Comments by "Peter Jacobsen" (@pjacobsen1000) on "The Wall Street Journal" channel.

  1. Use everything you got to profit! She uses her skills, talent, smarts and beauty, and why shouldn't she? Those things won't last forever, so better take advantage now. And the way she is able to deflect sensitive questions shows a high level of maturity for her age.
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  2. All those companies that manufacture in China will probably never leave completely. China is itself a large market for all these products, so as long as it makes sense, companies will at least continue to produce for the local, and maybe regional market.
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  3.  @MrCasco0o  She uses herself as an object for marketing, and profits from it. Pretty good, if you ask me.
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  4. It's probably a necessary correction as these industries mature and become 'the auto industry' of the 21st century: Good revenue, decent profits, but no expectation of massive future growth. There are still future promises in robotics and AI, but we don't yet know if these sectors pan out the way we hope.
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  5. until 80 years ago, this kind of conversation between a Brit and a frog would have been pure fantasy. Now it seems quite natural. Our world is just a much better place than it has ever been.
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  6.  @Joseph-eh4rs  Looks like a punctuation error. Here, I fixed it: "South Korea sent 300k NATO shells to USA, and North Korea 1 million shells to Russia".
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  7. A much better video on this topic would be to focus on whether Robby Starbuck and his activism has actually had an effect or not. This can obviously be hard to substantiate, but they could look at corporations Starbuck has criticized versus those he hasn't and then see if there is a marked difference between the two groups. Personally, I think it is just as likely, if not more so, that the whole woke/DEI/CRT trend has simply lived out its life. It was a sudden wave of social upheaval, it quickly grew to massive proportions, but then slowly people got tired of it. It's like fashion, or music: Here today, gone tomorrow.
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  8. An odd mish-mash of facts: Helium 3 exists on the moon and it MIGHT be used to make energy in a reactor that MIGHT come online in the next 20 years. We don't know how much Helium 3 there is, we don't know where it is, we don't know how to mine it, or how to bring it back to earth. But, they say, China is working on a space craft that can take 120 tons to Low Earth Orbit. That's great, but the moon is not in LEO, so that point seems irrelevant. Who knows, maybe one day China can bring back Helium 3 back to earth, but this video certainly doesn't give us any clues as to how that might happen.
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  9. There is no difference, and the restrictions are not for Chinese people. They for everyone arriving from China, no matter their ethnicity or nationality. Likewise, a Chinese citizen arriving from a third country will not be restricted.
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  10. I live in China and I keep hearing about his 'digital currency', but this is not a digital currency, its just a state-sponsored payment app. How is it in any way different from using Alipay or WeChat Pay? It's still the regular Chinese currency: CNY.
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  11. I'm in Shanghai, too, though fortunately never tested positive. It's been a tough two months. Now, on May 18th, we're seeing signs that more people are being let out after applying for exit/entry passes. In my community it might happen tomorrow. Locals here in China may protest, but generally, they won't disobey orders. It's partly cultural, partly due to decades of strict 'people management'.
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  12. Birds are very stupid, that's why.
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  13. It's not the Wall Street Journal's claim, it's the WHO (which is cited in the video). The WHO's claim is based on numerous studies made around the world, including in China. Additionally, these numbers do not reflect 'risk reduction', but efficacy rate. That is also mentioned in the video. In other words, you're talking about a different aspect than the video is.
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  14. There is no evidence for your claim. It is simply a belief you have.
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  15. I grew up with vinyl but I don't think I'm going back to it. However, the big drawback of streaming and other digital music is the lack of liner notes and artwork. Those two aspects are what I really prize about vinyl and CDs. I love (with jazz, mostly) to read about the recording session, the dates of the different takes, the producer, engineer, sometimes there are essays describing how the session went or what led up to the recording. You don't get that with modern formats, or even with modern music, at all.
