Everybody has an opinion about trade with China, and here is mine: let’s trade ‘em Ben Bernanke for Fu Ying. Throw in a minor league pitcher if we have to – President Obama comes immediately to mind.
Fu Ying is China’s Vice Foreign Minister, who Friday announced that China would not use its foreign exchange reserves (i.e. dollars) to rescue other countries (i.e. Europe). She explained that “foreign reserves are akin to savings” and not to be squandered by governments. Whoa.
While the U.S. and European central bankers have all promised to infuse defunct European governments with as much cash as it takes for them to become even more defunct, Ms. Fu has decided to “follow market economy principles” instead, which she listed as “safety, liquidity, and proper profitability.” Yes, the “P” word!
Her explanation in China Daily reads like the Daily Paul. She does not believe that Europe can be saved by bankers; she does not believe economic decisions should be driven by political considerations; she does not believe that foreign investments should be made to gain power and leverage over another nation’s affairs. She does not see debt as a pathway to prosperity. Have mercy.
Ms. Fu makes the gibberish spewed by Fed Chairman Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Geithner sound like…gibberish. Our money men lobby the Chinese to strengthen their Yuan to assist us in weakening our dollar, and then we call them currency manipulators when they refuse to play along. We lecture China about lack of transparency while Bernanke is pumping unknown trillions into the western banking cartel in secret.
While the Chinese decided not to risk a nickel on Greek debt, they invested almost $400 million into Hungarian factories in just the past few months. Not because they particularly love Hungary, but because they make stuff at a profit in those factories. Those are the “market economy principles” that the Chinese seem to understand completely and we seem to have forgotten entirely.
They bet on winners while we bet on the losers’ banks. That is why their economy is growing and wages are rising, while our economy is stagnant and our wages are falling. China’s economic growth has “cooled” to 9.2%; that is suckage here.
Winning is why the tone of a China Daily article on the burgeoning yacht market here was so prideful; a nation that could not even feed itself a generation ago is now buying yachts. The Chinese are not ashamed of prosperity; they are grateful for it, and to the people who have brought it to them. We take our far-greater abundance for granted.
The Chinese people have actually lived the squalor of atheism and communism. They know what it is like to be equal – equally starving. They tried “We are the 100%” for half a century and it left them as the collective owners of nothing worth occupying.
And they learned first-hand how unlimited government power turns to mass murder; they cry on the graves that taught them. They don’t need a lecture from Ben Bernanke about central banking or central economic planning or central anything else for that matter. While we make noise, they make things. They don’t theorize about free trade here in China; they trade.
The Mayor of Zhengzhou City joined us for dinner on Sunday night after a long day of work. “Us” is a group of Canadian, American, and Chinese firms doing a deal without the assistance (or should I say interference) of our governments. All of us were working yet another Sunday at the end yet another 80-hour work week while our own President was calling us lazy on his way out a 17-day vacation from doing nothing about our nation’s problems. Eat your own peas, Mr. Obama.
The President also had the gall to tell a high school audience that market economies have never worked. Perhaps he should order his Department of Teleprompters to cook something up for him since that thing the capitalists invented must be an illusion. Or try this: come to the border of the Koreas, look North then South and tell me which one works – markets or government. The trouble with things plainly obvious is that they can’t be seen by people whose heads reside deep inside the orifice.
President Obama’s singular achievement in the realm of industrial policy was to commandeer General Motors and deliver them to his union patrons. We now have to recall 40,000 Government Motors Volts before they blow up and explain the 653,000 cars sitting in dealer inventories built to make GM appear profitable after the government bought it. He is half-right: market machinery doesn’t work when he is the operator. And it was not the market that gave us 15,000 abandoned windmills when the government subsidies and tax breaks dried up; it is going to take a boatload of carbon and scads of dollars to tear them all down and dispose of all that metal. Thank you again for saving the planet.
That’s exactly the kind of nonsense Mao used to do over here - build a mountain of unneeded tractors according to the 5-year plan just to prove the 5-year plan was genius. It is the sort of thing that makes sense to people who spend other people’s money for a living and know nothing else. In case you have learned your history in a government school, here’s what comes next - censor anyone who questions the pile of tractors (or wind turbines, or Chevrolets), detain the ones who won’t shut up about it (just passed that law), and eventually start killing en masse when the prisons fill up.
Talk to an ancient Chinese person and they will tell you that they never dreamed it could ever come to that in China, either. No one ever does until the relatives start to go missing.
Socialism’s apologists will bemoan the income gap in China just as they do in the United States, and just like Chairman Mao did here when he forced his capitalists out of the country and took their property 75 years ago. But according to the World Bank, only 4% of Chinese live below the world consumption poverty line now, down dramatically from over 65% when economic liberation began in the 1990’s.
Poverty was not cured by Mao’s government-imposed equality; he made it lethal. Poverty was eradicated in China when they rejected the socialist ideology and turned to wise leaders – like Fu Ying and Mayor Hu - who were committed to “follow market economy principles” and let their new 1% lift a whole nation out of despair. Maybe President Obama can find some time on his vacation to read a little Friedman or Hayek; or maybe Mayor Hu would lend the President his autographed copy of “Capitalista!” to start him off gently.
Shared sacrifice is only a noble goal if your aim is to be sacrificed in the first place. They have had their fill of the collectivist lie in China, and they are putting it in their rear view mirror by adopting American’s gift to the world – free enterprise. Bring on the yachts.
“Moment Of Clarity” is a weekly commentary by Libertarian writer and speaker Tim Nerenz, Ph.D. Visit Tim’s website www.timnerenz.com to find your moment.
Comment
I'll vote for that trade.
Comment by Roger Davies on December 11, 2011 at 8:44pm A major part of the solution is to get our economic house in order. Eliminate all business taxes and most regulations.
