Banned YouTube Video due to controversy: Chinese Professor

 

Let me clarify. The US does not manufacture all the same things that China does. We aren't going to be make ipods anytime soon, or half the crap that they do. We manufacture stuff, but not the consumer stuff. I can't think of anything that I own which was made in the US, nor can I think of any competing products which are. I'm serious too. I'm looking at all the stuff on my shelves, all the stuff I use regularly, and none of it is maybe in the US. Electronics, clothes, random stuff. It's all made somewhere else and I don't even know of the US equivalent, nor do I think I'd want it.

 

Chinese companies pay their people $300/month at the most to work 12 hour days assembling ipods. Nope, can't compete with that.

 

How on Earth could their currency be revalued enough to make it competitive? If we want to increase domestic consumption we have to tax the shit out of the imports, because even if China gets too expensive, companies will just move their stuff to Indonesia, Vietnam, and the other places. And that's already beginning to happen.

 

Another issue is the legal system in these countries and what people can get away with. The CEO of Foxconn said that if he could automate manufacturing in the US for less than it costs in China, he'd consider it, however, he doesn't want to do business in the US. He says he doesn't want to deal with people suing him everyday. Easier to just do business where you don't have so many headaches.

Let me clarify. The US does not manufacture all the same things that China does. We aren't going to be make ipods anytime soon, or half the crap that they do. We manufacture stuff, but not the consumer stuff. I can't think of anything that I own which was made in the US, nor can I think of any competing products which are. I'm serious too. I'm looking at all the stuff on my shelves, all the stuff I use regularly, and none of it is maybe in the US. Electronics, clothes, random stuff. It's all made somewhere else and I don't even know of the US equivalent, nor do I think I'd want it.

 

Chinese companies pay their people $300/month at the most to work 12 hour days assembling ipods. Nope, can't compete with that.

 

How on Earth could their currency be revalued enough to make it competitive? If we want to increase domestic consumption we have to tax the shit out of the imports, because even if China gets too expensive, companies will just move their stuff to Indonesia, Vietnam, and the other places. And that's already beginning to happen.

 

Another issue is the legal system in these countries and what people can get away with. The CEO of Foxconn said that if he could automate manufacturing in the US for less than it costs in China, he'd consider it, however, he doesn't want to do business in the US. He says he doesn't want to deal with people suing him everyday. Easier to just do business where you don't have so many headaches.

 

 

The U.S. lacking a domestic manufacturing base is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard of. You'll never find an American made T-shirt at walmart for the same reason you will never find a Chinese made shirt on Rodeo Drive/5th Ave/ Newbury street. You can find American made anything. From socks to rockets to nuclear powered submarines. It's all how much you are willing to pay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The U.S. lacking a domestic manufacturing base is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard of. You'll never find an American made T-shirt at walmart for the same reason you will never find a Chinese made shirt on Rodeo Drive/5th Ave/ Newbury street. You can find American made anything. From socks to rockets to nuclear powered submarines. It's all how much you are willing to pay.

 

I don't doubt that there is the capacity for it, but I can't even remember the last time I saw a Made in America tag/stamp. Sure, American manufacturing exists and we can make all the same stuff, but no one wants to buy it. It's either too expensive or what is available, no one wants it. So many major brands produce abroad that the stuff you want just isn't made in the US. There are alternatives, but do I want Nike or Joe's Proudly Made in the USA Basketball shoes?

 

I guess that is another issue too. US companies don't make things people want even if they would be willing to buy. I'm wearing $250 jeans right now that are made in Italy. I'd buy them if they were made in the US, but they aren't.

 

The manufacturing I do believe that still exists if the more advanced stuff. Rockets, submarines, aerospace etc. High-tech still definitely exists in the US. However, the US is a country of consumers and average consumers need more consumer oriented things. You can't manufactures 10K new airplanes and massive GE generators for people to buy. BTW, China's train technology is probably going to become the best in the world.

 

The US just lacks in that domestic, average consumer market IMO. There are good reasons so much stuff is made abroad, and it's not always because it's so cheap.

 

And you know, in the end, even if China because expensive and revalues their currency to make things more competitive, everyone will just move to the next cheap place. Like I said, Vietnam has been getting a lot of investment these days. Currency is not the solution to this problem imo.

How about they ban more important things like Justin Bieber.

 

Did they ever mail him to North Korea?

Did they ever mail him to North Korea?

 

Yes. Last I heard he negotiated the talks to resume the family meetings.

