SINGAPORE--Declaring the world at "one of those rare inflection points in history," President Obama told the leaders of China and other Asian countries Sunday that they can no longer rely on debt-laden American shoppers to fuel their economies and that the United States must consume less and export more. "The recession we're just now recovering from has clearly taught us the limits of depending on the American consumer to drive economic growth," Obama told a summit of Pacific Rim nations in Singapore, a vibrant Southeast Asian city-state that symbolizes Asia's economic transformation. Obama's comments, made at the annual meeting here of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, hammered home what has become a leitmotif of his eight-day tour of Asia: the need for "sweeping change" in the way the world economy works. Obama touched on a wide range of issues during a whirlwind day of meetings here. Significantly, he demanded the release of Burmese political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi in a meeting that included the Burmese prime minister, a general who is a close associate of the country's reclusive and hardline leader Than Shwe. It was the first encounter between a U.S. president and a member of Burma's military junta, which is under sanctions for human rights abuses. Obama's willingness to sit in the same room with a Burmese leader reflects his administration's view that the United States must engage with regimes that it doesn't like, a sharp reversal of the Bush-era approach.
SINGAPORE--Declaring the world at "one of those rare inflection points in history," President Obama told the leaders of China and other Asian countries Sunday that they can no longer rely on debt-laden American shoppers to fuel their economies and that the United States must consume less and export more.
"The recession we're just now recovering from has clearly taught us the limits of depending on the American consumer to drive economic growth," Obama told a summit of Pacific Rim nations in Singapore, a vibrant Southeast Asian city-state that symbolizes Asia's economic transformation.
Obama's comments, made at the annual meeting here of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, hammered home what has become a leitmotif of his eight-day tour of Asia: the need for "sweeping change" in the way the world economy works.
Obama touched on a wide range of issues during a whirlwind day of meetings here. Significantly, he demanded the release of Burmese political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi in a meeting that included the Burmese prime minister, a general who is a close associate of the country's reclusive and hardline leader Than Shwe. It was the first encounter between a U.S. president and a member of Burma's military junta, which is under sanctions for human rights abuses.
Obama's willingness to sit in the same room with a Burmese leader reflects his administration's view that the United States must engage with regimes that it doesn't like, a sharp reversal of the Bush-era approach.
... the 2008-9 plunge in world trade was one for the record books. What it mainly reflected was the fact that modern trade is dominated by sales of durable manufactured goods -- and in the face of severe financial crisis and its attendant uncertainty, both consumers and corporations postponed purchases of anything that wasn't needed immediately. How did this reduce the U.S. trade deficit? Imports of goods like automobiles collapsed; so did some U.S. exports; but because we came into the crisis importing much more than we exported, the net effect was a smaller trade gap. But with the financial crisis abating, this process is going into reverse. Last week's U.S. trade report showed a sharp increase in the trade deficit between August and September. And there will be many more reports along those lines. So picture this: month after month of headlines juxtaposing soaring U.S. trade deficits and Chinese trade surpluses with the suffering of unemployed American workers. If I were the Chinese government, I'd be really worried about that prospect. Unfortunately, the Chinese don't seem to get it: rather than face up to the need to change their currency policy, they've taken to lecturing the United States, telling us to raise interest rates and curb fiscal deficits -- that is, to make our unemployment problem even worse. And I'm not sure the Obama administration gets it, either. The administration's statements on Chinese currency policy seem pro forma, lacking any sense of urgency. That needs to change. I don't begrudge Mr. Obama the banquets and the photo ops; they're part of his job. But behind the scenes he better be warning the Chinese that they're playing a dangerous game.
But with the financial crisis abating, this process is going into reverse. Last week's U.S. trade report showed a sharp increase in the trade deficit between August and September. And there will be many more reports along those lines.
So picture this: month after month of headlines juxtaposing soaring U.S. trade deficits and Chinese trade surpluses with the suffering of unemployed American workers. If I were the Chinese government, I'd be really worried about that prospect.
Unfortunately, the Chinese don't seem to get it: rather than face up to the need to change their currency policy, they've taken to lecturing the United States, telling us to raise interest rates and curb fiscal deficits -- that is, to make our unemployment problem even worse.
And I'm not sure the Obama administration gets it, either. The administration's statements on Chinese currency policy seem pro forma, lacking any sense of urgency.
That needs to change. I don't begrudge Mr. Obama the banquets and the photo ops; they're part of his job. But behind the scenes he better be warning the Chinese that they're playing a dangerous game.
