The NY Times reports that China has rebuked the Obama Administration for its “inquiry” into China’s policy of subsidizing “green” industries.
“I have been thinking: what do the Americans want?” said Mr. Zhang, the vice chairman of the government’s National Development and Reform Commission. “Do they want fair trade? Or an earnest dialogue? Or transparent information? I don’t think they want any of this. I think more likely, the Americans just want votes.”
Selling his green soul
Mr. Zhang is exactly right. This whole crusade against China subsidizing green industries was started by the United Steelworkers Union (which gave millions to purchase President Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign).
Here are a few more gems (as reported in the NYT piece) from Zhang, who also happens to be the head of China’s National Energy Administration:
On Sunday, Mr. Zhang called the Steelworkers’ complaint unfounded, saying that American subsidies to clean-energy industries proposed by the Obama Administration total $60 billion, and the American government has slapped domestic-content provisions — so-called “Buy American” clauses — on certain clean-energy products.
“What America is blaming us for is exactly what they do themselves. Chinese subsidies to new energy companies are much smaller than those of the U.S. government. If the U.S. government can subsidize companies, then why can’t we?”
Should American officials pursue the Steelworkers’ complaint, he added, “the only ones who will be humiliated are themselves.”
Government subsidies are always a bad thing. They distort markets and transfer wealth from a large, often ignored portion of the population, to a smaller, more politically connected portion. This effect is universal, regardless of which government is doing the subsidizing or which industry is receiving the subsidy. What makes this story so interesting, even outright humorous, is the unabashed manner in which Mr. Obama and his fellow democrats sell their green souls for union votes.
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It looks like there is disunity among the communists on both sides of the Pacific!
I’m sorry to tell you Mr. Zhang, but the state is held up to a different moral standard than both private individuals and even other states. Everything the US Government does is The Right Thing solely because the US Government is doing it.
“Everything the US Government does is The Right Thing solely because the US Government is doing it.”
The mighty guys with the big guns and big bombs are always right.
I’m sure Mr. Zhang would agree. Him being a higher up Inner Party member and all.
What people are forgetting is that no matter how ridiculously absurd the US government is getting, the Chinese system is infinitely worse…
Meanwhile, laughs were had (you can’t but laugh at how Europe wants to promote the Knowledge Society but gets the shakes about its competitiveness as soon as China exports cheap household wares)
U.S. backs off in currency dispute with China
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69E0OB20101016?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews&rpc=76
(Reuters) – The Obama administration backed away on Friday from a showdown with Beijing over the value of China’s currency that would have caused new frictions between the world’s only superpower and its largest creditor.
The Treasury Department delayed a much-anticipated decision on whether to label China as a currency manipulator until after the U.S. congressional elections on November 2 and a Group of 20 leaders summit in South Korea on November 11.
Washington and the European Union accuse China — set to become the world’s second-largest economy after the United States this year — of keeping the yuan artificially low to boost exports, undermining jobs and competitiveness in Western economies.
It’s kinda funny calling the US a superpower when it’s clear it can’t operate without some other country paying for most of it.
And it’s sad these “leaders” don’t grasp that net exports are worse than net imports. Net exports means you’re just giving away your product for free. People don’t work for money, but for the things money buys.
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