Yeah, they probably eschew immunization, take herbal and homeopathic remedies, and practice "wellness". What a bunch of superstitious, ignorant bastards.

We should build a big wall and fence them in.. that'll learn 'em!

But Doug, they already built that Great Wall all by themselves. Ha, what a bunch of dumbies!

Next thing you know, they'll be putting fungus in bottles of injectable steroids.

But - deliberately?

Reading the description of the nasty conditions in that pharmaceutical facility, one might surmise deliberately.

Why that's the same thing they smugly said 50+ years ago about the Japanese. That was right before they kicked our collective a$$es in automobiles and electronics. But that was an aberration. This time, of course, it's true.

The Japanese weren't capable of inventing a boil lance. Auto designs, electronics, appliances etc. were stolen from America and copied by the Japs.

The Chinese are doing the same thing. If we aren't educating their dumb asses in our colleges they are stealing our technology through a network of spy's.

It's people like you that sit back in smug ignorance and awe of a people who couldn't find their butts with both hands if we didn't draw them a map first that are the problem.

You can still buy American if you look for it.

And that, children, is why Detroit after fifty years still can't create something as affordable, reliable, and durable as a Honda. It's always easier to proclaim yourself superior rather than suceed through sacrifice, hard work, innovation, and determination. Speaking of smug, that's the way a loser thinks. Sure, a little larceny doesn't hurt either.

Hey thumbs did you have to call someone in China for that come back. If you are an American (I have my doubts) the very luxuary of having this civil debate online was afforded to you through American inginuity.

Most Hondas are manufactured in the US by Americans. I drive American steel and have for decades. You must be a liberal. People like you are too dumb to know you are stupid are are the ones who will lead to the destruction of this country.

I will drive and otherwise buy whatever gives me the best value for my dollar. If other domestic or foreign manufacturers can't compete, they need to innovate or get out of the way. That's the way business and capitalism work. The country is not better off if the market rewards mediocrity. You want to sell globally? You have to then compete globally.

Most of the cars sold in the US are produced here, regardless of marque. "Detroit" means GM, Chrysler, and Ford to most Americans.

Just the act of clearcutting and trying to hide it got them (Weyerhaeuser) run outta Klamath County, Oregon years ago. Their destruction is still evident. I went to see a friend in McKinleyville, Calif. and went thru the Klamath area, my god, they really did a job on the forest's there. They are ruined for the next 200 years. The Klamath River is barely able to alllow fish to swim in it because of the errosion and heavy muddy runoff, Salmon don't migrate there any more, the Upper Klamath Lake is a alge-pot of diseased fish and you are NOT supposed to have water contact in the Summer because of the stagnation of water and alge growth caused MOSTLY by the harvesting of the forests using clearcuting methods. I guess all in all, we here in the USA are not much better. We need an Asteroid hit, a really BIG one.

"Stop buying all the cheap Chinese goods?"

You might as well wish for world peace and end to all hunger. Not reality, not worth debating the theoretical. When you have the biggest consumer of China products (the US), not demanding these things on a governmental level like we have today in dickless Washington DC, nothing will change. This country had a chance to changing this with Mitt Romney and blew it.

This country had a chance to changing this with Mitt Romney and blew it.

Wow. Nice Straw Man/Hollow Man Argument! Which day of Willard's campaign did you find ANY viable plan or solution which he has held on to for ANY length of time?

He has none. And neither does the other half of the Punch & Judy Show as far as bring out issues which matter to reversing our course as the principal destructive force on Earth. They are all milked by the teet of Industry and Banking, told what and how they can bring up, and when. President Obama is still Bushbama in my eyes, version 4.01. We may just have a chance to continue a recovery, but th US has much more to do than Obama is pushing in order to regain its former Glory as a force for good which our forefathers blessed us with. And to reverse those things they warned us about.

Nothing of substance came out of the debates other than to show preplanning and avoidance of long term solutions based on enforcable, encompassing standards. More of the Same Old Same Old.

Mitt. Pfffffftttttt. Nothing but a face and a silver spoon.

And a penchant for being a bully on a pulpit.

Please.

Attn: Notsojingo or is it, "notsohappy?" Romney was going after China for currency manipulation and unfair trade practices. Right now we have a Prez who bows to them.

I'm sorry your life and situation is so hopeless. Best of luck to you and I hope they find a way

to help you wherever you seek help.

Yep. Mitt making millions off of chinese labor SURE SHOWED THEM.

