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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 25-Aug-2012
25-Aug-12 World View -- Fatal bridge collapse in China prompts public uproar

Web Log - August, 2012

25-Aug-12 World View -- Fatal bridge collapse in China prompts public uproar

Anti-Morsi demonstrations in Cairo Egypt turn into a dud

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

Anti-Morsi demonstrations in Cairo Egypt turn into a dud
Fatal bridge collapse in China prompts public uproar
Inventories of manufactured goods piling up in China
Jean-Claude Juncker meets Antonis Samaras

Anti-Morsi demonstrations in Cairo Egypt turn into a dud

Stone-throwing clashes break out between Morsi's supporters and opponents in Tahrir Square

Stone-throwing clashes break out between Morsi's supporters and opponents in Tahrir Square

Organizers had hoped to match the crowds of hundreds of thousands of people who rallied early last year in Cairo's Tahrir Square to overthrow former president Hosni Mubarak. But Friday's protests, called to protest President Mohamed Morsi, drew a very small crowd of only several hundred people, while there were only a few thousand in all at different venues. It was mostly peaceful, but there was scattered violence between pro- and anti-Muslim Brotherhood demonstrators. Al Arabiya (Dubai)

Fatal bridge collapse in China prompts public uproar

A $300 million bridge that only opened 10 months ago collapsed on Friday, causing four trucks to plunge to the ground below, killing three people and injuring five. Chinese bloggers are becoming increasingly contemptuous over shoddy construction practices. As I reported in July 2011, bloggers were furious at another bridge catastrophe, when one high-speed train rear-ended another on a bridge, causing four coaches to fall off the bridge, killing 35 and injuring 200. Apparently the two trains were administered by two different government agencies, and there was no coordination whatsoever. Since then, there have been six major bridge disasters, indicating that shoddy construction is a pervasive problem throughout China. Let's hope that their missiles are equally shoddy. [Correction: "$3 million bridge" was corrected to "$300 million bridge"] Xinhua and China Daily

Inventories of manufactured goods piling up in China

China's economy has been slowing down since fall of last year, and new data confirms the slowdown has been accelerating rapidly in recent months. Inventories of everything from steel and household appliances to cars and apartments have increased to a massive glut. The huge inventories are caused by a kind of reverse supply and demand equation: Sales are falling by as much as 50% in some industries, but instead of cutting back on production, the government is using fiscal policy to encourage increases in production and building of more and more factories and apartment buildings. Car manufacturers, for example, refuse to cut production, and are pressuring dealers to accept delivery of so many cars that there's no place to park them. At the same time, the government is carefully hiding the problem. The Public Security Bureau, for example, has halted the release of data about slumping car registrations. (This is reminiscent of China's Great Leap Forward in 1958. Mao Zedong dismantled the Central Statistical Bureau, which was responsible for keeping track of agricultural data. Mao was completely blindsided until it was too late, and tens of millions of people died of starvation.) CNBC / NY Times

The China experience shows that "printing" lots of money does not result in hyperinflation in a generational Crisis era, since people and businesses hoard cash during this era, and refuse to spend or lend it.

Jean-Claude Juncker meets Antonis Samaras

Eurogroup finance committee chairman Jean-Claude Juncker met with Greece's prime minister Antonis Samaras on Thursday.

Juncker and Samaras

Juncker and Samaras

Kathimerini

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 25-Aug-12 World View -- Fatal bridge collapse in China prompts public uproar thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (25-Aug-2012) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 25-Aug-2012 25-Aug-12 World View -- Fatal bridge collapse in China prompts public uproar

Anti-Morsi demonstrations in Cairo Egypt turn into a dud

Fatal bridge collapse in China prompts public uproar

Inventories of manufactured goods piling up in China

Jean-Claude Juncker meets Antonis Samaras

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 25-Aug-2012
25-Aug-12 World View -- Fatal bridge collapse in China prompts public uproar