Comments by "" (@markpukey8) on "Business Basics" channel.

  1. Hey doofus! Estonia is a NATO member that shares a border, an ACTUAL BORDER with Russia. Has for over a decade. Why did Russia not lose its tiny little mind then? What is different about NATO in ROMANIA, A THOUSAND MILES FROM RUSSIA and talking with Ukraine.... and NATO literally on the border with Russia in Estonia? Explain that one.
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  2. They say 11% of US GDP is "manufacturing" because over half is services for the entire planet. And because our efficiency in manufacturing means we get a whole lot more product per dollar of GDP. It's always hard to compare just one or two numbers without making some effort to understand the context. The US is not remotely suffering because China makes more sneakers or assembles more iPhones.
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  3. Think of it this way - What can China or any BRICS nation offer Mexico that matches or beats the combo of Free Trade, Massive Direct Investment, Endless cheap natural gas as super low prices, dirt cheap transport, physical closeness, cultures that are very similar.... and so much more... that Mexico already has with the US? Mexico doesn't always LIKE the US, and the opposite is true too. But we are so well suited to help each other that there's just zero chance Mexico would risk their relationship with the US just to score point with China. It's not in MEXICO'S interest to do so! And on the issue of jobs... this is not 1989. It's 2023 and the US has the lowest unemployment rates in our nations history. We created almost 13 MILLION jobs since 2020, and we desperately need more bodies to fill the jobs we have... but our government won't let immigrants fill them. What can we do? One fix is to create the jobs where the people already live. It won't cost American jobs, we already don't have enough Americans for the jobs we do have!
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  4. Interesting graphic at 4:08. So China accounts for 28.4% of global manufactures. And #2 on the list is the USA at 16.6%. Almost of which is meant for domestic consumption. We don't export all that much. You need to ADD TOGETHER #3, 4 & 5 before you get close to the share the US makes! I point this out so all the people hollering "Nothing is made in America any more" will give it some thought. An insane amount of stuff is made here. US manufacturing is alive and well, even if China makes more stuff at this point. And Mexico is on the list at 1.5% right now. Think about it... they can DOUBLE their manufacturing and if they take it all from China... it reduces China from 28.4% down to 26.9%. It will happen. IT WILL be great for Mexico. But it's not going to really knock China out of where they are.
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  5. Because it's not true? If nothing else, Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream is owned by Unilever. One of the largest food product companies on the planet, and very international. They ain't Chinese.
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  6. Isn't that world history since 1945? Everyone allied with the US if they did not want to be absorbed by the USSR. The Soviets lost and they're long gone. But now if you want to avoid the Chinese hegemony... the US is still here, and still a practicing hegemon. I think the details of any deals will be different now, but yeah, the US appears ready to play world policeman some more.
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  7. Ask Vietnam about that one. Or Tibet. Or the Uighers who certainly believe being genocided counts as a war even if the CCP calls it housekeeping. Did I mention the aggressive posture toward the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and their belligerence towards Australia yet? Shoot, I left out TAIWAN! You are sadly badly underinformed about recent history.
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  8. So is everyone else. The CCP lies in all of their public data.
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  9. It is very unlikely China will "regain momentum". Remember that EVERY customer will be able to see that the same product from Vietnam is 10+% cheaper than if it's made in China. Price matters. No one "loves China" or "loves Vietnam". But they do love their own budget and family. They will buy the cheap one. And Mexico signed onto Trumps NAFTA 2.0 deal. It is 100% guaranteed that US money will stampede into Mexico, and that Mexico will happily build out production to satisfy ALL North American demand, since everything they build is tariff free to the US and Canada. It will be interesting to watch, but don't for a second imagine it will be anything less than spectacular for Mexico. In the past 18 months Mexican exports to the US went up about 20%. And that's just the beginning.
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  10. As far as I'm concerned you bough Thai, Vietnamese and Thai products. In this global world, that fact that the profits when to a corp based in China is meaningless. In most case you can buy stock in the company and share the wealth like anyone else. And in the meantime, a whole lot of Thai and Vietnamese families paid their bills and fed their families because the products were built there. My Hyundai car was built in Alabama and my Hanwha solar cells were made in Georgia. I care enough to see where these things were built before I bought either one... but I did not care about the brand being Korean or Chinese.