Hello Robert or is it not so robert????? Sorry to mimick your brilliance and biting opening commentary. Well done. As far as seeking help, I instead offer it. Here you go, if you are old enough. And are just the right height, like the trees in Michigan...

OK, now to actual facts, which obviously escape you, and now I can attest, your Party's Choice. Tire quickly of learning? Because I can teach you for as long as you don't cry.

:-))

I asked Slate’s readers what economic pseudo-problem they wanted me to explain, and in overwhelming numbers you said: currency manipulation.

To hear America’s politicians tell it, currency manipulation is a severe and alarming problem—especially when the Chinese do it. Campaigning in 2008, Barack Obama promised to get tough on Chinese currency manipulation. Campaigning in 2012, Mitt Romney promised to get tough on it, too. Toughness, you see, is good. But the truth is that there’s absolutely no need for Americans to worry about Chinese currency policy—or anyone else’s. We just need to mind our own shop appropriately and this alleged crisis will melt away.

The beginning of wisdom here is to try to understand what modern-day currency is. It’s not little circles of valuable metal. It’s not even backed by metal. It’s what we call “fiat money”—worth something because the government says it’s worth something.

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Why should anyone care about that? Well, the Canadian government happens to employ various armed individuals. Some are police officers, some are soldiers, and some are prison guards. These folks will throw residents of Canada or those who operate business there in jail unless they pay their taxes. And they expect those taxes to be paid in Canadian dollars. Conveniently, this very same Canadian government issues Canadian dollars to its employees, to beneficiaries of pension schemes, to doctors who treat Canadian patients, and to others to whom it owes favors. People everywhere need to use some medium of exchange (prisoners traditionally used cigarettes, but smoking bans have led to a surge in the use of canned mackerel for this purpose) and since Canadian dollars are both in circulation and occasionally in demand, it’s convenient for Canadians to use them.

Of course if you’re not in Canada this isn’t particularly convenient. In the far-northern U.S. you can find some stores that will accept payment in Canadian dollars, but ordinarily to do business in America you need American currency.

So the world has a bunch of currencies, all created by governments. And since the currencies are created by governments, their value is subject to influence from public policy. But what does the value of a currency even mean?

There are two ways of thinking about it. One is in terms of the exchange rate and the other is in terms of the domestic price level. The exchange rate is a simple concept. How many American dollars do you need to fork over to a bank if you want 100 euros? But the domestic price level is more important. It would be naive to look at the fact that $1 will buy you about 80 yen and conclude that a visit to Japan would be very cheap. It turns out that purchasing Japanese goods and services requires a lot of yen. Whether a place is cheap or expensive depends on prices and not just exchange rates.

When central banks conduct monetary policy to control inflation, they’re thinking about the domestic price level. Most central banks want to keep prices on a path of slow but steady increases. In the United States we aim for a bit less than 2 percent inflation a year. This is “currency manipulation”—an effort to control what dollars are worth—but nobody thinks it’s pernicious and nobody calls it that. They just call it “monetary policy.”

But governments also can influence the price of their currency relative to other currencies. When American stores stock up on Chinese-made goods, they need to buy Chinese currency in order to buy the goods. That should push up the price of the renminbi relative to the dollar and make Chinese goods more expensive for Americans to purchase. The allegation of “currency manipulation” is that the Chinese government turns around and buys American government bonds in order to prevent Chinese money from getting more expensive. This, we’re supposed to worry, costs American jobs, because it theoretically keeps Chinese goods underpriced relative to American-made goods.

If you think about that for a minute, however, you’ll see that this is a non-problem. China is subsidizing its manufacturing exporters by giving the American government a very cheap loan. The sensible response would be to say, “thank you” to Beijing, not to complain. And then the government should take that cheap Chinese loan and spend to boost domestic employment—in other words increase the budget deficit. If you’re someone who thinks there are lots of useful public projects we could be undertaking, then use the Chinese windfall to build them. If you’re skeptical about big government, then use the windfall to hold a big payroll tax holiday. Either way, seize the day. The only reason concern about currency manipulation started getting traction in serious circles in the United States was despair about the prospects of Congress enacting any sensible fiscal stimulus measures. But if you want to worry about something, worry about the fact that our legislature is so dysfunctional it can’t even handle receiving a massive subsidy correctly.

