The Red Giant

In stellar evolution, a Red Dwarf is a late stage star that has exhausted its supply of hydrogen in its core and has begun to fuse hydrogen (and anything else) outside the core...in effect a desperate attempt to prevent its demise. Unfortunately fusion will eventually become impossible, and without the ability to switch to other means of energy creation, the star will die.

Looking to the east we see a very large Red Giant in the form of China. It has risen to prosperity via exports. The point has passed where China should have focused on domestic demand, and instead has focused on even more export activity...even in the face of a significant financial crisis. Like the stellar Red Giant, China is dependent on one source of energy.

Thus, I would want U.S. Commerce Secretary Locke to focus on repatriating U.S. assets before its too late. The Gravity of History is going to have predictable effects on this Red Giant.


WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke accused Beijing on Wednesday of discouraging foreign investment to protect its own companies and promised to push against those barriers if confirmed as the next ambassador to China.

Locke, in the text of a speech for delivery at the Woodrow Wilson Center, said the United States saw Chinese investment as a "good thing" for American business and workers and only blocked it in a few cases for national security concerns.

"Unfortunately, that is not the case for American companies operating in China, where they are frequently shut out of entire industries, or they are forced to give up propriety information as a condition of operating in China," Locke said.

"This imbalance of opportunity is a major barrier to continued improvement of the United States and China's commercial relationship. And it is part of a broader trend of China recently narrowing its commercial environment after a long and fruitful period of opening."