Cyrus Janssen on the real China vs. conception of most Americans

This summer we went back to China, we traveled two months throughout China.  We were sharing videos on Instagram with our friends back in America and no one could believe.

This is China?  This is what China looks like?  The roads are this clean?  The cities this good?  The malls are this well?  The meals are this great?  The food is this fresh?  The people are this friendly?

This is the sad thing.  I think for most Americans their conception of China is still stuck in 1970.  It's still Chairman Mao suits, bicycles, poor country, underdeveloped, communism, no freedom, totalitarian society.  This is what the stereotypes about China are.  I lived in China for 10 years.  There's not really many freedoms that I didn't have.  There's not really a huge difference between the United States and China.

~ Cyrus Janssen, "Shocking Truth About China Told by an American," Max Chernov, 1:05 mark, October 14, 2024

Hans Hermann-Hoppe on idolizing politicians

Idolizing a politician is like believing that the stripper actually loves you.

~ Hans Hermann-Hoppe

Cyrus Janssen: "I don't believe that China is the biggest threat to the United States"

One fundamental belief that has really guided me a lot is be the change you want to see in the world.  It's very simple...  So I want to see a change between the U.S. and China.  Maybe I'm too small.  Maybe I'm just one person.  Maybe I can't really influence this, but I'm going to go try.  I'm going to try to be that change that I want to see in the world.

I don't believe that China is the biggest threat to the United States.  That is something that I'm going to die on.  It's a fundamental belief of mine that's something that I'm going to continue to preach on.  So when I talk to people, when I speak in conferences around the world, when I speak to anybody, from the side of the street to...  I went to a local pharmacy and there were two guys talking about China.  "Oh, China's taking all our jobs, there's no manufacturing anymore in America because of China.  China's the problem!"  And I thought, "What's interesting is that, what phone do you have?"  

"Oh, I have an iPhone."  

"Okay, well, if we bring that factory back to America, we're going to have to hire Americans for about $50 to $60 an hour because they won't work for less than that in a factory.  They don't want to do that job.  So are you willing to pay $5,000 to $6,000 for an iPhone?"  

"$5,000 to $6,000?  That's insane."

"Exactly, that's why we need China, because there's also a fundamental reason why Apple's gone to China, is because they're able to produce the best quality phones, at the best prices and they do so because it's China...  And as a result, Apple's become one of the most valuable companies in the world.  So if anything, just go buy some Apple stock and enjoy the tangible benefits that come from dealing with China,"

~ Cyrus Janssen, "Shocking Truth About China Told by an American," Max Chernov, 38:15 mark, October 14, 2024

Cyrus Janssen on the possibility of a hot war between the US and China

Many people don't realize how important China is to the United States economy and just to how Americans live their average life.  Without China we couldn't function.  And so the trade still goes on, though the tensions have ramped up significantly since [2008].

[...]

As for tensions, unfortunately, if I had to make a prediction, I think that they're going to increase.  I think that we're going to see more tensions between the United States and China, but we're going to see this increase because there is a fundamental problem happening in the United States where we are experiencing a very difficult time politically...  The U.S. democracy has never been weaker than at this moment right now.  So our government has a tremendous amount of internal problems.  And the problem right now is that we're distracted by other countries.  For example, you often hear many U.S. politicians say, "the greatest threat to the future of the United States is China."  But in reality, it has nothing to do with China.  Everything is by looking in the mirror.  The biggest threat to the United States is the United States itself...  How do we fix our own house?

[...]

So I think that what you're going to see between the United States and China is China continuing its influence around the world, for example when we look at Africa, we look at other countries in Asia, many of them are shifting towards China.  I think that the United States is going to continue wanting to sanction China, wanting to impose trade tariffs, wanting to limit Chinese technology.  And we're going to see this continuous battle for the next few years.

[...]

I'm an optimist, I'm always an optimist, so I will always say that I'm positive about the future of the world.  And I always say this, I don't believe that the United States and China will get involved in a confrontation.  I don't believe that they will go to war because I don't think many people understand this, is that if the United States and China get involved in a hot war, that is the end of the economy.  That is the end of the world.  That literally will wreck every stock market, all of the industries.  We're talking absolute chaos for the entire globe.  No country will be unscathed from that wrath if the United States and China get into a hot war.  I do think that both sides understand that...  I do believe in humanity.  I do believe that at the end of the day that cooler heads will prevail and that peace will happen.

~ Cyrus Janssen, "Shocking Truth About China Told by an American," Max Chernov, 18:00 mark, October 14, 2024

Jeffrey Sachs on China's success in electric vehicles

Q: One of the underlying themes or conclusions that I'm reading from the various media reports criticizing the health of the Chinese economy it that the China model, which worked for the past few decades, is not working anymore.  And the Chinese leadership, by sticking to that model, is stifling the Chinese economy.  What exactly are they trying to get at?  And what exactly is the Chinese model that they believe is not working anymore?

A: I think if I could interpret it, maybe the claim is that there's too much government intervention in the economy or China's stifling entrepreneurship.  Again, I think that this is Western rhetoric, not reality.  Let me take a very pertinent and quantitatively important example.  China is now the world's leader in electric vehicles.  During the past 10 years, there were around 400 electric vehicle companies in China.  They were competing like crazy.  Of course, there's now kind of a shaking-out process where a few companies are becoming dominant.  But the competition and the entrepreneurship has been absolutely intense.  And the result is that China is taking the leadership in worldwide sales of electric vehicles.  Also, China's domestic market now is remarkable in that more than 40 percent, I believe, of new car sales, are electric vehicles.  And when I recently visited Beijing, you see them everywhere with the green license plates and you see a tremendous change in a short period of time.

Since this is the direction that the entire world is moving towards because of the need for zero-emission vehicles, China's in a very strong position.  What is happening?  The U.S. is putting on tariffs.  Europe is putting on tariffs.  Is that a sign of failure of China?  No, quite the contrary, it's a sign of remarkable success.

~ Jeffrey Sachs, "Jeffrey Sachs on 'China collapse' theory," CGTN, December 8, 2024

William Pesek on possible retaliation by China to Trump's trade war

All this means Team Trump might not grasp the numerous ways Xi could choose retaliation over the art of the deal. 

One of Xi’s options is to weaken the yuan before Trump can devalue the dollar.  China’s economy has had a rocky 2024, as dueling crises in property, local-government finances, and weak consumer demand fuel deflation.  Nothing would hasten growth faster than weaker exchange rates.  Or, it follows, offset the 60% tariffs Trump threatens to slap on Chinese goods. 

Xi could restrict exports of key inputs Trumponomics will need to thrive.  Surely, Elon Musk and his Silicon Valley bros can explain to Trump the risks of depriving the U.S. of rare earths and other materials.  Less access to gallium, germanium, graphite, and other ingredients would rock the semiconductor, telecommunications, and electric-vehicle industries. 

Chinese leaders could sell large blocks of Beijing’s $730 billion of U.S. Treasuries.  They could target companies most on the frontlines of decoupling tensions.  What’s to stop Xi from taxing or even seizing assets of Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, and others?  Or slapping taxes on Amazon, Walmart and others.

Finally, Trump is allowing China to position itself as the protector of free trade and globalization in 2025, while MAGA tries to drag markets back to 1985.  Ironically, that will only lead to stepped up efforts by the BRICS nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa—and the “Global South” to replace the dollar in trade and finance.

~ William Pesek, "A Trade War May Not Go Trump’s Way. China Has His Number.," Barron's.com, December 3, 2024

Winston Churchill on diplomacy

Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions.

~ Winston S. Churchill