China policy. (Wall Street West).In the late 1970s, it was an article of faith that oil prices would hit $100 a barrel. In the late 1980s, it was that Japan would dominate world commerce. In the 1990s, that the Web would redefine life. More recently, the mantra is that China will be the world's manufacturing platform, given its giant population, low wages and huge investments in infrastructure. "Well, maybe," said R.M. "Dick" Torre, deal maker with Irvine and Los Angeles-based Global Vantage Securities Ltd., who travels extensively in China and often arranges cross-border transactions. China's banking system, for starters, is fiddled with cronyism Cronyism Tammany Hall Manhattan Democratic political circle notorious for spoils system approach. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 492] . Money has been lent on projects of dubious economic value, largely at the behest be·hest n. 1. An authoritative command. 2. An urgent request: I called the office at the behest of my assistant. of those with political connections. Another funny thing: "Power usage has been dropping in Dropping in is a skateboarding trick with which a skateboarder can start skating a half-pipe by dropping into it from the coping instead of starting from the bottom and pumping gradually for more speed. China in the last year," Torre said. "That's tough to reconcile with increased manufacturing." Economic figures released by official China are a joke, lamented Torre. "They come out with their figures seven days after a quarter, and they never revise them." In the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , economic growth figures come out weeks after a quarter, and are revised for several quarters thereafter. All the same, the advantages of China, and its 10 cents-an-hour labor, are formidable. "If I were anyone in Latin America Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. , I would be worried, and that includes Mexico," said Torre. "In the long run, anyone fighting a low-wage war against China will lose." Contributing columnist Benjamin Mark Cole Mark Cole is a multi-instrumentalist blues and roots musician based in Gloucester, UK Music Mark primarily writes and performs blues music but also writes and performs music influenced by other American roots music genres such as americana, cajun, zydeco, bluegrass and can be reached at sevencontinents@mindspring.com. |
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