Money Talks, Google Walks, Other Potpourri
by ilene - January 14th, 2010 8:28 am
Money Talks, Google Walks, Other Potpourri
Every day there are a number of significant stories that come my way that I do not have time to make in depth comments on. Here is a collection on my stack worth a quick peek.
Google Walks
Google China Threat May Reflect U.S. Companies’ Growing Unease
Google Inc.’s threat to pull out of China is the most visible reflection of U.S. companies’ growing disillusionment with the country nine years after it joined the World Trade Organization, business groups said.
Washington trade organizations representing companies such as Microsoft Corp., Boeing Co., Intel Corp. and Cigna Corp., which all backed China’s entry into the WTO and fought off legislation to punish Chinese imports, say China is increasingly discriminating against them on government contracts and through unfair subsidies.
Google, owner of the most-used search engine, said Jan. 12 that it would end self-censorship of its product in China after attacks on e-mail accounts of human-rights activists. The Mountain View, California-based company said the move may cause it to close offices in the country.
Such comments from longtime backers of U.S.-China relations represent growing dissatisfaction among U.S. companies, said Susan Aaronson, a professor at George Washington University in Washington who writes about U.S.-China trade relations.
“I see much greater disillusionment as China is promoting its national champion companies,” Aaronson said in an interview. “More and more firms are going to say: I can do without this market.”
This story is far more significant than the play it will get. It signals growing protectionism as well as dissatisfaction with dealing in China. To top things off, Chinese money supply is growing completely out of control and it is only a matter of time before China implodes or explodes. More on that in another post later.
Money Talks With Protest Slogans
In Iran, money talks with protest slogans
Facing hard-line forces on the streets, Iran’s anti-government demonstrators have taken their protests to a new venue: writing "Death to the Dictator" and other opposition slogans on bank notes, while officials scramble to yank the bills from circulation.
"What did they die for?" asked one message on a bill, referring to the estimated dozens of demonstrators killed in the wake of vote-rigging allegations in last summer’s re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Others were stamped with the