or People Don't Count Here, Either
by James L. Secor

This little essay is a paragraph by paragraph analysis of "China's economy surges on" appearing on mwcnews 25 Jan 07." Hmm. . .a wire download? What is it we are wired for, I wonder. . .

China's economy grew at 10.7 per cent in 2006, but risks being strained by over-investment and excessive dependence on exports, a leading economic official has said. -- A leading economic official would say, of course: it's his job to say. But what does this mean?

One meaning is that the politicians and the businessmen are doing quite well, thank you, while beggars (and fake beggars) line the streets even of major cities and most of the people kind of get along in houses Americans see as historic items ( hu tong) and all but farmers starve. These houses are older with roofs in need of repair, ceilings dropping debris and bugs on its inhabitants, dirt-encrusted concrete/stone/brick floors, mal-fitting windows and doors, electricity that is an after-thought, A/C is absent, heating is by one coke-burning stove and there are no bathrooms. I know. I lived in one for an entire summer.

I pissed in a bucket and emptied it in the common drain outside the house; I shit in bags and tossed them in the garbage; I walked ¼ mile to the nearest public shower. It is a horror, an eye-opener and a sad proof of the 10.7% growth in economic conditions because this is common housing fare to most of the 1.3 billion Chinese. So I ask. . .what does 10.7% economic growth mean? I answer. . .it has no meaning except for the rich and powerful; the people who make up the nation, have no idea of these walloping pasture patty riches that proffer results to only a few. Thus, is economic growth a proper, even good, indicator of a country's wealth and development and humanity?

The latest data released on Thursday was China's highest annual growth rate in 11 years and gave Asia's second largest economy its fourth straight year of double-digit growth. -- Who or what grew? Certainly not the betterment of the vast majority of the populace. It must be admitted, though, that the people of China are aware of this discrepancy between reality and delusion, as many Americans are not. If this is the highest annual growth rate in the past 11 years, I wonder why it is that in my four years here I've seen no sign of it--except as reported by economic officials reporting data to State run newspapers and international news agencies. That is, it's all PR, putting on a good face in order to draw more international business, i.e. economic growth.

Xie Fuzhan, commissioner of the National Bureau of Statistics, said the figures showed the economy continued to face several "outstanding problems", particularly a failure to boost consumer spending. -- This is quite understandable as the increase in economic good does not include increases in wages or social programs or. . . . Whyever is consumer spending important when most of the population do window shopping only, if they have the time, for they are more focused on existing from day to day. The answer is obvious: if people don't buy, the economy don't grow none and the rich don't get richer. Basic math, basic algebra; calculus will make it look complicated and intellectual, that is, beyond the ken of the average man and therefore, because it is higher mathematics, right.

He said China faced an "irrational relationship between investment and consumption". -- Sometimes truth will out. But the underlying assumption here is askew and based on the operative word "irrational." Why is this difference between investment and consumption irrational? Because, with a bunch of damned poor people not spending their hard earned money the rich robber barons don't look good. If I can't keep up face, you must keep up my face. Cultural laws are great. They are loaded with guilt. It's thus becomes "against the law" to embarrass another. So, buy you poor bastards! And if you can't, get thee to a back street where the foreigners will not see thee because they don't like going down narrow dirty streets.

In 2006, Xie said, investment in real estate and other assets surged, while consumer spending grew far more slowly. -- True. True. So the Communists--now only so in name--are placing worth on the ownership of property.

This is right and proper in a nation where the farmer's property reverts to the government upon the farmer's death if there are no family members to "inherit." Fewer and fewer want to farm--except for the gentleman farmers, a kind of throwback to Qing, Ming and Song Dynasty social organization. How cool was this (to use a common young person's slang)? Well, this, along with the inherent corruption, led to one of the four major classics of Chinese literature, The Outlaws of the Marsh, a stinging satire of the selfishness, bribery and corruption that marked these ages of common man repression and abuse. It, in part, brought about the "great Chinese revolution" as John King Fairbank calls it, resulting in the rise of Communism. Perhaps Katherine Anne Porter was right when she noted that there is no such thing as a good government.

According to the bureau's statistics fixed asset investment rose 24 per cent for 2006, while retail sales, a main gauge of consumer spending and sentiment, increased 13.7 per cent. -- Buy! Buy! Buy! I would agree that retail sales is a gauge of consumer spending but sentiment? I should think the disparity in investment and sales (spending) is a far more telling indicator of sentiment.

The data suggests government efforts to cool off an investment boom and reduce China's reliance on exports by boosting domestic consumption still have a long way to go. -- What data? Where is it? It's not here, in this article, in this reporter's reporting of the high economic authority Xie Fuzhan, who didn't supply it. Perhaps "the data" is as ubiquitous and amorphous and ill-defined as "they." People have an irrational belief in the unassailable truth of "the data" that is kin to the faith of a religious fanatic. It only does us good to question these labels and concepts.

Worried that runaway spending could spark inflation or a debt crisis, the central government has raised interest rates twice since April, repeatedly tightened bank credit and imposed restrictions on investment in real estate, vehicle factories and other projects. -- Woah, woah! Hold on here. "Runaway spending"? What runaway spending?

The problem, already well-articulated and supported with statistics, is that people are not spending. Is that why you raise interest rates? To get people to spend? I've got a bank account; I've seen no increase in my take from the bank's investment of my money for its profit.