Hi CB,
Can I get you to consider visiting Beijing for the Olympics, buy some locally produced T-shirts, some commemorative gold and platinum coins with the five stars and the gate of heavenly peace motif on one side and the panda bear on the other, and some shares of Beijing Enterprise which partly owns the McDonalds, KFC and other franchises in the city? :0)
No? well OK for now, I understand.
<<vicissitudes of summer school>>
Envy, jealousy, and more envy.
<<deliberately pursuing deflationary measures in a deflationary recession ... is suicide>>
Things are deflating in Tokyo, and their econ guys are warning that the prime minister's reforms must at all cost avoid causing contraction. Intuitively, I agree with the parameter, but it is not obvious how it all can work in real time/space.
<<Time to think about cutting prices, cutting costs>>
Hard, very hard, as you noted, very sticky, because you are talking about <<Homo Economus>> living wage as well. Governments have fallen for less.
<<A strong dollar means the US consumer buys more foreign goods because they are relatively cheaper>>
I believe this is the last line of defense for the world, it will prove to be not enough, and to be porous.
<<If the dollar slips, you guys are going to have to cut costs to keep selling to us>>
This may not be a problem, because the folks in inland provinces will pick up the textile trade, and the folks on the coast will pick up the optics trade. This is the natural consequence of globalization pursued regardless of the bumps.
<<We need to figure out how to cut overhead. Taking out a few layers between the producer and the consumer is a good idea - but those guys in the middle are going to have to find new jobs>>
I think, with the advent of WTO, Hong Kong's traditional role as intermediary between China and the world will be no more, and like the middle managers, will have to find new jobs. Hard to do.
I am afraid that no one has the script for what we are about to collectively experience, and no one is in charge.
Chugs, Jay |
