China's price fixing implication
The debate over communism causes much unrest and debate among a variety of political and economic gurus. However, in the latest ordeal which has “consumed” China, communist, not capitalist ideals have helped keep consumption up.
The recent rise of food prices has given way to a price ceiling on many food products. According to the article “An Old Worry Nags Again,” in the September fifteenth issue of The Economist, the price of pork was 70.3% more expensive than last August. Reasons behind this are for the increasing prices of feed and an outbreak of disease in pigs. These occurrences lead to the death and slaughter of millions of infected pigs. Herein lies the social unrest behind the price increases.
The Chinese government has “bullied” many local merchants into setting price limits on food prices. Local business associations have grown angry due to their capitalistic mindset. They feel they should be able to charge a higher price because the products they’re selling have now become more expensive for merchants to buy and sell. However, in order to keep students and peasants, whom Hun Jintao lends a helping hand, from rebelling and rioting, the government has set price limits and subsidies to raise more livestock. This fixed price setting has kept otherwise furious students, peasants, and the middle-class calm. If the government did not intervene on behalf of the masses there could be massive unrest. By setting a limit on prices the government has kept capitalism from overtaking the balance of the present day agrarian consumption. Giving into the capitalist merchant’s way of business would pave way for inevitable problems. Yet once again, question over tampering with items and as quoted by The Economist, “doctoring of meat,” has put the credibility of Chinese goods into the spotlight.
Merchants have begun injecting water and other weight increasing chemicals to get their moneys worth. Some of the pork being sold is being filled with substances to add to the weight of the pigs to allow merchants to charge more for the same product which would, without the fake increase of weight, be priced at a much lower amount.
Though a non-capitalistic approach has curbed much unrest, it puts into question China’s inability to monitor domestic products and thereby stunt the international market’s openness to accept and trade with China’s tainted domestic goods.
The recent rise of food prices has given way to a price ceiling on many food products. According to the article “An Old Worry Nags Again,” in the September fifteenth issue of The Economist, the price of pork was 70.3% more expensive than last August. Reasons behind this are for the increasing prices of feed and an outbreak of disease in pigs. These occurrences lead to the death and slaughter of millions of infected pigs. Herein lies the social unrest behind the price increases.
The Chinese government has “bullied” many local merchants into setting price limits on food prices. Local business associations have grown angry due to their capitalistic mindset. They feel they should be able to charge a higher price because the products they’re selling have now become more expensive for merchants to buy and sell. However, in order to keep students and peasants, whom Hun Jintao lends a helping hand, from rebelling and rioting, the government has set price limits and subsidies to raise more livestock. This fixed price setting has kept otherwise furious students, peasants, and the middle-class calm. If the government did not intervene on behalf of the masses there could be massive unrest. By setting a limit on prices the government has kept capitalism from overtaking the balance of the present day agrarian consumption. Giving into the capitalist merchant’s way of business would pave way for inevitable problems. Yet once again, question over tampering with items and as quoted by The Economist, “doctoring of meat,” has put the credibility of Chinese goods into the spotlight.
Merchants have begun injecting water and other weight increasing chemicals to get their moneys worth. Some of the pork being sold is being filled with substances to add to the weight of the pigs to allow merchants to charge more for the same product which would, without the fake increase of weight, be priced at a much lower amount.
Though a non-capitalistic approach has curbed much unrest, it puts into question China’s inability to monitor domestic products and thereby stunt the international market’s openness to accept and trade with China’s tainted domestic goods.
posted by vince phillips at 7:00 PM
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