
Why the Chinese don’t spend : The New Yorker - KeepTalking
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2009/12/07/091207ta_talk_surowiecki
======
hga
" _Ultimately, all China’s barriers to higher consumption are a product of the
fact that for the past three decades its entire economy has been focussed on
one thing: making stuff._ "

Which leaves out the elephant in the room: for those same three decades, the
government has been focused on making fewer people thought the one child per
family policy.

How can the author talk about the paucity of the social safety network without
mentioning the 4-2-1 problem: 4 grandparents have 2 parents who have 1 child,
who's obviously not going to be in a position to take care of all 6 above him?

That's a big reason why the Chinese personal savings rate is around 50%. The
government isn't going to take care of them and there are strict limits on
what their children will be able to do.

------
teeja
"Chinese consumers aren’t really reaping the full fruits of their labor."

If having _savings_ is not a fruit of labor here in the US, we'd do well to
emulate that behavior more. The Depression generation learned that lesson the
hard way, and we clearly forgot it.

Part of the reason is that hard-sell marketers here manage to continually
create 'needs' where none existed, and 'value' that's abstract in the extreme.
I can't fault the Chinese for erring on the side of caution. I can only wonder
when we'll remember why the 'fruit' of financial security is one worth
treasuring.

