U.S. Treasury Sticks It To The China Haters

Treasury says it again, China  not manipulating its currency.

This is getting better and better.

On the market side, the China haters are looking more and more ridiculous. Not that I’m a China bull. I’m not smart enough to say that. And I have money in China. But I am smart enough and am surrounded by even smarter people who have led me to believe there is no hard landing.  So on the market side, the China naysayers are wrong.

On the political side, the China haters who think the country is stealing all our Nike shoe and Optimus Prime assemblying jobs thanks to their currency manipulation are also wrong. For the second time this year, the U.S. Treasury Department said in its report to Congress on international economic and exchange rate policies that, wait for it…China is not a currency manipulator.  The two or three guys advising Mitt Romney on China were wronger than Tim Tebow starting as QB for the Jets.

“The Treasury Department once again made the right call on China’s currency policy in its report to Congress. Labeling China a currency ‘manipulator’ would do little to help us reach the goal of a fully convertible currency and market-driven exchange rate for China,” said John Frisbie, president of the U.S. China Business Council, a lobby of multinationals working in China.

“Adding the very public ‘manipulator’ tag might simply produce pressure within China to slow down progress on this (forex) issue,” he said in a statement Tuesday.

China’s exchange rate has strengthened over 30 percent against the dollar over the past several years. The upshot is that the exchange rate has little to do with the U.S. trade balance or employment. Even as the renmimbi weakened, the U.S. trade deficit with China worsened.

Of course, not being a currency manipulator doesn’t mean that the renmimbi (RMB) is properly valued.

From the report:

The renminbi has appreciated by 9.3 percent in nominal terms and 12.6 percent in real terms against the dollar since June 2010. China’s trade and current account surpluses both have fallen to 2.6 percent of GDP from peaks of 8.8 and 10.1 percent of GDP, respectively.  The Chinese authorities have substantially reduced the level of official intervention in exchange markets since the third quarter of 2011, and China has taken a series of steps to liberalize controls on capital movements, as part of a broader plan to move to a more flexible exchange rate regime.  In light of these developments, Treasury has concluded that the standards identified in Section 3004 of the Act during the period covered in this Report have not been met with respect to China. Nonetheless, the available evidence suggests the RMB remains significantly undervalued, and further appreciation of the RMB against the dollar and other major currencies is warranted.” China’s real effective exchange rate (REER) – a measure of its overall cost-competitiveness relative to its trading partners – has appreciated since China initiated currency reform in mid-2005, after declining between 2001 and 2005. From July 2005 to October 2012, China’s real effective exchange rate appreciated by 27 percent. The REER appreciated particularly rapidly in the last several months of 2011, resulting in total REER appreciation of 6.2 percent over the course of 2011. Over the ten months of 2012, China’s REER has been unchanged.

The International Monetary Fund concluded that the RMB was moderately undervalued against a broad basket of currencies, and said that the RMB was undervalued by between 5 and 10 percent as of July 2012.

Reserve accumulation, an indicator of the degree of Chinese intervention in the currency market, has slowed markedly since the third quarter of 2011 as China buys less U.S. debt.

Even with the reduced pace of dollar accumulation, China’s official foreign exchange reserves remain exceptionally high compared to those of other economies, and well beyond established benchmarks of reserve adequacy. As of end-September 2012, the PBOC held $3.3 trillion in foreign reserves, equivalent to 42 percent of China’s GDP, or about $2,440 for every Chinese citizen. 

10 Things “The End of Cheap China” Means for You

Getty Images North America

+ show more

Your espresso will get more expensive . . .

China, traditionally a tea-drinking nation, is now Starbucks’ largest market outside of the U.S., and the company plans to have more than a thousand cafés in the country by 2015. The Chinese middle class’ growing taste for premium coffee is causing commodity prices to soar; in 2011 Arabica bean prices hit their highest peak in over three decades, and analysts attributed that to fast demand growth in China as well as in Brazil and Indonesia.

By Kenneth Rapoza, Forbes Contributor

Covering Brazil, Russia, India & China.

Related post:
US Fiscal Cliff poses threat to economy worldwide!
Newscribe : get free news in real time

PAS messes up religion and politics again: Making one's hair stand!

  In a difficult position: Shoppers walking outside one of the unisex salons in KB Mall.

Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan's recent remarks about salons make us wonder if he has anything between the ears'. How then can he not know that PAS is messing things up in a respectable industry. 

DATUK Takiyuddin Hassan should be invited by hair stylists for a visit to their shops the Kelantan state executive councillor has no idea what he is talking about. To put it bluntly, he is talking rubbish.

He doesn't need to have a hair cut or a hair wash but simply observe the operations at a hair salon.

And sir, it is hair salon and not hair saloon. There is no drinking or entertainment of any kind.

A hair salon is different from a girlie barber shop, that's another point you should be aware of.

On Sunday, the PAS assistant secretary-general defended the PAS state government's decision to enforce gender-segregation rules on unisex salons, prohibiting women from cutting the hair of men, and vice-versa.

He said: “It is a well-known fact that hair salons and unisex establishments are the most convenient places for immoral activities.