Comment by Charles F Nichols on December 11, 2011 at 7:19pm So therein lye's the problem . Too many fools cannot read. In this article it is laid out plain enough that any fool should be able to understand. How is it then? That the educated liberals cant see not only the obvious outcome but that they too shall suffer the repercussions. Surely they will accept along with the Doctors of this land the extreme reduction in salary. All these highly educated professionals accepting pay from the dear leader instead of what the market will bear. I see such great celebrations when they come to grips what exactly they supported.
Comment by Diane M. Blum on December 11, 2011 at 7:09pm We can become a stong economic power again if Americans stick together and only buy American made products. It may take some changes in shopping and the items may cost a little more than the China junk but you can still keep to your budget by buying less. Do we need 15 sweeters and pants? We can pay a little more per item and do with 11 sweaters and pants and stick to the same budget. Even with Americans buying less quantity to compensate for the higher cost with buying only American made will get this country manufacturing again and every American will have a job. Walmart, Target, Kohls who only sell China goods will see their business decrease. They may close some stores but those retail people will get jobs at Sears, JC Penny and other stores that sell American made due to increase business. Walmart, Target, Kohls etc. will then have to sell American made in order to stay in business. toys I have not been able find American made in the stores but I did find companies on the internet - yes I paid more for molding clay (American made all natural form of Playdough)and shipping but do our kids needs all the toys American kids have compared the rest of the world.
Only buy American made in everything including food.
Comment by Deanna Zohar on December 11, 2011 at 6:23pm Sorry but i don't know why my last comment came out the way it did but this is th complete one:
Comment by Deanna Zohar on December 11, 2011 at 6:16pm We have been sold a bill of goods since the first free trade bill was offered and passed and it is time we put an end to it. Free trade is nothing but another term for share the wealth and in case you haven't noticed in the last 3 years nothing is free including we the people. There are 300 million people in this country so there is no reason for anyone who wants to farm not to be able to make a living at it but in the name of free tade most of our food is imported. Our government is actually paying farmers not to grow crops so that foreign farmers will have a larger market for their products in this country. We were the largest industrial nation in the world until "FREE TRADE", Government high taxes and over regulation and agencies like the EPA crushed it and like they have called us the "Teabaggers" to degrade us they have have branded anyone who wants to stop the so called "FREE TRADE" as " isolationists " as it were a dirty word and wanting to keep American businesses and jobs in this country is so selfish when the rest of the world needs their share of our countries wealth. If you want this country people stop buying foreign products, stop going into debt for Christmas because gifts are not what it is about. my limit for this year is what I can spend in cash after all else is paid in cash. I am taking my grandchildren to a homeless shelter to see how other are forced to live because their parents have no work. I took them to the dollar tree, gave them each $5. to buy gifts for children there( I know most of the products there are from China but this was a teaching session not only on what Christmas is about but also a lesson in how well off they are just to have a home) it worked very well the last 2 years and this year they are eager to do it again. I also learned to use on little word and stick to it and that is NO, I don't have the money,NO I can't use the Credit card because I won't have the money to pay the bill, NO I can't just write a check if there isn't enough money in the bank, NO the price is outrageous and if you want it do some work around here, get off the phone and stop playing games, get out and find work, mow lawns, take peoples trash cans out and put them back, walk dogs, do something to earn money and save it for what you want because I am not a bank or money tree. That is how it was when I was growing up and that is how it will be from now on! We the so called adults are as bad as the children when it comes to spending and every dime we spend helps Obama and that is the last thing we need. If a bigger TV comes out we have to have it so we go into debt, instead of driving a car we can afford we have to have a new one and the list goes on. You will think I am crazy but my car is
years old. the thing is it runs great and any repairs I might have to put into it cost a lot less than the $350. or more a month in payments and huge insurance payments.I spent $ 285. in repairs this year vs $5,000 in car payments. My insurance is $456. per year vs 1200 to 2200 per year. For me a car is to get me from one place to another and all I ask is heat, air and a radio. Look at black Friday, people trampling each other and fighting over THINGS they don't really need to save a few bucks. What they don't seem to get is they didn't save a dime if they bought on credit because
Comment by Jo Gonzalez on December 11, 2011 at 6:00pm Amazing article, it just shows you, that the "Old" American way of life, was so scccessful, that Smart People have learned to emulate it. We have drifted so far left, with all of this Progressive Agenda, that we hardly recognize ourselves. The America People have waked up, after a long nap, and all of a sudden they can't believe what has happened, well Folks it has happened, but it is not too late, for us to go to the Voting Booth, and drag every warm body we can find with us, and CHANGE THIS MESS!! I want my Country back, and if enough of us, are willing to fight for it, we will have it back. Socialism is a road to slavery, failure and misery. WE CAN DO THIS, GOD GAVE US OUR COUNTRY, AND OBAMA ISN'T MAN ENOUGH TO TAKE IT AWAY!!
Comment by C Brooks Nielsen on December 11, 2011 at 4:54pm What a find, Justin, thanks! Tim, I also love "On Your Own"! It's a classic moment of clarity for every parent to share with the kiddies!
Comment by Gary on December 11, 2011 at 4:01pm It was an article written by Tim Nerenz that brought me to this sight originally a couple weeks ago, and I am glad I did. So nice to read the thoughts of so many like minded and right minded people. Tim you have out done yourself with this one. I look forward to your next posting Tim.
Can I ask for your help and support in Wisconsin to help fight the recall Walker initiative. We are in permenant election cycle here w/ the Unions trying to regain their power and control,
Comment by Tim Nerenz on December 11, 2011 at 3:36pm © 2013 Created by Judson Phillips.
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