... they've taken to lecturing the United States, telling us to raise interest rates and curb fiscal deficits -- that is, to make our unemployment problem even worse.
My My My. Isn't that the neocon remedy given to previous third world countries who had massive foreign debts? Welcome to third world status, dear old US of A, and China is your America. Bend over America, it's your turn! In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
The president landed this afternoon in Beijing, where he is scheduled to have dinner with Chinese President Hu Jintao. In response to a question at the forum with the students, Obama said he is in China to seek "a meeting of the minds" with Hu about how their nations can lead the way on global issues. Obama singled out climate change as one of the key areas where the two countries can cooperate and show leadership. He said it was a burden both countries share and noted that nations around the world will be watching.... Trade and the global economy are top issues for Obama while in China, the third stop on a four-nation trip to Asia. He told his audience that trade between the U.S. and China has driven economic growth in both countries and that a more balanced relationship will provide greater prosperity. "This trade could create even more jobs on both sides of the Pacific," Obama said. "As demand becomes more balanced it could lead to even broader prosperity." The administration estimates that every percentage point of increase in U.S. exports to Asia [sic] could create 250,000 U.S. jobs, according to Michael Froman, Obama's deputy national security adviser for international economics....
Obama singled out climate change as one of the key areas where the two countries can cooperate and show leadership. He said it was a burden both countries share and noted that nations around the world will be watching....
Trade and the global economy are top issues for Obama while in China, the third stop on a four-nation trip to Asia. He told his audience that trade between the U.S. and China has driven economic growth in both countries and that a more balanced relationship will provide greater prosperity. "This trade could create even more jobs on both sides of the Pacific," Obama said. "As demand becomes more balanced it could lead to even broader prosperity."
The administration estimates that every percentage point of increase in U.S. exports to Asia [sic] could create 250,000 U.S. jobs, according to Michael Froman, Obama's deputy national security adviser for international economics....
"Asia" is not a nation. A correlative relationship of economic inputs or output changes between some national jurisdiction and a geographic region, with respect to calculating a current account balance, is ill-conceived, possibly bullshit.
In addition to economic issues, Obama's agenda includes pressing China to take a tougher stance on Iran, which the U.S. says is seeking to develop nuclear weapons capability. China has been reluctant to back more sanctions against Iran.... Obama spoke out against censorship of the Internet, telling the students that an open exchange of information makes nations stronger rather than weaker. "Unrestricted Internet access is a source of strength, and I think, should be encouraged," he said, adding that the criticism he receives in the U.S. "makes me a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don't want to hear."
Obama spoke out against censorship of the Internet, telling the students that an open exchange of information makes nations stronger rather than weaker. "Unrestricted Internet access is a source of strength, and I think, should be encouraged," he said, adding that the criticism he receives in the U.S. "makes me a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don't want to hear."
[Old] GM intends to make a payment of $1 billion a quarter, with the first installment Dec. 31, said the person, who requested not to be identified because the transaction hasn't been announced publicly. The Treasury Department is unlikely to recover all of the aid it provided, a congressional oversight panel said in a report Sept. 9.... "[New?] GM's sales in North America and China, especially, are doing quite well," said Masatoshi Nishimoto, a Tokyo-based analyst at auto consulting company CSM Worldwide. "The company may finally be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel."... [New] GM Chairman Ed Whitacre said in an interview Nov. 10 that "it's conceivable" the automaker [Old GM] could repay some of the government aid this year. The Obama administration named Whitacre, the former chief executive officer and chairman of Dallas-based AT&T Inc., to lead the board after the U.S. bailout gave the government a 61 percent ownership stake. The automaker [Old, New GM] is trying to build on its results in October, when its monthly U.S. sales rose for the first time since January 2008 and market share topped 20 percent. [New] GM sales of cars and trucks rose 6.6 percent in October. In China, the company more than doubled sales from a year earlier last month.... "GM's decision to keep Opel is also a sign that the new GM is performing better than earlier expected," CSM's Nishimoto said.
"[New?] GM's sales in North America and China, especially, are doing quite well," said Masatoshi Nishimoto, a Tokyo-based analyst at auto consulting company CSM Worldwide. "The company may finally be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel."...
[New] GM Chairman Ed Whitacre said in an interview Nov. 10 that "it's conceivable" the automaker [Old GM] could repay some of the government aid this year. The Obama administration named Whitacre, the former chief executive officer and chairman of Dallas-based AT&T Inc., to lead the board after the U.S. bailout gave the government a 61 percent ownership stake.
