China’s Rare Earths Monopoly – Peril or Opportunity?
The prosperity of China’s “authoritarian capitalism” is increasingly rewriting the ground-rules worldwide on the capitalist principles that have dominated the West’s economy for nearly two centuries.
Nowhere is this shadow war more between the two systems more pronounced than in the global arena of production of rare earths elements (RREs), where China currently holds a de facto monopoly, raising concerns from Washington through London to Tokyo about what China might do with its hand across the throat of high-end western technology.
In the capitalist West, as so convincingly dissected by Karl Marx, such a commanding position is a supreme and unique opportunity to squeeze the markets to maximize profits.
Except China apparently has a different agenda, poking yet another hole in Marx’s ironclad dictums about capitalism and monopolies, further refined by Lenin’s screeds after his Bolsheviks inadvertently acceded to power in 1917 in the debacle of Russia’s disastrous involvement in World War One. Far from squeezing its degenerate capitalist customers for maximum profit (and it’s relevant here to call Lenin’s dictum that if you want to hang a capitalist, he’ll sell you the rope to do it), Beijing has apparently adopted a “soft landing” approach on rare earths production, gradually constricting supplies whilst inveigling Western (and particularly Japanese) high tech companies to relocate production lines to China to ensure continued access to the essential commodities.
Full article at: China’s Rare Earths Monopoly
I truly believe that economically, China has the best system in the world. Free (mostly) markets along with politicians who do NOT need to worry about getting re-elected every 4-5 years and are therefore free to pursue long-term goals. Democracy and lack of willingness to do anything to jeopardise the next election prospects is what is ruining the US, UK and Europe.
Learn how things work before you get all opinionated about your misconceptions.
The problem with economics is that it is so heavily intertwined with politics, and China is no different. You say it's the best system in the world but it is one that is full of imbalance and corruption (which occurs everywhere, but at least in America we can seek justice). Very few people in China, per capita, are actually wealthy and people that are living a 'new' life as middle class citizens are one generation (and in some cases, no generations) removed from polluted water and shacks that can be found in abundance throughout the countryside.
China maintains an economic advantage in several ways due to the country's political system...one in which protesters and dissenters can be gunned/gassed/tanked down in the middle of the street.
The only system that can work long term where wealth is being created is one that is based on free markets because even in "mostly" free markets you have significantly disadvantaged people who, through the abundance of technology, will learn that there is more life and liberty. Dissent will fester and situations like the Arab spring will eventually occur.
Regards
FYI - no one likes you or cares what you have to say. There's a bunch of protesters over here that we step over on our way to work, so that the government can tax the money WE EARN to pay their welfare checks....how about you just go join them already
'bout to hand you troll feeding fine, my brother
China is next, by the way, it's just a matter of time.
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