Blog
I believe the most important thing Americans must do is to secure their economic well-being in an increasingly challenging, complex world. What I have written about all these years is the process of creating wealth, not for any one individual, but for the United States as a whole. Ever since I was a young correspondent witnessing the emergence of China after the country opened in 1979, I’ve believed we have to get more serious about creating wealth. I retain faith in the resiliency of the U.S. economy and the enterprise of American people. If Americans have the right strategies, we can once again create widespread wealth. Come with me on this journey.
Trade idiocy peddled by Paul Krugman and other economists
March 8, 2019
Having covered America’s trade deficits since the mid-1980s, it drives me wild to hear economists talk about how the root cause is that we don’t save enough money. That’s the argument trotted out today by Paul Krugman in the New York Times, here. The key sentence is: “The reason America runs persistent trade deficits isn’t […]
It took the New York Times just a day to catch up with my China analysis
February 27, 2019
The Times agreed with my post yesterday that President Trump has already lost the trade negotiations with the Chinese government by making it clear he wants a positive outcome, an achievement he can tweet about, and then use to stage a summit with President Xi at Mar-A-Lago. Trump has given up whatever leverage he had […]
Trump: How NOT to Negotiate with China’s Government
February 26, 2019
The Chinese have been negotiating for millenia. As we know from The Art of War, they are masters at it. But President Trump is making so many mistakes in his negotiating style and tactics that the negotiations are, in effect, already over. And the Chinese government won. The Chinese know what Trump has a short […]
Carlos Ghosn: What is Japanese “Justice?”
February 24, 2019
I agree with this editorial in the New York Times. I’m not a particular fan of Carlos Ghosn but he has been locked up in small cell in a Tokyo detention center for three months (since Nov. 19) where he has undergone repeated questioning by Japanese prosecutors without his lawyers being present. His alleged crimes […]
Very important information on U.S.-Chinese AI rivalry
February 8, 2019
The Algorithm, a news feed from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, offers a very concise, understandable analysis of a new report on Artificial Intelligence. This is a subject we must keep track of as we observe U.S.-Chinese relations. It’s common to talk about China and the US being in an “AI arms race,” as each […]
Nikkei Article Supports Argument that Apple is Trapped in China
February 5, 2019
This article puts flesh on the bones of my argument that Apple is locked in a losing competitive and geographic strategy. It should have started shifting some production out of China years ago. But instead Tim Cook doubled down and increased production there to achieve greater efficiencies.
