It’s official: America is now No. 2

[LibCampFireClub 635]

Maybe it's changed recently, but my experience with Chinese people attempting to speak English have been a disaster. There was this guy from China that worked with me in Montreal who's English was so bad, that I had to communicate with him using an IM client. In fact once I moved to Asia, that was the only reliable way to communicate with customers I had in HK and Taiwan.

On the other end of the spectrum, Filipinos, Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis all had good English skills, especially Filipinos.

Yes, it's changing every single day faster than light speed. I've had experiences in mainland China where I needed help and no one was around that I knew. So, if one resorts to openly speaking out to strangers, "Do you speak English" you will quickly find someone who does. I never once failed at this. More than once, they bought me dinner or drove me in their car to my hotel.

[Karee 4,189]

You're black, aren't you?

He is in a Wayne Brady sort of way.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

He is in a Wayne Brady sort of way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcAGQvu2gJA

[Karee 4,189]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcAGQvu2gJA

One of my favorite Chappelle skits. Rick James is the best, because all of those are true stoies. That Prince Basketball thing was pretty crazy as well.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

One of my favorite Chappelle skits. Rick James is the best, because all of those are true stoies. That Prince Basketball thing was pretty crazy as well.

Game. Blouses!

[Rob L 3,811]

I lived and worked in China for six years and traveled to almost every province. Life is improving in all corners of their country at light speed. It's unbelievable to watch, but also the worst pollution on earth.

Only a communist would complain about pollution!

[novedsac 355]

Note: In Hong Kong everyone speaks English. Period

This simply isn't true. For the past 30 months I've been in Hong Kong at least once every six weeks and I've met plenty that don't speak English … and the limited vocabulary of a taxi driver doesn't count as being able to speak English.

Furthermore, being able to speak and being able to be understood by the average native English speaker are two very different things … generally, Chinese English is inadequate beyond limited conversation.

[unsmiley 111]

I too was very surprised at the limited English skills of Hong Kong residents during a 10 day visit a year ago. It seems that there are more and more mainlanders there, and their English is subpar, to put it mildly.

[GandD 5,966]

I too was very surprised at the limited English skills of Hong Kong residents during a 10 day visit a year ago. It seems that there are more and more mainlanders there, and their English is subpar, to put it mildly.

I was also surprised. They're not fans of the mainlanders either. Like very vocal about it. And a lot of older generation of my wife's family (she's from hk) don't speak much English. It seems to improve a lot with the younger generation. But not always. People on the streets or driving cabs or in restaurants never spoke English. My wife had to translate in the rare occasion my opinion was required.

[LibCampFireClub 635]

This simply isn't true. For the past 30 months I've been in Hong Kong at least once every six weeks and I've met plenty that don't speak English … and the limited vocabulary of a taxi driver doesn't count as being able to speak English.

Furthermore, being able to speak and being able to be understood by the average native English speaker are two very different things … generally, Chinese English is inadequate beyond limited conversation.

Yeah, I overstated that everyone speaks English in Hong Kong. There are quite a few people who do not, like the taxi drivers you mentioned. Fully comprehensive communication is a very rare thing in any country where English is not the native language, so while someone may speak a little English, it's not likely you will experience a conversational dialog. Cantonese is the native language of Hong Kong, with Mandarin being the primary language of most of mainland China. Many Hong Kong people can speak all three.

Edited December 5, 2014 by ExExpat

[Janelle2002 3,865]

Opinion: Sorry, but America is still No. 1

By Jeffrey Frankel

Published: Dec 4, 2014 2:34 p.m. ET

Shares 1,

Purchasing power parity is not the right way to measure economies

China’s economy is growing fast, but the U.S. still has the larger economy when measured correctly. Average Americans’ incomes are about four times higher than Chinese incomes, even after adjusting for purchasing power parities.

By

JeffreyFrankel

This column was originally published on May 5 by Project Syndicate. We’re republishing it today as a counterpoint to Brett Arends’s MarketWatch column, It’s official: America is now No. 2

CAMBRIDGE — Headlines around the world trumpeted a watershed moment for the global economy. As the Financial Times put it, “China poised to pass U.S. as world’s leading economic power this year.” This is a startling development — or it would be if the claim were not essentially wrong. In fact, the United States remains the world’s largest national economy by a substantial margin.

The story was based on the April 29 release of a report from the World Bank’s International Comparison Program. The ICP’s work is extremely valuable. I eagerly await and use their new estimates every six years or so, including to look at China.

