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China’s ‘Shocking’ Domestic Slowdown Stuns Economists
When it comes to "strategic competition" between the world's two largest economies, Xi Jinping's doing a bang-up job -- of keeping the US in pole position. China's losing, and Xi's resorting to the usual quasi-chicanery to stanch the bleeding.
A flood of crucial data on Monday showed Chinese economic growth was tepid by the country's standards last quarter, while the consumption impulse faltered further in June, underscoring Beijing's seemingly intractable domestic demand problem.
GDP growth w
Governments stood by. But who was “responsible” for moving production and hiring offshore to Mexico, Canada (autos) and then China? Were there Mexican cartel members or Chinese police in US and EU corporate board room forcing them to do so?
Sorry, but shareholder return demands from we investors were as responsible as anyone. Along with the “free markets” ideology in the USA, as in “We don’t pick winners. Don’t you remember Solyndra?” Most nations do.
I call what you mention the “Tyranny of the Market.” It drives most of all C-Suite thinking, sadly. We live in a sea of tyrants.
Contrast: when Japan came under pressure from American politicians in the 80s for the damage cheaper (and better) Japanese autos were doing to the American car industry, Japan instituted voluntary export restrictions while MITI encouraged Japanese auto makers to build manufacturing capacity on American soil.
Japan was and is a US vassal state.
In my experience that view was not shared by the Japanese during the time referenced by WMD above.
I was on the ground in Asia then. The LDP etc knew damn well that they’d better do it if they wanted the military shield to remain in place. Plus they were much more dependent on the US market back then.