QUESTION FOR FINANCIAL GURUS (regarding China and Trumps comments)...........

[Michael.Felli]

Lately, China is in the news for "devaluing" its currency. And, world markets have reacted. Also, Trump made some harsh remarks.

IIRC, some time ago, Trump made remarks about China not respecting Patent Rights stating that they are basically "stealing" technology. This was years ago, btw.

So, I have a few questions regarding China:

1) Is China a "fair" player in International Business or not? Do they steal patents, for example, without paying rights?

2) How does one exactly devalue a currency? And, "should" a Country seek approval before doing so from other economic powers since it has global impact?

3) How do you see China in the coming years? Playing more favorably economically or being even more unfair?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Ten Thousan Marbles]

LOL. I expect to see a good deal of concern trolling in response here.

Reminds me of the "OH NOES! OH NOES!!! Greece is going to go POOF and take all your $$$ with it!!!!" thread from @ 8 weeks ago.

 

[LionDeNittany]

Could a company in the US or Europe get away legitimately making fake Calloway golf clubs with the logos etc?

How long until it would be shut down? We're not talking about a small time outfit copying CDs we are talking about a legitimate factory.

How about a factory producing fake iphones? Would that work in the US? How long until you get shut down?

No China doesn't act fairly which is why they never should have been part of our favored trading nations.

How does one devalue currency?

China pegs it's currency which is generally not accepted internationally as a form of export finance. They devalue by removing the peg.

China is communist with a hint of capitalism. If they move more to capitalism they will need to give up some of their 'illegal" practices. If they don't they will fail miserably.

LdN

 

[Obliviax]

Lately, China is in the news for "devaluing" its currency. And, world markets have reacted. Also, Trump made some harsh remarks.

IIRC, some time ago, Trump made remarks about China not respecting Patent Rights stating that they are basically "stealing" technology. This was years ago, btw.

So, I have a few questions regarding China: My comments, for what its worth

1) Is China a "fair" player in International Business or not? Do they steal patents, for example, without paying rights? No. China is a haven for copying things and not respecting copy-write/patent laws. Most notably is pirating copies of music and movies. But it extends to "the internet of things," phones and what have you.

2) How does one exactly devalue a currency? And, "should" a Country seek approval before doing so from other economic powers since it has global impact? China owns everything so they set the value of currency. The USA is more of a hybrid. The markets set the value but the govt can flood the markets with cash and devalue it too. Its simply supply and demand. The US Govt owns the supply and if they print enough money, it drives down demand and has been, effectively, lowered. The US has been doing this for years, QE Infinity, which has fueled the stock market but that chicken will come home to roost, at some point.

3) How do you see China in the coming years? Playing more favorably economically or being even more unfair? China has moved to a more "American style" system. For example, they have had a stock market for several decades now but their oversight (accounting practices and principles) are not standardized. Result is that financial performance can be "altered" and, since many elements of the govt corrupt, inaccurately reported. Think Enron. The difference is, if there is an "enron event", the govt can just step in and "right" the situation with govt money. Ultimately, china's growth is unsustainable and you are beginning to see elements of mass uprisings. The recent explosion is a good case in point: WTF was this stuff doing being stored/made in a highly dense population area? There will be hell to pay, but you may never hear about it. Regardless, things can only get so bad in corruption, pollution, human rights abuses, exploration until something gives. The World is Flat is a good book to read on all of this.

Thanks in advance.

 

[jjsocrates]

Could a company in the US or Europe get away legitimately making fake Calloway golf clubs with the logos etc?

Is there a legitimate golf store in the US that could get away with selling fake Calloway golf clubs? Seriously - if Dick's Sporting Goods cut a deal with a Chinese company to sell Calloway golf in its store, how would that work out for Dick's?

Why is it that all of the fake Gucci purses and fake Rolex watches are always sold on the streets? Do you think anybody who could AFFORD a Gucci purse or Rolex watch would buy a cheap imitation to save a few bucks?

Seriously - do you think Calloway clubs projects to sell 10,000 of Club X per year, but then has to make an adjustment/allowance of 2,000 clubs because they're losing business to fake knockoffs? Well, the guy who spends $25,000 a year on golf equipment is suddenly going to buy cheap knockoffs, so Calloway sales will be hurt?

 

[drunkandproud]

Complete crooks. Next to our company in China is a large operation where you can go in and obtain letterhead for any company in the world for purposes of filing fraudulent documents, invoices, etc. Operates totally in an open and transparent environment. I would not eat anything sourced from China and I would be happy to never purchase another item manufactured in China. They will steal and cheat like nobody's business.

Plus, I hate Chinese food and women.

 

[zwick99]

Could a company in the US or Europe get away legitimately making fake Calloway golf clubs with the logos etc?

How long until it would be shut down? We're not talking about a small time outfit copying CDs we are talking about a legitimate factory.

How about a factory producing fake iphones? Would that work in the US? How long until you get shut down?

No China doesn't act fairly which is why they never should have been part of our favored trading nations.

How does one devalue currency?

