Posted on 08/30/2015 7:02:14 AM PDT by SkyPilot
Nobody has seen the village chief.
Just months ago, his courtyard home at the edge of the orchard was a makeshift trading floor where local farmers gathered to share tips and track the Shanghai Composite. Now, the gates are closed, a security camera stands watch, and nobody wants to talk about the stock-trading local party secretary.
“Out for the whole day,” ventured a neighbor.
“Who?” said another.
“Maybe he flew away in a plane,” joked a third.
It is a scene playing out across China. This spring, the country was gripped by stock fever, a frenzy of borrowing and buying that saw Chinese markets soar to historic heights, drawing in tens of millions of first-time investors, including dozens of people in this northern Chinese village.
The rally was bolstered by rah-rah editorials in the state-controlled press. Invoking President Xi Jinping’s vision for a powerful and prosperous China, the People’s Daily called rising stock prices “carriers of the China dream.” When the benchmark index hit 4000 points, an editorial in the same party flagship promised it was “just the beginning” of the bull run.
But the bulls would soon retreat, taking with them that official confidence. After trying — and failing — to prop up the market through July, the state has faded from view. The morning after “Black Monday,” the 8.5 percent slide that sent global markets sinking this past week, the People’s Daily led with a rosy report on Tibet.
Now investors across the country are left wondering how what seemed like a sure thing so quickly turned into a suck on their life savings — and what the party leaders many trust might do about it.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Last week, as the panic spread, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, and ABC told us that China and the US were not linked that strongly, and their decline would not affect us that much.
What a bunch of lies.
Not only are they selling US Treasuries like made, devalued their currency, propping up their own markets, they have made it against the law for many investors to sell their own stocks.
Take a look around your house, and see how many "Made in China" tags you can find. Go ahead. I'll wait.
Amazing. Isn't it?
Your clothes, your appliances, even your pet dishes.
Don't forget about the stuff in your garage. What about those Harbor Frieght tools? Yup. China again.
So, what is going to happen this week?
I am not sure, but even Newsweak gets it now.
Waiting for the Wal-Mart bashers to chime in, as if W-M is the only outlet for Chinese products.
Do you remember during the Dot.com crash when businesses were proclaiming that their business models had very little online exposure? I remember Martha Stewart saying this on some business show. They will say anything when the heat is on.
Many, many years ago, Wal-Mart sold (or tried to sell) only American-made products. It was, in fact, one of their advertising points. But then they realized that it didn't make sense to offer, say, American-made brooms at $10 each when their competitors had Chinese-made ones for $3 each.
So I don't blame Wal-mart one bit. I blame the government, and, to a lesser extent, the over-reaching unions.
If you are not a professional builder, these cheap tools work well enough. A hammer that you use ever couple of months? Get the $3 one.
Guys who put a lot of use on their equipment still buy expensive, Made-In-USA tools.
I’m 70 and have been buying Craftsman since my 20’s. Also, inherited my Dads tools of which many are Craftsmen, I clouding power tools, all still work just fine. I believe Craftsman tools are made in USA.
all in all, walmart bashers are an ignorant lot.
Walmart is the best retail corporation on the planet. Those that even measure up do so having used strategies and operations developed at walmart.
the walmart concept transformed retail sales from the inefficiencies and costly operations of shops and obsolete distribution methods. China and other backward third world countries became labor subcontractors that allowed American companies to have products produced and salable.
the ignorant walmart bashers have never actually looked at the diversity of countries supplying merchandise that becomes walmart inventory. There are several including some Europeans. The walmart bashers can’t grasp the fact that there is a global economy operating at levels of mega companies and at levels of small companies.
A small Hong Kong company selling wash bottles used by lots of companies including mine, but especially tattoo artists can advertise on Ebay, ship free by mail and make delivery within one week. Payment by Paypal offers a secure international payment option never before possible. There is no American source of that product.
There is a vast difference between the dreaded “Globalist” spectre that is mostly a mental condition and trade that takes place between unnumbered companies and individuals hourly on a truly global basis. A person in a remote village of Iceland or papua new guina can buy the wash bottles the same as I can in the USA
I can relate to that. In fact, Harbor Freight is one of my favorite places to shop.
But I wonder...suppose the government got out of the way by lowering taxes and eliminating regulations. And suppose the greedy unions got out of the way, could Americans make hammers that were competitively priced?
Chicaps are the future...... believe it. Learn to live with it
There are plenty of expensive tools and pieces of equipment that are made in the USA. Serious hobbyists and professionals use them. Craftsman, Snap-On, and many others.
Recently finished reading Mackay “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds”. People don’t change. Nothing changes. It’s just the next tulip-mania.
Not anymore.
It wasn't that long ago when a picture of Beijing wasn't anything but a sea of people on identical bicycles all in black pajamas.
Now, they do stock trading in pig pens and chicken coops.
Where did their money for stock trading come from? What are they buying that's making them so wealthy in a relatively short period of time?
The Party stole the people’s money.
The Party stole the people’s money.Good thing for us that can only happen under Communism. That would never happen here < /sarcasm >.
actually not free trade, but trade. the internet and mechanisms for the free and easy transfer of funds have overcome the political obstacles
the answer to your question is Chicaps.
the inherent entrepreneurial spirit within China has been released. It has been present in the overseas chinese for many decades and is now present in the mainland
i would argue that many are applying their minds and hard work to accomplish what you describe
A few years ago my daughter gave me a Craftsman rolling tool chest for Christmas. I didn't need it but kept it because she gave it to me. I already have a tool chest that was made in China. Guess which one is better quality and cost less? Yup, the China tool chest. The Craftsman has thinner flimsy sheet metal, bad welds, and cheap construction. The China tool chest has sliding roller bearing rails for the drawers and rugged pull rails in front, while the Craftsman has drawers that simply slide on folded sheet metal rails and has flimsy plastic pull rails in front that always catch on my clothes. The China chest also came with drawer liners, while I had to make my own for the Craftsman. I bought the China version far cheaper than what the Craftsman sells for.
I have experienced the same thing with other American made tools that are trying to be competitive with Chinese made tools. They can't compete cost-wise. I have an American made miter-saw stand that I had to grind off the welds and redo them myself because the welds were bad and crooked. Chinese made stuff is getting better than our stuff compared to past years.
Just sayin'...
“’I believe Craftsman tools are made in USA.”
“Not anymore.”
Yeah, after posting I did a little Googling and it appears Sears is transitioning Craftsman tool production from USA to China. However and supposedly, manufacturing specs and quality control standards are set to meet same standards as when made here. Don’t know, haven’t bought many tools over past few years and those I have bought don’t get used much. I was raised by the creed that if you need a tool, don’t borrow it, go buy it, and you will eventually have all the tools you’ll need. I pretty much did that :)
Good lesson. I've got lots of tools, and some duplicates. Thing is, new and better tools are being invented. I have tools that belonged to my grandfather as well as my father, including a 1950s era Craftsman saw table. Don't use them, as modern tools are better and have more features. Unbelievable how much manual labor was necessary in using old tools, versus what we have now with battery-powered hand tools. I just ordered some new Craftsman C3 19.2v batteries; lithium-ion that are lighter and smaller but have greater torque and the charge holds out many times longer than the old Ni-Cd batteries I'm replacing. Carpentry is a hobby of mine so they get a lot of use.
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