The ICP data compare countries’ gross domestic product using purchasing-power-parity (PPP) exchange rates, rather than market rates. This is the right thing to do when looking at real (inflation-adjusted) income per capita in order to measure people’s living standards. But it is the wrong thing to do when looking at national income in order to measure the country’s weight in the global economy.

The day when China surpasses the U.S. remains in the future.

The bottom line is that, by either criterion — per capita income (at PPP exchange rates) or aggregate GDP (at market rates) — the day when China surpasses the U.S. remains in the future. This in no way detracts from the country’s impressive growth record, which, at about 10% per year for three decades, constitutes a historical miracle.

At market exchange rates, the American economy is still almost double the size of China’s (83% larger, to be precise). If the Chinese economy’s annual growth rate remains five percentage points higher than that of the U.S., with no significant change in the exchange rate, it will take another 12 years to catch up in total size. If the differential is eight percentage points — for example, because the renminbi appreciates at 3% a year in real terms — China will surpass the U.S. within eight years.

The PPP-versus-market-exchange-rate issue is familiar to international economists. This annoying but unavoidable technical problem arises because China’s output is measured in renminbi USDCNY, -0.10% , while US income is measured in dollars DXY, +0.82% . How, then, should one translate the numbers so that they are comparable?

The obvious solution is to use the contemporaneous exchange rate — that is, multiply China’s renminbi-measured GDP by the dollar-per-renminbi exchange rate, so that the comparison is expressed in dollars. But then someone points out that if you want to measure Chinese citizens’ standard of living, you have to take into account that many goods and services are cheaper there. A renminbi spent in China goes further than a renminbi spent abroad.

For this reason, if you want to compare per capita income across countries, you need to measure local purchasing power, as the ICP does. The PPP measure is useful for many purposes, such as knowing which governments have succeeded in raising their citizens’ standard of living.

Looking at per capita income, even by the PPP measure, China is still a relatively poor country. Though it has come very far in a short time, its per capita income is now about the same as Albania’s — that is, in the middle of the distribution of 199 countries.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sorry-but-america-is-still-no-1-2014-12-04?siteid=yhoof2

[Karee 4,189]

Opinion: Sorry, but America is still No. 1

By Jeffrey Frankel

Published: Dec 4, 2014 2:34 p.m. ET

Shares 1,

Purchasing power parity is not the right way to measure economies

China’s economy is growing fast, but the U.S. still has the larger economy when measured correctly. Average Americans’ incomes are about four times higher than Chinese incomes, even after adjusting for purchasing power parities.

By

JeffreyFrankel

This column was originally published on May 5 by Project Syndicate. We’re republishing it today as a counterpoint to Brett Arends’s MarketWatch column, It’s official: America is now No. 2

CAMBRIDGE — Headlines around the world trumpeted a watershed moment for the global economy. As the Financial Times put it, “China poised to pass U.S. as world’s leading economic power this year.” This is a startling development — or it would be if the claim were not essentially wrong. In fact, the United States remains the world’s largest national economy by a substantial margin.

The story was based on the April 29 release of a report from the World Bank’s International Comparison Program. The ICP’s work is extremely valuable. I eagerly await and use their new estimates every six years or so, including to look at China.

The ICP data compare countries’ gross domestic product using purchasing-power-parity (PPP) exchange rates, rather than market rates. This is the right thing to do when looking at real (inflation-adjusted) income per capita in order to measure people’s living standards. But it is the wrong thing to do when looking at national income in order to measure the country’s weight in the global economy.

The day when China surpasses the U.S. remains in the future.

The bottom line is that, by either criterion — per capita income (at PPP exchange rates) or aggregate GDP (at market rates) — the day when China surpasses the U.S. remains in the future. This in no way detracts from the country’s impressive growth record, which, at about 10% per year for three decades, constitutes a historical miracle.

At market exchange rates, the American economy is still almost double the size of China’s (83% larger, to be precise). If the Chinese economy’s annual growth rate remains five percentage points higher than that of the U.S., with no significant change in the exchange rate, it will take another 12 years to catch up in total size. If the differential is eight percentage points — for example, because the renminbi appreciates at 3% a year in real terms — China will surpass the U.S. within eight years.

The PPP-versus-market-exchange-rate issue is familiar to international economists. This annoying but unavoidable technical problem arises because China’s output is measured in renminbi USDCNY, -0.10% , while US income is measured in dollars DXY, +0.82% . How, then, should one translate the numbers so that they are comparable?