China pegs it's currency which is generally not accepted internationally as a form of export finance. They devalue by removing the peg.

China is communist with a hint of capitalism. If they move more to capitalism they will need to give up some of their 'illegal" practices. If they don't they will fail miserably.

LdN

China even has fake Apple stores.

 

[LionDeNittany]

Is there a legitimate golf store in the US that could get away with selling fake Calloway golf clubs? Seriously - if Dick's Sporting Goods cut a deal with a Chinese company to sell Calloway golf in its store, how would that work out for Dick's?

Why is it that all of the fake Gucci purses and fake Rolex watches are always sold on the streets? Do you think anybody who could AFFORD a Gucci purse or Rolex watch would buy a cheap imitation to save a few bucks?

Seriously - do you think Calloway clubs projects to sell 10,000 of Club X per year, but then has to make an adjustment/allowance of 2,000 clubs because they're losing business to fake knockoffs? Well, the guy who spends $25,000 a year on golf equipment is suddenly going to buy cheap knockoffs, so Calloway sales will be hurt?

I'm really not sure of your point. Fake Calloway clubs are sold. And Dicks would get the 4hit sued out of them if they sold knockoff products.

In the US Dicks would even be sued if they sold a similar product with a similar style with a name that was close to Calloway.

However that's beside the point. YES people who can afford Gucci purses buy the fakes all the time. Same with Fendi and Hermes.

If the products were able to be sold here in Dicks or Macys the quality would be as good or better than the real thing. However they can't. They would get sued and probably fined along with the potential to lose their location etc.

LdN

 

[LionDeNittany]

China even has fake Apple stores.

http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/land-rover-wont-be-able-sue-chinese-automaker-evoque-lookalike

http://img2.autoweek.com/styles/gen-932-524/public/landwind505.jpg?itok=TchK8NAv

"I really regret that all of a sudden, copy-and-paste is coming up again," Land Rover chief executive officer Ralf Speth told reporters. "There are no laws, there's nothing to protect us, so we have to take it as it is."

 

[Bushwood CC]

Lately, China is in the news for "devaluing" its currency. And, world markets have reacted. Also, Trump made some harsh remarks.

IIRC, some time ago, Trump made remarks about China not respecting Patent Rights stating that they are basically "stealing" technology. This was years ago, btw.

So, I have a few questions regarding China:

1) Is China a "fair" player in International Business or not? Do they steal patents, for example, without paying rights?

2) How does one exactly devalue a currency? And, "should" a Country seek approval before doing so from other economic powers since it has global impact?

3) How do you see China in the coming years? Playing more favorably economically or being even more unfair?

Thanks in advance.

"Fair" is a very subjective word -- many like to use the term as an "absolute", but at the end of the day fair is, and always will be, "subjective". China has a very different set of ethics and morality (e.g., "culture") than the Western World, especially the U.S. I personally believe that the Western Ethic is the correct ethic in regards to fairness and righteous behavior (e.g., "The Golden Rule" which traces back directly to the Ten Commandments via Charlemagne, Constantine, Christ and Moses) and therefore an willing to "stand" on those principles, but that does not mean this ethic is beholden upon China -- you should understand this quite well being the "humanist" that you are (as well as the implications of such a position -- in effect, claiming to be a "humanist" is a weak excuse for the old adage "If you believe in nothing, you will stand for anything, but if you truly believe in something [e.g., such as right and wrong], than you will stand on principle". Your brand of religion, "humanism", does not believe in absolute "right and wrong", everything is subjective so therefore it is impossible to make the judgements you are making according to your belief system because "fairness", "righteousness" and "right and wrong" are in the eye of the beholder, and THE HUMAN who holds the power, [also called the rule of the jungle] not an absolute of the "intelligent universe".

 

[Cletus11]

China steals technology, everybody knows that. They go out and get somebody to sell them technology once or twice and then they reverse engineer it. To date, not many companies have cared or done anything as that Chinese company that reverse engineered it only sold it in CHina. plus, there was nothing that could be done as there are no laws in china that will allow a foreign company to sue over patent or technology infringement. now those chinese companies are starting to sell those 'stolen' products around the world.

 

[mhentz]

This is just an aside to the convo from a recent overseas trip that I found interesting. I was doing some process controls work on a new control system in a Dow Chemical plant in Taiwan and they had a Vietnamese process engineer from Dow's Asia office on board to help out. Helluva nice guy. We didn't talk too much politics but we did get a little bit into Taiwan's relationship with China one night (he was under the impression that China "owns" Taiwan in the way that they "own" Hong Kong and Macau which got a big laugh from myself and the Taiwanese plant engineer we were working with). Anyways, I forget how we got onto the topic but he told me nobody in Viet Nam would ever buy any Chinese brand product because they're complete crap, shoddily built, break down almost immediately, etc. The Vietnamese don't have any problem buying American and European brands that are made in China because the western brands maintain quality control over the Chinese production plants so you can expect them to have high quality and value...but native Chinese brands?...NO WAY. Complete junk and a complete ripoff. I just found that really interesting.

