Posted on 11/10/2005 8:15:10 AM PST by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
Three cheers for President Bush! Once again, he's cut through the over-intellectualized claptrap peddled by the chattering classes in Washington and identified the real and in hindsight painfully obvious reason for the Chinese failure to respond to American urgings on currency reform: They forgot.
As the President said just before his upcoming trip to China and three other Asian countries, "I will remind [Chinese President Hu Jintao] that this government believes they should continue to advance toward market-based evaluation of their currency...."
Of course, this begs the question of why the President is even bothering to go to China with this message. Or why he wasted so much time and taxpayer money sending Treasury Secretary Snow to the People's Republic on similar, and ultimately humiliating, missions.
Clearly, all the president needs to do is send President Hu a few tablets of gingko biloba or ginseng, with a little note saying, "Take two and revalue in the morning."
Source: "Bush says US trade gap with China 'bothersome,'" Reuters, November 8, 2005
ping
Been wondering what you've been up to with the economy humming along so nicely and all. Thank goodness for free trade or we'd be looking at some job losses!
I caught the "free market" entrepreneurial spirit, dude.
I'm making plans to invest in a toll booth!
Ain't the service sector simply wonderful?
What does it mean to place "a strong focus on intellectual property rights..." and then say "...how to share technologies..."? Isn't there an inherent contradiction in those statements? Or is Bush interested in protecting only certain properties?
Bush take a stand for American business first, for a change, will you?
Hmm. The job of China's rulers is (besides ensuring their own survival) to make China prosperous and successful. Besides the fact that Mr. Bush want's them to do something why is this in their best interest. By opening their currency up to "market forces" they allow nutcase speculators like George Soros to have an impact on their economy. How is that a plus?
Presumably the net result of this would be a re-evaluation vis-a-vis the dollar, that would make Chinese goods cost more in the USA. But they prefer the status-quo which is keeping everyone employed in China and resulting in HUGE, STAGGERING balance of payments in their favor. Eventually they can come spend this money on Budweiser, stock car racing (the can buy the tracks!) and stuff like Freedom Tower and Trump Taj Mahal.
I think the author was kinda making the same point, with sarcasm. But seriously, what's the upside for the Chicoms? To propose a deal it is traditional that both sides recieve something they want? What does Bush think he is offering the Chinese?
China not manipulating currency for economic advantage, U.S. says
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER | Associated Press November 28, 2005
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration on Monday determined that China was not manipulating its currency to gain economic advantages but still pressed the Chinese to move more quickly to allow the yuan's value to be set by market forces.
The administration's determination, made in a currency report it is required to submit to Congress every six months, was certain to disappoint critics who contend that Chinese currency practices play a large role in America's soaring trade deficits.
Treasury Secretary John Snow said China's decision to allow a small revaluation of its currency last July had been a factor in deciding not to brand China a currency manipulator, but he said more must be done.
The United States had a trade deficit of $162 billion with China last year, the largest ever recorded with a single country, and this year's deficit is expected to approach $200 billion.
American manufacturers believe that China has purposely kept its currency undervalued by as much as 40 percent, making Chinese goods cheaper for U.S. consumers and making American products more expensive in China.
China in July announced that it was allowing its currency, which had been pegged tightly to the U.S. dollar, to rise in value by 2.1 percent. The Chinese said they would allow the currency to fluctuate by as much as 0.3 percent on a daily basis. However, over the past four months, the Chinese yuan has been essentially unchanged in value.
Snow led a U.S. group which included Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan to China in October to urge the country's government to allow a greater revaluation of the yuan. President Bush made a similar appeal to Chinese leaders this month when he visited China.
"It is imperative that China move toward greater flexibility as quickly as possible," Snow said in a statement accompanying Monday's report.
He said the administration would focus on China's actions in preparing the next currency report to Congress, which will be due in April. He said China's leaders have "committed repeatedly" to introducing more flexibility.
If the administration had found that China was manipulating its currency to gain trade advantages, that finding would have triggered consultations between the two countries.
It could have eventually led to trade sanctions being imposed by the U.S. government against Chinese goods if the United States was able to win a case on the issue before the International Monetary Fund.
American lawmakers, unhappy with the slow pace of negotiations, have introduced legislation to impose penalty tariffs of 27.5 percent on all Chinese goods unless China allows a greater revaluation of its currency.
Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the leading supporters of this legislation, have said they will bring up their measure by next March unless China shows greater movement in allowing the value of its currency to rise
"There is no doubt in the minds of most economists who have studied this issue that China is manipulating its currency," the two senators said in a joint statement.
Tell it to GM, NWA, Delta Airlines,etc.
Oh that's right, the airlines -- except Southwest, they must be magic! -- are in trouble because of FREE TRADE. I get it now! Not unions and gas prices, no.
And GM, good grief, incompetent management plus unionized workers will kill any company. Japanese companies make better, cheaper cars in the US than US companies do.
Oh yeah, they have a lot of routes that the Bigs have. Not. And it isn't directly pertaining to "free trade" except and as regards the rather sudden claims of fabulous economics. Gee, isn't that interesting how these fundamental sectors can be dying on the vine...but oh, look at those supposedly accurate macro-numbers. Again, Not! As far as gas prices, as you should know that is a result of a lack of free trade, with RINOS and RATs preventing exploration and development of our own resources. And they aren't defeated yet. Look at how even supposedly conservative GOP candidates like Mark Kennedy (R-MN 6th Dist) and US Sen. Norm Coleman...have BOTH gone along with the Rats on stifling progress on ANWR.
And GM, good grief, incompetent management plus unionized workers will kill any company.
So GM suddenly, after coming up with a whole new line of very competitive vehicles, is "incompetent."
Japanese companies make better, cheaper cars in the US than US companies do.
Cheaper? Not last I checked. You can get a better GM, Ford or Dodge pickup or SUV than anything made by Japanese companies anywhere....here or there...for less.
The management is doing good things. Its just that they can't carry the load of the pension funds that they inherited from when the democrats ruled all industry-labor relations. Nor does GM simply file Ch 11 like the NWA or Delta...they have too much cash in hand ($25 billion). So you can lambaste unions if you want, and even prior management (which had unions on one side, with the government on the other side backing the unions). I can tell you for sure, the net result of GM taking the dive they are in downsizing is really bad news for the U.S. populace. Not just is it lost GDP. And tax revenues. And of course, innovativeness, as they won't have as big a cash revenue base to support their R&D. Nope, it is because they will be forced to rely on the plants they have built in China for their U.S. market. This is a slippery slope to U.S. industrial oblivion. The Japanese, being canny businessmen, will follow suit.
Definitely a good time to be heavily dependent on poor fuel economy vehicles.
Perhaps you should consider putting down the Big Three kool-aid and steping away from the computer. Or did you miss them getting beat down by Japan the last few years?
You note this?
Consumer Reports Ratings for the 2006 Nissan Titan at MSN Autos ... The Titan is Nissan's first entry into the full-sized truck category, and it more than ... Very Good Comfort and convenience. Poor Real-world fuel economy ...
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