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  11. The IMF is required by its rules to use YOUR DATA for its analyses. So if China lies about their data... the IMF still uses their data. But if China IMPORTED 10% less raw materials from around the world this year... and China EXPORTED more than 10% less finished goods to the rest of the world... You go ahead and tell me how they managed ANY growth in GDP! The data we can verify from around the planet (what they ship to China and what they bought from China) tell us very clearly that the CCP is lying through its teeth here.
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  12. You are absolutely correct! And this is also why China is going to continue to see such high default rates! They are wasting their money because on one level, all they are doing is paying off the local rich, corrupt leaders. And as soon as those corrupt leaders are replaced or see a new way to skim some money from anyone else... they're gone. Paying back the loans from China is quite literally NOT PART OF THEIR PLAN!
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  13. They already are. Net Migration to the US is neutral or negative. Mexicans came here for better jobs and money to feed their families. Don't for one second imagine they gave one damn about any FOX style replacement theory nonsense. They just wanted good lives for their families, same as you and me. And the day they can stay home with their grandma and TV shows in Spanish that they like... they'll stay and work in Mexico. Enjoy watching US food prices skyrocket as the farmers finally have to pay a decent wage to get ANYONE willing to pick our fruits and veggies. Because THAT is an inevitable part of "Mexicans will stay in Mexico".
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  14. If China will never attack Taiwan.... WHY DO THEY KEEP SAYING THEY WILL? Do you think China is somehow trying to convince the US to protect the world... from them? Your nutty point suffers because you seem to be ignoring the fact that China and the Chinese government have repeatedly said they will attack Taiwan.
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  15. Yeah, they know going higher on the "value added" scale is absolutely necessary. But they have failed to do this for over 20 years, and now, especially in light of what the CHIPS Act will do their advanced tech industries, they never will. This video talks about the manufacturing problems they face. But it ignores the equally massive demographic problem they face. Over the next 20 years they will become one of the oldest populations in human history. A huge amount of their GDP will be needed to care for their older citizens, and that money won't be available to pay younger workers, buy raw materials for new factories, or anything else. By any measure I've ever seen, China peaked in about 2010. It's all downhill for them from here. If they are LUCKY by 2070 or 2100 they will have a reasonably stable population of under 1billion people and a healthy, if cheap, first world economy.
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  16. Because the Chinese government SAID THEY WOULD? Either they are reckless, or they are stupidly bragging when they had no intention of following through. Either way, Pelosi called their bluff, risked her life (with US fighter support.... she's not dumb) and now China looks weak. It's Xi's own fault. He could have said nothing. Saying we should let China tell lies and spout nonsense and not point it out when they get caught by their own nonsense is poor politics.
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  17.  @Cyberthug2000  But they did. You keep making excuses for China. But they DID say they would attack her plane. Being slightly less insane than that, they didn't actually start WW III by shooting down a senior US government official. But you can't keep pretending they didn't say exactly that.
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  18.  @Petertuske  The difference between the US and Pakistan is as simple as "no one will foreclose on America". We borrow money from ourselves. Roughly 70% of T-Bills (the only debt instrument of the US government. We don't go to ANYONE to borrow money, they line up to purchase T-Bills that we offer!) are sold to American citizens and groups like our own Social Security Administration. Pakistan needs to make payments to China or China will foreclose on things like the port they built at Gwadar. That literally CAN NOT HAPPEN to America! There is no mechanism for this! I can't say it loud enough - there is no comparison between Pakistan teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and the US national debt.
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  19. The people of Pakistan held a vote and he was removed for "no confidence". The only people you can blame are the one's registered to vote in Pakistan.
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  20. Which recession? And what exactly do you imagine China did to make things better for America? Feel free to include name and dates. I think you're insane, but maybe you can prove me wrong.
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  21. It's a good day in the "M" household.
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  22. Hey Doc. First - Paragraphs are your friend. Second - Just because you found a PhD in a box of Cracker Jacks, that does not make you a doctor. Really. Third - Your whole post is just wrong. The CHIPS Act is brilliant and anyone other than Chinese media can educate you. Life is too short for me to waste my time pounding facts into your head. I encourage you to use that doctorate brain of yours and read the CHIPS Act first. It's not that long and I can help you with the long words if you have trouble.
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  23.  @rajasingammuthusamy959  But it doesn't effect inflation. Ever. At all. And again, you are never, ever, ever going to convince any large economy that they are better off with anything remotely like a gold standard.
