By Daniel Greenfield ——Bio and Archives--June 11, 2011
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Dagong Global Credit Rating Co used its first foray into sovereign debt to paint a revolutionary picture of creditworthiness around the world, giving much greater weight to "wealth creating capacity" and foreign reserves than Fitch, Standard & Poor's, or Moody's.Call it significantly insignificant, the key argument here is currency based. China wants an overvalued dollar so it can continue pumping its own products into the US, and using the profits to buy more dollars. The US has clumsily responded to the situation by weakening the dollar, which slightly helped salvage the economy by boosting exports until 08 at least, and infuriating China. China says the US is not committed to the strength of its currency. The US says China's currency is artificially undervalued. The real problem is that both the US and China are relying on weakened currencies to maintain their exports. This is a bad strategy with negative long term implications. It's worse for the US which trashed the dollar for short term economic gains. China at least has a currency strategy. Dagong's move is not too significant at this stage. The US is not actually defaulting. But Dagong succeeds in getting certified in the states alongside S&P and Moody's, then China will have a chance to play an even bigger role in the US economy than it does now. Arctic Patriot sees a possible armed conflict coming (Via Western Rifle Shooters) I think we're more likely to get straight up colonization. Shift the currencies enough, put enough financial institutions into the hands of the PRC, and Americans become nothing more than cheap labor. That's already the situation in Africa where Chinese companies have set up shop using the local workforce to do the dirty work for them. Colonization of that kind will happen more slowly, but if things go on as they are, then it will happen. It already is. Slowly.
Liu Keli couldn't tell you much about South Carolina, not even where it is in the United States. It's as obscure to him as his home region, Shanxi province, is to most Americans. But Liu is investing $10 million in the Palmetto State, building a printing-plate factory that will open this fall and hire 120 workers. His main aim is to tap the large American market, but when his finance staff penciled out the costs, he was stunned to learn how they compared with those in China. Liu spent about $500,000 for seven acres in Spartanburg -- less than one-fourth what it would cost to buy the same amount of land in Dongguan, a city in southeast China where he runs three plants. U.S. electricity rates are about 75% lower, and in South Carolina, Liu doesn't have to put up with frequent blackouts. About the only major thing that's more expensive in Spartanburg is labor. Liu is looking to offer $12 to $13 an hour there, versus about $2 an hour in Dongguan, not including room and board. But Liu expects to offset some of the higher labor costs with a payroll tax credit of $1,500 per employee from South Carolina.Large parts of the United States are underdeveloped. There's sizable unemployment. And a large decaying manufacturing infrastructure. And generous tax credits. Which means we get tax subsidized Chinese companies replacing the US companies that went to China. The picture gets even prettier.
This year Zheng saw an opportunity in the US: The Obama administration decided to invest $50 billion in the smart grid and $40 billion in updating the tap-water system. In both projects, new meters will be needed. Before Zheng left for the US, he talked with managers of PG&E Corp and the Southern Co, two power companies in the US that are participants in the projects. "They suggested that I produce spare parts for GE, then export them to the US under the GE brand name. But I want my brand to be sold there, so I would have to set up my factory in the US," he said. After visiting several states, Zheng put Georgia and California on his short list. Zheng doesn't speak any English, nor does he have any American social pleasantries. However, he impressed everyone with his warm smile and manners, as well as his frequent invitations - through an interpreter - to be photographed with local officials. In San Francisco, government officials even raised the Chinese national flag to greet him.I've got news for San Francisco officials, one day that flag won't be coming down. Butt he good news is that the Obama Administration is creating jobs. The bad news is that they're doing it by using protectionism to bring over Chinese companies. But that protectionism depends on government subsidized spending, which is borrowed from China, and then give back to Chinese companies to create American jobs. It's the worst economic program imaginable. We are borrowing money from China to give to Chinese companies to create jobs in the United States. The entire process destroys what leverage we have and brings forward the day when Chinese companies will dictate the terms on which they will do business here.
Thursday’s new sanctions directly hit Iran’s national police force and the police chief, Ismail Ahmadi Moghadam, as well as the Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basiji militia. They freeze any of their assets under US jurisdiction and prohibit any US citizens or institutions from doing business with them and could restrict visa issuance.And then Obama threw a pie in his own face. If this were any more pathetic, the soundtrack would be a cowbell. Khamanei's response was the usual cheerful thing.
The Great Satan, since the early days of the Revolution, has mobilized its military, financial, propaganda, and political empire to defeat the Islamic Revolution and the Iranian nation, but the political realities in Iran and the region show that the U.S. has been brought to its knees by the Islamic Revolution.The problem is he has a point. The US isn't on its knees, but the Middle East is fast sliding the other way. And the Obama Administration somehow keeps making it worse. But they're not the only ones. Half of Israel's ex top people in Shabak and Mossad turned out to be working for someone else. Oh it's not actually official. The official position is that Meir Dagan is a sincere critic. Along with Avi Dichter and who knows how many others. But the bottom line is the bottom line. At the rate we're going, Iran may have Middle Eastern hegemony before it even detonates a nuclear bomb. Bonus, US hikers tell about abuse in Iran prison. Though what they call abuse would be light fare to many Iranians.
Now Cain, in an interview with Glenn Beck, says he wants to impose a “loyalty proof” on Muslims but not on Catholics or Mormons or any other religious group.It’s worth recalling that a half-century ago, John F. Kennedy’s Catholic faith was a source of concern, with some people believing that if he was president he would be loyal to the Pope rather than the Constitution.The comparison falls down in the obvious place. We weren't at war with Ireland or the Vatican during the 1960 election. If we were, then the issue would have had some legs. We are at war with Islam. Or rather Islam is at war with us, while we insist that nothing of the kind is going on. The concern about Islam is not theological, it's practical. It's easy to dismiss such concerns using the endlessly extensible rhetoric of tolerance and the wagging finger, but it would be just as ridiculous not to apply a loyalist test to a follower of a theology that calls for war with non-Muslims, as it would have been to members or former members of the Nazi or Communist party during WW2.
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Daniel Greenfield is a New York City writer and columnist. He is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and his articles appears at its Front Page Magazine site.