[Vale46Rossi]

http://www.ted.com/talks/martin_jacques_understanding_the_rise_of_china.htm l

[PiuYi]

at first i thought he was overplaying China's rise, neglecting its problems n only stating its achievements

but later on he made some good points, glad i didnt stop watching

[cheapskate]

Very cool! One of the best speeches I've seen on China. Thanks! :D

[Gnomes]

Someone told me, if I am looking for a profit in terms of investment, invest in things China wants.

[Vale46Rossi]

Hmm, Revscene doesnt seem too interested.

haha

[dutch]

Revscene doesn't like to think too hard :P :)

[twitchyzero]

revscene is anti-china after all the troll posts by Spoony

[Meowjin]

theres alot of books you can read talking about a sociologists perspective on chinas changing culture when the economy started getting better. I can't remember the book on the top of my head but I'll make sure to find out.

[Vale46Rossi]

theres alot of books you can read talking about a sociologists perspective on chinas changing culture when the economy started getting better. I can't remember the book on the top of my head but I'll make sure to find out.

can i get a link if you can?

[Meowjin]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/books/review/06schell.html

Amazon.com: Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China (9780805076158): John Pomfret: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41gNNy1YcEL.@@AMEPARAM@@41gNNy1YcEL

[Meowjin]

good reads

http://www.buyric.com/news/2010/03/china-massive-government-stimulus-equals-empty-cities-027/

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/other-side-chinas-8-gdp-growth-ghost-cities

[Meowjin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h7V3Twb-Qk&feature=player_embedded#

[Meowjin]

martin jacques is also a marxist/communist... I'm suprised they don't mention it

[m4k4v4li]

middle kingdom

[m4k4v4li]

.

[Wongtouski]

Amazon.com: Why the West Rules--for Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal About the Future (9780374290023): Ian Morris: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516o8HtjxfL.@@AMEPARAM@@516o8HtjxfL

I want to read this, read the intro, very good, thick as a textbook though (which isn't necessarily a bad thing)

[Wongtouski]

good reads

http://www.buyric.com/news/2010/03/china-massive-government-stimulus-equals-empty-cities-027/

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/other-side-chinas-8-gdp-growth-ghost-cities

This totally reminded me of my Visit to Tianjin last March. My dad works there and he gave me a local guidebook, so with that I went to the "traditional tourist attractions", many of which when I got there, were

1) Brand New
2) Empty and dusty (cuz of the Sandstorms)
3) Don't even sell traditional goods at all, its all fake LV crap, or tourist trap stuff.

The best bit was the Tianjin museum, I got to parts of the museum where its pitch black. Why? They had motion sensor lights. If you read any slower shit would just turn itself off and you had to wave your hand at the sensors. LOL

[Carl Johnson]

Let's look at the other side of the argument. I am sorry but I can't get too damn excited about a country run by a dictatorship government that deprives its people of their fundamental rights and freedom. The wealth gap between the haves and have-nots in China has never been greater. The banks in China have been on a massive lending spree fueling inflation in basic needs like food, energy, and medicine to other assets like real estate. Unemployment also is a major issue in China. If you believe the official data of 4.3% then it doesn't seem so bad. But truthfully on the ground, things are not as rosy as what the figure would suggest.

Traffic congestion and pollution in major Chinese cities have become the norm. It seems that the consequences of the last 30 years of major economic expansion are finally catching up to Chinese. Where I see it that the Chinese government is behind the curve on most of the major issues the average Chinese people are facing.

Goldman Sachs might be right that in 15 - 20 years, China might be the biggest economy in the world. But honestly, I would rather stay here in Canada and post what I have just posted on RS without the fear of being put into secret prison and have me erased off the system.

[Carl Johnson]

(Reuters) - China's GDP figures are "man-made" and therefore unreliable, the man who is expected to be the country's next head of government said in 2007, according to U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.

Li Keqiang, head of the Communist Party in northeastern Liaoning province at the time, was unusually candid in his assessment of local economic data at a dinner with then-U.S. Ambassador to China Clark Randt, according to a confidential memo sent after the meeting and published on the WikiLeaks website.

The U.S. cable reported that Li, who is now a vice premier, focused on just three data points to evaluate Liaoning's economy: electricity consumption, rail cargo volume and bank lending.

"By looking at these three figures, Li said he can measure with relative accuracy the speed of economic growth. All other figures, especially GDP statistics, are 'for reference only,' he said smiling," the cable added.

Li is widely expected to succeed Wen Jiabao as premier in early 2013, a position that will put him in charge of policy making in the world's second-biggest economy.

A news official in the Chinese foreign ministry declined to comment on the specific cable and referred to comments last week in which a ministry spokesman called on the United States to resolve issues related to the leaks.

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy to China was not immediately available.

Chinese economic numbers, especially at the provincial level and lower, have long been viewed with suspicion by analysts.

"That China's GDP is not reliable, especially for local GDP, that is nothing new," said an economist with a foreign bank who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of discussing top national leaders.

"Some of the volume data, such as power and rail freight and even (bank) credit, are interesting because there is less incentive to massage them at the local level. But they reveal only part of the truth, not the entire truth," he said.

"This would be a useful measure for steel and cement production. I'm not sure how well it would measure retail sales."

Li would naturally have been most interested in heavy industry in his stewardship of Liaoning's economy. The province is one of China's top producers of steel, petrochemicals and machinery.

STATS Skeptic

Li has also gone on the record before to ask for more from the government's statisticians.

During a 2009 visit to the National Bureau of Statistics, Li asked whether China calculated GDP on a monthly basis.

Li pressed on when he was told that data was gathered quarterly and that monthly calculations were difficult.


Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/12/06/us-china-economy-wikileaks-idUSTRE6B527D20101206