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Life Without Goods Made in China a Challenge (Audio)
Renee Montagne , Morning Edition (NPR)
A Year Without “Made in China”: One Family’s True Life Adventure in the Global Economy chronicles how Sara Bongiorni and her family tried to live without buying anything produced in China.
(18 July 2007)
Related essay by Sara Bongiorni at CSM: A year without ‘Made in China’
Contributor Carl Etnier writes:
The Bongiorni family, living in the US, didn’t try to live only on locally manufactured products. After a long search for sneakers not made in China, they finally found a pair made in Italy, at five times what they would have paid for the Chinese-manufactured pair. Hearing how difficult some of their purchases were when they just tried to exclude this one far-away country from their buying really highlights how tied the US is to imports.
Developed world ‘having second thoughts’ about globalisation
Peter Ryan, ABC (Australia)
For the past decade, one of the big economic buzzwords has been “globalisation” and its critical role in tearing down trade barriers around the world.
But the seemingly unstoppable rise of China and India as challengers to the domination of the United States and Europe has started a debate on whether globalisation has gone too far.
In particular, the current economic superpowers are worried about control of oil and other resources being sapped by China’s demand.
Mark Thirlwell, head of economics at the Lowy Institute, says as a result the developed world is now having second thoughts about globalisation.
…He also says a significant pressure point is the countries’ growing demand for oil and other resources as their industrial forces continue to grow.
“The idea that trade is always win-win, that someone always gets something out of it – where those things are challenged, an obvious place to challenge those is something like a non-renewable resource. If I consume a barrel of oil, that’s one barrel less for you,” he said.
“So certainly, globalisation sceptics, people who are worried about the rise of these new powers say, energy security [and] resource competition, is something where we’ve again created these powerful new competitors, so we’re now engaged in a race for oil around the world.
“I think what we’re seeing is… upward pressure on oil prices and resource prices more generally. We’re in the middle of this sustained commodity boom now with energy and minerals leading the way and that’s certainly being driven by increased Chinese demand in particular, [and] any of the prospective intensifying in Indian demand down the track.
(21 July 2007)
Related from the Los Angeles Times:
China to join top 3 economies (“The Asian giant is poised to overtake Germany this year as its growth soars. But challenges await.”).
Welcome to Richistan, USA
Paul Harris, The Observer
The American Dream of riches for all is turning into a nightmare of inequality. But a backlash is brewing.
(22 July 2007)
Also at Common Dreams.