“They provide a cover for men and women to engage in illicit activities. If I were a Chinese, I will never allow my wife to patronise such salons or even consider allowing my children to work in such places because of their reputation as a hotbed for immoral activities.

“And even a Chinese wife will feel uneasy to allow her husband to go to such places. Frequently such places will always lead to scandals.”

Like many Malaysians who read these remarks yesterday, I really didn't know whether to cry or to burst out laughing.

Many of us go to hair salons for hair cuts simply because, unlike barbers, these hair stylists are properly trained.

Many invested in diploma courses in famous training schools in London, Paris, Hong Kong and Bangkok.

We don't expect Takiyuddin to know what “a layer cut” is.

Huge sums of capital have been invested into their hair salons and many well-known hair stylists have turned entrepreneurs by setting up chains of hair salons nationwide.

These hair stylists work hard on their reputation, of which PAS may not be aware of, but clients are selective in their choice of hair salons.

Takiyuddin has no idea what he is talking about. We wouldn't blink an eye if our family members have their hair cut at hair salons - by a male or a female stylist.

And most of us have family members or friends who work at hair salons and we are proud of their skills and creativity. They make many Malaysians look good with their professionalism and abilities.

It is even more humorous when Takiyuddin said that “when a woman worker gives upper body massages to a male customer, one thing will eventually lead to another, ending with illicit activities”.

Hello, the nearest massage one gets at a hair salon is a neck-and-shoulder massage.

And from where Takiyuddin is coming from, he and his party leaders will surely shut down spas when they come to power.

Since male stylists cannot cut the hair of females and vice-versa, will we see PAS banning women doctors from treating male patients?

So if Takiyuddin suffers a heart attack while he is giving a press conference, will he wait for a male doctor to come, even if there is a female doctor nearby?

Next, women flight attendants won't be serving Takiyudidin when he is flying because it can lead to many things, what with their smiles and the uniforms they wear.

The hair on my hands are already standing on end just reading what Takiyuddin has reportedly said.

COMMENT By WONG CHUN WAI

Related Stories:
 Group expresses dismay over hair salon ruling
Hair-raising time for stylists and salon workers
Rising anxiety over implementation of hudud
Hairstylist moves to Johor to avoid ruling

Leading hairstylist slams ‘Jurassic’ rule

PETALING JAYA: One of the country’s leading hairstylists, Winnie Loo, has come out to defend the industry, saying that contrary to allegations by the Kelantan government, the business is run by professionals.

Don’t pay the summonses, salons told

PETALING JAYA: The MCA has advised hair salon operators affected by the Kota Baru Municipal Council by-law not to pay their summonses 

Takiyuddin's comments insult our intelligence - Opinion | 

Related posts:
Politics and religion just don’t mix 
Don't mess religion with politics!
Politics and religion a bad mix ! 
Politics, Religion don't mix! 
Malaysia is a Secular state or an Islamic country? 
Former Malaysian leaders were clear on Secularity of Constitution but their successors seem unclear!

How to make your hair stand up/ How to have troll hair! 

China now capable to deploy jets on aircraft carrier

Video: China conducts flight landing on aircraft carrier CCTV News - CNTV English

China has successfully conducted flight landing on its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, naval sources said.

A new J-15 fighter jet was used as part of the landing exercise.

After its delivery to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on Sept. 25, the aircraft carrier has undergone a series of sailing and technological tests, including the flight of the carrier-borne J-15.

Capabilities of the carrier platform and the J-15 have been tested, meeting all requirements and achieving good compatibility, the PLA Navy said.

Since the carrier entered service, the crew have completed more than 100 training and test programs.

The successful flight landing also marked the debut of the J-15 as China's first generation multi-purpose carrier-borne fighter jet, the PLA Navy said.

Designed by and made in China, the J-15 is able to carry multi-type anti-ship, air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, as well as precision-guided bombs.

The J-15 has comprehensive capabilities comparable to those of the Russian Su-33 jet and the U.S. F-18, military experts estimated.

Successful aircraft landing exercises on China's first aircraft carrier mean the country is now capable to deploy fighter jets on the carrier, a senior navy officer said Sunday.

Pilots have mastered key skills to ensure the success of the take-off and the landing, especially under unfavorable conditions such as poor visibility and unstable airflow, said Vice-Admiral Zhang Yongyi, a deputy commander of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy.

"It's like 'dancing on a knifepoint' as the aircraft have to land on a very limited space," Zhang said while commenting on the successful flight landing recently conducted on the carrier, the Liaoning.

The aircraft must land precisely over a very short and narrow runway on the carrier at a speed of several hundreds of kilometers per hour, Zhang said in an interview with Xinhua Sunday, after the J-15 fighter succeeded in the landing tests.

"We have done all these test flights from the very beginning, and finally we mastered the key skills for the landing of carrier-borne aircraft," said Zhang, who is also the commander-in-chief in charge of the tests and training program of the flight landing.

Currently, the Chinese pilots have found out the right ways to conduct the landing and they have consolidated their skills, according to the Navy officer, who himself is a meritorious pilot of the Chinese naval air force.

Zhang said the carrier-borne aircraft and special equipment for the landing flight have gone through strict tests, and fighter jets can be deployed on the aircraft carrier.