by MrBill » Tue 10 Jul 2007, 04:26:20
Great chart, Cube, thanks! My colleagues in LA laughed at me when I attempted doing technical analysis on 'economic indicators', but I see this chart does exactly that? ; - )
A car is not just a car. It can be basic transportation, in which case the Cubans are still driving American automobiles from the 1950s. They are even passed down through the family in their wills.
But it can also be a fashion accessory. Planned obsolescence to keep automakers in business.
Personally, I do not see any long-term benefit to society from putting more and more automobiles continuously on new roads built to accomodate them.
But China hopes to put more cars on the road in the next decade, so worldwide automobile production numbers are not falling.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ') The Middle Kingdom’s middle class
A social revolution will soon transform China, and multinationals that do business there can’t afford to ignore it. So far, they have mostly focused on the country’s tiny minority of urban-affluent consumers. But as more Chinese migrate to the cities for higher-paying work, they are steadily climbing the income ladder. By 2011, McKinsey research suggests, China should have a lower middle class of 290 million people; by 2025, the upper middle class will be 520 million strong, with staggering disposable wealth. For many multinationals, this is the market of the future.
Source: The McKinsey Quarterly, June 2007
Of course, that just speeds up post peak oil depletion. Oops!
The organized state is a wonderful invention whereby everyone can live at someone else's expense.