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  16. Space is crowded? Let's compare to commercial air traffic which flies at around 5-12 km above the surface. At least before the Covid pandemic, there were over 100,000 flights daily. Compare this to about 5,600 satellites flying between 240km and 36,000 km above the surface. And as with airplanes, we can pretty much predict where a satellite will be at any given time. Seems to me the true complaint is that space stations (and possibly satellites) have to use time, effort and precious fuel to adjust their position to get out of the way, which is seen as a major inconvenience.
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  17. Well, the term 'superior' was used by the journalist, not Starbuck's itself. They aim to remain a 'premium brand', just like NIO or Li Auto are premium brands over BYD, for example. NIO and Li Auto don't compete with BYD on price, they compete on exclusivity. Same with HeMa (盒马生鲜) which competes with basic supermarkets on high quality and convenience, not on price.
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  18. The future nuclear weapons are nuclear pistols that shoot tiny warheads with a yield of 3-5 micro-tons of TNT. Their mushroom cloud is about the size of a real button mushroom. We call them 'cute nukes'.
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  19.  @EyreEver  You don't really know that, but you believe it.
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  20.  @thomaszhang3101  " when China ordered isolation for foreign tourists, it offered free hotel, services and meals,". That is not true. Visitors had to pay for quarantine rooms. In Shanghai it was RMB 300-500 per night. And there were other costs, of course, incl. special testing clinics. Overall, on average it cost around RMB 12,000 to enter China, not including flight or visa. It was troublesome for everybody, but we got through it. And now, it's almost over. A few more months from now it may be as simple to enter China as it was in 2019.
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  21. Thanks for your interest, but being in lock-down, I have no other information than what I see on social media or online. I can't go out and survey the situation (though that seems to be changing very soon). Food has been a problem, but I don't think anybody is starving. Yes, I've not been able to eat as much as I wanted, but I have enough caloric input to stay alive. Money is not a problem for most people, the problem is finding a way to spend it, i.e. getting your purchases to your door. However, many small businesses are suffering and I think many will go bankrupt. A small business cannot sustain two months without any revenue at all.
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  22. Ali, its time to pay, don't you know?
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  23. Contract manufacturing of cars, isn't that completely new? I've never heard of a car maker that outsources their entire production line. Except perhaps small batch 'super cars'.
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  24. "show me an 'meaningful' alternative". Well, before Zhengzhou there was Shenzhen, so that is one alternative. Companies will move where it makes most economic sense.
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  25. Great explainer video! I guess the hotel industry has learned from the fast food industry. What industry will follow this path next? Air travel? You operate a B737 and you get to slap a 'Singapore Airlines' on the side, if you manage it well.
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  26. The narrator sounds like she's sitting under her duvet with a flashlight, quietly speaking into the mic, worried that her parents might hear her.
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  27. The project is going swimmingly!
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  28.  @brendakayyy  Thanks for your reply. It's all becoming clearer now.
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  29. I don't understand these concerns about privacy. We've been talking about them for decades. And for decades, tech companies have been collecting data about us and our behavior, online and off. But in those decades I cannot think of a single time where I have been bothered or inconvenienced by this collecting of my data.
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  30. The real question is: How many years is 'a few years'?
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  31. I don't think we were ever really friends, but for 30 years we tolerated each other and had a good trade relationship. I think those days are over.
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  32. Maybe it changed at the very end of 2022, but here is a quote from the Chinese travel giant Trip (Ctrip, 携程) from October 13, 2022: "Travelers are required to quarantine at their own expense for seven days in government-approved accommodations and, where appropriate, an additional three days in quarantine at their residence or accommodation". Here is from NYU Shanghai campus website giving advice to new students: "What is the cost for quarantine? The cost for quarantine hotels range from 200RMB (30USD)/night to 600RMB (85USD)/night. Meals cost 100RMB (12-15 USD)/day. " Here is from Am-Cham Shanghai: "As of July 2022, all inbound travelers to Shanghai need to undergo centralized quarantine at designated hotels for 7 days and 3-day health monitoring at home. Travelers will be assigned to the districts where they reside (typically registered home addresses). Travelers need to cover the expenses of hotel stay and food services."
