I’ve argued for years that the American economy has to restructure itself to be less dependent on consumer spending and more dependent on value-creation activities such as manufacturing. This article from today’s Wall Street Journal is the latest piece of evidence that retail spending is in a permanent, secular decline: Basic Costs Squeeze Families Health […]…
About: William Holstein
Author Archives: William Holstein
The Global Economic Implications of The Bill Cosby Tragedy
Talk about link bait. Gotcha. No, seriously, I do have a point to make. I’ve seen some excellent commentary about how so many people were unwilling to accept even the possibility that Bill Cosby drugged and raped women. He was a symbol to white people that relations with Blacks could be positive. And he was […]…
Has the American Media Misjudged China?
Thirty five years after China’s opening to the world, some of the key assumptions that have guided coverage are being tested by the presidency of Xi Jinping. Bill chaired an organizing committee that managed a reunion of 70 current and former China Hands on behalf of the Overseas Press Club, the Asia Society’s ChinaFile and […]…
A Smart Take on Japan From the WS Journal
Every time there is a negative headline about Japan, the American media–particularly The New York Times–writes the entire Japanese economy off. This has been happening for decades and we’ve consistently been wrong, leading to a dramatically reduced understanding of how competitive Japanese companies really are. In the most recent case, Japan has tilted into a […]…
Western media coverage of China’s economy: Part 1
A fascinating discussion about Western media coverage of China’s economy (video)…
