Good article. I keep seeing landfill sites full of plastic Barbie dream homes, patio furniture, Styrofoam and IKEA. Garbage tells a lot about priorities. China is in the perfect position to be the leader and almost sole provider for green products and technology. The next consumer frontier, and the next must-have of all nations.
Natalia On 12/3/2010 10:08 AM, Michael Gurstein wrote: > http://www.bubblegeneration.com/2010/11/worst-trade-in-world.html > > Tuesday, November 30, 2010 > The Worst Trade in the World > > Umair Haque > > It's often said that America's an uncompetitive economy--unable to produce > stuff that satisfies global demand. Hence, a yawning current account > deficit. > > > I'd say the reality's harsher. America's caught in a toxic, self-destructive > relationship with the globe's second most significant economy. In short, > it's making the worst trade in the world. > > The worst trade in the world is this: America doesn't export the stuff you > might think a bellwether of the 21st century would--cutting edge assets, > that power the global growth of emerging markets. Mostly, it exports > industrial age raw materials and machines: literally plain old commodities. > China finishes them up and "processes" them--and exports "consumer goods" > right back to America. They're the trinkets and toys that are piled high on > the bleak exurban shelves in super sizes--and America's pawned it's future > for them. > > Consider America's top exports to China. Leaving aside aircraft and soybeans > (neither a sustainable basis for national advantage), America's sole export > of note is semiconductors. The rest? Plastics, steel, pulp, chemicals, > copper, aluminum, engines, cotton--literally commodities. It's > hypercommoditized raw materials, of the lowest of value--literally just > stuff, far from higher value goods or services. It's not the picture of an > economy humming with innovation, meaning, purpose--it's the picture of a > junkyard. > > Consider, conversely, America's top imports from China. Here (apart from one > trade of enduring worth--America exports semiconductors, and imports back > computers, creating and capturing the lion's share of returns from a single > high-value industry), the picture's even bleaker. "Other--household goods", > toys, computer peripherals, apparel, footwear, TV's. America put itself in > hock for disposable, rapidly commoditizing, self-destructive, depreciating > stuff, discount-rack junk--literally the lowest of low-grade "consumer > goods". Not assets that yield multiplying, long-run returns--the foundation > of enduring, resilient, smart growth. It's not the picture of an economy > that's investing in tomorrow: it's the picture of Black Friday in a big-box > store. > > Together, here's what I suggest these two pictures show. It's the portrait > of a doddering, faltering economy on it's last legs--one that's managing > barely to eke out a living largely from the exorbitant privilege of > yesterday's reserve currency (which lets it essentially leverage itself to > the hilt). Instead of making awesome stuff the world beats down the door > for--it literally lives on exporting hypercommoditized raw materials, and > importing back the disposable, transient, depreciating junk mass-produced > from them at the lowest cost incurred, and smallest value added. It's a > portrait of an economy which adds little or no value to, well, much--and is, > instead, surviving by emptying out the last dregs in yesterday's rusting > industrial age cup. > > It is the worst trade in the world--and rebooting global prosperity depends > on creating the institutions that underpin a better one. > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