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  24.  @rajasingammuthusamy959  I agree with your goal. But the gold standard is not a useful answer.
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  25. Because that's not what happens. First, define "predatory loans". As the video noted, most IMF and WorldBank loans have terms of 1-3% interest and 30 year repayment periods. That's about as close to "free money" as anything in the world. If you want more, you need to use the right word "GIFT". You want freebies that other people have worked to earn, given to you for nothing. You're a beggar in rags, asking for pennies. And as always, NO ONE is forcing you to accept those deals. You go right ahead and find some kind, generous organization to bail you out on terms you like better. Maybe China will hook you up.
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  26. Food imports are one thing. Pakistan's bigger problem is that they import EVERYTHING ELSE too.
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  27. Uh-huh. So don't do business with them. NOBODY is forcing you to go to the IMF for loans and bailouts.
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  28.  @cashed-out2192 Huh? What is Russia going to do to the US? Stop selling us caviar? I'm pretty sure we're not going to need NATO back for that one.
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  29. Does not solve the problem for China. The problem is NOT ENOUGH JOBS, so automating things even more just means more people not working.
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  30. I don't know about the death totals, but I am 100% certain he will blame every death on the US.
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  31. Balanced budget, surpluses, massive high tech sector, flooded with domestic and international capital to grow businesses, self sufficient in food production, several of the greatest universities in the world, etc, etc, etc..... I did not know China had ANY of that!
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  32. Well sure, if you listen to Xi. If you listen to any economist who is not afraid to go to jail for speaking about facts... they don't agree.
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  33. I've been reading these wumao comments for over year and the inevitable victory of China keeps not happening. Can you come up with something new? Have you run out of imagination?
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  34. Nah, it's worse than that. There literally WERE NOT enough girl babies born. Beyond adoptions, it is well documented that Chinese women aborted female fetuses intentionally, and any number of girl babies were simply murdered after birth. This tragedy is entirely Mao inflicted and the Chinese people are paying for his arrogance.
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  35. I was thinking about that. If the US or Britain or Japan found themselves in this much trouble, we would all use the G-20 to lay out the problem and insist other nations help us. Not because they love us, but because helping us will help them keep their own economies stable. It would cost us, but they would help and any disaster would be lessened. China cannot bring themselves to do that. It looks like Xi LITERALLY cannot bring himself to even show up in a place where he knows he should be laying out the details and asking for that kind of "help us because it helps you too" aid.
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  36. They stole it from George Orwell. But yeah, they did it great. Who knew a kids' show could be so perceptive?
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  37. That was the unofficial contract the CCP had with the Chinese people. "Leave us alone to govern, and we'll make sure all of you improve your standard of living". And to be fair, they delivered phenomenally for 30+ years. Not because they're geniuses, but because Chinese labor was cheap so outsiders kept building factories and hiring workers. China raised almost 500,000,000 people from rural poverty to "modern, sorta urban middle class". But that's barely 1/3 the nation. The others are still rural farmers. And now the game is over because that foreign investment is going away and they have exactly ZERO control over it leaving and no way to replace it. And they never built internal systems that could do the job either. They are at the mercy of foreign capitalists. It ain't gonna be pretty when the other billion Chinese realize it will NEVER be their turn to win.
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  38.  @alantasman8273  Unions got your a 5 day workweek. Unions got you company paid healthcare and sick leave. Unions got you pensions and vacation time and so, so many benefits that no one had before US Unions got strong from the late 1860's to about 1960. The fact that the asshole OWNERS got sick of that and took their companies somewhere else where they could go back to having slave labor doesn't change the good Unions have done. Or are you so spectacularly stupid that you can't admit that NONE OF THOSE good things would have happened without Unions, or so EVEN MORE Spectacularly stupid that you WANT TO BE A SLAVE for your boss? If your company town had tough times it wasn't because of the Union. It was because the company owners were evil and cheap. And because our government policy made it easier for them to leave than stay. Don't be stupid. Blame the person who hurt you, not the guy who helped you.
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  39. Buy stock in those companies. Now their profits are going to you. This only works if they are a public company with stock to buy... but that's most of these international firms now. And the jobs to import materials, build products and ship them out to other markets... those jobs are feeding families in those foreign countries.
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  40. Um, when did that happen? Did I miss the part where DeSantis got arrested? Possibly you just have no idea how the US electoral system works.
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