The announcement of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, which heralds China＇s plans to liberalize the financial economy, has been seen as a welcome indication by most Western financial firms who have been pressuring China ...The announcement of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, which heralds China＇s plans to liberalize the financial economy, has been seen as a welcome indication by most Western financial firms who have been pressuring China for years to allow unrestricted convertibility of its currency, the renminbi. This announcement follows a historical pattern of U.S. policy pressure on other countries＇ monetary management such as when the United States pressured Japan to float its currency in 1973 after the U.S. unilaterally abandoned the gold standard in 1971.展开更多
The constant scrutiny by Wall Street and policy makers of countries＂ GDP growth can distort development incentives and result in disastrous unintended consequences. Clearly, for a country to prosper, sufficient econo...The constant scrutiny by Wall Street and policy makers of countries＂ GDP growth can distort development incentives and result in disastrous unintended consequences. Clearly, for a country to prosper, sufficient economic activity must be generated in order to employ greater numbers of people and to improve the overall standard of living for society. However, GDP was developed as a measure decades ago, and it has many shortcomings that can make it a poor measure of quality of life. Instead, economists and policy makers should focus on other indicators and develop new models for measuring a country＇s development progress which is possible with today＇s technology and big data.展开更多
The topic of shadow banking has now become the topic du jour of what will crash the Chinese economy. Before that, it was the real estate bubble, and before that, the rising cost of cheap labor. Of course, many wrong p...The topic of shadow banking has now become the topic du jour of what will crash the Chinese economy. Before that, it was the real estate bubble, and before that, the rising cost of cheap labor. Of course, many wrong predictions later, the bears of China continue to prognosticate that China will crash because they have a vested inter- est in seeing China crash. I am not going to say that China will never hit a speed bump. In fact, I think that scenario is likely, but not for the reasons that the China bears often use. But first, the shadow banking issue.展开更多
文摘The announcement of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, which heralds China＇s plans to liberalize the financial economy, has been seen as a welcome indication by most Western financial firms who have been pressuring China for years to allow unrestricted convertibility of its currency, the renminbi. This announcement follows a historical pattern of U.S. policy pressure on other countries＇ monetary management such as when the United States pressured Japan to float its currency in 1973 after the U.S. unilaterally abandoned the gold standard in 1971.
文摘The constant scrutiny by Wall Street and policy makers of countries＂ GDP growth can distort development incentives and result in disastrous unintended consequences. Clearly, for a country to prosper, sufficient economic activity must be generated in order to employ greater numbers of people and to improve the overall standard of living for society. However, GDP was developed as a measure decades ago, and it has many shortcomings that can make it a poor measure of quality of life. Instead, economists and policy makers should focus on other indicators and develop new models for measuring a country＇s development progress which is possible with today＇s technology and big data.
文摘The topic of shadow banking has now become the topic du jour of what will crash the Chinese economy. Before that, it was the real estate bubble, and before that, the rising cost of cheap labor. Of course, many wrong predictions later, the bears of China continue to prognosticate that China will crash because they have a vested inter- est in seeing China crash. I am not going to say that China will never hit a speed bump. In fact, I think that scenario is likely, but not for the reasons that the China bears often use. But first, the shadow banking issue.
