new Chinese immigrants work their asses off on cash jobs that pay much less than minimum wage, but they save up and then either get a professional job if they have the education, or go start a business. They don't keep working low wage jobs all their life.

Meanwhile, the welfare recipients keep cashing that government check and then complain about their living standards.

In China, if you don't work, nobody except your mom would care if you starved to death. And people wonder why the Chinese are so much more productive?

 

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In China, if you don't work, nobody except your mom would care if you starved to death. And people wonder why the Chinese are so much more productive?

Chinese work ethic and discipline = "slave wages" to those China naysayers and haters

 

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Why should you be able to live with any kind of luxury on other people's dime?

It's not about having enough food produced or not, it's the mentality of not having to work to live that is so destructive.

Exactly! Some countries have tried this model and failed miserably... And if one keeps this mentality, there won't be any food left for people to eat. We have enough food simply because most people still work hard. If a welfare system like that is implemented, you will see a sharp decline of number of people willing to work. Then food will be gone...

A lot of new Chinese immigrants work their asses off on cash jobs that pay much less than minimum wage, but they save up and then either get a professional job if they have the education, or go start a business. They don't keep working low wage jobs all their life.

Yep! Even if these 1st gen immigrants have no choice but to keep working on low-end jobs, they save up and put their kids through Ivy-League schools. I have a friend who is a 2nd gen Vietnamese American. She has 8 other siblings. Her parents own a small manicure/pedicure shop in Houston. they saved up everything they made and put ALL their kids through college and grad school. I think they got 3 doctors, 3 lawyers, 1 accountant and 2 engineers. The kids are very appreciative of what their parents have done for them. So they got together and bought a fancy house for their parents. Guess what mom and dad decided to do with the house? They split the house into 3 sections and leased them all out because they thought it was such a waste for only 2 of them living in it. And the dad did all the work on his own. This is what most of the Asian immigrants have been doing. The model is: work hard --> save everything you got --> send your kids to the best school he/she can get in, no matter how much it costs. It's education, education education.

Yet, their hard-working has been mostly punished by the welfare system in the States. For instance, Asians are not considered as minority in academia and will not get any benefit set for minorities, even though we only comprise less than 5% of the total population in the US. Why? you ask... Well, you go to any college and will find Asians everywhere. The better the school, the more Asians you will see. So they decided that Asians do not need help. The most likely reason for this over-population of Asians in higher education institutions is that their parents work 2x/3x harder than others. Do they need help? Heck yeah! It would mean a whole lot if they could get some help so that they don't have to work 80-100-hour weeks and they can actually spend some of their hard-earned money on some basic amenities like clothing and food instead of saving everything for the kids. So in a way, their hard work has been punished by the system.

 

[B.I.B.]

Chinese work ethic and discipline = "slave wages" to those China naysayers and haters

Yes people in NZ typically worked from 8-8:30 to 5-5:30pm.
Even blue collars not many of them wants to work overtime, just make enough to be comfortable and then go to pubs or something. Not a lot of things to do once the sun goes down if you are a drinker, shopping malls closes down early save for some supermarkets and maybe Chinese restaurants.

NZ sells itself as an adventure and sporting playground, so unless you into that, your only choice is to go to Karaoke Bars ,Tea Bars , make out with your girlfriend,watch TV, surf the web or visit Sino Defence Forum
I transited through HK not so long ago and while walking around late at night looking at the shops, I came across a musical instrument outlet selling anything an aspiring musician would require.But who the hell would wake up late in the night and decide they want a Grand Piano?

 

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The new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will boost investment in the region while contributing to "fairer" global economic governance, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Saturday at the formal opening ceremony in Beijing.


The China-backed AIIB -- which has 57 members including major economies such as Australia and South Korea but notably excluding the US and Japan -- is viewed by some as a rival to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB).

But speaking at the glitzy event in Beijing to launch the new bank, Xi hailed its future.

"The funding and inauguration of the AIIB will effectively boost investment to support infrastructures development in Asia. It will serve to channel more resources, particularly private investment, into infrastructures projects," he said.