The automaker [Old, New GM] is trying to build on its results in October, when its monthly U.S. sales rose for the first time since January 2008 and market share topped 20 percent. [New] GM sales of cars and trucks rose 6.6 percent in October. In China, the company more than doubled sales from a year earlier last month....
"GM's decision to keep Opel is also a sign that the new GM is performing better than earlier expected," CSM's Nishimoto said.
...But a federal work-share program is winning some support from nonpartisans. Prominent economists pushing the work-share idea include Mark Zandi, an economic advisor to Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) 2008 presidential campaign who also advises Democrats. Dean Baker, co-director of the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research, and Paul Krugman, the New York Times columnist. Krugman touted the benefits in his column Friday, noting that German's work-share program has helped drive down its unemployment rate, which has gone from about 9 percent last year to less than 8 percent in October. Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, said that increased small business loans and more work-share programs could be an economical way to create more jobs. Zandi told the Joint Economic Committee last month that expanding work share to all 50 states would cost less than $2 billion and would provide more "bang for the buck" than unemployment insurance extensions. Congress passed and Obama signed last week a extension of unemployment benefits that cost $2.4 billion....
Prominent economists pushing the work-share idea include Mark Zandi, an economic advisor to Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) 2008 presidential campaign who also advises Democrats. Dean Baker, co-director of the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research, and Paul Krugman, the New York Times columnist. Krugman touted the benefits in his column Friday, noting that German's work-share program has helped drive down its unemployment rate, which has gone from about 9 percent last year to less than 8 percent in October.
Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, said that increased small business loans and more work-share programs could be an economical way to create more jobs. Zandi told the Joint Economic Committee last month that expanding work share to all 50 states would cost less than $2 billion and would provide more "bang for the buck" than unemployment insurance extensions. Congress passed and Obama signed last week a extension of unemployment benefits that cost $2.4 billion....
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Where's my ass at? 1932. (Energy Survey of North America is no longer on the web. See references to technocracy.org, Scott, Hubbert, and North American Technate 1, 1, 1, What we do not have? body count. Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
Man-Hours and Distribution II: THE DECLINE OF MAN-HOURS Theoretical Considerations In any given field of production whether of goods or of services, there is a relationship between: the number of units produced in a given time, the number of man-hours of human effort required to produce a single unit, the number of hours worked per man in that time, the number of men employed. In any given field of production let: q be the number of units produced per year, m be the number of man-hours required to produce one unit, I be the number of man-hours per year per man, n be the number of men engaged, e be the total number of man-hours required for the entire production. A man-hour is defined as one man working one hour, regardless of the occupation. From the above definitions the following relationships are obtained: The total man-hours per year for the entire production are the product of the man-hours per unit and the total number of units produced in a year, e=mq. (1) Also the total number of man-hours per year is equal to the total employees multiplied by the average hours per employee per year. Thus, e=nl. (2) Equating (1) and (2) together, nl = mq or n = (mq)/l (3) Thus we see that the total number of employees at any time in a given industry is directly proportional to the man-hours per unit and to the rate of production, and is inversely proportional to the number of hours worked by each employee. If at a given time mq is some finite amount, the number of employees, n, may be made as large as one wishes provided the working hours, I, be made short enough. Variation of Production, Total Man-Hours and Man-Hours per Unit, with Time In general, in any given industry, production, man-hours per unit produced, and total man-hours do not remain fixed but undergo changes with time. If the total production, q, and the man-hours per unit, m, are considered to vary independently, the total man- hours, e, are uniquely determined by equation (1), e = mq, at any given time, the amount of work available is determined by total production and by the human time required to produce each unit.
II: THE DECLINE OF MAN-HOURS
Theoretical Considerations
In any given field of production whether of goods or of services, there is a relationship between:
q be the number of units produced per year,
m be the number of man-hours required to produce one unit,
I
be the number of man-hours per year per man,
n be the number of men engaged,
e be the total number of man-hours required for the entire production.
A man-hour is defined as one man working one hour, regardless of the occupation.
From the above definitions the following relationships are obtained: The total man-hours per year for the entire production are the product of the man-hours per unit and the total number of units produced in a year,
e=mq. (1)
Also the total number of man-hours per year is equal to the total employees multiplied by the average hours per employee per year. Thus,
e=nl. (2)
Equating (1) and (2) together, nl = mq or n = (mq)/l (3)
Thus we see that the total number of employees at any time in a given industry is directly proportional to the man-hours per unit and to the rate of production, and is inversely proportional to the number of hours worked by each employee. If at a given time mq is some finite amount, the number of employees, n, may be made as large as one wishes provided the working hours, I, be made short enough.
