Mike,

There were several articles that came out on this issue that I read last year. In particular when comparing present day China to 20 years ago Japan, there are mnay issues that the Japanese couldn't or wouldn't resolve that the Chinese have resolved. So it's a little different now.

One of the examples I recall was Language: It is difficult, if not impossible for Japanese to learn english in Japan. They have to come here to get a good education in english. China doesn't have this issue. They have a version of American Idol where the goal is to be voted best english speaker.

Another factor aiding China now is that due to the low cost of operating over there, there is an increasing number of what they call "Sea Turtles". Those who've gone elsewhere to get educated and are returning to apply their education. A professor who in the past had no problem getting international students to intern at his company after graduation is having problems getting interns now because so many now return to their homeland.



>>>>I will be advising my grand-children to become plumbers, air-conditioning repair people, carpenters, etc. A good tradesman is always going to be find a job. It's going to be a long time (I hope) before all those jobs are out-sourced to India, China, etc.
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>>>Lol my eldest is an airco engineer....not a repair man though.
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>>Will be moving to China... sooner than you think.
>>India is already do radiology readings, building engineering, etc and it's only a matter of time before China takes those over too.
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>We'll see. There is no question India and (more so) China will increasingly be economic powers. But they still have some major systemic issues and still have massive poverty and backwardness, particularly in rural areas. Remember 25 years ago when everyone thought Japan was going to take over the world economically? That sure didn't happen.