Piracy taken to new levels

[evilbau]

bump again haha

more chinese food shenanigans

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/0 ... index.html

Chinese 'trucking' live rats to southern restaurants

BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- Live rats are being trucked from central China, suffering a plague of a reported 2 billion rodents displaced by a flooded lake, to the south to end up in restaurant dishes, Chinese media reported.

[Devek]

Think of it like this... it costs far less to pay 100 employees in China than it costs to keep 100 chickens in America.

When you finally grasp how unbalanced and unprepared America is in a global economy you'll shit bricks.

As long as we're necrobumping, here, don't you mean how unprepared China and other countries where labor is cheap and unregulated is in a global economy? I'd say the higher the average pay and the more labor laws = better prepared in a global economy, even if the product isn't the cheapest.

I suppose my wording wasn't very good there and I apologize. By unprepared I mean the costs of living in America is so high that we are not ready to compete with parts of the world where labor is cheap and unregulated. Obviously there are always going to be places like this in the world, and people are always going to exploit this labor. To prepare to compete on a global scale America needs to cut the cost of living in half, at least.

The best way to do this, would be to kill all the lawyers..

I don't think people would mind paying twice as much for better quality goods, but goods in America are like 10 times as expensive as those made in China.

[evilbau]

Think of it like this... it costs far less to pay 100 employees in China than it costs to keep 100 chickens in America.

When you finally grasp how unbalanced and unprepared America is in a global economy you'll shit bricks.

As long as we're necrobumping, here, don't you mean how unprepared China and other countries where labor is cheap and unregulated is in a global economy? I'd say the higher the average pay and the more labor laws = better prepared in a global economy, even if the product isn't the cheapest.

I suppose my wording wasn't very good there and I apologize. By unprepared I mean the costs of living in America is so high that we are not ready to compete with parts of the world where labor is cheap and unregulated. Obviously there are always going to be places like this in the world, and people are always going to exploit this labor. To prepare to compete on a global scale America needs to cut the cost of living in half, at least.

The best way to do this, would be to kill all the lawyers..

I don't think people would mind paying twice as much for better quality goods, but goods in America are like 10 times as expensive as those made in China.

America stopped being a manufacturing powerhouse for some time now. This is due to what you correctly identified as high costs of labor/lack of competitiveness. We are moving (/moved) to a services economy and as a free trader, I believe America can do it, and is doing it. This shifting of manufacturing has allowed other countries to industrialize, which is in our best interests as well. Their cost of living will rise eventually, and we have another market for our goods. People bemoan the sad conditions of third world countries, and this is going to be the primary way for those countries to build sustainable growth and build wealth (generally speaking, of course conditions will vary from country to country and as natural resources will permit).

This effect is already being demonstrated in parts of China (i.e. factory heavy southern china) where they are experiencing shortages of labor for factories. They are making concessions such as higher wages, increased benefits, and better working conditions. It will be some time before their labor pool becomes saturated (there are restrictions to movement within china) but this news on even one province is telling of what the future holds. Realistically, we are talking generations, though.

[Flarega]

Think of it like this... it costs far less to pay 100 employees in China than it costs to keep 100 chickens in America.

When you finally grasp how unbalanced and unprepared America is in a global economy you'll shit bricks.

As long as we're necrobumping, here, don't you mean how unprepared China and other countries where labor is cheap and unregulated is in a global economy? I'd say the higher the average pay and the more labor laws = better prepared in a global economy, even if the product isn't the cheapest.

I suppose my wording wasn't very good there and I apologize. By unprepared I mean the costs of living in America is so high that we are not ready to compete with parts of the world where labor is cheap and unregulated. Obviously there are always going to be places like this in the world, and people are always going to exploit this labor. To prepare to compete on a global scale America needs to cut the cost of living in half, at least.

The best way to do this, would be to kill all the lawyers..

I don't think people would mind paying twice as much for better quality goods, but goods in America are like 10 times as expensive as those made in China.

The thing is, it hurts China and other manufacturing powerhouses to kill our economy because we're the largest consumer nation in the world. They're not going to bankrupt their best customer.

[evilbau]

The thing is, it hurts China and other manufacturing powerhouses to kill our economy because we're the largest consumer nation in the world. They're not going to bankrupt their best customer.

You are right. However, the larger issue is that their currency is also tied to ours and they hold so much of our debt, they definitely don't want to see the dollar devalued. Its working to their favor currently, as it gives them an export advantage, but it is not their long-term interests for them to have the dollar continue to lose value. They are definitely not trying to kill our economy. They are simply trying to establish wealth and dominance (in the form of the world's manufacturer of goods) in world economics... they are playing 'the game' well.

[Khamsin]

I don't think people would mind paying twice as much for better quality goods, but goods in America are like 10 times as expensive as those made in China.

Depends on what you're comparing, too. In many cases, you're paying 10 times as much for an American apple to China's orange. Except that orange is a dyed tennis ball with orange flavoring.

I may be spoiled because I live in the US, but I'd like to think that no matter where I lived (in some first world country other than the US), I'd rather pay more for something edible that won't kill me or make me sick, than something that's made of plague rats, wax, and cardboard. Seriously, if I ever go to China, I'm not eating anything there. Are even the international franchises safe, or do even the Chinese McDonald's use rat meat patties, synthetic egg mcmuffins, and recycled paper buns?

How do prices compare between products that are of close enough caliber to even be used by anyone other than dirt poor third world countries? (e.g. construction materials that have a design life of longer than 2 years, etc.)

[Kuya]

do even the Chinese McDonald's use rat meat patties, synthetic egg mcmuffins, and recycled paper buns?

Whoa there, so the other McDonalds don't do the same? Well i'll be.

[evilbau]

yet another scandal haha, guess the cardboard baozi story was false

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/0 ... index.html

China reporter held over cardboard-in-buns story

BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- Beijing police have detained a television reporter for allegedly fabricating an investigative story about steamed buns stuffed with cardboard at a time when China's food safety is under intense international scrutiny

[Khamsin]

yet another scandal haha, guess the cardboard baozi story was false

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/0 ... index.html

China reporter held over cardboard-in-buns story

BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- Beijing police have detained a television reporter for allegedly fabricating an investigative story about steamed buns stuffed with cardboard at a time when China's food safety is under intense international scrutiny

When is his execution date?

[evilbau]

very soon i'm sure.