Critique of Taking On China

     I never thought about whether it is a good or bad thing for the American public to have opinion sections in our "news" before. Some people say I am an opinionated person, but when it comes to topics of which my knowledge is minimal, I do not pretend to have an opinion, and I like to hear other's arguments to better understand the situation, but now I am not so sure that is the best idea. I chose Taking On China, an article evaluating the current economic conflict concerning China on The NY Times website. I chose to critique this article being as I am not an economist I thought I could hold back my instinctual opinions and look at it objectively.

     At first I thought this article's intended audience was strictly economists or those interested in international/domestic trade balance, but now i see that any American with some regard to our economy can read this and evaluate for themselves given the hands-on experience with the outsourcing of American jobs. 

     The author's main argument is that China's "predatory currency policy" is not only toying with their citizens, but ours, too, and that China is "flaunting its contempt" with the U.S., thus further effecting our economy. His choice of words clearly attacks China's policies and conveniently, they lend to his claim that U.S. officials need to initiate sanctions against China. He claims that U.S. policy makers have been "incredibly, infuriatingly passive in the face of China's bad behavior..." 

     I think that the author shows a good display of logic in his outlook of the American economy, and also the concept that you can scare or force others to do what you want them to do. We all know that though. However, I do not think he is logical when he says that emerging nations (China in this case) "could and should" help get the world economy out of its slump (I think he means to give us back the upper hand). He doesn't touch on corporate-government team player, and whether they benefit from ties with China, whether it's investments or taking advantage of their cheap economy. 

     I am glad that you have to search for this article under the opinion section because I do not think it presents a very balanced argument. If someone is looking to be pointed in one direction or the other, or someone is seeking reaffirmation of their own sharp economic standpoints, then this article effectively could handle both, but that's about it. 

     This article was posted on The New York Times website on September 29, 2010 by author Paul Krugman, American economist, and winner of the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in economics for his work with the New Trade Theory and New Economic Geography.

Taking On China