Central Perk: 26 sept. 2015

sâmbătă, 26 septembrie 2015

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

How US Corporations "Cooperate" With China; Xi’s China: A Place Called Hopelessness

Posted: 26 Sep 2015 06:12 PM PDT

In response to Why I'm Never Going to "Two-Bit" China an anonymous reader sent links to a video on how US companies are forced to cooperate with China and an article on "Xi's China" from the Daily Beast.

Both may be a bit over the top, or not, in the eyes of the viewer. Let's start with the video from China Uncensored.

China Tells US Tech Companies to "Cooperate"

Xi's China: A Place Called Hopelessness

Next please consider Xi's China: A Place Called Hopelessness

As China's President Xi Jinping visits the United States this week, Americans will have little sense what it's like for his people back home. His top internet censor, Lu Wei, organized a technology summit in Seattle earlier this week. Alibaba's Jack Ma and Apple's Tim Cook have been in tow, in addition to other tech giants. After a round of diplomatic pomp in Washington D.C., President Xi will address the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Monday before returning to Beijing in time for National Day celebrations at home. His message will be of success in the present and for the future.

Ask the ant tribe. They're educated, young professionals who live in near-poverty conditions, grinding away at soul-crushing jobs—not careers—that yield no personal satisfaction and zero financial growth. Typically from rural areas, most have settled in northwest Beijing, where their living quarters are cramped and they have no personal space. They're smart, they work hard, yet receive no recognition and can't shake off anonymity. So, people call them ants.

This year, nearly 7.5 million fresh Chinese university graduates entered the workforce, or attempted to. But because of the massive influx of new labor, increased year on year, competition has become cutthroat even as salaries have fallen, in some cases, lower than the wages received by factory workers. Cost of living continues to increase in tier-one cities, and prospects for members of the ant tribe eventually to own their own houses are slim. "I'll never be able to get married and provide for a family. I feel like I'll always be stuck in these six square meters," groaned Xiao. Rent is ¥1300, or about US$200, a month. That may not seem like much, but after other expenses, most of Xiao's ¥3,300 ($520) paycheck is gone.

In the fantasy world that the Chinese Communist Party has created for its revised history books, the state takes care of every citizen. But the ant tribe knows firsthand that this is not the case. Calling the Chinese president by his nickname, Xiao said, "Xi Dada says the youth are this country's future, but most of us don't have any opportunities. We graduated from university but there aren't any jobs available to us, at least not in the subjects we studied."

Xi Jinping's crusade against corruption has "swatted flies" and "hunted tigers," who conveniently are the Chinese leader's political enemies. China's millionaires can't leave the country fast enough. China's rural areas have a gaping security vacuum; forced demolitions, evictions, and land seizures still take place frequently, at times with deadly results. Soon, the CCP will begin transforming 82,000 square miles of land around Beijing into a megacity that's about the size of Kansas, and it will hold over 100 million people, or more than one-third of America's population. What will the ant tribe look like when that time comes? What does it mean for Chinese society when routine overtakes imagination, if it hasn't already?

China is hardly the miracle its proponents make it out to be. And it's system of government outright sucks.

Make statements like that in China and you will get arrested, or worse.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock

How Long Will Janet Yellen Last as Fed Chair? Fed Declines to Comment on Her Health, I Will

Posted: 26 Sep 2015 12:43 PM PDT

Fed Chair Janet Yellen's health is in question after she could not read her prepared text in a lecture on inflation last Thursday.

About 50 minutes into her speech, she paused for about 25 seconds, then repeated phrases and missed words.

MarketWatch reports Yellen Stumbles Towards End of Speech at Amherstt.

Yellen Video #1

Fed Declines to Comment

The Wall Street Journal reports Fed Declines to Comment on Yellen's Health

The Fed chairwoman, 69 years old, faltered roughly 50 minutes into a lecture on the economy and inflation Thursday at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She stumbled over her prepared text, paused for long stretches several times, missed and jumbled some words in the text, and coughed before concluding her speech and leaving the stage.

The Fed spokeswoman, Michelle Smith, on Thursday said Ms. Yellen "felt dehydrated at the end of a long speech under bright lights" and was seen by emergency medical technicians as a precaution, but "felt fine afterward" and attended a dinner on campus.

Bloomberg News reported Ms. Yellen appeared fine after her dinner and flew back to Washington on Friday from Hartford, Conn., telling fellow passengers at the airport that she felt better. "I look good now, don't I?" she said, according to the news outlet.

Yellen Video #2 - Close Up

Claim Investigation

Inquiring minds may wish an investigation of Yellen's claim "I look good now, don't I?"

Here is a sample of recent images from which readers can judge.

It's Better to Look Good Than Feel Good

Yellen says she looks good. And you know what they say.

Link if video does not play: "Fernando's Hideaway"

Let's be honest. Yellen looks God awful. She is 69 but looks 80. There is a load of pressure on the Fed Chair, and I highly doubt she can last another year.

How many rate hikes will she get in before she steps down for health reasons? Any?

By the way, the Fed has not hiked in 20 years in any year in which the stock market was negative year-over-year at the time.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock

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Seth's Blog : More of a realist

More of a realist

When did being called a 'realist' start to mean that one is a pessimist?

Sometimes, people with small goals call themselves realists, and dismiss those around them as merely dreamers. I think this is backwards.

"I guess I'm more of a realist than you," actually means, "I guess I've discovered that a positive attitude, a generous posture and a bit of persistence makes things better than most people expect."

Hope isn't a strategy, but it is an awfully good tactic.