True Religion pants are made in the US

True Religion pants are made in the US

 

Sweet. Now I have something to go with my bedazzled Affliction shirts.

 

I don't doubt that there is the capacity for it, but I can't even remember the last time I saw a Made in America tag/stamp. Sure, American manufacturing exists and we can make all the same stuff, but no one wants to buy it. It's either too expensive or what is available, no one wants it. So many major brands produce abroad that the stuff you want just isn't made in the US. There are alternatives, but do I want Nike or Joe's Proudly Made in the USA Basketball shoes?

 

I guess that is another issue too. US companies don't make things people want even if they would be willing to buy. I'm wearing $250 jeans right now that are made in Italy. I'd buy them if they were made in the US, but they aren't.

 

The manufacturing I do believe that still exists if the more advanced stuff. Rockets, submarines, aerospace etc. High-tech still definitely exists in the US. However, the US is a country of consumers and average consumers need more consumer oriented things. You can't manufactures 10K new airplanes and massive GE generators for people to buy. BTW, China's train technology is probably going to become the best in the world.

 

The US just lacks in that domestic, average consumer market IMO. There are good reasons so much stuff is made abroad, and it's not always because it's so cheap.

 

And you know, in the end, even if China because expensive and revalues their currency to make things more competitive, everyone will just move to the next cheap place. Like I said, Vietnam has been getting a lot of investment these days. Currency is not the solution to this problem imo.

 

 

So toothpaste, toilet paper, deodorant, shampoo, soaps, paper, paint, pencils, pens, food, lumber, tools, cosmetics, piping, roofing materials, socks, glasses, windows, doors, automobiles, trucks, shirts, pants, guns, and various other items don't qualify as consumer market items?

 

The EPA has done more to drive the production of certain products (mainly cheap electronics) to China, than cheap Chinese Labor has. I'm sure once China cleans up its act (or gets their own EPA) and the cost for production of those items rise, production will move to another country.

 

 

 

Sweet. Now I have something to go with my bedazzled Affliction shirts.

 

 

Glad I helped you find a match

So toothpaste, toilet paper, deodorant, shampoo, soaps, paper, paint, pencils, pens, food, lumber, tools, cosmetics, piping, roofing materials, socks, glasses, windows, doors, automobiles, trucks, shirts, pants, guns, and various other items don't qualify as consumer market items?

 

The EPA has done more to drive the production of certain products (mainly cheap electronics) to China, than cheap Chinese Labor has. I'm sure once China cleans up its act (or gets their own EPA) and the cost for production of those items rise, production will move to another country.

 

They definitely do, but clearly not enough of it exists. I don't really consider food manufacturing though. I think if you walk down the aisles of your local stores you'll see much more stuff made abroad than in the US, even though we definitely produce lots of stuff and have the ability to produce it.

 

I think we might be talking about two different things here. Perhaps I was too broad in my statement that domestic manufacturing doesn't exist. I have to go run some errands, but I will maybe clarify it when I get back. Maybe I should change it to consumption of American made products. So, domestic consumption and exports. We can manufacture everything under the sun, but we don't and no one wants to buy any of it anyway.

 

So yes, domestic manufacturing does exist, but it's not very successful.

 

Also, labor is a huge part of cost savings. There are 400K employees at the Foxconn factory. That is INSANE! Imagine the added costs of paying those people US wagees. China isn't just cheap because of it's currency...

America manufactures more than any other country on the planet. Up until recently, our manufacturing sector alone was actually larger than China's entire economy. There is a lot of stuff China manufactures because it is cheaper to make it there, but the notion that "America doesn't make anything anymore" is a myth, albeit a prevalent one. China is right on our tails manufacturing-wise though from what I understand, some estimate China may overtake the U.S. in manufacturing by 2014, we will see. But China might also have a bubble burst that gets them too, so who knows. Even if they do overtake the U.S. in manufacturing though, America still will remain a major global manufacturer.

 

Also China doesn't design, develop, manufacture, market, and then sell many products, what manufacturing they do is mostly for foreign (to them) companies that have already designed and developed products and just want the Chinese to put them together. But there are very few consumer products out there right now designed, developed, and manufactured by Chinese companies. No one buys Chinese consumer electronics brands, Chinese computer brands, Chinese auto brands, etc...yet anyway.

