The Next Boom, Part 3: Overconsumption and Underconsumption, and the Coming Balance

Published Jul 13,2011
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“Americans are spenders, Chinese are savers,” is a mantra I’ve heard from all too many young Chinese, as if the American spending habits of the 1982-2007 consumer boom are some sort of ingrained cultural pattern, dating back to the Founding Fathers; as if Benjamin Franklin had said “a penny borrowed is a penny earned.”

Leaner & Greener – Foreign business people can lead sustainability in China, Part 1

Published Jul 01,2011
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 Finding sustainable solutions to run a small business is a global trend involving many of the most creative business owners. From waste management through transparency to equal opportunities, entrepreneurs experiment, create added value and often establish spectacular success with business solutions that save resources in the short run, and recreate best practices with time. International business people are great candidates for linking China with this culture, and they do.
 

Why "Guanxi" still boggles foreigners

Published Jun 16,2011
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 Pick up any Business in China guide at random and you are almost sure to find at least one chapter on "the power of guanxi", "the art of guanxi" or something of the sort.
 

Chinese student-entrepreneurs emphasize sustainability, SMEs

Published May 23,2011
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 Last week, I had the privilege once more to be one of the judges at the national student entrepreneur championship of SIFE (Students for Free Enterprise). Apart from the amazing energy of hundreds of pro-active young people, what impressed me most is how well student-entrepreneurs pinpointed the key issues of the Chinese economy.
 

IMF: China Economy To Overtake US's by 2016

Published Apr 27,2011
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 A new report from the IMF says that the Chinese economy will become larger than the US's by 2016. The analysis is based on purchasing power parity or PPP, instead of exchange rates, which in the opinion of many economists, is a more reliable measure of national development. 

 

Hawaii's Links to Japan and China

Published Apr 25,2011
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I am wrapping up a 2-week visit to my home in Honolulu, Hawaii. The economy of our humble island “Aloha State”—so dependent on tourism—has taken a hit in the wake of the devastating and heartbreaking Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of March 11. My half-full All Nippon Airways flight from Tokyo to Honolulu, usually packed full of Japanese tourists, is just a portion of the evidence.
 

Q&A: China’s “Generation Y” leaders

Published Apr 20,2011
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Question: “China’s ‘Generation Y’ seem to have unrealistic expectations from employers. Will hey be able to become the next generation of corporate leaders in China?” (Many of my clients in China ask this question.)

 
 

Dancing Around the Dragon: Joseph Baladi’s Brutal Truth and the Core Problems of Chinese Branding

Published Apr 14,2011
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“More than two thousand years ago, the great Chinese sage Confucius taught his fellow-countrymen to be suspicious of eloquence of any sort, which he branded as a subtle and deceptive form of insincerity, and they are especially suspicious of any form of eloquence that is designed to part them from their money.” – Carl Crow, 400 Million Customers
 

China's Middle Class Homes: A $15 Trillion Store of Wealth

Published Aug 30,2010
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Whether located on Hainan or one of China's other provinces, the level of debt-free home equity found in the lower and middle class sectors of the housing market is a big bunch of Hainan coconuts - $15 Trillion by my reckoning

I'm pleased that the market and investment advisory website run by Wall Street veteran Rick Ackerman continues to feature my China articles and this latest article at the link takes a closer look at the massive cauldron of lower and middle class home equity and its possible impact in and out of China.

China's Rising Wealth Joins America's Wealth To Build The Future of the Global Economy

Published Aug 07,2010
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"The rich are richer than ever the world over, with more than enough evidence available to confirm that this is the case. Furthermore, it is so on an unprecedented global scale now that China and her citizens have led the rise of the APAC region to prominence and power alongside the American and European economic blocs. As we shall see, America’s decline is the decline of only one main sector of her economy, along with the rise of others.