Managing The Dragon

In 2010, China’s workers found their voice. Emboldened by the country’s new labor law, encouraged by China’s continued economic progress, and frustrated that they are not sharing enough in the wealth being created, workers have found new ways to demonstrate their dissatisfaction. Ten workers at Foxconn’s giant factory in Shenzhen expressed their discontent in the […]

Yesterday morning, news reports were filled with headlines that President Barack Obama had “vowed to get tough” with China on its currency. By the end of the day, the headlines told how China was “hitting back” over Obama’s criticism of its currency policy. And so it goes. A currency dispute between the two superpowers now […]

When I sat down on January 12 and made the following two predictions for 2010, I believed that a trade war was looming and that the relationship between the United States and China would deteriorate as a result. Prediction #4: The relationship between China and the United States will deteriorate in 2010. Prediction #5: China […]

Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal, a few snippets on the ongoing discussions in Copenhagen. Developing countries at the United Nations climate summit demanded that rich nations commit money and accept sharper cuts in their emissions, highlighting the divisions among the world’s rich and poor nations that stand in the way of a new global […]

It was very interesting to note the differences in Tuesday’s coverage of President Obama’s visit to Beijing by The Wall Street Journal and the China Daily. The lead story on Obama’s trip in The Wall Street Journal focused on the sharpest public critiques by Chinese officials towards U.S. policy that I have seen in some […]

The Obama Administration has lowered its expectations for what the President may accomplish on his four-nation Asia trip, which begins today in Japan, and also includes visits to Singapore, China and South Korea. As reported in The Wall Street Journal: Administration officials say the President isn’t likely to bring along tangible concessions on hot-button issues, […]

The big news out of the United States this week was the $26.6 billion bid by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway for the 77 percent of the stock of Burlington Northern Sante Fe Corp. that it doesn’t already own. Taking into account Burlington Northern’s debt of $10 billion, Buffett’s offer values the company at $44 billion. […]

It’s a fact of life: economic forces within China tend to create overcapacity in every industry. Outside of China, rising quality and technology requirements and the forces of competition have reduced the numbers of companies making most products to a handful of global players. Yet, hundreds of companies may be making the same or similar […]

Bowing to pressure from organized labor, the Obama Administration has fired the first shot across the bow in what could potentially develop into a nasty conflict with China, America’s largest trading partner and the single largest investor in the U.S. economy. In the Opinion section of its weekend edition, The Wall Street Journal reported that: […]

What does a film about the 85th playing of “The Game” between Yale and Harvard have to do with China? Absolutely nothing. However, in 1968, I had the honor and privilege of being the starting guard on one of the best Yale teams of all time and playing in that historic match up. Forty years […]