The Dragon is Stirring.

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On the 20th of December, the BBC reported that China's GDP had exceeded that of Italy and was headed for UK territory.

The official figures released from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in China revised the previous growth rate from 9% to 25.8%, a jump of 16.8%, giving them an economy with a value of $1.45 trillion. Various sources place the actual figure perhaps 15% or even 20% higher again, because the NBS frequently underreports small and medium sized enterprises.

Also, I have bought a car. Pictures below.

In addition to failing to report on small and medium sized industrial endeavours, nearly all service sector work has, until know, gone unreported. A 16.8% revision is roughly $245 billion; nearly all of it came from the service sector.

Here's the skinny, for those of you who may not have been following at home:

1. The Chinese currency is pegged to a specific target by the Chinese government. They are holding it artificially weak in order make Chinese imports seem less expensive. It's working. If the currency were allowed to float, it would likely appreciate by roughly 230%, making the Chinese economy $3.35 trillion dollars, third behind the United States ($10 trillion) and Japan ($4 trillion).

2. The Chinese economy is growing at a greater rate than anyone else in the G8. Their economy is set to double three years if the current pace continues, but will more likely double in five years, making them the largest economy in the world within the next decade. If the pace continues, they will be larger than the rest of the world combined in a little over 16 years.

3. If this website is legible to you, then you have less to worry about. If it isn't, check out these guys.

China is set to become the dominant force on Earth for the forseeable future, the Middle Kingdom reborn.

If you've got ideas, speak up now.

Finally, here are a couple of pictures of my absolutely lovely new Jag. They say that as men grow older, they become their fathers. Well, this was my Papa's favorite car for a long time when I was growing up (well, it was a tie between this car and, unfathomably, a Bonneville).

This is a Jaguar X-Type 2.5 litre SE and it's the smoothest, most well behaved car I've ever had the pleasure of owning.

My new car!.jpg My car, part ii.jpg

P.S. Maman, you were right. It's not that hard shifting with the left hand.

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39 Comments

Holy crappo thats a nice cart!

I'm starting chinese 1 asap. Did you know that Argentina is being almost completely bought by the Chinese? I have a feeling that they had something to do with Argentina paying the debt to the moentary fund. Hmm!

Im scaod.

I'm not worried. I figure when the Chinese take over completely, I'll be sent to some sort of re-education facility, where I will be taught to speak and read Chinese.

Sweet ride, BTW. Any nice James Bond gadgets included, or are you not allowed to say?

hey bro, what are you doing with the sebring, then?
uhhh... I mean, nice car, Nae!
P.s. Y'all, there are more people in China who study English than people who speak it in America and the U.K. combined. We should study Chinese, if for nothing else, to be polite.

I for one, welcome our Chinese overlords. Besides-- Chow Yun Fat will eventually be named emperor and it doesn't hurt that I'm STILL being recognized as him.

Nae, looks like you're going to be in Edinburgh for a while.

Please make sure your flat is fairly kidproofed. That way you won't go woozy over our rugrats running all over and breaking your stuff when we visit. :-)

Hey, guys!

Yeah, learning Chinese is on the agenda. The other thing is that the world's going to have this ugly transition where the U.S.A. is in denial and protesters will still target America and then I'm guessing there will be a fairly sharp and sudden inversion and the Chinese will take the lead everywhere all at once, in a way they consider irreversible. To be followed by armed conflict.

I still have the Sebring, but I'll sell it soon.

And I'll make sure that my next flat is kidproofed.

Oh, and Basil, the car does have some James Bondness about it. For a start, it has a cell phone. I don't mean there's a car kit in it or I can use my cell phone via bluetooth (although I'm getting that installed, along with satnav, touch screens and an iPod dock) - but instead that, somewhere in the chassis, is an actuall cell phone. It's put in by a company called Tracker and they use it to phone the car to find out where it is if it gets stolen.

Fascinating.

Hey, Nathan. Just wanted to let you know that BJ James and I dropped off the first carload of stuff to the flat last night. The entire trip took an hour, but the unloading only took 15 minutes. The remainder of the time was spent trading nathan stories. I guess I'll be learning to install hardwood flooring...poor chris, he jas no idea how mechanically inept I can be. If it can't be fixed with a hammer, or a screw gun and drywall screws amd Gaffer's tape, I don't fix it.

I'll be moving the rest of my crap in sometime around the 18th-20th.

"to find out where it is if it gets stolen."

Forget about our car, I think the government has finally found an effective way to track YOU.

Well, they've at least found an effective way to track my car.

