Category Archives: Business/Economics

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

G20 meeting focusing on letting China in, kicking U.S. out

The current G20 meeting, in China, is discussing many issues, including the disasters in Japan. But, what seems to be the focus is how to bring China into the SDR, and, China’s desire to remove the U.S. dollar as the international reserve currency.

The G20 is made up of bankers and finance officials from 19 countries, and the European Union.  Their objective is to come up with finance and banking systems for a global economy.

Because of China’s growing economic strength, the G20 would like to have the Chinese yuan brought into the SDR.  That is the Special Drawing Rights fund, which is currently as close as you can get to an international money.  It is meant to make huge international transactions easier for members. The SDR replaced gold and silver as standards for international trade in 1969.

China is worried about continued reliance on the U.S. dollar as THE reserve currency for international trade.  Many Chinese economist, and other economist around the world, believe the U.S. dollar’s value is overrated, and is unstable.  They call the use of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency a “dollar trap”.

“Nations around the world have no way of restricting dollar issuance by the Federal Reserve. The current international monetary system lacks both stability and fairness.”- Xu Hongcai, deputy director at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges

Basically China wants a new international reserve currency, no more U.S. dollar.  This will play into the hands of those who want a true international form of money.

Business/Economics, Fukushima

McDonald’s, Subway & Starbucks struggle in Japan

McDonald’s fast food restaurants around the world rely on regional, or local, suppliers for their food products.

Thanks to the March 11 disasters, and radiation threat, Japanese McDonald’s lost many of their local sources. Now suppliers in the United States, and other parts of the world, are sending food to the Japanese McDonald’s.

There are more than 3,300 McDonald’s in Japan, and as many as 100 had to close down. Don’t think that what you eat in Japanese McDonald’s is the same as in the U.S.  Many foreign McDonald’s tailor their menus to what local people want to eat.

So far McDonald’s supplies from U.S., and Asian countries, had to be flown in because the situation was serious. But once on the ground there was more problems getting the food from the airport to the restaurants. They faced the same problems everyone else in Japan is facing: Power outages and fuel shortages.

Subway and Starbucks are dealing with the same problems, they just don’t have the high number of restaurants that McDonald’s does.

Business/Economics, International

Hayao Miyazaki’s latest Anime may be what’s needed for Japan

Famous Japanese animator, Hayao Miyazaki (Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, etc), says his latest anime should be right for the time.

The new movie, a co-production with his son, Goro Miyazaki, is called ”Kokurikozaka Kara”.  It is based on a 30 year old comic book series (Manga) about teenagers trying to do well in Japan’s 1960s economy.

”The heroine’s desire and the boy’s will to live in the film are definitely needed in our time from now on,”-Hayao Miyazaki

The 1960s was when Japan’s economy finally started to take off, especially for their heavy industries, like cars. Prior to that Japan really was struggling, and believe it or not, Japan’s products were considered junk. Miyazaki believes Japan is facing a similar situation after the March 11 disasters.

The new movie is schedualed to be released in Japan July 16.  (Expect a long delay for release in the U.S. thanks to the greedy control freaks at Disney)

 

Business/Economics, Fukushima

Chrysler joins Ford in cancelling color options

Thanks to the ongoing nuclear power plant disaster in Japan, Chrysler is now limiting color options on their cars.

Ford already announced the unavailability of Tuxedo Black, and three shades of red. They rely on pigments from Japan.

Chrysler is also doing the same thing, except they haven’t specified which colors are going to be affected, only that it will affect ten color options.

Business/Economics, Fukushima, Technology

Effects of parts shortage in Japan will hit United States hard in April, the Dominoes are falling

“This is the biggest impact ever in the history of the automobile industry.”-Koji Endo, Advanced Research Japan

Parts, from electronics, to mechanical parts for cars, to paint pigments, are shipped by slow boat. That means that the U.S., Europe and other parts of Asia have NOT begun to feel the true impact of the Japanese shut down.

Warehouses in Japan are almost out of the parts they had on hand at the time of the March 11 earthquake/tsunami, and the ongoing nuclear power plant disaster.  Since then, Japanese factories have had trouble after trouble trying to get their factories restarted.

The United States, Europe and the rest of Asia can expect the full impact of Japan’s shut down to begin in April.

Many factories in Japan are without power to operate. Some factories have lost employees to the disaster.

This disaster in Japan reveals the weakness of a truly global economy.  If one part of the chain breaks, it’s in trouble. It should be viewed more like dominoes, if one domino falls, others will be brought down with it. Japan has become the trigger domino, because it has basically become the parts supplier to the world.

Here’s why this is so bad for the worldwide auto industry: About 3,000 parts can go into one car. Those parts come from dozens of factories, and most are in Japan. But it gets worse, some of the “parts” are made up of many tiny parts. And, you guessed it, those tiny parts also come from dozens of other factories. It’s a friggin’ logistical nightmare, it’s a wounder the auto industry didn’t collapse because of parts supply issue sooner!

It’s not just cars. Get ready to see shortages of computers, video game systems, printer ink and even batteries. So much for a global economy! Can you say idiot in Japanese? It’s Baka!

Business/Economics, International

Iran declares “Year of Economic Jihad”

“I call this year the ‘Year of Economic Jihad’ and I expect the officials of the country and also our dear nation to work in a jihadi way in the economic areas.” -Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei

The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, announced on March 21 (the beginning of the new year in the Iranian calendar) a year of Economic Jihad.  This is the year 1390 under the Iranian calendar system.

His reasoning for declaring an Economic Jihad is the continued efforts by the “West” to place more economic sanctions against Iran.  

Business/Economics, International, Opinion, U.S.

Europeans surround EU Parliament, demanding to know where their taxes went to

Recently in Brussels, Belgium, the EU parliament was surrounded by about 20,000 protesters. They wanted to know where the taxes they paid went to.

“This money was made to be used for social security. It was meant to be used for social health, not to help the banks.”-Serge Monsieur, protester

Governments across Europe are dealing with what they claim is no money for their budgets. Europeans pay outrageously high taxes. Just look at their sales tax, in some countries it’s more than 20%! And now more war, this time against Libya.

Protesters say in the past few years they’ve seen the social programs, that they thought their taxes were going to, being slashed and burned.  Jobs keep disappearing. Yet, there seems to be plenty of money for bank bailouts, government bailouts and war.

Isn’t that happening here in the United States? Wake up people!