R
rdean
Guest
China Seizes Melamine-Tainted Milk Powder
BEIJING (AP) -- Authorities seized 26 tons of melamine-tainted milk powder from an ice cream maker in southern China three years after widespread use of the chemical in infant formula killed six babies, state media said Wednesday.
The discovery underscores China's stubborn problem with illegal food additives used to turn a quick profit regardless of the health risks.
Chinese Drywall Supplier Agrees To Settlement
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A Chinese drywall supplier's insurers have agreed to pay up to $8 million to settle court claims against the company over damage to homes from the corrosive product, according to a proposed settlement filed Tuesday.
-------------------
I saw the words "quick profit" and suddenly understood.
-------------------
Why China Is Vulnerable: Part 1
Three years ago, most Americans did not even know there was a Chinese middle class. Today, Chinas middle class is larger than the total population of the U.S. And with that growth has come a stratospheric increase in per capita income.
Stratospheric? Absolutely. Consider: The first industrial revolution created a 250 percent increase in per capita income over a full century. The second industrial revolution triggered 350% per capita income growth over the course of 60 years. Today, China is on track to create a 700 percent growth in just 20 years.
But those spikes in income and buying power have come at a price. Chinas laborers, who less than a generation ago had been willing to work so long and so hard, for so little money and with so few days off, are demanding more for the work they do. As a result, Chinas workers are now earning more pay for fewer hours, while seeking many of the benefits enjoyed by their Western counterparts. As a manufacturing-based economy that values price over quality, how long do you think it will be before that dynamic starts eating away a the only significant edge China has over its global competitors -- namely, the low cost of its products?
----------------------------
Seems they want to be more like us. Oops.
BEIJING (AP) -- Authorities seized 26 tons of melamine-tainted milk powder from an ice cream maker in southern China three years after widespread use of the chemical in infant formula killed six babies, state media said Wednesday.
The discovery underscores China's stubborn problem with illegal food additives used to turn a quick profit regardless of the health risks.
Chinese Drywall Supplier Agrees To Settlement
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A Chinese drywall supplier's insurers have agreed to pay up to $8 million to settle court claims against the company over damage to homes from the corrosive product, according to a proposed settlement filed Tuesday.
-------------------
I saw the words "quick profit" and suddenly understood.
-------------------
Why China Is Vulnerable: Part 1
Three years ago, most Americans did not even know there was a Chinese middle class. Today, Chinas middle class is larger than the total population of the U.S. And with that growth has come a stratospheric increase in per capita income.
Stratospheric? Absolutely. Consider: The first industrial revolution created a 250 percent increase in per capita income over a full century. The second industrial revolution triggered 350% per capita income growth over the course of 60 years. Today, China is on track to create a 700 percent growth in just 20 years.
But those spikes in income and buying power have come at a price. Chinas laborers, who less than a generation ago had been willing to work so long and so hard, for so little money and with so few days off, are demanding more for the work they do. As a result, Chinas workers are now earning more pay for fewer hours, while seeking many of the benefits enjoyed by their Western counterparts. As a manufacturing-based economy that values price over quality, how long do you think it will be before that dynamic starts eating away a the only significant edge China has over its global competitors -- namely, the low cost of its products?
----------------------------
Seems they want to be more like us. Oops.
