Futurist Thomas Frey: Scarcity is defined as an economic condition that arises when people have far greater wants than the available resources. Most often we think about the limited supplies of natural resources, but it includes far more than that.
Continue reading… “Inventing Our Next Great Scarcities”
China alone is forecast to see auto sales rise to 30 million units by 2020, 80 percent above the previous U.S. record.
The BMW 3-Series sedan might look like the conventional BMW but a closer inspection reveals it’s been stretched 11 centimeters — about 4 inches for metrically challenged Americans — almost all of that going to rear-seat occupants.
Continue reading… “Chinese drivers could influence your next car”
“China’s evaporating cheap labor pool will disrupt supply chains and consumption habits around the world.”
Shaun Rein takes a hard look at the economic colossus in The End of Cheap China. Rein is managing director of China Market Research Group, a strategic market intelligence firm with clients like Apple, DuPont and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Continue reading… “World must adjust to end of cheap labor in China”
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Ten years ago, offshoring manufacturing jobs to China looked like the perfect way to cut costs. But now companies that manufacture everything from computers to car parts are returning to the United States in growing numbers. The country needs to invest in more vocational and technical training programs so millions of jobless factory workers are equipped with the skills to benefit from this trend, say labor economists.
Another new discovery in China.
Your family tree just got wider. Scientists have analyzed fossils found in China, and deemed them to be from a new human species unlike any ever identified before; say hello to your long-lost cousin.
The skull, originally unearthed in 1979 in the Guangxi Province of China, has only now been fully analyzed (talk about procrastination, right?). It turns out that it has thick bones, extremely prominent brow ridges, a very short, flat face, and also lacks our typically human chin. “In short, it is anatomically unique among all members of the human evolutionary tree,” explains researcher Darren Curnoe to New Scientist…
Continue reading… “Scientists have identified a completely new human species from China”
The Chinese government is not shy about its Internet censorship, even launching an official campaign known as the Golden Shield Project, or “Great Firewall.”
Most people in the world who get into trouble on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites fail to exercise a bit of healthy self-censorship. A new Carnegie Mellon University study has identified the 295 words and phrases the Chinese government looks for when it steps in and forcibly blocks communication between its own citizens.
Continue reading… “295 words and phrases blocked by Chinese internet censors”
Apple in China
On a Friday evening last May, an explosion ripped through Building A5, an eruption of fire and noise that twisted metal pipes as if they were discarded straws.
Continue reading… “Apple iPad comes with a human cost in China”
Fertility on the decline, but at what cost?
You probably already know that China has a one child per couple policy, but you might not know how it is enforced or who is granted exceptions to the rule. The answers to these questions can be found over at Mental Floss and they are simply fascinating….
Continue reading… “How China’s One Baby Policy works?”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hf_XJHtMgY[/youtube]
Broad Group, a Chinese construction company, is known for putting up buildings with record speed. How fast? According to Gizmodo, the company owned by Xian Min Zhang, most recently, constructed a 30 story, 183,000-square-foot hotel in 15 days — 360 hours.
Continue reading… “Amazing time-lapse video of a 30 story hotel built in 15 days in China”
Chinese reality TV show, Super Girl is an annual national singing contest produced by Hunan Satellite Television.
On January 1st, an order to curb “excessive entertainment” on television came into force in China. In response, the number of scheduled entertainment programs has dipped sharply from 126 a week to just 38, according to Xinhua, the state news agency.
Illustration depicts a Chinese Shenzhou vehicle approaching the Tiangong 1 space lab during orbital rendezvous and docking tests.
Over the next five years, China plans to launch space labs and manned ships and prepare to build space stations, according to a plan released Thursday that shows the country’s space program is gathering momentum.
Continue reading… “China reveals its space plans through 2016”
Rapid economic development and a smaller supply of young migrant workers are pushing up labor costs in China.
What is one of the things that’s showing up in Christmas stockings this year: higher prices, courtesy of China.
Continue reading… “Shoppers in U.S. pay for soaring labor costs in China”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
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