China

Quick shop question:

Since natural gas is a feedstock for so many chemicals, are producers of many of these chemicals operating outside the U.S. Gulf Coast or the Arabian Gulf (or other real cheap natural gas price locales) at a significant competitive disadvantage?
It depends. Producing chemicals from petroleum based feedstock can be more expensive, but it also produces more valuable by-products than if producing chemicals from natural gas liquids such as ethane, propane, and butane. The competitor for methane (nat gas) is coal in China. These two are roughly similar in cost. Gas-derived chemicals have an advantage when gas is cheap and oil is expensive. This was true in 2010-2015. Before fracking, gas was expensive and oil was cheap in 2001-2009 (so the reverse). Today, cost between the two for chemical feedstock is roughly comparable.
 
So you've done a little of the Devil's Work. . .
I know you are being facetious, but the products from mnfg. plants that I have designed improve the standard of living in places like China, Thailand, and India. There is no sin in that. Further, absent our participation, the Chinese would have chosen Swiss or substandard Chinese technology. These projects are wins from multiple angles.
 
If anyone cared to notice, China stopped stealing our jobs about 10 years ago. There is only so many low end assembly-type and textile jobs that you can displace by a low labor cost foreign exporter. Yes, the damage is real but it’s old news. Again, China only became a threat when they threatened the jobs of high tech, finance, and the military-industrial complex.
 
My biggest beefs with the middle kingdom:

1. Theft of intellectual property
2. Expansionism in the S. China Sea (and elsewhere)

If their heads get too inflated, just remind them that historically, they are Japan's *****.

Oh yeah, and their historical Buddhist culture was from India.

I hear the Chinese are big admirers of Japan and India.
 
If anyone cared to notice, China stopped stealing our jobs about 10 years ago. There is only so many low end assembly-type and textile jobs that you can displace by a low labor cost foreign exporter. Yes, the damage is real but it’s old news. Again, China only became a threat when they threatened the jobs of high tech, finance, and the military-industrial complex.

China steals technology and IP now.
 
If anyone cared to notice, China stopped stealing our jobs about 10 years ago. There is only so many low end assembly-type and textile jobs that you can displace by a low labor cost foreign exporter. Yes, the damage is real but it’s old news. Again, China only became a threat when they threatened the jobs of high tech, finance, and the military-industrial complex.

You could put those in the "knowledge worker" category. Heck, the same jobs China stole from us are now being stolen by other low labor cost markets (Bangladesh, Vietnam, etc). 75% of our assembly jobs were simply replaced by automation.

China is still a major threat to technology theft. They are a copy-cat country in that that haven't typically innovated well but rapidly copy what we create. Personally, for all the negative criticism of our educational system we turn out innovative thinkers. China and India struggle with innovation because they aren't allowed that freedom in school. When students are taught the singular, most efficient way to do anything they struggle with out of the box thinking. At least, that's my experience in IT managing and working with offshore teams.
 
That is all what we expect, but I am really skeptical someone said that in a large room like that. I don't know Chinese so any words could be written in the translation and I wouldn't know any better.
 

As someone who has changed a few thousand diapers, I'm not sure I follow the logic on this. A diaper doesn't eliminate the need to go to the bathroom. It only contains the "waste" long enough to keep it from getting on clothes. (And even that isn't perfect. Deez, Jr. had two monumental blowouts in Munich when he was a baby.) It has to be dealt with pretty quickly, and if it isn't, you'll get a rash. That's definitely true of a baby, and I don't see why that wouldn't be true of an adult.

Even if it buys you a few minutes, diapers also stink. Do you want to get served food by someone who smells like the least appetizing thing imaginable? I don't.
 
When I read the headline of that article, I actually thought the flight attendants had been complaining of being groped, and the diapers were just so the customers would get a fistful of diaper.

I suppose their plan would still provide that deterrence, even more so.
 
Didnt know this - and it feels somewhat disturbing
I think these connections are going to become more noticeable as Biden drives the country into the dirt, to the benefit of China

 
Ted Cruz calls this "one of the greatest tweets of all time"


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Didnt know this - and it feels somewhat disturbing
I think these connections are going to become more noticeable as Biden drives the country into the dirt, to the benefit of China



It's not surprising. Both parties have been in the sack with China. Right now Democrats are probably worse, but plenty of Republican have done and still do their bidding.
 
Ted Cruz calls this "one of the greatest tweets of all time"

It is pretty funny if you think about it

It's a bit like a yo mama joke

"How much does this woman love China?"

"She love China so much she _____ "

She love China so much she fornicated with that guy.
Many times.
For free!
(well, sort of)


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Biden is going to act like being tough on China was his idea. They will keep 80% of Trump policy but still trash the man. The only folks who are unable to see this are the progressive left. They are getting rolled over.
 
Biden is going to act like being tough on China was his idea. They will keep 80% of Trump policy but still trash the man. The only folks who are unable to see this are the progressive left. They are getting rolled over.

If Biden keeps 80% of Trump policy that would be amazing.
 
If Biden keeps 80% of Trump policy that would be amazing.

We know he will keep printing money left and right like Trump. Foreign policy probably won't be much different, but a bit more aggressive. Trump was a moderating influence to the DOD/NSA.
 
Breaking with tradition, the WAPO reported something about Amazon
And I am willing to bet you some phone calls were made over this


My unsolicited take is that WAPO is trying to get back the pretense of fairness. Only the most "special" (spethal?) among us will believe it.
 

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