Economics 274 Fall 2018

In the past week, the WSJ has had articles (here and here) on the emergence of new airline routes to China.  The first is airline, Qantas, is a global airline that is trying to cater to business travelers all over the world.  The airline industry has slowly reacted to the emergence of a strong Chinese… Continue reading Is China the Answer for Struggling Airlines? →

China’s attempts to create a world class soccer league and have a world cup winning soccer team have ultimately failed.  The Economist had a great article last year that denounced China’s political system as the reason behind their failure to have a quality soccer team.  It wasn’t for  a lack of trying, as the higher ups… Continue reading China’s Failed Attempts at Matching European Soccer →

China’s government is moving toward tighter regulations on the country’s exported and imported dairy products.  The inspiration for the regulations came after traces of the potentially harmful chemical dicyandiamide was found in imported dairy products from New Zealand.  These regulations show the government is conscious of its citizens’ health and intent to raise their standard of… Continue reading China Increases Regulation on Dairy Imports and Exports →

As China’s (rural) population increasingly embraces the migrant lifestyle, the nation’s transportation infrastructure will come under immense strain during the biannual golden weeks, when the migrant population returns home to celebrate the holidays. The government has consistently poured much of its stimulus into infrastructural spending, often at the risk of contributing to the ongoing housing… Continue reading Migration and the changing (economic) landscape →

In a recent New York Times article, the author discusses a current movement by certain prominent intellectuals and publications in China that are calling for the Communist Party to endorse and enforce the principles of the Constitution of CHina that was ratified in 1982. Since its inception, the document has “languished”, and there are outspoken… Continue reading Chinese Constitution →

With the recent talks of smog choking Beijing, not much attention is given to the causational factors behind the pollution. China’s economy is heavily coal dependent, with approximately 2/3 of its energy generated from coal or coal derivatives. Datong, a city several hundred kilometers to the west of Beijing is considered to be the coal… Continue reading China’s Coal Problem →

This article discusses the recent Chinese computer hackings of both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.  The Chinese Hackers apparently infiltrated and stole the passwords of employees for the two newspapers in order to monitor their coverage of China. While the Chinese Ministry of National Defense denies any involvement in these or… Continue reading Wall Street Journal Reports Being Hacked by Chinese →

A recent study in the Harvard Business Review found that companies with political connections have more frequent worker deaths. Ray Fisman, an economist at Columbia University, and Yongxiang Wang, a finance professor at the University of Southern California, hypothesized that well-connected executives “might be able to grease the wheels” in terms of safety regulations. The… Continue reading Corruption in firms tied to high worker death rates →

The newest American product the Chinese are snatching up is, suprisingly, pecans. The U.S. produces about 80% of the world’s pecans, and is exporting an increasing amount each year to China. The nuts are popular because they are a healthy snack, and a cheaper alternative to walnuts. U.S. pecan exports to Hong Kong last year… Continue reading China Loves American … Pecans? →

According to “Apple to Toyota Add Face Masks, Purifiers on Beijing Smog” an article by Bloomberg News, pollution levels in Beijing are reaching dangerous levels for the fifth straight day. Companies such as Apple and Toyota are giving their employees face masks to wear in order to mitigate health consequences from working in Beijing. Some… Continue reading Pollution in Beijing Out of Control →

Despite China’s significant increases in modernization and westernization it is still very obvious that the government plays a prominent role in censoring the actions of the citizens. Recently the government cut scenes from the new James Bond “Skyfall”. The citizens were enraged which they mainly voiced through social media such as the Chinese equivalent of… Continue reading James Bond, Moviegoers Face New Nemesis: Chinese Censors →

In China’s largest cities, Beijing and Shanghai, the estimated growth of housing prices has been greatly underestimated by the Chinese government.With the Average Selling Price Index, a government-run property index, reporting with growth 200% below accurate levels, there is fear looming about the stability of the Chinese housing market. While there are problems associated with… Continue reading Chinese Government Underestimated Large Jump in Price of Housing →

China, being the worlds foremost emerging market, has increasingly begin to head down the road of further financial transparency. Areas in China’s banking industry which have been conspicuously shadowy in the past have now become under increased regulation.  Specifically, the PBOC, the Peoples Bank of China will begin to start publishing TSF or total social… Continue reading Financial Transparency →