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Photos of Sichuan Before the Earthquake
I spent much of 2005 traveling throughout China on a consulting contract, taking in the sights when I could. Let us not forget what Sichuan offers, once rebuilt. As a reminder to those focused on destruction, here are a few photos I took at 峨眉山 (Mount Emei) and the 樂山大佛 (the great Le Shan Buddha, [...]
Water shortages in China
A snippit on the problems resulting from drought in Liaoning Province. We will see more stories like this in the future. The economic implications are potentially large. Digging wells is a short term solution. Ground water is becoming polluted and in short supply. Once lack of water leads to crop failures the pressure on food [...]
Are There Lessons for Africa from China’s Success Against Poverty?
A recent World Bank working paper considers the differences and similarities between China and Africa and how the former managed to take millions out of poverty and the latter did not. The key line for me from the abstract is in bold and is certainly not rocket science. I have my doubts about the validity [...]
China’s economic development in pictures
This month the National Geographic has a “China Special”. The photographs are always of the very highest quality and the story is a good one. There is a surprising amount of economics in the text and correctly so. China’s Journey [National Geographic] My students wrote essays on paper so cheap and thin that it felt [...]
New book: "Debating China’s Exchange Rate Policy"
Given the seemingly endless posts on whether China will revalue or not on other China websites those interested would do well to buy this book. Debating China’s Exchange Rate Policy edited by Morris Goldstein and Nicholas R. Lardy China’s exchange rate policy has a great impact on the economies of the United States and the [...]
Credit Demand in China
New paper looking at the sensitivity of China to changes in the interest rate. A worthy reseach topic. I have not read it yet so cannot vouch for its quality. Has the Chinese Economy Become More Sensitive to Interest Rates? Studying Credit Demand in China TUULI KOIVU Bank of Finland February 15, 2008 BOFIT Discussion [...]
Hot money and the calls for a maxi-revaluation
Brad Sester over at RGE monitor has a neat little article (with good figures) outlining the dangers of holding off the revaluation much longer. For the record I cannot see it yet. The political implications are too great (the perceived job losses associated with a loss of competitiveness). A good article and worth reading. What [...]
Does Trade with China benefit the poor in America
The topic of income inequality in the US and who to blame always rears it’s head in some form or other whenever the US enters a downturn. This time however, we get to see a little of the other side of the story – do the poor in the US gain from having cheaper goods [...]
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