China's path to destruction

China is probably Asia's finger to Western domination in the 20th century. China has delivered one of the fastest growths in history, lifting millions of citizens out of poverty in a short period of time. Disguised under the Communist banner, the Government of China has implemented numerous economic programs that Hitler and Stalin would be proud of indeed. By distorting the country's economic market structure, the Chinese have created a fast growing economy completely immune to any crisis. Who needs Newton when you can defy the laws of gravity eh?

Well sadly, this artificial miracle would be coming to an end... eventually, the only question is not if China's Economy will tank, it's when. The answer is simply, we don't really know. It could be as early as this year or as late as twenty years down the road. One thing is for certain, the longer you delay a crisis, the harder it will hit when it comes.

China's Q4 GDP Growth for 2009 has once again reached double figures, while the US and EU Economies (The largest of China's trade partners) have barely recovered. So where exactly is China exporting their goods to? The fact is, no where. In 2008, nearly 20 million Chinese workers leaving the toy factory lines to the States as consumerism in the United States fell, and American personal savings rate surged to it's highest in 30 years. (Yes even Obama's Tax Cuts didn't help)

So how in the world did China, whose exports nearly account for more than a third of it's gross domestic product get it's growth from?

Simply. From stimulus. No, not the tiny winy $4 Trillion Yuan one. (We all know that is just bull) It's the $790bn USD of liquidity the State banks injected into the system sort of stimulus. $790bn... that's literally Singapore's entire economy multiplied by four.

With production crapping, economic infrastructure in complete overcapacity, virtually all of this money is channeled into property, derivatives and stocks. Wonderful. The entire country of China has turned into a gambling den, where speculators are king (for now) and the average hardworking Chinese is just a piece of shit.

Thankfully, Karma will always be a bitch and what goes up for these little criminals must and will always come down. Without the proper wages to cope with such massive inflation in the property nor productivity to match the confidence of rising stocks it's inevitable that these will come to a sticky end.

How would it end?

I shall use Vincent Fernado's hilarious 'China's 14 Dominoes Of Destruction' to describe.

1. Too much government stimulus has led to...



2. Too much export reliance, which generated...



3. Too many dollars and...



4. Too much liquidity. This transformed into...



5. Too much bank lending, fueling...



6. Too much manufacturing capacity, and coddling...



7. Too many inefficient companies. Yet these businesses are needed to absorb China's...



8. Too many migrant job seekers, who are filled with...



9. Too high expectations as a result of...



10. Too rapid economic change. Yet this growth must happen to avoid...



11. Too many elderly poor in the future, and...



12. Too much public distrust. Caused by...



13. Too many restrictions of information and power. All of which has fomented...



14. Too much social tension. All kept under control by too much economic growth and stimulus! Thus there are...



Too many ways this can go wrong



GERONIMO!

MAG First Impressions

Don't ask me why, after weeks of being immersed (and frustrated) at Football Manager 2010, I forgotten the MAG Public Beta was due on Jan 4, 2010. It was only today, after extreme boredom and listening to Brad Paisley's songs over and over did I remember this. Alright, enough crap talk - let's get started.

With the interesting prelude (or introduction) - cool looking entree to the world of PMCs, I was asked to pick a side. There are three factions, each have the exact same weapon loadouts only different styles (mainly in apparel only). Valor is of American influence, Raven looks like a high-tech Eurocorps, and SVER are just a bunch of gangsters in Russia and Central Asia (I'm serious).


With that aside, I chose SVER without any reason whatsoever. Before jumping into the fray, I decided to go into the 'Barracks' and 'Armory' to check things out. The character customization is pretty neat to be frank, with perks and weapon unlocks which felt sightly different of Call of Duty's (which is a good refreshing thing). With all that done, I turned my guy into a big-ass Juggernaut; wearing the thickest armor possible, carrying the biggest gun and an RPG that is slung on his shoulder. With my avatar ready, I jumped into the game ready to kick some ass. But before I could get the hang of the controls, I found myself being sniped to death just walking to the objectives... boy what a start.

After dying numerous times and killing a few, my used-to-be dexterous shooter hands came back to me. However, it was a case of too little too late as the game ended, ironically with a victory despite my poor performance. I leveled, twice in fact and started pumping more of these "skill points" to customize my character even more. With my enhanced character, and an attitude to kick some butt - unlucky Raven was my... or should I say my team's unlucky foe. 64 players may be a little chaotic on paper, but MAG somehow manages to balance the map to ensure it dosen't turn into one major cluster@#$^. Engagements felt balanced, but not clean. Grenades were blowing up everywhere, RPGs were flying all over - yes I know what you're thinking... Call of Duty on steroids. While the guns don't feel and sound exactly strong, like COD, it dosen't take too many bullets to bring down a guy (I like!) which can be satisfying when you're giving it, frustrating when you're getting it.

Nevertheless, MAG does have some potential which requires a few polishing ups here and there... you know to ambiance and all that. But even without that, it's more or less a buy for me when it comes out on Jan 26th of this year and hopefully I will try and publish out a personal review of the retail version.