On some issues there is widespread agreement: two thirds of respondents believe innovation will be more important than ever to the U.S. economy over the next 30 years. But the survey shows some striking contrasts as well. Eighty-one percent of Chinese believe the U.S. is staying ahead of China on innovation; only 41 percent of Americans agree. To find the next big breakthrough, Americans are focused on improving math and science education, while Chinese are more concerned about developing creative problem-solving and business skills.
Around the globe, there are signs that the recession may be easing—and as it does, people of all nationalities will resume their hunt for the best products, the best investments, and the best jobs. As the world's economy speeds back up, regaining our faith in our ability to innovate will be critical.
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wherestip United States Local time: 23:34 Chinese to English + ...
Computer chips or potato chips
Nov 22, 2009
To the nation's wealthy, it doesn't matter whether America makes computer chips or potato chips. That was an issue way back in the 1992 Presidential debate. I think the U.S. and China both have come a long way since then: one for the better, one for the worse. Due to our policies, the U.S. has lost most of its tecnological advantages.
When it comes to the personal computer, IBM has to be the biggest loser of all time. The then executive team was blissfully asleep at the wheel, and practically nurtured Microsoft and Intel into IBM's biggest competitors in the high tech industry.
But that's all history now. Microsoft and Intel are also finding themselves in a very competitive landscape these days, trying to fend off companies like Google and AMD from encroaching on their turf. IBM has learned its lesson and is actually maintaining an edge over its competition.
IMO all this mirrors what's happening to the U. S. on a global basis, as China rises to become a world economic superpower, seemingly an inevitable event and is only a matter of time when it turns into reality. The politicans in Washington are collectively asleep at the wheel, spending precious resources on fighting a never-ending war in Iraq. In the meanwhile, China is playing catch-up, not only in its own domestic economic development, but also playing an active role in many economic infrastructure projects of other third-world nations, gaining tremendous popularity internationally, and also reaping some financial benefits itself, a win-win situation.
... But again I digress.
BTW, I remember Bush Sr. couldn't answer what a gallon of milk generally sold for when asked, around the time he was running for his 2nd term in the White House
[Edited at 2009-11-22 20:58 GMT]
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ysun United States Local time: 23:34 Member (2006) English to Chinese + ...
房价收入比
Nov 22, 2009
Steve,
确实，影响美国房价的因素很多，不同的地区房价差别也很大。但从你所举的例子看来，即使是在 least affordable cities，房价收入比也远低于北京、上海等地。所以，中国许多城市的房价确实是高得太离谱了。
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wherestip United States Local time: 23:34 Chinese to English + ...
What makes the U.S. a land of opportunity
Nov 22, 2009
Yueyin,
Thanks for the links about the current red-hot real estate market in China. I agree with you that home prices have to be affordable to the people. Only then could the goal (or "vision") of achieving a true harmonious society be realistic.
Before I left China, the rent for a 3 to 4 room apartment where we lived was less than ¥10 a month. Of course it was an entirely different system back then: no real estate was privately owned; all real estate properties belonged to the government in one form or another. The average factory worker's monthly salary was only around ¥40. Yet basic consumer goods were cheap and affordable; people were by and large happy and content with their then standard of living.
But needless to say, the system has slowly but surely fundamentally changed over the course of 3 decades ... So skip over that development and fast-forward to present-day China.
Couple of years ago, LoyalTran started a thread about the escalating cost of living in Shanghai. From what is being reported in the Chinese media these days, and what many of you have been saying in this forum, it seems like inflation has only gotten worse.
Of course, without any firsthand knowledge of the cost of living in any Chinese cities, I'm not at all qualified to make any meaningful comparisons. But regardless, when all is said and done, one thing I believe the United States will always have an advantage of is its pioneering spirit. As we both mentioned here in the past, the National Park System is one of the true symbols of the spirit of freedom and democracy ...
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ysun United States Local time: 23:34 Member (2006) English to Chinese + ...
只比物价
Nov 23, 2009
wherestip wrote:
Couple of years ago, LoyalTran started a thread about the escalating cost of living in Shanghai. From what is being reported in the Chinese media these days, and what many of you have been saying in this forum, it seems like inflation has only gotten worse.
GDP could be a solid measure of “national income”, but not necessarily GDP per capita is for “average national income”. In capitalist economies in which few people get overwhelmingly rich while the majority of the nation progresses just modestly, how accurate would simple arithmetic mean be in representing average level of income? Do the highest figures in the highly heterogeneous US income distribution cause arithmetic mean formula yield a value with a small frequency? In other words, is US GDP per capita an income that is made by only few Americans?
Answer to this question lies at how higher “highest incomes” are than the “others”, and what percentage of US citizens earns them ...
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As seen clearly, a vast majority of American households are making annual incomes that are not even comparable with those of few wealthiest people. The transition to this “L-Curve” from the traditional “Bell-Curve” is why GDP per capita is no longer a good measure of America’s average income.
Political philosopher David Schweickart pinpoints income inequality reality with a dramatic statement: "…If we divided the income of the US into thirds, we find that the top ten percent of the population gets a third, the next thirty percent gets another third, and the bottom sixty percent get the last third. If we divide the wealth of the US into thirds, we find that the top one percent own a third, the next nine percent own another third, and the bottom ninety percent claim the rest. Actually, these percentages true a decade ago, are now out of date. The top one percent are now estimated to own between forty and fifty percent of the nation's wealth, more than the combined wealth of the bottom 95%.”
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ysun United States Local time: 23:34 Member (2006) English to Chinese + ...
BTW, 我对国内 home ownership 情况没什么概念, 只是听说目前房价暴涨, 普通百姓越来越买不起. 所以我最初这帖只凭印象所发表的意见有可能并不符合实际情况, 特此道歉并更正一下
之所以这么说, 是因为刚才在网上查了一下, 国内房产所有情况与我想象的出入很大. 国内似乎自己拥有房子的人口比例非常之高. 不管是公家低价卖给的, 还是所谓的"商品房", 据称是 2002 年房产拥有率就达到了 80% 以上. I'm like the person who wrote this piece - almost fell out of my chair when I read that.
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ysun United States Local time: 23:34 Member (2006) English to Chinese + ...
官员们偷换概念
Nov 26, 2009
wherestip wrote:
BTW, 我对国内 home ownership 情况没什么概念, 只是听说目前房价暴涨, 普通百姓越来越买不起. 所以我最初这帖只凭印象所发表的意见有可能并不符合实际情况, 特此道歉并更正一下
之所以这么说, 是因为刚才在网上查了一下, 国内房产所有情况与我想象的出入很大. 国内似乎自己拥有房子的人口比例非常之高. 不管是公家低价卖给的, 还是所谓的"商品房", 据称是 2002 年房产拥有率就达到了 80% 以上. I'm like the person who wrote this piece - almost fell out of my chair when I read that.
It is natural that you and that author nearly fell off the chair because you were fooled by that number. “80% of homes are privately owned” doesn’t mean “80% of the residents own their homes”.
The translation workplace 
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