china style

'china copied the soviet union's communism for 30 years, then the soviet union collapsed. now, china has been copying the united state's capitalism for 30 years, then the united states collapsed.'

my dad tells me, chuckling.

'china is always doing things its own way. to not follow exactly other countries. because it is so different than them.'

to be continued.

i love my chinese milk

only in china can you be blessed with the experience of having contaminated milk. but this is only one of the problems caused by china's rapidly growing domestic demand.

in china, milk suppliers don't have a central farm of cows where all the milk comes from.  instead, they get milk from various farms across the country. a middle man gets the milk from a farm and then gives it to the suppliers. the middle man, unable to get enough milk for the distributors, dilutes the milk to meet the quota. the dilution in the milk is where the problems come from.

contaminated milk is just one small problem exposed by chance that the added mixture causes kidney stones in babies. there was a chance that the dilution could have gone unnoticed for a long time. we do not know exactly which cow our milk is from and whether or not that cow is certified to produce milk for humans. furthermore, we do not know where our produce is grown, where our meat comes from, etc. the chemicals sprayed on our apples to keep off the spiders, chemicals given to our chickens and shrimps to keep them from getting diseases; we can only trust our FDA to ensure that what we can buy is of acceptable quality. and who knows what internal problems or external pressures the FDA may have. unless you grow your own produce, you never know what exactly  you are putting inside yourself.

and that does not stop at produce. pharmaceutical drugs, recreational drugs, shampoo, toothpaste, toilet paper. thanks to capitalism, as long as there is demand, there will be supply. but also, we are never completely certain how the tylenol reacts with the biological shit in our bodies to make us better (unless you are a chemist or biologist or biochemist or have that obscure expertise that you spent your college years achieving). hopefully capitalism, perfect competition, will push companies to provide better quality. but the existence of domino's pizza and other companies valuing cost leadership say otherwise. best bet is to make  your own toothpaste.

but regarding the milk scandal in china, its not just the middle man that takes the blame for the babies. it is because of the still developing economy in china. people who are pressured to cut corners, who intentionally overlook poor judgment calls, in order to cover up deficiencies to maintain sales. they are doing what they can, operating in their best judgment. it is no one's fault. the bad milk is just a sign that chinese economy and standard of living still has a long way to go.

andy

allocation of talent

http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/11/11/The-End-of-Wall-Streets-Boom

this is an article written by michael lewis (author of liar's poker for you finance buffs) about the end of the wall street era.  he talks about liar's poker as a book that was supposed to warn the rising workforce of the meaningless jobs of becoming a small cog in a giant corporate machine, to 'deny the offer from merrill and go out to sea'.

of course, all of my finance friends recommended the book as a quick look inside the world of finance, world of investment banks. lewis intended to raise awareness of the misguided, morally bankrupt realm of deal making and risk taking. if anything, the grandiose lives of the bankers mixed with the crude, collegiate environment propelled finance's appeal greatly. stories of bankers who owned everything, could do whatever they wanted, only glorified the jobs in finance.

until now, when the world of finance finally crumbled on itself from its overdose on 'hubris'. the huge bonuses, as well as a life of material wealth and financial stability, attracted the smartest minds from all over the world. more and more undergraduate business programs were established to cater to the new demand of going into finance and getting a job on wall street. one in four people you meet are studying for a degree in finance or economics. but now, the supply of qualified interns dwarfs its respective demand. and all of those bright students who caved to money and power (both of which are not sustainable, both defined by those surrounding you) instead of going into art, engineering, natural sciences, are now getting the short end of the stick: getting a finance job but not living its corresponding life circa 1980s-2000s, or not even getting a job at all.

balls.

but maybe it is our fault for allowing ourselves to be blinded by wall street's promise of material wealth. and this is what we get, the financial crisis and a blunt reality check telling us that there is more to life than investment banking at goldman sachs, that money doesn't equate to happiness.

-andy

OBAMA

yo mama.

andy