|
Last updated 2/22/2012
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
THE MAD, MAD ECONOMY, PART 298
|
|
THE MAD, MAD ECONOMY, PART 297
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHINA’S GUANGDONG PROVINCE STUMBLES
Guangdong is China’s richest province, contributing 12 percent of the country’s GDP. It was the province that pioneered and profited from capitalism. Now exporting shoes, toys, clothing and ceramics all over the world, Guangdong was originally the factory to Hong Kong’s world shop. But the province is now very unhappy and Secretary Wang has a world of problems. |
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN CHINA THAT WILL AFFECT YOU?
For the answers, just peek into a Coach. There's a bag full of answers and implications for you inside. First, Coach announced this year that it is now getting 13 percent of its sales from China. This is important because it indicates that China's growing middle class is now able to afford a high luxury brand. This means that China's rapidly growing middle class will be demanding more and more of the world's scarce materials, ranging from food to metals to oil. This will affect the prices of everything you buy. This trend will accelerate as Coach moves to rapidly expand its China store count from 55 to well beyond the 174 it has in Japan. |
|
|
This shirt is over 30 years old. It is unbelievably comfortable. Its material and stitching is outstanding. And it was made in the good ol’ USA. (My wife wants to throw it out because it has noticeably faded. When I tell her that Ralph Lauren made hundreds of millions of dollars designing the “faded look,” she wrinkles up her nose and looks the other way.)
Unfortunately, the production of that shirt has migrated to many locations. First from New England to South Carolina; then to El Paso; then to Mexico; then to China; then to the Philippines; and now back to Mexico. Why did that shirt move so much? |
|
There is a way to create millions of new jobs. But it is not the way of the Democrats, who want government to do the creating. (Remember the Soviet Union's revealing joke: "If you pretend to pay me, I will pretend to work for you.") Nor is it the way of the Republicans, who think private industry can do it "if the government would just get out of the way." (Remember the 1890-1910 period when government did get out of the way, resulting in the growth of monopolies, widespread unemployment, and business cruelty which caused the creation of unions.) The old "American way" to low unemployment is completely out-of-date. What's up-to-date in job creation is the "Singapore way." Or the "South Korean way." Or the "Taiwan way." The only way to create jobs is an effective partnership between government and business. The fast growing Asian countries have shown us that government's top priority should be to create jobs. Not "a top priority," as U.S. politicians like to say – but one, single, top priority. |
|
|
WHO IS REALLY TO BLAME?
Everybody seems to think it's the Captain's fault. He ignored the approved route and steered recklessly close to the rocky shore. He delayed giving the "abandon ship" order by one hour, which caused some people to be trapped inside the sinking vessel. He left the ship without checking to see that there were still passengers aboard. He refused the Italian Coast Guard's order to return to the ship and supervise the passengers who remained aboard. And of course Costa and Carnival management quickly blamed the captain. Actually, the Captain is not the only one to blame. |
|
UNDERESTIMATING RADICAL MUSLIMS
The headline over the news article about the recent Pew study blares "U.S. Muslims Are Moderate." That should make you feel nice and safe at night – except it is very misleading. Revolutionary violence is generally created by a small minority, never a "moderate majority." Think Hitler's Brown Shirts, a small minority in Germany in the 1920s. Or think Lenin's Bolsheviks, a tiny movement in Russia in 1917. Or think Mao's Communists, so small and so weak as to get thrown out of Shanghai before the "long march." And don't forget Samuel Adams and his loyal band who started revolutionary fur flying in Massachusetts in 1776. And especially think Mohammad, who started with an attack on Mecca and finished with a movement that subjugated much of the civilized world. (click here for a printable version of this article) |
|
|
But to date, no one has asked really big question. "Who will your key advisors be?" For history has shown that the difference between success and failure more often lies in the nature of the key advisors than in the President himself. |
|