The obvious solution is to use the contemporaneous exchange rate — that is, multiply China’s renminbi-measured GDP by the dollar-per-renminbi exchange rate, so that the comparison is expressed in dollars. But then someone points out that if you want to measure Chinese citizens’ standard of living, you have to take into account that many goods and services are cheaper there. A renminbi spent in China goes further than a renminbi spent abroad.

For this reason, if you want to compare per capita income across countries, you need to measure local purchasing power, as the ICP does. The PPP measure is useful for many purposes, such as knowing which governments have succeeded in raising their citizens’ standard of living.

Looking at per capita income, even by the PPP measure, China is still a relatively poor country. Though it has come very far in a short time, its per capita income is now about the same as Albania’s — that is, in the middle of the distribution of 199 countries.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sorry-but-america-is-still-no-1-2014-12-04?siteid=yhoof2

I think this was covered 3 pages ago.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

I think this was covered 3 pages ago.

Sorry, I must have missed it.

[LibCampFireClub 635]

The charts and graphs posted that try to sell Americans as not only being rich, but being far "richer" than Chinese can make scratchy toilet paper; nothing more. Why:

1. You don't need a car to live in China. Public transportation is inexpensive and available in nearly every corner of the country. A tremendous savings for anyone working there. Unlike the US, Chinese don't buy cars because they need them to get to work, the store, or anywhere else, they buy them to impress their friends in the same manner that Americans buy houses with way more square footage than needed, granite counter tops, and so on.

2. To buy a house in China is way too expensive. That's why they bring their money here to the US to buy your house.

3. To rent a fully furnished apartment in China is about one-third of that in the US. For example, my fully furnished two bedroom apartment was 2000 RMB per month (about $325 USD). Electricity: about $65 USD per month during the hot summer. The furnishings included: New beds, 2 TVs, Sofa, coffee and end tables, lamps, washing machine.

4. Food costs. To buy food at the market is close to the same prices as those of the US. However, a typical restaurant is less than half of that of the US. A bill for two people runs from: 40RMB - 100RMB ($6.50 - $16.25). Yes, you can find and pay a lot more, but these are averages for most cities.

5. Fine clothing in China may cost a little more than it does in the US. There are however plenty of knockoffs available at rock bottom prices.

In the end, it costs a lot less to live in China than the US. My income in China was about 25% less than it was in the US. However, my cash flow was at least 55% greater at the end of the month.

Yes, there are lots of poor in China, but their culture does not support the lazy. There are no hand out lines for free stuff. People do what they must to provide for themselves and their families.

Edited December 6, 2014 by ExExpat

[Karee 4,189]

The charts and graphs posted that try to sell Americans as not only being rich, but being far "richer" than Chinese can make scratchy toilet paper; nothing more. Why:

1. You don't need a car to live in China. Public transportation is inexpensive and available in nearly every corner of the country. A tremendous savings for anyone working there. Unlike the US, Chinese don't buy cars because they need them to get to work, the store, or anywhere else, they buy them to impress their friends in the same manner that Americans buy houses with way more square footage than needed, granite counter tops, and so on.

2. To buy a house in China is way too expensive. That's why they bring their money here to the US to buy your house.

3. To rent a fully furnished apartment in China is about one-third of that in the US. For example, my fully furnished two bedroom apartment was 2000 RMB per month (about $325 USD). Electricity: about $65 USD per month during the hot summer. The furnishings included: New beds, 2 TVs, Sofa, coffee and end tables, lamps, washing machine.

4. Food costs. To buy food at the market is close to the same prices as those of the US. However, a typical restaurant is less than half of that of the US. A bill for two people runs from: 40RMB - 100RMB ($6.50 - $16.25). Yes, you can find and pay a lot more, but these are averages for most cities.

5. Fine clothing in China may cost a little more than it does in the US. There are however plenty of knockoffs available at rock bottom prices.

In the end, it costs a lot less to live in China than the US. My income in China was about 25% less than it was in the US. However, my cash flow was at least 55% greater at the end of the month.

Yes, there are lots of poor in China, but their culture does not support the lazy. There are no hand out lines for free stuff. People do what they must to provide for themselves and their families.

You didn't mention the cost of corruption in your assessment. You also left off once weekly visits to the cat house.

Also, if you get mixed up with one of these girls and marry one, her family will be expecting you foot the bill for things they could never have afforded before you came into the picture, with your wallet full of US dollars.