Interesting blog post "The more interesting challenge from China:" by Tom Barnett on recent newpaper articles which ends:
...But of course, most companies are really going to China to access that burgeoning domestic market. Cheap labor is nice, but consumers are the best.
That’s why the banks and financial houses are all flocking to China, UBS Securities being the first of the lot to come armed with all the necessary licenses to trade and underwrite securities. As the WSJ argues, the timing is perfect. Markets in China sit at record levels, and their marketized value just topped $1 trillion.
So look at the new line-up of IPO volume markets:
1) Hong Kong
2) London
3) NYSE
4) NASDAQ
5) Amsterdam
6) London AIM
7) Moscow
8) Frankfurt
9) Shanghai
10) TokyoWow! HK on top and Shanghai now in the top 10, and Moscow sitting at 7! Those are some amazing shifts.
Frankly, it’s that reordering that’s pushing Bloomberg and Schumer to seek a relaxation of some of Sarbanes’ rules: they fear New York will start dropping relative to the New Core hubs.
Why this long recitation of facts and figures and trends?
It’s important for people to recognize that China’s rise portends a host of challenges, but the ones that count are all financial or economic, not military. In fact, the scariest thing about China’s international profile is that its economic connectivity is skyrocketing while its security presence amounts to global free-riding, and that just ain’t gonna work. Rather than keeping the Chinese in their place, as this administration has sought with a host of military agreements forged to surround China in a ring, we should be drawing China out, pulling it into a world they need to start defending much like we do.
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