 

In terms of what America manufactures, a lot of it is stuff that the average person doesn't pay attention to, such as industrial machinery and equipment, construction and farming machinery (Caterpillar for example), machine tools, instrumentation, automation products, military-grade electronics and computers, automobiles, ships, aircraft, engines, generators, etc...also all that stuff ts640 mentioned. And note much of this is the important stuff, it's not a national security concern if China makes all our toys or T-shirts

The US cut China some slack in the 80's and onward for geopolitical reasons. Those days are gone.

 

China used to be a strait up commie country, billion people, nutty leader, and armed with nukes. The country was a destablizing force in Asia, a threat to Japan, and S Korea, not to mention making trouble in SE Asia. Nixon, to his credit opened the door to rapprochement, and every leader since has granted trade carrots/favors to the country, which has moved from being an economic basket case to the world's second largest economy.

 

So today we can proclaim mission accomplished, its time to play by our rules. This means a free floating currency, respect for copyrights, intellectual property, labor rights, civil rights, property rights, enviroment, and even simple shit like following good manufacturing practices(we don't want contaminated dry wall, lead paint and so on!)

 

If the yuan trades freely it will appreciate in value by at least 30%, over time less jobs will be exported, more captital will be invested domestically, the US economy will move from 70% consumption(we consume more than we produce, which is ultimately unsustainable and only possible because China and others lend/send our money back!) to a more reasonable figure, trade deficits will go down, wages stabilize, unemployment goes down, these are all good things. On the Chinese side, domestic consumption is only 35% of GDP, which is too low, so to prevent asset bubbles, inflation, its also good for them.

 

For those interested(Wheels!) here is an article on the last IMF meeting, which speaks of a looming currency war, where other countries like India, Japan, Brazil are considering or actually devaluing their currencies to compete with the Chinese. Remember that since China pegs its currency to the US dollar, this is a tool the US cannot use! If we devalue ours, so do they!

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/business/global/10imf.html

How on Earth could their currency be revalued enough to make it competitive? If we want to increase domestic consumption we have to tax the shit out of the imports, because even if China gets too expensive, companies will just move their stuff to Indonesia, Vietnam, and the other places. And that's already beginning to happen.

brian did bring up a point right here, a lot of people seem to think that if china lets their currency float fully it will help bring jobs back into the US, that wont happen, like brian said companies are already moving to other countries, and will continue to do so if china becomes more expensive to manufacture in.

One thing on jobs being exported, remember that there isn't some fixed number of jobs that countries have to compete over. Jobs are like wealth, free-market economies create them.

 

If the yuan trades freely it will appreciate in value by at least 30%, over time less jobs will be exported, more captital will be invested domestically, the US economy will move from 70% consumption(we consume more than we produce, which is ultimately unsustainable and only possible because China and others lend/send our money back!) to a more reasonable figure, trade deficits will go down, wages stabilize, unemployment goes down, these are all good things.

 

Only area I might disagree is on the trade deficit. I say this because historically, the trade deficit has tended to shrink when we had a bad economy, for example we ran a trade surplus during a few years of the Great Depression. Trade deficits are not like budget deficits.

 

For those interested(Wheels!) here is an article on the last IMF meeting, which speaks of a looming currency war, where other countries like India, Japan, Brazil are considering or actually devaluing their currencies to compete with the Chinese. Remember that since China pegs its currency to the US dollar, this is a tool the US cannot use! If we devalue ours, so do they!

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/business/global/10imf.html

 

Thanks for the link!

My question:

 

Did the OP really think that was a Chinese Professor?

 

hey guys, sorry this caused such a stir. I was email this link and thought it has a strong message. That is all. And no, Vyce, I don't think this was a Chinese professor, that was the name of the video on YouTube.

 

Also, on the topic of this video being banned, I was just passing along the information from where I got the link from. Someone said that it plays on CNBC all the time - if that is the case then this video is not banned and I'll edit the name of this topic.

 

MODS: please edit the title to not reflect "banned" Thanks!

 

EJ

How about they ban more important things like Justin Bieber.

 

 

^^^ this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ok if you want to go "jimmy hoffa" missing quickly spam post that video every where on the world.

 

 

such good truth to it.

 

 

 

still though China has some awasome roads and cheap fuel prices .

You can't have the constant high growth that China has had without a correction. Usually the first one is the worst. China will fall hard in our lifetime. Grab some popcorn and get ready. They will survive, just like other large economies. When this happens it shouldn't affect other countries as much as the US depression affected Europe and others because China is more insulated. Manufacturing prices will plummet with a Chinese depression/recession as well.