you are not supposed to have facial expressions on a photo for government ID...that photo has to be retaken
Chinese Economics Thread
- Thread starter Norfolk
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you are not supposed to have facial expressions on a photo for government ID...that photo has to be retaken
If you look, you'll also find a map, flag & HQ of the WTO. That doesn't make the WTO a political union.
There's also no EU ID card. ID cards in the EU have to have common features to allow travel of EU citizens between EU countries without a passport.
The ID pic you provided is from a website that states: "ID Master produce execptionaly high quality, high definition, authentic looking novelty / fake ID cards using only top quality materials to the highests possible standards."
A european citizen card has been talked about for some time, and there's people who want it, I'm defenitly not one of them, and we're not there yet.
Btw, Herman Van Rompuy is not the european president, he's the president of the european council, an important institution within the EU, but he's not the head of the european state, (wich doesn't exist).
There's a common currency, but different economic policies in the EU, wich leads in problems actually. Look at the current € crises. It has always been a german top priority to have a strong currency with stable prices. Other countries in the EU have historicly had weaker currencies. The Greeks can't devalue their money now, having to cope with the burden of the debts.
Having one currency is handy when traveling. But maybe actually having two in the EU, one stronger & one weaker to handle different economic base position might be smarter in some ways.
The EU of course also is a political union, there's a european parliament, european laws, etc. But it's also still composed of independant nations with different interests. And that becomes apparent quiet often in day to day political decision making.
I'm all for sharing and advancing common interests and ideas in a union of nations. But to often times centralize and streamline just for the sake of a symbol of union is not smart at all.
There's also no EU ID card. ID cards in the EU have to have common features to allow travel of EU citizens between EU countries without a passport.
The ID pic you provided is from a website that states: "ID Master produce execptionaly high quality, high definition, authentic looking novelty / fake ID cards using only top quality materials to the highests possible standards."
A european citizen card has been talked about for some time, and there's people who want it, I'm defenitly not one of them, and we're not there yet.
Btw, Herman Van Rompuy is not the european president, he's the president of the european council, an important institution within the EU, but he's not the head of the european state, (wich doesn't exist).
There's a common currency, but different economic policies in the EU, wich leads in problems actually. Look at the current € crises. It has always been a german top priority to have a strong currency with stable prices. Other countries in the EU have historicly had weaker currencies. The Greeks can't devalue their money now, having to cope with the burden of the debts.
Having one currency is handy when traveling. But maybe actually having two in the EU, one stronger & one weaker to handle different economic base position might be smarter in some ways.
The EU of course also is a political union, there's a european parliament, european laws, etc. But it's also still composed of independant nations with different interests. And that becomes apparent quiet often in day to day political decision making.
I'm all for sharing and advancing common interests and ideas in a union of nations. But to often times centralize and streamline just for the sake of a symbol of union is not smart at all.
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You do realize that China is part of this western economy with it's vast ability to manufacture soft goods and export them? What happens to those millions of factory workers when the western economy dries up???
Curious George
New Member
They can finally focus on producing for domestic consumption, fuelled by raw materials from Africa and the non-western countries who would be more than happy to trade with China, be it through cash or barter, especially in the event of a western economic collapse.
Sure, because people in the still poor chinese west, subsaharan Africa and elsewhere would just start buying all kinds of electronics, smartphones, TVs, running shoes etc, when the "western economy" collapses.
technically, if China's economy is to expand to near-full potential, it would be able to survive even if the entire western economy is gone, but it is certainly far from that. i doubt China will ever get there, it'll prolly be simply the top guy for a while like the US right now, but cant do without partners.
The Western economy already did collapse in 2008. What we are talking about now is simply the prolonging of this malaise, and not the disappearance of a continent and a half! Chinese exports to Europe and some other countries will go down a bit, but will continue rising to Southeast Asia, Latin America, and yes, Africa. These already hit their lows, and their growth in the last year or two has been based, in good measure, on exports to China.
Also, China is a bit less dependent on trade with the West than it was when that first crisis hit in 2008. For example, through 2005-2007, the US accounted for about 17% of China's trade. In 2009 it was 14%. On top of that China is a bit less dependent on the dollar for trade than it was in 2008, when dollar-based trade finance simply froze for a couple of months. China has arranged currency swaps with a number countries, for example.
Also, China is a bit less dependent on trade with the West than it was when that first crisis hit in 2008. For example, through 2005-2007, the US accounted for about 17% of China's trade. In 2009 it was 14%. On top of that China is a bit less dependent on the dollar for trade than it was in 2008, when dollar-based trade finance simply froze for a couple of months. China has arranged currency swaps with a number countries, for example.
Curious George
New Member
The Africans and most developing countries need infrastructure really bad (like railway lines, trains, roads, hospitals etc) and China can provide it to them in exchange for raw materials, which China can use to fuel its domestic consumption as well as provide material for more barter trade with Africa and other developing countries.
With this type of trade going on, China can move production to their poorer western and central provinces, which will help those areas reach parity with the richer eastern provinces and, so eventually boost demand for high tech items. As Africa and other developing countries' economies grow due to infrastructure investment, they will then be the ones that need the high tech items.
In the short term a western economic collapse will hurt China, but not by much as they still have the barter option with Africa and other developing countries to keep their economy moving.
Put it this way, the Chinese economy is like a tree with many branches, and trade with the west is just a branch of that tree, that, while making the tree stronger, is not that critical to its survival if it is chopped off as it still has its other branches, which will grow bigger to compensate for the loss of the "western" branch.
Spartan95
Junior Member
You do realise that the EU is China's single largest trade partner? And that the US is China's 2nd largest trade partner?
What do you think will happen to China's export oriented economy when the 2 largest buyers of China's goods goes into recession?
Curious George
New Member
If I wasn't already clear in my previous posts, China's economy will accelerate into domestic consumption in the absence of the US and EU. China is already taking steps toward more domestic consumption and a collapse of the western economy will only hasten that goal. As I said, in the short term a western economic collapse will hurt China, but China has the option of growing their trade with Africa and other developing countries to make up for the loss of western trade. Since China doesn't really rely on the western countries for much raw materials (except maybe for Australia, which by the way is technically an "Asian" country due to its geography) then if trade slows or even stops due to a western economic collapse, how would that really hurt China in the long run if they still have their supply chain of raw materials and their massive internal market to rely on?