Group items tagged

China's economical growth is slowing down. Many economists predict that China'a 10% growth will reduce to 7% or worse. In order for China to fight back they have lowered interest rate in hope of getting people to spend more money. When China lowers their interest rate it is cheaper for people to borrow money from the banks; but the money that isn't used and is stored in the bank will suffer from inflation. This slump might cause a chain reaction that hurt China's economic standing.

It's interesting that though China's economy is slowing down, it still has more growth than many other countries. Since China has more of a manufacturing-centered economy, I wonder if this slump may mark the transition to a possible service-oriented economy. In addition to that, maybe the leadership transition in the upcoming months will spur a more dynamic economy in China; thereby preventing a prolonged declining economy.

I remember discussing in class the fact that the world economy did not used to be so dependent on individual regions and countries doing well economically so that other countries could also do well economically on a global scale. It makes you wonder if an international economy is a good thing or not. To me, this is proof that we are not prepared for a multi-polar world. The United States is used to being THE world power rather than A world power. If at all possible, maybe it would be smart to learn how to coexist as more of an independent nation econonomically once again. Or on the other hand, perhaps that could create a situation where America could potentially be left behind by the other up and coming world powers.

The United States provided Pakistan with a $4 million grant to help the country further and maintain cooperation in scientific research. The grant will aid different areas of science to research and develop methods to improve the living conditions of Pakistanis. Mainly the research will be conducted in universities so that the science programs in the teaching institutions also gain new resources and opportunities through the new funding. The Pakistani government has done a subpar job providing the scientific community with sufficient money to expand their fields and research causing a loss of potential research, but through the cooperation of the U.S. and Pakistan, research has been able to progress and interest in the sciences has been renewed. One of the significant outcomes over the years from the funding was Pakistani scientists discovering a cure to the leaf curl virus that had bee affecting cotton textile exports.

I hope that the benefits of the grant will continue to be sustained over time. It's unfortunate that the United States is funding programs that deal with education and scientific research because the Pakistani government is unable to. I wonder what the long-term effects on the country will be as long as the money goes where it is supposed to. Also, I wonder if the United States' main incentive for providing the sum of money is terrorism-related cooperation or something else.

Chinese manufacturer Foxconn is at it again! We can now add underage labor to other articles in this group that show how this company has been involved in controversial practices. It makes me wonder why Foxconn would continue to participate in risky, and in this case illegal, practices. Especially when they just had a strike earlier this month! Is it all about the money? What should be done? This seems like something the Chinese government would want to get involved in to protect the countries image.

It seems like Foxconn lack ethics and morals. To add on your question "what should be done" I want to ask what can be done? Only reason China's economy is flourishing is because of exporting goods. Most US companies uses companies in China for cheap labor. If they start cracking down on stuff like this the labor might not be as cheap and it would be cheaper to have stuff built in America rather than China. That is the last thing the Chinese government want for its country.

Apparently China is kind of being hit with a mini recession at the moment. This recession is affecting the fast food industries. In another article http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-23/china-s-stock-index-futures-decline-on-earnings-concerns.html most of China's top earning corporations has decrease in stock prices. One of China major corporation Volatility droped 22 percent in the markets today. Fast food sales growth in decrease to 6% from 19% last year.

The comparison of the two articles is really interesting. Especially since the linked article focuses primarily on the sales of US franchises in China. It would be interesting to compare whether equivalent Chinese 'fast food' chains are also suffering or whether these companies with such strong American associations may be suffering due to the tension in US-China relations.