The Chinese Economy - Quite a Grim Situation

As readers of The Frost Report know, it is my belief that the Chinese economy is a sinking ship bound with incredibly large anchors.

Due to crafty government intervention, the carnage has been delayed for a remarkably long time, and continues to defy gravity to an amazing extent.  Nevertheless, the craft is now sinking below the waterline.

What always amazes me about the Chinese government is that - completely unlike the cryptic Federal Reserve in the US – they are remarkably honest and straightforward regarding economic issues.  For example, they famously call the real estate market “the housing bubble.”  They say that the large volume of private loans (issued to businesses who couldn’t get loans from banks) is a “severe threat to the Chinese economy.”

This week added some new examples of brazen honesty.  The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said that China’s slowing exports and growing imports are “quite a grim situation.”  Imagine Ben Bernanke saying that!  In regard to real estate, several sources - including the National Bureau of Statistics - noted that housing prices are falling in many major cities, and that the situation will probably worsen since the homes are still largely unaffordable!

Whoever loses all their wealth in this debacle (and there will be many) cannot say they have not been warned - over and over.

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"We'll unswervingly stick to controlling the property market without changing the direction or loosening the policies."

Zhang Ping, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, Aug 2011

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See also:
August sees property prices fall in China

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Occupy Wall Street - Come Join Us!



Wall Street's famous bull - from a rare angle

If you ask the Occupation Wall Street protesters what they want (and many people have), you get a mixed bag of replies.

Some want changes to the educational system to improve “fairness” in America.  Others want oil companies to stop fracking (opening cracks in wells to improve oil flow, which may damage groundwater if done incorrectly).  Still others want an end to high-frequency trading and an alternative minimum tax for corporations (I agree with these two).  Many just want America to get “back to Jesus” or work together for a better tomorrow.

Yet, I believe the real reason the number of OWS protesters has swelled in recent days is because it is becoming the best party in 40 years.

Between protests, the OWS hipsters enjoy free haircuts, share melons and avocados, play bongos and accordions, have Micheal Jackson singalongs, trade hemp jewelry and eat discount delivery pizza.  Occupy Wall Street is now the biggest, hippest love-in since Woodstock.

If I were in downtown NY right now, I would definitely stop by.  I might even make a speech or two – something about giving your banker a hug, or that bankers need love too.  But alas, someone beat me to it.  In the live video feed, I saw one of Goldman Sachs’ traders hanging out in the crowd, drinking a beer.

Come join us on Wall Street!


PS - Watch out for the brown acid!

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See also:

"A "bad trip" is easily caused by an expectation or fear of ill effects, which may later be blamed on "bad acid". This legend was made famous at the 1969 Woodstock festival, when concert-goers were warned to stay away from "the brown acid", which was allegedly bad."

from Wikipedia

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An Ode to Steve Jobs

MASTER OF CREATIVITY

As you have no doubt heard by now, Steve Jobs of Apple Computer passed away this Wednesday.

Many obituaries have already been written about Jobs by writers far better than I.  So, this short ode is about one remarkable aspect of the man: his creativity.

Famously, Steve Jobs is a university dropout.  This fact has been used to insinuate that higher education is worthless, yet it really tells only half of the story .  Jobs didn't actually drop out of university: he created his own.

Tired of attending classes for which he had no interest, the young Steve Jobs dropped out of formal college and began attending classes he wasn't actually enrolled in.  Many of the courses - such as typefaces and calligraphy - were "useless" to him at the time, but would become fundamentally important later when designing the Apple Macintosh computer.

In North America, we have a tendency to disdain anything that is less than 100% and immediately useful.  Statistics is a useful course; philosophy is not.  Carpentry is a useful course; art history is not.  Steve Jobs understood the importance of "pure learning" and the way it expands the mind, enhances creativity, and almost invariably becomes useful at some point in the future.

Steve Jobs, we will miss your genius.

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How to Live before you Die: Steve Jobs




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