He could intimidate the judicial authority of the University into covering its eyes and ears when his players committed major violations. King Joe could reduce major crimes like assault, battery, and assault with the intent to kill to mere slap-on-the-wrist misdemeanors. He could intimidate the President of the University into disobeying laws requiring the reporting of crimes against children to the authorities. He could intimidate the athletic director into closing his eyes and mouth when football players committed serious transgressions on and off the campus. He could protect an assistant coach who committed serial sexual assaults against children and who is alleged to have committed child rape as well. King Joe could seemingly get away with anything. |
|
|
|
A NEW YORKER COMES TO PIKE COUNTY
He first saw Barry, Illinois (population 1100) at the Apple Festival a dozen years ago. While watching the parade, he heard a terrible scream which seemed to last forever. Glancing to the left, he saw an aluminum chair slowly collapsing, the metal shrieking as it disintegrated. A lady ended up flat on her back, her face flushed with embarrassment. Suddenly a man rushed over, looked down at her and yelled, "They sure don't make these suckers like they used to." At his urging, the very hesitant New Yorker helped lift the lady up onto her feet. He was shocked that this man, a banker, would be so considerate and helpful. In New York, no one rushes over to help anyone. The first guy to go to a fallen person in New York is likely a personal injury lawyer prepared to sue anyone who touches the injured. |
|
AMERICA'S ENDANGERED GENDER
"Boys will be boys" went the old expression. But now they aren't allowed to be. In this century in America, boys are being refashioned into girls. It starts in school. DNA going back to the caveman drives boys to roughhouse and be physical with each other. It used to be that boys could get the drive out of their systems in gym class (playing battle ball) or playing strenuously in recess. That was too much for the politically correct school administrators and female grade school teachers. Gym became bad because some kids developed more slowly than their peers and were embarrassed changing for gym. So gym was eliminated. Administrators decided to eliminate recess because it didn't help on standardized test scores. |
|
|
WILL CHINA SEND YOU YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY CHECKS?
Mary Pickett believes that her Social Security is very safe. "The Social Security trust fund has lots of money, enough to last until 2027," Mary enthuses. "I read it in the paper. Besides, I'm 85 and will probably be dead before then," she laughs. To Mary, the Social Security fund is like a huge treasure chest, full of money. But if Mary could look into that chest, she would find no money. Instead, it is stuffed full of government IOUs – which are called "special bonds." In a spirit of incredible bi-partisanship, the federal government has "borrowed" all $2.6 billion from the fund. Mary's treasure chest is empty. The Trust Fund has been looted. So much for the "Trust" part of the name. The Social Security crisis is now – not sometime in the future. |
|
SHUTTING DOWN THE GOVERNMENT, SOONER OR LATER
This week, the U.S. government came within a whisper of shutting down tight and completely. It's all because we are violating a basic law of nature: WHAT CAN'T STOP GROWING WILL ONE DAY STOP To understand this principle, think cancer. When cancer cells can't stop growing, they simply stop – when the body dies. |
|
|
|
SAY IT AIN'T SO, CHEERIOS.
Cheerios was nutritionally correct, containing only a little over three percent sugar. Cheerios in the bright yellow box was the starter solid food for infants. All pediatricians recommended it. It contained no excess sugar. And the little o's were shaped and sized to prevent babies from choking. One marketing director once said that half of all the Cheerios sold ended up on the kitchen floor. But Cheerios has double-crossed all health-food-oriented people. For Cheerios has gone over to sugar! |
|
MY FAIR LADY
He actually wished that women were more like men. It was the kind of wish that inspires the warning: Check out the lyrics Higgins sang.
A major study indicates that Professor Higgins was completely wrong about the sexes. |
|
|
|
| 38535 |
(copyright) 2005-2012 UncleWisdom.com. All rights reserved.
During the campaigns, President Obama and the Republican wannabes have been bombarded with all kinds of questions.
Once upon a time, Cheerios stood for Health, with a capital "H." 
In My Fair Lady, Professor Henry Higgins was an arrogant linguist sporting a formidable wisdom handicap.
To contact Uncle Wisdom, click