But the really calming news is that in the medium-term this doesn’t matter at all. When the Chinese government tries to keep Chinese currency cheap, that keeps the RMB-denominated price of internationally traded goods high, meaning it’s expensive to buy foreign goods in China. Then Chinese workers demand higher wages. The result is inflation. Unless, that is, the central bank steps in to slow inflation by increasing the value of the currency. The exchange rate and the domestic price level are two sides of the same coin. Domestic prices don’t adjust immediately to exchange rate shifts, so exchange rates can matter. But ultimately “currency manipulation” and monetary policy are the same thing. And that’s exactly what happened in China. Trying to keep the exchange rate low led to high inflation, so in inflation-adjusted terms, the exchange rate was rising anyway. That’s probably why China has basically given up on “manipulation” and decided that stabilizing domestic inflation is the most important priority.

The moral of the story is that everyone needs to calm down and mind their own business. Countries that feel they're victims of "manipulation" are probably just in need of a temporary tax cut to take advantage of the good fortune of getting the gift of cheap loans from foreigners. Countries that engage in manipulation will swiftly feel the bite of inflation. Cross-border hectoring doesn't offer much of a solution to anything and just tends to distract people from domestic solutions to domestic problems. The next time you hear a politician complaining about Chinese currency manipulation, ask him why not extend the payroll tax holiday instead of whining about foreigners?

The Bogus Alarmism About “Currency Manipulation”

Reading, not tossing off something you heard in a debate, is a great informer. Do not stop at one article or source, but gain a comprehensive knowledge base. I can give you a start, but if you are to see through the fog of politics you must venture out on you own, Robert. Especially if you wish to initiate political opionions of Puppets into the equation. Are you getting a little clue yet?

This is only Page One of Two, but it provides enough for those that care enough to read it, though I would suggest completing the lesson, Robert. Rnowned experts in Economic Studies are spelling it out, not narrow viewed commentors on NBC blogs, such as yourself. Still with me?

A common theme this election cycle and over the last four years has been Chinese currency manipulation. China has kept the value of its currency artificially low, increasing the cost of U.S. exports to China and decreasing the costs of U.S. imports from China. Every coin has two sides; and it is clear that changes in value of the Chinese currency simultaneously help some groups while hurting others. Most of the media and political focus has been on the U.S. groups that get hurt, while stories about the benefits are neglected. It is likely that the benefits outweigh the costs — possibly by a landslide.

When China keeps the value of the renminbi (or yuan) low in terms of dollars, it means that one yuan equals more dollars. Hence, the yuan buys fewer U.S. goods and U.S. exports to China decline. The Chinese policy of keeping the value of the yuan low clearly hurts U.S. exporters to China. In 2012, U.S. exports to China are likely to be just over $100 billion. However, this is only 0.6 percent of all U.S. output and is dwarfed by private consumption, which is over two-thirds of GDP.

Another potential cost is that decreasing exports and increasing imports raises the trade deficit with China, which represents U.S. debt obligations to China. If we trade one Dell laptop for an equally valued Lenovo laptop made in China, we have balanced trade. However if we import Chinese clothing or toys without exporting something of equal value we end up paying in dollars. When imports are larger than exports, we run a trade deficit.

Why does this U.S. trade deficit represent a U.S. international debt? It is because China is holding dollars that it can neither play with nor wear. These dollars are only good for buying U.S. goods, when China chooses to cash them in. They represent goods that we eventually have to export. This accumulated debt to China from both persistent U.S. trade deficits and Chinese currency manipulation amounts to nearly $1.2 trillion, held primarily by the Chinese government.

While these balances of dollar-denominated assets would wreak havoc on the U.S. economy if China were to abruptly change course and start using them to buy U.S. goods, it it is also true that this course is highly unlikely because it would drastically increase the value of the yuan. This would, in turn, decrease Chinese exports to the U.S. and to the rest of the world, and exports have been the main driver of Chinese growth.

Punishing China for currency manipulation could hurt the US

China Currency Manipulation: Why US Political Accusations Are Unfounded

Analysis: Romney is likely to break "day-one" China currency pledge Reuters

We, of course, do it as well.

WSJ's O'Grady: Fed a Currency Manipulator

Plenty more available, remember that, Robert!

So now that you have been schooled, what so you have as your next brilliant comeback?

The first one was oh so witty!

Thanks for playing. I have plenty more if you wish, and I hope that many folks did go to these many availbale informational links to see what a clod your boy, and mine, are when it is made clear that Politicians are just that today.

Not Scholars of Economic Theory or International Diplomacy. They all have the same speech writers in the end of the race to the top. It is just which pretty face will be favored as telling less lies.

Romney lost. For Good Reason.

Save The Whales, and God Bless America!

Peace

Bravo and accurate