I got back three days ago from my trip to the US and am still sludging through my jet-lag, but there are two quick takeaways from the trip I should mention. First, my Washington meetings convinced me (no big surprise here) that, just as it is doing in Europe, the issue of trade is getting …
Read More…Category: Labor and unemployment
More public worrying about the Chinese stimulus
Although I am often surprised by how eagerly foreign commentators have embraced the Chinese fiscal stimulus story and see it as a great, shining success, I am happy to say, mercifully, that in China there is a lot more skepticism. There seems to be a serious debate among Chinese policymakers over the stimulus package. The …
Read More…Graduating this year?
Last week China Daily had an interesting article on job prospects for university graduates on the mainland. In 2006, as a reaction to rising unemployment among college graduates – even with GDP growth buzzing at rates above 12% – the government launched a program to help students find jobs as university teachers. The program has …
Read More…No, I was not disappointed by Premier Wen’s speech
Strangely enough I think I am among the least disappointed people about Premier Wen’s speech this morning during the opening of the National People’s Congress. Like most people I think there was very little of substance in the speech except the usual statements about boosting consumption, maintaining growth, and promoting social welfare – all easier …
Read More…As deficit countries contract, can surplus countries be far behind?
The US loses the most jobs since 1945, the Financial Times headline blared out yesterday. According to the article: The US economy lost more than half a million jobs in December for the second month running, figures showed on Friday, making 2008 the worst year for job losses since 1945 and intensifying pressure on Congress …
Read More…Chinese manufacturing numbers reinforce the pessimist’s outlook
There is some good news about Chinese retail sales, although I am not sure how useful it is because retail sales numbers in China have always been a little hard to reconcile with other indicators of domestic demand. According to an article in today’s Bloomberg: Retail sales in China rose 13 percent during the three-day …
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