Beijing will be by far the largest AIIB shareholder with about a 30 percent stake, according to the legal framework signed by founding member countries in June.

With authorised capital of $100 billion, it expects to offer its first batch of project loans later this year, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The US-backed ADB Saturday said it would cooperate closely with the new bank.

"ADB has started identifying potential cofinancing projects with AIIB in such areas as transport, renewable energy, urban and water," it said in a statement.

Earlier this month ADB President Takehiko Nakao said he did not believe the AIIB would diminish his institution, adding the two organisations "can complement each other".

The United States and Japan, respectively the world's largest and third-largest economies and the principal shareholders in the ADB, have both declined to join the AIIB, part of an initiative by China to expand its financial clout in Asia, amid concerns over the new bank's governance.

However, Xi on Saturday highlighted measures he said would ensure the AIIB "becomes a truly international, rule-based and high standard institution in all aspects, involving its governance structure, operation policy, procurement policy and human resources management".

Beijing has already sought to expand its influence through Xi's signature foreign policy initiative, known as "One Belt One Road", a massive investment scheme aims to increase China's footprint from central Asia to Europe through the use of loans to build infrastructure and transport networks.

Touted as a revival of ancient Silk Road trade routes, the initiative underscores China's ambition to wield geopolitical power to match its economic might.

Shanghai is also home to a new multilateral bank dedicated to the emerging BRICS countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The AIIB will loan $10-15 billion annually, the bank's chief Jin Liqun said last month.

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[Blackstone]

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[Blackstone]

John Lee is Australia's version of Gordon Chang, and just like Gordon, he's a favorite of neoconservatives, at least those that bother to read sources outside the US anyway.

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[Quickie]

NZ sells itself as an adventure and sporting playground, so unless you into that, your only choice is to go to Karaoke Bars ,Tea Bars , make out with your girlfriend,watch TV, surf the web or visit Sino Defence Forum
I transited through HK not so long ago and while walking around late at night looking at the shops, I came across a musical instrument outlet selling anything an aspiring musician would require.But who the hell would wake up late in the night and decide they want a Grand Piano?

Musicians are mostly night people? Just guessing.

 

[siegecrossbow]

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When I first arrived in China as a grad student in the 1980s, the streets of Beijing were cluttered with bicycle riders. A hot reform topic in its then more-regulated economy was how to allow farm prices to fluctuate. The country was 80% rural and a small player in global trade. Those days are long gone, and with them, ultra-low costs that allowed the world’s most populous nation to explode into a global manufacturing hub have disappeared, too.

Though today’s headlines about 2015 GDP growth of 6.9% are dramatic – ‘slowest growth in a quarter century,’ they are also deceptive in at least a few ways. First, China’s GDP growth, even if bloated by officialdom, is still likely among the best in the world. Second, the official figure is hardly a shocker — it came in close to expectations. I don’t know of any major research group suggesting it’s a blip and that China’s is going to return to double-digit growth anytime soon, either. The country’s GDP growth has been on a downward trajectory for years as it has become a mature economy. That will continue to hurt its demand for commodities that boomed when industrial production was faster. In the future, the country is going to face large costs from caring for an aged population and managing its debts, and recent currency depreciation isn’t going to be bring back its go-go days, either.

Yet a third point is more optimistic. China’s economy is changing and with that, new opportunities – and challenges for economic rivals — are being created. Aging, for instance, is a problem but is already fueling an increase in healthcare spending. Growth in incomes and consumer spending are still healthy by global averages. Apple and Starbucks – to name just two businesses — have been thriving and will continue to do so if they can continue to come up with fresh products and services. If they can’t, then ultimately that’s their problem, not China’s. Evidenced by venture and private equity investment gains, the country is heatedly embracing entrepreneurism, technology investments and global competition.

China starting in the 1980s has turned one of the world’s poorest countries into the globe’s No. 2 economy and one of its richest. Armed with plenty of cash and an enormous home market, it seems like a good bet to me that the country will find ways to evolve in the face of new needs. Adroit businesses and investors — Chinese and otherwise — will find a way to adapt, too.