Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Protectionism!

China, with its 8% growth rate, is choosing a different flight path than the Land of the Free, particularly in Toonland:

China's Zhejiang Zhongnan Group Animation and Shanghai Media Group subsidiary WingsMedia have landed a raft of Chinese cartoons and popular entertainment shows with GlobeCast for video-on-demand distribution in Europe. ...

... In June, the company founded in 2005 sold its "Magic Wonderland" to U.S. cable giant Viacom as a part of the hour-long ChinaToon programming block aimed at Chinese speakers in 13 Asian territories.

Keenly aware of the decades of soft power wielded by Japanese animation, China's broadcast regulators have moved in recent years to boost China's nascent cartoon industry by barring imports from Chinese TV's primetime hours and by subsidizing local animators.

These Communists don't seem to adhere to Free Market Principles like we do. They're into the protective tariff strategy, which we used from 1783 to 1980, but then dropped.

But of course, we're much better off, aren't we? No economic problems at all.

(Stand by for the mud-slinging between the Bush and Obama factions ...)

9 comments:

Rodger Perry said...

Damn reds, By subsidizing local animators and blocking foreign imports on ther domestic television stations, they block the messages of freedom we work so hard to embody in our cartoons so the rest of the worl can see the blessings of democracy.

When will they ever learn that our studio outsourcing policy only motivates our domestic animators to work harder in the spirit of healthy honest global competition.

Fools...their commie ways will get them nowhere, always remember that, No matter how successful another country looks, the USA is still better.

yes sir. Truth is only wht you believe...

Anonymous said...

Criticism of protectionism on a labor blog? Really? What a pose! Please don't insult. Let the UAW be the poster children for the economically challenged.


China 1,336,170,000
India 1,177,610,000

US 308,798,000

The genie is way out of the bottle. Will you please move out of the fast lane already, grandpa boomer? The world blew by your Cold War economics already. Jeezus, I wish Solyent Green would come to pass already.

Anonymous said...

The idea of a "free market" is a myth. Doesn't exist--never will. It's a wingnut grail--visible only to those with delusions of Koresh.

Anonymous said...

>These Communists don't seem to adhere to Free Market Principles like we do. They're into the protective tariff strategy, which we used from 1783 to 1980, but then dropped.

Is this sarcastic? What does this mean.

Anonymous said...

It means at least one poster is going to do the -same- joke every time China's embargo on Japanese anime is mentioned...Gosh, it's just not something you could ever get tired of!

(And although China's making a last-ditch effort to tell themselves they have real industries, I've seen Chinese animation, and political ideologies aside, I can -see- why they want to keep the Japanese imports out...Doubtless many cable networks over HERE feel the same way.) :)

Steve Hulett said...

>These Communists don't seem to adhere to Free Market Principles like we do. They're into the protective tariff strategy, which we used from 1783 to 1980, but then dropped.

Is this sarcastic? What does this mean.


I'm saying that import-export policies change over time, and there is no "right and true" or "wrong and false."

For two centuries the US had tariffs. Things moved along. The sky didn't fall in.

For twenty-five years we've had free trade. Many economists think this is a good way to go, but there are clearly dislocations, and how are they addressed? (one specific: If you want to have big armed forces and you've gutted your manufacturing base, how does this impact your army-navy-air force over time? Do you import all your planes, tanks and ships? All the electrical components? Just asking.)

I mainly threw the post out there because China is just now an economic powerhouse, so the idea of "protective tariffs" keeps coming up.

(Adding, I was a staunch free-trader for thirty years. Don't know precisely what I am now.)

Anonymous said...

a good US manufacturing analysis -

http://www.allbusiness.com/economy-economic-indicators/economic-indicators/13702454-1.html

mephisto said...

(one specific: If you want to have big armed forces and you've gutted your manufacturing base, how does this impact your army-navy-air force over time? Do you import all your planes, tanks and ships? All the electrical components?

Excelent question. I didnt know that Lockeed Martin(SkunkWorks), Boeing, Northrop Gruman, etc had been gutted....

mephisto

Anonymous said...

...(one specific: If you want to have big armed forces and you've gutted your manufacturing base, how does this impact your army-navy-air force over time? Do you import all your planes, tanks and ships? All the electrical components? Just asking...

This is the beginning and end of the entire argument. The question Americans have been asked since WWII is 'Do you want to continue to have the number one military in the world?'. Currently, defense is still off the table and the government is not changing it. They are giving a big fat finger to issues at home and believe deep down that they would rather sacrifice these issues before being the military superpower. If the hawks had any balls at all, they would just issue the draft and be completely honest with the population. But they like not deciding, it is easier and has been easier that way since Viet Nam. That is the god awful truth. We are essentially living in a de facto military state, and every current member of Congress and the administration knows this to be the truth. Force a draft and see what kind of country this really is.

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