On worrying about China

Now, I am not suggesting that today's situation could be the harbinger of another catastrophic period in China's history. Rather, I am making a point about the consequences of feeding unreliable statistics into the mix. How do you know what is really going on?

That said, can we argue that Zhou Ming and his friend are modern day canaries in a coal mine?

I don't know. Maybe this is part of China's re-balancing from a manufacturing to a consumer society, and maybe not. China is an opaque society.

Who or what do I believe? Western analysts? Government statistics? My own eyes?

Anyway, what would I know? I'm no economist, I've never run a business, and I wouldn't recognise an economic theory if I tripped over one.

I'm street-wise though, and my impression is that things seem to be OK for the moment.

As long as unemployment is confined to the manufacturing sector, China might muddle through.

We'll see.