Archive for October, 2007
Tobacco in China (Part 3): Counterfeiting and Smuggling
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007China produces a staggering 190 billion counterfeit cigarettes each year. The Chinese government claimed that it dealt with 159,000 cases involving the manufacture and sale of counterfeit cigarettes in the first six months of 2002 alone. And it has destroyed more than 5,000 cigarette-making machines in recent years. Still, the government is at a loss […]
Tobacco in China (Part 2): Death And Taxes
Monday, October 29th, 2007More than 1.1 billion people smoke, and China is home to roughly 300 to 340 million of these smokers. The harmful effects are known, and World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one-third of all Chinese males below the age of thirty today will eventually be killed by tobacco. China will undoubtedly face high economic costs […]
Tobacco in China (Part 1): Real Men Smoke
Sunday, October 28th, 2007The Wall Street Journal printed a fun-to-read article yesterday on cigarette smoking in China by Hugo Restall of the Far Eastern Economic Review, who took up the habit of smoking apparently just weeks before writing the piece. His reasoning:
After years of resisting, a friend in Shanghai gave me the perfect excuse to start smoking. China […]
Fortune: China’s Top 25 Brands
Thursday, October 25th, 2007 Just ran across a list that appeared in the Chinese version of Fortune last year (06/05/06). Six of the twenty-five brands are Chinese. I have no idea about the methodology and have a few questions about some that didn’t make the list:
China’s Top 25 Brands:
BMW
Microsoft
Intel
Mercedes Benz
Coca Cola
IBM
Haier
Nokia
Wuliangye
Kweichou Moutai
Airbus
Porsche
Audi
Lenovo
Motorola
Wal-Mart
Boeing
Google
Tongrentang
Tsingtao
Pepsi
Siemens
Sony
Nike
General Motors
China Shoots The Moon
Wednesday, October 24th, 2007Hollywood will soon release In the Shadow of the Moon, a documentary presented by Ron Howard, the director of Apollo 13. The film will combine stunning footage from Apollo missions along with more recent astronaut interviews. The trailer suggests it will be an inspiring movie, but what struck me was how patriotism is downplayed. Discussing […]
Irrationally Exuberant: Is Alibaba.com Really Worth US$7.8bn?
Wednesday, October 17th, 2007Something is bothering me about Alibaba’s IPO and related market valuation. In case you haven’t heard, the company is looking to raise as much as $1.3bn in an initial public offering, making this the largest ever IPO for a tech company based in China. The IPO is going to give the company a valuation approximating […]
Consumer Reports Magazine Launches Recall Website
Tuesday, October 16th, 2007A new website out there called NonInMyCart.org has promised to offer information on product recalls, drawing from three federal websites. The site happens to be sponsored by Consumers Union, the people who publish Consumer Reports. The splash page at the website displays a letter that a web surfer can write to congress.
The site combines recall […]
Mattel: Knocked Down and Muzzled?
Monday, October 15th, 2007A headline from today’s newspaper read: “Mattel Earnings Hit by Product Recalls”. It sounded serious and other news stories were even more dramatic, talking about how the company had been “knocked down” and “muzzled”. It had the feel of a moral tale. Was it the high price paid for poor quality control? Reading the stories […]
Busting Myths About Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) In China
Sunday, October 14th, 2007The National Bureau of Economic Research has published a working paper on FDI in China. The authors have busted four myths on FDI in China. Article is available for a small fee here, quick points related to the article:
Myth 1: American FDI in China is huge
American FDI in China is small as a proportion of […]