Musings and chronicles on life, work, film, culture, politics, etc.
19 Nov 2012 1 Comment
in musing, news Tags: creatie solutions, economics, good ideas
I didn’t know that during the Depression some localities created their own currency. Now the practice is re-emerging. Champaign-Urbana, Illinois has started Smile Bucks, like the Berkshares currency described in the video.
I would use these if they were offered in my town.
01 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in China, essay Tags: China, culture, economics, reblogging
China’s Economy – Prosperity and Poverty walk hand in hand (letting the Gini (sic) out of the bottle). Well, worth reading.
Here in Jinan it seems very middle class, but then while it’s not as bad as out west, we do have our beggars and some people are struggling. I wouldn’t trade places with the construction workers who’re here.
27 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in essay, musing Tags: Debt, economics, government, Government budget, Jared Bernstein, New York Times, Paul Krugman, poor thinking, poverty
budget (Photo credit: 401K)
Often people compare a government‘s budget to a family budget. It’s sort of an easy, automatic thought. “If I have to live within my means, the government should.”
Yet if you think it through that is just poor thinking. Your family has no or little defense spending. Maybe you’ve got an alarm service, but you don’t need to wage war. If you want to, you can donate to a charity, here or abroad, but if you don’t what are the repercussions? Zip. Don’t compare your kids’ piano lessons or science fair project expenses to the NEA or scientific research. How many employees does the average family have? The government has a lot more budget items. Period. End of story.
Your number and type of dependents differs immensely. The average family has something like 2.2 children. Not millions and you choose that number pretty much. The government can’t choose how many poor people there will be in the same way.
Our government does pay its bills, just like most families pay their’s. Actually, it’s probably a lot better at doing so.
Also, so many people conveniently forget that credit card debt isn’t the only debt a family has. Factor in the mortgage and car payments and most families, respectable, hard-working, All-Americans have a lot of debt. And they get a break on their taxes for some of that debt. Who subsidizes the government for getting in debt as a form of behavior reinforcement?
So can we just stop using this poor analogy? Probably not. It’s quite ingrained and handy for those who don’t like to think anew.
Here are some articles that address this very issue:
17 Feb 2012 2 Comments
in books, China, commerce, customer service Tags: business, China, economics, export, factories, global economy, greed, import, narrative, nonfiction, Paul Midland, quality erosion, quality fade, quality manipulation, slip shod, trade
Peter Midland studied Chinese language and history in college before moving to China. After a few years there he returned to the US to get his MBA at Wharton. While many of his peers went into finance, Midland took the path not taken and headed for Guangzhou to consult for US companies keen to find a manufacturer in China.Poorly Made in China chronicles Midland’s experiences helping US companies navigate these uncertain, often turbulent waters. It’s an engaging must-read for business people and consumers. It’ll make you think differently about China and Chinese goods.
I learned so much from this book that begins with an unforgettable anecdote. Midland is outside with a Chinese client and the industrial stench is unbearable. Reflexively, he exclaims in Chinese, “It stinks.” Calmly, the Chinese man exhales from his cigarette and slowly responds. “I don’t get you foreigners. To me this smells like money.”
Well, right, but the N.Y. Times reported that as many as 700,000 Chinese each year die prematurely due to pollution. So it also smells like death.
I learned new terms like quality fade, quality erosion and quality manipulation, that are all rather self-explanatory, but scary that it’s actually a business tactic in China. Dealings with a shampoo and body wash importer reveal how this works. The first order or so that Midland’s client made were fine. All according to spec. Then, gradually, things changed. The shampoo’s ingredients were modified little by little till eventually, there was a problem because the shampoo would freeze when it got a bit cold.
As time went on the molds for the plastic bottles got thinner and thinner, till when squeezed they broke releasing the shampoo all over. The cardboard for the shipment got cheaper and cheaper till it would break in transit. With the shoddy bottles this could lead to a major mess. Retailers like Walgreen’s and CVS sure wouldn’t tolerate much of these hassles so the importer is sure to lose orders. Yet the factory management couldn’t see that the poor quality might effect their own business.
Once Midland went to tour a factory and everything seemed nice. Clean environment, busy bee workers. A few were rather clumsy like they were very new to the job. When Midland asked a few questions he was whisked out. Then they had him waiting. When he got bored he got up and walked around. Through the window he saw that the factory was completely empty. He’d asked about breaks and this wasn’t a break time. When the woman in charge saw him looking out the window, she freaked. It turned out that this was a big charade and that many new factories have showplace factories for the foreign clients. Some old ones do this too and the foreigners never see the real factory.
Every chapter is engaging and revealing. You’ll laugh, cry and think twice about buying so much from China. Interestingly, Midland points out how China is not learning to value quality as Japan and Korea did when they were at this stage of development. Something to ponder.
After working for a US community college in Guangzhou, I could see so many parallels. Chilling parallels.
N.B. As my colleagues and I settle into China, note that two of us have broken toilets. We’re in newly renovated apartments and the plumbing just isn’t up to par. Today I had an agreement with my colleague that I could use her bathroom if need be. I’m happy to report that a plumber came today, but this is an example of the low quality of manufactured goods. It’s not just the items that are imported. It’s pervasive.
09 Apr 2011 Leave a Comment
in politics, society Tags: economics, injustice
I really enjoyed Roger Ebert’s blog post on the One Percenters. It captures the Gilded Age 2.0.
smkelly8