Thread: 5 Interesting Big-Think Blogs about China

5 Interesting Big-Think Blogs about China

I just wanted to post these links for review and comment. They show a trend about China's growing world influence. I will be very interested in wangwy13's insight on these blogs.





30-Second Snapshot: The U.S. And China
http://bigthink.com/ideas/25337?utm_...m_medium=email

Nouriel Roubini: The Renminbi Could Be the Global Reserve Currency
http://bigthink.com/ideas/25335?utm_...m_medium=email

Beijing Will Be the Next Hollywood
http://bigthink.com/ideas/25356?utm_...m_medium=email

Richard Dowden: Africa Will Be a Chinese Colony
http://bigthink.com/ideas/25319?utm_...m_medium=email

Bruce Usher: How China Will Save the Planet
http://bigthink.com/ideas/25519?utm_...m_medium=email

Originally Posted by Lance Wenban

5 Interesting Big-Think Blogs about China

I just wanted to post these links for review and comment. They show a trend about China's growing world influence. I will be very interested in wangwy13's insight on these blogs.


30-Second Snapshot: The U.S. And China
http://bigthink.com/ideas/25337?utm_...m_medium=email

It's scary to think that a larger population can mean you are more dominant. It means the worst behavior leads to the best result politically. Too many Chinese people brag about their huge population instead of being ashamed of it.

Nouriel Roubini: The Renminbi Could Be the Global Reserve Currency
http://bigthink.com/ideas/25335?utm_...m_medium=email

This is highly probable, since their economy is generating increasing amounts of real, tangible wealth, while ours is becoming more an economy of paper shufflers and middle men. Tangible wealth will always be more reliable than service based wealth.

Beijing Will Be the Next Hollywood
http://bigthink.com/ideas/25356?utm_...m_medium=email

I would think India's Ballywood would be a more credible competitor.

Richard Dowden: Africa Will Be a Chinese Colony
http://bigthink.com/ideas/25319?utm_...m_medium=email

The part about the brothels really disturbs me. Paid, voluntary, prostitution is one thing, but the word "brothel" implies that it is neither voluntary, nor paid service on the part of the women. I hope that is just a mischaracterization, but I doubt it.

It's a solid reason why I would like to see China never come into power. That, and the part about bribing officials.

@ kojax

All those comments are concerns for all of us. However China has been patient and their timing at pursuing their development seems well planned. Who are we to criticize them now when we started our development by having slavery and wiping out the native populations. When they come to world power economically without going to war they will earn a lot of admiration world wide and the little things they did will not be remembered as particularly bad things.

One thing that will be of a more immediate concern to us is the price of coal. Right now China is buying all they can get and it is not nearly enough. So far our government has not allowed U.S. Companies to sell to China yet, but it's getting harder for them to keep saying no, and the price of coal is still going up.

Most of us in the U.S. already think we pay to much for electricity. But the fact is, it is being held artificially low due to government regulations as to how much the power companies can charge the public. The general public is not aware of this and will be in for a big rude surprise. The power companies are fast going into the red as their income fails to meat their business expenses primarily because of coal prices. The government will have to deregulate or the power companies will go bankrupt. All I can say is whoever is president at that time will become very unpopular.

Originally Posted by Lance Wenban

Most of us in the U.S. already think we pay to much for electricity. But the fact is, it is being held artificially low due to government regulations as to how much the power companies can charge the public. The general public is not aware of this and will be in for a big rude surprise. The power companies are fast going into the red as their income fails to meat their business expenses primarily because of coal prices. The government will have to deregulate or the power companies will go bankrupt. All I can say is whoever is president at that time will become very unpopular.

If people would just quit being so paranoid, we could go nuclear and leave all those problems behind us.

Originally Posted by kojax

If people would just quit being so paranoid, we could go nuclear and leave all those problems behind us.

While it is true that nuclear power has matured into a relatively safe means of power, due to advances in reactor design. There are still some long range issues that many people still have a problem with, such a radioactive waste disposal and storage.

However that will change with the doubling and tripling of every bodies electric bill, I'm sure. Unfortunately I can barely afford the current price of electricity.

To be sure I don't blame China for this problem.

Originally Posted by Lance Wenban

Originally Posted by kojax

If people would just quit being so paranoid, we could go nuclear and leave all those problems behind us.