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  33. They forgot to mention the difficulty in overcoming Russian anti-air defense systems, incl. the Pantsir, S300 and S400. These are highly capable systems on par with the best that we have. Any aircraft will need to be equipped with anti-radar missiles (ARM) to prevent them all from getting shot down early in the battle.
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  34. Yes, in China itself, everything is just fine!
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  35. Only Prigozhin will go to Belarus. All the Wagner soldiers will go back to base, ie. southern Ukraine.
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  36. Gold is not a better conductor, but silver is. Silver has a tendency to corrode over time, though, and it is very expensive, of course.
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  37. To quote Donald Trump: "Billions, and billions, and billions, and......."
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  38. That's a good point, but 25 years ago, China talked a lot about mining methane clathrate from the bottom of the oceans to use as an almost limitless energy source. Nothing much has happened since then. There are ideas, and then there are application of ideas. Without application, the ideas themselves remain just ideas. Nuclear fission energy is a good choice for China. Maybe focus on that for now. Several reactors already built and under construction.
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  39. Does this mean my Andy Warhol paintings are out of fashion? Anyone want them?
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  40.  @calvinblue894  But when you join the army, you go into it expecting some deprivations, like long marches, digging trenches, little sleep... If you move to a major metropolis, you generally don't expect to be deprived your freedom to move or buy food. Each situation should be viewed in context.
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  41. The Kiel Institute's account of spending/support for Ukraine only starts from February 2022, not from 2014. So they're not wrong, they just don't start from back in 2014. But what does the US government itself say about its support for Ukraine? Quote from the US State Department website, March 4, 2025, entitled 'U.S. Security Cooperation with Ukraine': "To date, we have provided $66.5 billion in military assistance since Russia launched its premeditated, unprovoked, and brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and approximately $69.2 billion in military assistance since Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014. We have now used the emergency Presidential Drawdown Authority on 55 occasions since August 2021 to provide Ukraine military assistance totaling approximately $31.7 billion from DoD stockpiles." So, in fact, the EU is NOT way behind, but on par with the US on assistance to Ukraine.
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  42. But they didn't move out of America and the rest of the west overnight. It was a slow process that took 30 years. Moving on from China will take at least a decade.
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  43.  @miltontong4032  I've lived here for 25 years, but I don't see how that's relevant, especially since this is all fairly recent. My point is that this is not a 'digital currency' like Bitcoin, but simply the CNY through a payment app. Perhaps you have some insights to share since you're so knowledgeable, Milton?
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  44.  @andresiniesta9955  Very enlightening, thank you. :-)
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  45. Not perpetuating, but winning. The two parties will go on until one of them has decidedly lost.
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  46. Maybe Comac will become a genuine competitor to Airbus and Boeing, or perhaps they will end up like Russia's Tupolev: Making perfectly serviceable aircraft, but not quite good enough to compete with their western giants.
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  47.  @siamcharm7904  You're very optimistic. Perhaps with magic, but that seems unlikely.
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  48.  @thomaszhang3101  I found a video here by a guy called Yan Yu, describing his quarantine experience entering Shanghai in Aug. 2022. It's a bit long, but you can go to 16:17 for a cost overview.
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  49. Considering Sweden is now in NATO, 'bowing down to NATO' means bowing down to themselves.
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  50. Actually, cases are falling.
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  51. There will always be a mix of shortages and surpluses in every commodity. Supply and demand aren't always completely aligned.
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  52. I remember a few years back there was talk of The Great Bacon Shortage. That was a scary period!
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  53.  @ronniechew6566  "How did we mine helium 3 on earth?" We're not mining helium 3 on earth. It's so rare it's too expensive to make. Instead, we produce it from other elements, a process that is also difficult and costly. The reason people are looking at the moon is that we expect there to be much more up there than on earth, but even on the moon, it is not abundant. Btw, Helium 3 is not the same as regular Helium.