 

[LionDeNittany]

"Complete junk and a complete ripoff. I just found that really interesting."

That's the same as it is here. Those Chinese products are so bad you can't even buy them in most stores because the store would be handling returns all day long.

 

[LionDeNittany]

I "expect" you all realize that there really are no "countries" when it comes to business and profit !!!
So, if money for the right people is being made (that is not anyone on this board) then all is fair. Our economy has always been based on such, China just more of the same.

Sorry but that's just not true.

 

[Ten Thousan Marbles]

I "expect" you all realize that there really are no "countries" when it comes to business and profit !!!
So, if money for the right people is being made (that is not anyone on this board) then all is fair. Our economy has always been based on such, China just more of the same.

Proven by the fact that, not one mile from my residence in west central PA, many tons of coal are being taken from the ground and placed on very long coal trains destined for the port of Baltimore, where the coal will be placed on ships heading to China. People around my place owe their livelihood to China.

 

[LionDeNittany]

That's EXACTLY why it works. We want to "believe" that's not the case, we want to think we are better. The reality is we are not driving the car we are barely passengers. I know that is upsetting, but "it is what it is".

That's a really easy thing (copout) for losers to say.

"I can't win, the deck was stacked against me"

It just isn't true.

LdN

 

[LionDeNittany]

I do not want to get into a political discussion of any depth. Suffice it say, yes, you could become a driver, we all can. The lottery makes it so. Just realize the car and the roads are NOT your's to change
Copout? OK, if you think so.

I am a driver. Not sure why you think hanging onto the bottom of the car suits you, but that's your choice.

LdN

 

[jj410]

Lately, China is in the news for "devaluing" its currency. And, world markets have reacted. Also, Trump made some harsh remarks.

IIRC, some time ago, Trump made remarks about China not respecting Patent Rights stating that they are basically "stealing" technology. This was years ago, btw.

So, I have a few questions regarding China:

1) Is China a "fair" player in International Business or not? Do they steal patents, for example, without paying rights?

2) How does one exactly devalue a currency? And, "should" a Country seek approval before doing so from other economic powers since it has global impact?

3) How do you see China in the coming years? Playing more favorably economically or being even more unfair?

Thanks in advance.

It has been estimated that 87% of all counterfeits sold in the US are from China.
Strong US intellectual property law allows US companies to sue Chinese companies selling here, but that doesn't stop them.
On-line sales make things even worse for consumers: If you buy something dirt cheap on Amazon, you are likely ordering a counterfeit from China and not even know it is being shipped from there until it takes a month to arrive.

 

[Michael.Felli]

"Fair" is a very subjective word -- many like to use the term as an "absolute", but at the end of the day fair is, and always will be, "subjective". China has a very different set of ethics and morality (e.g., "culture") than the Western World, especially the U.S. I personally believe that the Western Ethic is the correct ethic in regards to fairness and righteous behavior (e.g., "The Golden Rule" which traces back directly to the Ten Commandments via Charlemagne, Constantine, Christ and Moses) and therefore an willing to "stand" on those principles, but that does not mean this ethic is beholden upon China -- you should understand this quite well being the "humanist" that you are (as well as the implications of such a position -- in effect, claiming to be a "humanist" is a weak excuse for the old adage "If you believe in nothing, you will stand for anything, but if you truly believe in something [e.g., such as right and wrong], than you will stand on principle". Your brand of religion, "humanism", does not believe in absolute "right and wrong", everything is subjective so therefore it is impossible to make the judgements you are making according to your belief system because "fairness", "righteousness" and "right and wrong" are in the eye of the beholder, and THE HUMAN who holds the power, [also called the rule of the jungle] not an absolute of the "intelligent universe".

{sigh} The so-called "Golden Rule" is NOT traced back to the Ten Commandments, mental midget boy.
To be more accurate, the golden rule first appears in the Bible in Leviticus which was written about 1440 B.C. So it predates Christianity. That being said...

"The Golden Rule is largely a humanist principle where people empathise with each other irrespective of the class or country they come from. All human actions aim at showing compassion, respect, understanding and kindness. People may belong to a different region, country, faith, situation and may experience different emotions but it is not really difficult for a person to imagine what would cause suffering and You do not have access to view this node to another and thus avoid such situations that he wouldn’t like to undergo as a sensitive and responsible individual." Not my quote, mental midget boy.

http://www.innovateus.net/content/golden-rule-and-ethics-reciprocity

Only a mental midget would place this SOLEY as a Jewish-thing. For the record, since your God is make-believe and only exists in your head, it is quite comical that you think morality (and, right and wrong) comes from something that doesn't exist. Using your "idea" of morality (and I use that term lightly), we would never have ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION, for example. What's wrong with a couple that can't produce children having one fertilized OUTSIDE the womb? Absolutely nothing. It's a HUMANIST approach to a problem.

FOR THE RECORD...you are a man of the past. I suggest spending your remaining days in museums. Why? Because, sooner than you think, your kind will be there. Unless, of course, your kind blows up the planet first. Which is a distinct possibility, btw.