While it is true that nuclear power has matured into a relatively safe means of power, due to advances in reactor design. There are still some long range issues that many people still have a problem with, such a radioactive waste disposal and storage.

We've just got to store it long enough to figure out a way to hurl it into space.

Originally Posted by kojax

We've just got to store it long enough to figure out a way to hurl it into space.

That sounds expensive and I'm only worried about getting by the next 25 years.

The articles seems exaggerate the fact like others.
I think the authors of this kind of article is actually talking about your own problems rather than talking about another country. So exaggerating is necessary.....

About electricity, I and another roommate used 150kwh lat two month. Consider the electricity used by us at other place, it's about 300kwh in total, mostly used by computer and hot water. What about you?

Originally Posted by wangwy13

The articles seems exaggerate the fact like others.
I think the authors of this kind of article is actually talking about your own problems rather than talking about another country. So exaggerating is necessary.....

About electricity, I and another roommate used 150kwh lat two month. Consider the electricity used by us at other place, it's about 300kwh in total, mostly used by computer and hot water. What about you?

There might be some exaggeration, but you can't deny that China is booming in their development, and it's not hard to follow the money they are spending. Making predictions about the future given their current rate of development is not that difficult. I see those articles as being very believable. Also I don't necessarily see that as being a bad thing. I see us as going through some growing pains while adjusting to the new world economy, but I also see the competition as being a good thing.

As to my power usage I'm about the same as you except here in Washington it's a bit cold now so my heating cost is higher than I would like.

Originally Posted by wangwy13

The articles seems exaggerate the fact like others.
I think the authors of this kind of article is actually talking about your own problems rather than talking about another country. So exaggerating is necessary.....

About electricity, I and another roommate used 150kwh lat two month. Consider the electricity used by us at other place, it's about 300kwh in total, mostly used by computer and hot water. What about you?

On this issue, you're right. China has a really good electric grid, or it will soon. The USA's electric grid is the one that is likely to lag behind.

I believe what the article was suggesting is that the USA has been deliberately prohibiting its own coal producers from selling to China with the hope of preventing them from having the electricity, and coal producers in other countries have been making a lot of money selling coal to China because of that, while American coal producers lose out. Probably we'll have to reverse that policy soon.

Originally Posted by kojax

It's scary to think that a larger population can mean you are more dominant. It means the worst behavior leads to the best result politically. Too many Chinese people brag about their huge population instead of being ashamed of it.

I don't think the Chinese are big on bragging about their population. I'm not sure they should be ashamed about it either, why should they? I don't quite follow. I'm no sinophile, I have great reservations about China's behavior on the international stage. Nonetheless, we have to keep things straight and criticize where criticism is due. China's massive population increase in the 20th century was due mostly to the Maoist healthcare reforms, they had the lowest infant mortality rates of a developing country for 25 years. Deng Xiaoping implemented the very draconian one-child policy in the 80s (two-child under the right circumstances). There's no denying China takes its population issues very seriously, it is nearly impossible to officially challenge the birth planning policy in China without ruining your career.

Originally Posted by kojax

I would think India's Ballywood would be a more credible competitor.

I think China is moving quicker towards Liberalization than India is, which seems unfortunately bogged down in religious issues. I think Chinese movies just happen to be better and more interesting, plus 80s Hong Kong cinema is great stuff.

Originally Posted by kojax

The part about the brothels really disturbs me. Paid, voluntary, prostitution is one thing, but the word "brothel" implies that it is neither voluntary, nor paid service on the part of the women. I hope that is just a mischaracterization, but I doubt it.

It's a solid reason why I would like to see China never come into power. That, and the part about bribing officials.

China's issues in Africa are a big problem, it truly is where they show their stripes as an equally Machiavellian power as the US can be. I don't think it's a good thing to trust any major power, US or China, without questioning what they're up to.

As a funny anecdote about Chinese brothels. A former professor of mine, a feminist scholar who studies the work of female CCP cadres in rural China during the Maoist era, had attended the 1995 UN conference on women in Beijing. She said there was a brothel in the basement of the hotel where some of the presentations were going on. Apparently, female sex trafficking in China has become a major problem, maybe as a result of the sex ratio problems created by the one-child policy.