Blaming China is of paranoia: Time Magazine
Blaming China is of paranoia: Time Magazine
08:37, November 01, 2010 
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An article appeared on The Time Magazine late last month said that the United States should act like "a great nation", and not always blame China for its own economic problems.
The story, authored by Zachary Karabell, said that China is not perfect yet, but holding the rapidly rising Asian country accountable for U.S.'s domestic woes is beyond anachronistic. It reflected a dangerous refusal to deal with the world as it is.
It said that retaliating against China over currencies will not restore high-end manufacturing jobs back to the United States. It will also not revive construction or retool the American labor force, and it will not rebuild rotting U.S. bridges or create a next-generation energy grid.
The article believes that this is an argument born of fear and fueled by paranoia. It obscures the degree to which the economies of China and the U.S. have become symbiotic.
"Those trillions in reserves that China accumulates: Where do they go? Back to the U.S. in the form of loans to the federal government. Those made-in-China goods that account for the trade deficit: Whom do they benefit? China, yes, but also American consumers and companies. Without China, American companies could not have maintained their profitability in recent years. Take two marquee names, Caterpillar and Nike. Both manufacture in China, but both also view China as a fast-growing market for their products," the article said.
The U.S., leading the charge for developed nations, has convinced itself that China has purposely kept its currency undervalued to make its exports more attractive.
"When did we collectively go through the looking glass and end up in this distorted economic universe? The idea that the U.S. is not responsible for its own economic stagnation, housing bubble and unemployment is a black-is-white, up-is-down view that only insecurity can breed," said the article.
"The U.S. cannot force China to bend, but it can cause serious disruptions to the global economy. We can take the cue from our fears and plunge the world into chaos. Or we can act like the great nation that we profess to be and tend zealously to our own problems rather than looking abroad for dragons to slay," it said.
By People's Daily Online
The story, authored by Zachary Karabell, said that China is not perfect yet, but holding the rapidly rising Asian country accountable for U.S.'s domestic woes is beyond anachronistic. It reflected a dangerous refusal to deal with the world as it is.
It said that retaliating against China over currencies will not restore high-end manufacturing jobs back to the United States. It will also not revive construction or retool the American labor force, and it will not rebuild rotting U.S. bridges or create a next-generation energy grid.
The article believes that this is an argument born of fear and fueled by paranoia. It obscures the degree to which the economies of China and the U.S. have become symbiotic.
"Those trillions in reserves that China accumulates: Where do they go? Back to the U.S. in the form of loans to the federal government. Those made-in-China goods that account for the trade deficit: Whom do they benefit? China, yes, but also American consumers and companies. Without China, American companies could not have maintained their profitability in recent years. Take two marquee names, Caterpillar and Nike. Both manufacture in China, but both also view China as a fast-growing market for their products," the article said.
The U.S., leading the charge for developed nations, has convinced itself that China has purposely kept its currency undervalued to make its exports more attractive.
"When did we collectively go through the looking glass and end up in this distorted economic universe? The idea that the U.S. is not responsible for its own economic stagnation, housing bubble and unemployment is a black-is-white, up-is-down view that only insecurity can breed," said the article.
"The U.S. cannot force China to bend, but it can cause serious disruptions to the global economy. We can take the cue from our fears and plunge the world into chaos. Or we can act like the great nation that we profess to be and tend zealously to our own problems rather than looking abroad for dragons to slay," it said.
By People's Daily Online
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