Comments for China Stimulus Highlights Western Collapse at http://bullionbullscanada.com , comment 1 to 3 out of 3 comments http://bullionbullscanada.com Thu, 20 Jun 2013 05:15:59 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://bullionbullscanada.com/intl-commentary/25798-china-stimulus-highlights-western-collapse#comment-3819 I agree Jeff that the Western economies are in terrible shape but I have to disagree that China is any better and that its recent economic growth is a result of any more virtuous management; in fact I’d say China’s in a worse position than the US is long term. There’s lots of reason to believe the Chinese authorities lie about their statistics just as much as America’s do. And I have to disagree that the words “healthy” and “growing” can be used together to describe any economy. Not mentioned in the linked Harvard paper is any discussion of energy. Since about 95% of world energy supply comes from burning dead things that used to be alive, and since the world arguably burns about 5 times more dead things than the planet is capable of producing (the planet’s capacity to produce has actually gone down by 10% due to environmental degradation), then clearly any growth is going to soon be hitting some roadblocks, and arguably it already has in the last decade. The irony is that despite everyone criticizing the US for importing half of its oil, China also imports well over half of its oil. The US is still the world’s third largest oil “producer”, after Russia and Saudi Arabia, but its gluttonous consumption of 1/5th of world production necessitates those huge imports. China’s economy will not continue to grow because the energy and resources simply do not exist on this planet to support that level of activity. It has a much greater population than the US, with fewer resources to support that population. Most people still live off a few dollars a day. It is indeed dependent on exporting manufactured goods to pay for its imports of raw materials, just like the US used to do until it lost its manufacturing base (a result of currency manipulation on both sides of the Pacific to overvalue the dollar as well as undervalue Renminbi). The US is still the world’s breadbasket, while China is paving over its agricultural land as fast as it can to build factories to export manufactured goods that soon few will have the wealth to buy. The US still has most of the world’s remaining coal supplies. While China is definitely pursuing alternative energy to a much greater extend than N America is, it’s still woefully inadequate to make up the difference for when oil runs out. - Null Mon, 03 Sep 2012 11:29:14 +0100 http://bullionbullscanada.com/intl-commentary/25798-china-stimulus-highlights-western-collapse#comment-3816 [quote]Jeff: the inference of your post is that we are at the global economic tipping point. Unfortunately, as the history of the financial oligarchs has shown over the past 300 years, the only Plan B is global war. [/quote] Apberusdisvet, I think I must have been an Ancient Greek in a past life, because I seem to share their fatalistic tendencies. On the one hand, I agree with you that almost certainly I and other commentators will FAIL. We will be UNABLE to warn enough people, soon enough, to prevent the war/revolution you predict. On the other hand (like the Ancient Greeks) I refuse to stop TRYING even though it looks like our Fate is already carved in stone. As a species, we are NEVER going to advance to another level socially until we are able to TRANSITION out of bad government without the spasms of violence known as "war" or "revolution". So as another cycle of Oppression nears its end (one way or another) we must retain our idealism and continue to struggle to avoid such a descent. One day we WILL be successful... :) - Jeff Nielson Wed, 29 Aug 2012 04:16:46 +0100 http://bullionbullscanada.com/intl-commentary/25798-china-stimulus-highlights-western-collapse#comment-3815 Jeff: the inference of your post is that we are at the global economic tipping point. Unfortunately, as the history of the financial oligarchs has shown over the past 300 years, the only Plan B is global war. - apberusdisvet Wed, 29 Aug 2012 03:01:01 +0100