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  54.  @ronniechew6566  It's true there's very little Helium on earth, but fortunately, we do not need much of it. As you say, it's mostly used for party balloons and making our voices sound funny. It's not like oil or aluminum, which we use a lot of.
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  55.  @ronniechew6566  Not 'needed' per se, but it is a potential source of energy. But we have many other sources of energy that are much easier to find.
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  56. Europe HAS matched the US. Europe has given Ukraine more than the US. However, most of EU's aid has been financial, while only a smaller portion has been in military supplies. Ukraine needs its society to function, so financial aid is also important, or it would have folded completely. Nevertheless, I understand why Americans are not interested in supporting Ukraine anymore. It really should be Europe's job, and it likely will be going forward. I thank Americans for the support you have provided so far.
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  57. If the price is right, I'm sure they will. But the price is not yet right.
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  58. It's not the population that is the problem, it's the rain, which will come down no matter how many people live in Paris. When it doesn't rain, waste water does not flow into the river.
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  59.  @Darth_Bateman  "Are businesses SUPPOSED to have expectation of massive future growth?" No, but the stock price valuation is usually based on expectations of future growth. You can certainly have a viable business that is profitable and long lasting, but with limited growth. The share price will reflect that situation.
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  60.  @theacroway2056  But we don't know if this was as a result of Starbucks' efforts, or if it just happened to take place at the same time.
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  61.  @-x5858  I see they aim for commercial extraction by 2030. If they can make it economically viable, the rest of us can learn from China how it's done. Let's see how it goes...
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  62. I'd say internet search is much more profitable. And it works in peace time, too.
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  63.  @SuperEmlo  Joking about what? Actually, none of my comments are jokes, but I'm happy to expand on them if you want more detail.
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  64.  @SuperEmlo  So you think all these assembly factories will move abroad completely?
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  65.  @SuperEmlo  Well, let's see. You will have to do something. Don't let 内卷 destroy your own country. There will be new opportunities popping up.
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  66.  @SuperEmlo  Well, of course you should do what you think is best for you, but I think China will be ok. Maybe not a 'New Tang Dynasty', but still a fine country.
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  67. You can pay utilities on Alipay. There's a button called 'utilities'. Property fee I don't know.
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  68. Yes, as one of the world's oldest democracies, USA has really struggled to develop any technology. Is that what you mean?
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  69.  @ASK-ko9qx  That's possible. Time will tell.
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  70. 10:47 "I don't think this is going to be a long-term technology that we're going to keep in the cars". I wonder if this will go down in history like the American scientist Clifford Stoll, who predicted in 1995 that the internet would be a passing fad.
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  71. Denmark is currently at 2.5%, and going to 3% over the next one or two years. That's higher than most.
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  72.  @RUHappyATM  Certainly! It's going to take time to build up military capabilities, but the first step is allocating the funds to do it. In my understanding, there is now a consensus to increase defense spending to 3% of GDP from 2027 or even before that. Ten years ago it was 1.5%.
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  73.  @RUHappyATM  "Oh, YT, stop your cancellation of FREE SPEECH." Hey, I received both of your replies, maybe YT just didn't show you.
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  74.  @lynnattwood6689  Yes, it's going to have a major negative impact on China's economy. The golden days are over.
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  75.  @MiladyToxic  You said: "liar. Elderly people are left alone to die hungry" Do you have any evidence of this to present here? In any case, to be hungry is not the same as starving.
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  76.  @calvinblue894  I know, and didn't people in the rest of the world write about their lock-downs? You don't have to care about what I write. Just ignore me.
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  77.  @calvinblue894  1: I'm not in Europe and I don't follow European news. 2: Where did I write 'crazy anti-CCP sentiments'? Are you a Chinese citizen?
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  78.  @calvinblue894  Alright, I am very curious to know where you're from. It's unlikely that a westerner would use the term 'Western hate media'. The term indicates a strong feeling of resentment towards the west. That's ok, many people around the world both hate and love the west at the same time. It's pretty normal.