Variation of Production, Total Man-Hours and Man-Hours per Unit, with Time
In general, in any given industry, production, man-hours per unit produced, and total man-hours do not remain fixed but undergo changes with time. If the total production, q, and the man-hours per unit, m, are considered to vary independently, the total man- hours, e, are uniquely determined by equation (1), e = mq, at any given time, the amount of work available is determined by total production and by the human time required to produce each unit.
So goeth putz (pl. as in herd of deer, bounding). Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
General Motors Co. said Monday it lost $1.2 billion from the time it left bankruptcy protection [10 July 2009] through Sept. 30 [i.e. Q3], far better than it has reported in previous quarters and a sign that the auto giant is starting to turn around its business.... GM's global presence helped the company, particularly in China, where its sales of 478,000 in the third quarter increased 6 percent over the second quarter. GM earned $429 million before taxes and interest [EBIT? or EBITDA?] at its Asia Pacific unit, which includes China, and $245 million in Latin America. It had pretax losses of $651 million in North America and $437 million in Europe.... Its third-quarter revenue totaled $26.4 billion, an improvement over the first quarter when its revenue dropped almost 50 percent to $22.4 billion from a year earlier. Revenue was aided by sales boosts in July and August [Q3] from the U.S. government's Cash for Clunkers rebates.... GM entered bankruptcy protection with roughly $94.7 billion in debt. It emerged with $17 billion, including the $6.7 billion owed to the U.S. government. The government has given GM a total of $52 billion, including $45.3 billion in exchange for a 61 percent equity stake in the company.
GM's global presence helped the company, particularly in China, where its sales of 478,000 in the third quarter increased 6 percent over the second quarter. GM earned $429 million before taxes and interest [EBIT? or EBITDA?] at its Asia Pacific unit, which includes China, and $245 million in Latin America. It had pretax losses of $651 million in North America and $437 million in Europe....
Its third-quarter revenue totaled $26.4 billion, an improvement over the first quarter when its revenue dropped almost 50 percent to $22.4 billion from a year earlier. Revenue was aided by sales boosts in July and August [Q3] from the U.S. government's Cash for Clunkers rebates....
GM entered bankruptcy protection with roughly $94.7 billion in debt. It emerged with $17 billion, including the $6.7 billion owed to the U.S. government. The government has given GM a total of $52 billion, including $45.3 billion in exchange for a 61 percent equity stake in the company.
General Motors Co., signaling confidence in its recovery from bankruptcy, said it generated $3.3 billion in cash in the third quarter and plans to start repaying government [$6.7 billion contingency] loans early.... GM's 8.375 percent bonds maturing in 2033, which will convert into equity in the new company, jumped 2.63 cents to 20.3 cents on the dollar at 9:14 a.m. in New York, according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. A closing price at that level would be the highest since January. Cash Drain Headwinds this quarter will include a cash drain as the loan repayments begin and from a U.S. auto market that will be 8.5 percent smaller than in the previous three months, GM said. The U.S. government is owed $6.7 billion and also owns a 61 percent stake in the biggest domestic automaker, which said it still expects an initial public offering in 2010's second half. Third-quarter revenue was $28 billion, including $26.4 billion for the post-bankruptcy period. [Old] GM reported unaudited data for July 1 through July 9 for General Motors Corp., and for [New GM] the period since July 10.
GM's 8.375 percent bonds maturing in 2033, which will convert into equity in the new company, jumped 2.63 cents to 20.3 cents on the dollar at 9:14 a.m. in New York, according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. A closing price at that level would be the highest since January.
Cash Drain
Headwinds this quarter will include a cash drain as the loan repayments begin and from a U.S. auto market that will be 8.5 percent smaller than in the previous three months, GM said. The U.S. government is owed $6.7 billion and also owns a 61 percent stake in the biggest domestic automaker, which said it still expects an initial public offering in 2010's second half.
Third-quarter revenue was $28 billion, including $26.4 billion for the post-bankruptcy period. [Old] GM reported unaudited data for July 1 through July 9 for General Motors Corp., and for [New GM] the period since July 10.
Obama singled out climate change as one of the key areas where the two countries can cooperate and show leadership ...
Isn't this the worst possible thing to say to a country that holds a huge chunk of your debt - short of 'The bombing starts now'?
... short of 'The bombing starts now'?
The bombing of WHOM? China or US cities? If you think Obama is on the side of average US citizens, think again. In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
