There is no contest in a footrace between a well-oiled, just-in-time-schooled car maker, looking to shift as many units as possible in a new market, and a decision-by-committee megacity administration trying to put in place an urban infrastructure fit for the 21st century. Handily, the auto maker also gets to socialise the losses (more gridlocked roads, fuel dependency, air pollution, deterioration of public space etc) and move on. Read More…
Posts tagged: China
Happiness footprinting to help a pre-crisis relic
Have you seen the app which takes your photo and makes it look like you’re really fat? Yes. And the game where you land all the planes on the runway? Yes, that too. Hey, how about this thing with the funny red monster that repeats everything you say? Please leave me. Please just leave me here to die. (C Brooker)
The above clip from Futurama and the article by Charlie Brooker in today’s Guardian, add a dimension to the e-waste/toxic mineral/assembly line debate which I think points to a smarter future for the consumer electronics industry. If you add together conflict minerals, e-waste, toxic chemicals used in production, and the now well-documented unrest among Chinese assembly line workers, the satisfaction footprint of our gadgets is miniscule. Read More…
my version of rebalancing
Here are a few slides i’ve taken out of a longer set exploring the way i see it
social, economic, environmental thinking for a rebalancing planet
View more presentations from i-see global.
Full version goes into more detail on things like: Read More…
China and Brazil Part 2: Our version of rebalancing
It seems that the kind of rebalancing that we will see is going to be political rather than the consensual economic kind favoured by developed nations. Read More…
FT Money Supply: cheap money and EM asset bubbles
Quote from FT money supply blog today…
‘The more imminent risk, though, surely is ultra-easy policy in the US, eurozone, UK and Japan helps to fuel asset price bubbles in emerging market such as China, Brazil and India – and small industrialised economies that largely escaped the crisis such as Australia.’
China and Brazil part 1: Surplus put to use?
This article from the FT contains a number of Chinese points of view from Beijing think tanks worth getting to grips with as the picture around imbalances doesn’t appear to be getting any clearer. Read More…
China's stimulus: sustaining growth over safety nets
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Howard Davies, former Chairman of the Financial Services Authority, current Director of the London School of Economics spoke at the LSE last night about where China was up to with its financial reform (download slides here). Davies, a member of the advisory boards of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (since 2003) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission, is ideally placed to talk about reform and the impact of the stimulus.
Davies main tenet: The crisis has meant that China will reform its financial system in its own way and at its own speed. Additionally, the crisis has not derailed the party’s development policies so don’t expect much dramatic change in the model for now.