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  79. Two years conscription is not a big clue for me, so I'll just guess Malaysia or Indonesia. Your dislike of the west is clear. That's ok. As I said, it is common among many people. Fortunately, most governments in ASEAN have an excellent relationship with us in the west. And I think we have a great relationship with ASEAN, even if you don't.
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  80.  @calvinblue894  I looked it up, so now I'm guessing Singapore. Wonderful place with great people, great food, and a great relationship with the west. A real friend.
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  81.  @calvinblue894  The future will be bright, both for Singapore and for the west. I'm looking forward to visiting Singapore again. By the way, I think Singapore is part of the west. 'The West' is not a geographical location, but a set of values, principles and a certain way of governing society.
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  82. The values we share include: -Respect for the rights of the individual - individuals are at the center, rather than individuals just being tools of the state. -Respect for private property -The importance of institutions, such as independent courts and many other institutions that function independently of government. -Freedom of expression -Democracy, allowing the people to change the government if they are not satisfied. These are some of the more important values we share.
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  83.  @calvinblue894  You raise some interesting questions. Nevertheless, Singapore has a legal and political system based largely on those in the west. That's just a fact. If the people in Singapore wish to change those systems to something more in line with what you prefer, you have a system of democratic elections which allows you to do that. Of course, you need to get at least 50% of Singaporeans to agree with you, and that might be difficult.
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  84.  @calvinblue894  "on the overall..the government still wins..and have most of the say". Yes, I agree with you that the PAP has abused the law to stay in power since independence. Your democracy still needs some improvement, but at the base it has the tools for change. And let's not forget that apparently, most Singaporeans prefer to vote PAP. It's not a terrible party, but not perfect, either. I'm familiar with Amos Yee. And generally, I will agree with you that Singapore has some of that authoritarian style we see here in China. It's still better, though, kinda half way between the Chinese style and the Taiwanese style. You make a lot of references to social problems in North America. Those problems are real. I'm not from there, though, but from Europe. I'm quite happy with the way European society functions. It's pretty nice, but I also think Singaporean society is pretty nice. A well functioning society.
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  85.  @calvinblue894  Democracy may not give leaders that you approve of, but it gives leaders that the majority of people approve of. And the beauty of democracy is that if people want to have a dictatorship instead, they can vote to end democracy. I don't think that has ever happened and I doubt it ever will. People like the power to decide their government. If you think Singapore is stricter than China, you don't know China very well.
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  86.  @calvinblue894  Cheer up, Calvin! Your country is pretty great. Best country in SEA! You seem to think that I don't know anything about China. I'm in China now, you know. I've lived here for 25 years. I speak the language, I live in this society just like the Chinese people do. I think I understand what goes on here pretty well.
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  87. FYI: China is the world's second biggest arms exporter.
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  88.  @fraccozeta  Your reaction is justified. I was wrong. China is not the second biggest weapons exporter, it is only the fourth. China's biggest arms costumers are Pakistan and Bangladesh. China's main export items are missiles and missile systems of various kinds. China's missile technology is very good, in my understanding.
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  89. My first phone used the GSM network. That pulled very low Gs.... almost weightless.
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  90. That's not the reason I use it. I use it for convenience. I haven't used cash money in several years. I stopped carrying cash 18 months ago.
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  91. By several months. Maybe the video was found under a pile of documents.
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  92. New Yorkers buy it. Wall Street types and people interested in business/economy.
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  93. It's not going to happen overnight, just like China's manufacturing prowess didn't happen overnight. I remember Chinese manufacturing in the 90s, not quite ready for prime time. Everybody has to start somewhere.
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  94. "Hey, Afghan National Army, would you like to surrender"? "Sure, I'll be right out, let me just get my pants on".
