Text 27758, 59 rader
Skriven 2009-02-22 22:15:10 av Lee Lofaso (3:800/432.0)
  Kommentar till text 27704 av BjöRn Felten (2:203/2)
Ärende: Question
================
Hello Bjorn,

>WD>Except for the cities there is no Chinese market for all those
>WD>electronic toys.

BF>First of all, the electronic toys are only vaguely affected by the
BF>present western economic crisis, it's the stuff that people need to
BF>borrow money to buy -- such as cars and houses -- that's affected. It's
BF>a credit market failure.

The total value of all final goods and services produced in the USA,
the dollar value of all goods and services produced in a year, is far
higher than that of China.  In fact, that value is tops in the world.
Sweden in comparison doesn't even crack the top 30.

BF>And China is the third biggest car manufacturer today, only USA and
BF>Japan are bigger, but unlike almost all other car manufacturing
BF>countries they sell almost exclusively (more than 95%!) on their own
BF>inner market.

That is only one industry within a particular country.  It takes
far more than that to make a country competetive in a global setting.

BF>Secondly, more than 50% of China's population now lives in the
BF>cities, and half of that half, i.e. appr. the entire US population, are
BF>-- by Chinese standard -- middle class or rich, with plenty of money to
BF>spend on their electronic toys. As well as on their cars...

Most Chinese are dirt poor, although those who have moved to major
cities (almost all of which are located on or near the coast) do
earn considerably more than those in rural areas.  The value of
goods and services, on a per capita basis, is $30,000+ for Americans
versus $2,000 to $3,500 for Chinese (depending on source used).
Chinese who live in rural areas (peasants) make so little the only
way they can pay "taxes" is by giving a portion of their crops
as payment.  And the amount of land they live on is very limited,
usually less than two acres per peasant, most of that land being
used for farming purposes.

BF>You really need to brush up on your knowledge on Chinese economy, the
BF>one you have seems, IMHO, totally outdated. It's been growing by almost
BF>10% per year for two decades now. And e.g. the crisis in Asia in the
BF>1990s only had a 1-2% negative impact on the Chinese economy, so the
BF>western crisis, that affects China much less than the Asian one, has
BF>very little impact on China, Well, not a negative one at least.

China still uses a planned economy rather than a market economy,
which is why average Chinese have so little in comparison with those
in the West.

Perhaps a review of Economics 101 might be in order?

--Lee


 * SLMR 2.1a * I'm in shape ... round's a shape isn't it?

--- Maximus 3.01
 * Origin: Xaragmata / Adelaide SA telnet://xaragmata.thebbs.org (3:800/432)