I've picked up my parking permit (£160 a year; sheesh!) which allows me to park on the street. Of course, spaces are first come, first serve so I might still end up parking a fair way away from my flat, but, hey, that's the way it goes.

Is Gregg moving to DC?

The MacBook pro on the other hand is a fully functional PC with many more capabilities and infinitely more digital storage space.

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You wrote the post in a very understandable way and covered all important points too. Great work. Waiting for some more.

I am only able to view half your website, not sure what is going on... I really wanted to finish it, anyhow, I will check back again with another browser to finish it up. Thanks!

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Aw, this was a really quality post. In theory I'd like to write like this too - taking time and real effort to make a good article... but what can I say... I procrastinate alot and never seem to get something done.

The new Zune browser is surprisingly good, but not as good as the iPod's. It works well, but isn't as fast as Safari, and has a clunkier interface. If you occasionally plan on using the web browser that's not an issue, but if you're planning to browse the web alot from your PMP then the iPod's larger screen and better browser may be important.

Hands down, Apple's app store wins by a mile. It's a huge selection of all sorts of apps vs a rather sad selection of a handful for Zune. Microsoft has plans, especially in the realm of games, but I'm not sure I'd want to bet on the future if this aspect is important to you. The iPod is a much better choice in that case.

I enjoyed reading & I must say that I was very impressed with your writing skills. Keep up the good work it's very refreshing to see someone like you :)

French is an official language in 30 countries, most of which form what is called, in French, La Francophonie, the community of French-speaking countries. It is an official language of all United Nations agencies and a large number of international organizations. According to the European Union, 129 million (or 26% of the Union's total population), in 27 member states speak French, of which 65 million are native speakers and 69 million claim to speak French either as a second language or as a foreign language, making it the third most spoken second language in the Union, after English and German. Twenty-percent of non-Francophone Europeans know how to speak French, totaling roughly 145.6 million people.

French is an official language in 30 countries, most of which form what is called, in French, La Francophonie, the community of French-speaking countries. It is an official language of all United Nations agencies and a large number of international organizations. According to the European Union, 129 million (or 26% of the Union's total population), in 27 member states speak French, of which 65 million are native speakers and 69 million claim to speak French either as a second language or as a foreign language, making it the third most spoken second language in the Union, after English and German. Twenty-percent of non-Francophone Europeans know how to speak French, totaling roughly 145.6 million people.

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language by around 136 million people worldwide. A total of 250 million speak it as either a first or as a second language. Moreover, roughly 110 million people learn French as a second or third language. French speaking communities are present in 56 countries and territories. Most native speakers of the language live in France, the rest live essentially in Canada, particularly Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario, as well as Belgium, Algeria, Switzerland, Monaco, Luxembourg, and certain places in the U.S. states of Maine and Louisiana. Most second-language speakers of French live in Francophone Africa, arguably exceeding the number of native speakers.

French is a descendant of the Latin language of the Roman Empire, as are national languages such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian and Catalan, and minority languages ranging from Occitan to Neapolitan and many more. Its closest relatives however are the other langues d'oïl and French-based creole languages. Its development was also influenced by the native Celtic languages of Roman Gaul and by the (Germanic) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders.

In addition, from the 17th century to the mid 20th century, French served as the pre-eminent international language of diplomacy and international affairs as well as a lingua franca among the educated classes of Europe. The dominant position of French language has only been overshadowed recently by English.

Presence of a sign that the clock run in complete darkness. This usually means a railing on the second place with a head or tail light.

I am sick and tired of hearing about the "economic recovery". The US government borrowed and spent $6.1 trillion over the past four years to obtain a cumulative $700 billion rise in the nation's Gross domestic product. That means we've borrowed and spent $8.70 for every $1 of nominal "growth" in Gross domestic product. In constant $, GDP is flat, we've got no "economic growth" at all for the $6.1T. In constant dollars, the GDP in 2011 might go back to the 2007 level, if the US economy continues "growing" at the same rate reached in the first 90 days of 2011. If not, then the GDP will actually be below pre-recession levels. There is no recovery, the facts prove this.

Heard of Cowboys and Aliens with James Bond's Daniel Craig? It's a really good idea mashing up space alien futurism with the two-fisted rawness of the old West - but it's been done before with Buffy's James Marsters in High Plains Invaders. True!

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Strike while the iron is hot

Corporate Monopolies and Greed got you down? I just listened to a really cool song about Occupy Wall Street. You should check it out and share it to get the message out. Thanks and remember we are the 99%

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This page contains a single entry by Nate published on January 5, 2006 9:52 PM.

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