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  95. The graphs shown are very illustrative, but when examined closer, they don't really show much disparity. For example, the graph on attaining a STEM degree (6:22) show that black and hispanic students drop by 2%. So if 100 black and hispanic students got a stem degree in 1996, in 2002 98 black and hispanic students got one. Same with attending grad school: A 2% drop. Same with average salary attained: A 2% drop. Is that statistically significant? Perhaps a little, but it is nowhere near the gross disparity we might have otherwise feared.
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  96. Fortunately not all from the same howitzer.
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  97. It is many, many times easier to build a space station than a cutting edge chip fab. The reason most countries don't build space stations is that there is no money in it. These things are mostly for national prestige and they cost a lot of money with little return.
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  98. North Korea is also going hungry while developing nuclear weapons. Korea, Japan, Taiwan could probably all develop a nuclear weapon is a short time if they felt they needed to.
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  99.  @bobcharles7716  Could be, nobody can say what the future will bring.
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  100.  @bobcharles7716  Yes, one day China will become as great a civilization as Japan. It's only a matter of time.
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  101.  @bobcharles7716  And one day you may take over their place.
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  102.  @bobcharles7716  "for 95% of the last 2000 years whoever rule China is the most powerful person on earth!" I don't know how you made that conclusion. It's not very scholarly, that's for sure.
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  103.  @bobcharles7716  No, it's a conclusion made by people who don't have much knowledge of Chinese history or of world history. Just one point: If you do not engage with the rest of the world, how can you know if you're stronger, and why would it matter? Comparative strength only matters if there is engagement, whether it is cultural, military, trade or otherwise. Apart from short trips by Zheng He, China rarely went outside East Asia until the 20th century. There is no doubt China is an illustrious culture with a proud and rich history, but 95% is putting it too high. Think of all the troubles starting long before the Han Dynasty, with invasions from the north, invasions from Tibet, and numerous internal uprisings, again, and again, and again. Splitting up and reuniting, again and again. Like other countries, China has had its problems for thousands of years. Now, China is on the upswing again, but the world is a different place than it was before.
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  104.  @bobcharles7716  Ok, you have no arguments, only this assertion. It's nothing but emotion, and no one can argue against that.
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  105.  @bobcharles7716  I'm still waiting for any rational argument from you.
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  106.  @bobcharles7716  Don't bother. This conversation is going nowhere.
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  107. Why is it so terrible for China to have one million deaths? China already has ten million deaths annually, or almost one million every month. The people who die from Covid are very old and would have died from other causes soon, anyway. You realize we will never be able to stop Covid, right? It will come back to every city in China, every year. Are you prepared to lock-down for two months every year?
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  108.  @dealtime2774  "World war always start with 2 country fighting each other". Ok, but that does not mean that every conflict between two countries will inevitably lead to a world war. We have had numerous conflicts between two or more countries in the last 120 years, but only two world wars.
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  109.  @andresiniesta9955  Fair point, but that still doesn't make it a 'digital currency'. It's still just an electronic payment app. The currency is still good old RMB. That being said, I suppose offline payments have their benefits, even if I have never had the need for them.
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  110.  @JD-yz4kr  Thanks, I get that, though that is no different from, say, Alipay. 'Frog in a well' above gave a better answer. Fundamentally, it's a way for China to get around international currency barriers: They can trade in RMB, rather than in USD, even while their currency is not freely tradeable.
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  111. @FlyingMonkies325 Most people already have debit cards. I haven't used mine in a long time, though. Everything is paid through payment apps now. I haven't used cash (paper notes and coins) for over two years.
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  112. @FlyingMonkies325 Yes, it's good to have several options: Cash money, debit cards, credit cards and several payment apps. I carry cards and phone with me everywhere.
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  113.  @589supra  And yet, one year later and not much has changed.
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  114.  @dynestis2875  I'm not aware of anything that can replace them.
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  115. Maybe when it happens. After all, NIO delivered only 20,000 vehicles in Q1 2021, so it would be too early to say they're a threat to other, more established brands.
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  116. There is still work to be done on all kinds of AI.
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  117. Unlikely. There's plenty of housing available in the US, but the homeless cannot afford to move in. They tend to be drug addicts, unemployed, mentally ill.
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  118.  @rododendronkrakatoa8633  I did watch it. You're referring to the situation after a collision has happened; I'm an describing the likelihood of a collision happening in the first place.
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  119.  @rododendronkrakatoa8633  Well, that's just speculation. Feel free to speculate as you wish.
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  120.  @rododendronkrakatoa8633  Thank you. I hope you'll keep that promise.
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  121.  @rododendronkrakatoa8633  You're getting emotional, and you couldn't keep your promise to leave me alone. May I suggest you put your device away, have a nice cup of tea and maybe go for a walk around town. It'll do you good.
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  122.  @emilspec1227  Really? What service do you use?
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  123. And so, F3 United Channel, what do you think it is? What is your analysis of the situation?
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  124.    Well, as long as you stick to gaming, I think we're all going to be alright.
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  125. Usually, 'foreign forces' refers to western countries, especially USA.
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  126. The waste water already goes straight to processing plants. It is only during heavy rains that the drains flow over into the river, because they are not big enough to handle those massive amounts of water.
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  127. What paper do you read? It's been all over the news. And how did you find out about it?
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  128. Yes, it's odd that the WSJ only shows the biggest 5 powers in Europe, and even leaves out Turkey, which has a big army. Most European countries are quite small, but together they contribute a lot. Had the WSJ shown the total European armed forces, they would have surpassed Russia by a wide margin.
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  129.  @maolo76  If that's the case, how do you know cases are rising? Where do you get your data from?
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  130.  @jaridkeen123  I didn't know Australia had a 'War on Emus'.
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  131. To all the people talking up Xiong'An: Would you want to move there? There is readily available real estate / homes you can move in to tomorrow, and at a low price, too. Certainly cheaper than Beijing. You should consider the question 'why aren't people moving there in droves?' When they started developing Shenzhen, they couldn't get the buildings ready fast enough, millions wanted to move to Shenzhen.
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  132. There was some pretty heavy debris flying up just around takeoff. Looked like very large pieces of something.
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  133. A few notes: Tastien, the 'Chinese McDonald's' in the video currently only has 10 stores nationwide; 9 in Beijing, 1 in Guangzhou. China has had McDonald's and KFC clones for decades. Since the 1990s, the Taiwanese chain Dico's, and for almost as long, a plethora of small clones in 3rd and 4th tier cities and below, small local chains often named something like 麦肯基 (Mai Ken Ji), which can best be translated as McKentucky, serving approximations of food from the two big US chains. The Nike competitor Anta has existed for decades, but mostly popular in 3rd and 4th tier cities, serving consumers who couldn't afford to buy international brands. Their logos are designed to be close enough to Nike's swoosh to make it interesting, but not so close as to invite copyright lawsuits. Going from a low-end brand to a high-end brand is going to take a lot of effort, no matter where you are. Could you imagine Walmart becoming a desirable, exclusive grocery? Luckin Coffee has a very viable business model. They are to coffee what Domino's is to pizza: Cheap, quick, and everywhere. But few people would claim that Domino's Pizza represent a high quality Italian dining experience. The video highlights the use of patriotism/nationalism by several of these homegrown brands. This can work for short periods, but I think history tells us that long term success cannot be built on patriotism alone. Americans buy Toyotas, Europeans buy California Wine, Japanese buy Hermes scarves. There's no reason to believe that Chinese people will be any different, at least not in the long term. What we're seeing now is Chinese consumers realizing that they can no longer afford to buy foreign premium brand goods, so they buy the next-best thing: Local, cheap and cheery, good-enough brands.
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  134. It's $69 billion from the US, according to The State Dept. (March 4, 2025 press release). The 350 billion figure mentioned by Trump was, quote: "In my opinion". In other words, not a number he based on any data, but just his opinion. If there is any evidence of this high number, I'd like to see it.
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  135. At least it's not beer (yet).
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