In the Hutong Shrinking the Elephant Arm 1341 hrs If you are in the Midwest this week and have an interest in China’s education system, you may want to stop by the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University – Bloomington. The Research Center for Chinese Politics and Business is continuing their colloquium series with [...]

Spending the week catching up on work and writing and preparing a graduation ceremony for 88 Cub Scouts, so writing was a little sparse. I managed to get a little reading done around the edges, and this was a particularly good week, so I thought I’d share. Enjoy. Army Tests Smartphones, Tablets for Combat Use [...]

China Tightens Electronic Censorship – NYTimes.com Russell Leigh Moses has the money quote: “The hard-liners have won the field, and now we are seeing exactly how they want to run the place,” said Russell Leigh Moses, a Beijing analyst of China’s leadership. “I think the gloves are coming off.” tags: china online regulation US companies [...]

Beijing targets luxury ads amid wealth gap – Yahoo! News Step one is to ban outdoor advertising. The next step will be to ban advertising altogether. The gap between the wealthiest and the poorest is enough of an irritant in Chinese society that the average Chinese doesn’t need it rubbed in his face. Among other [...]

A thought provoker from Joseph Nye’s December article in Foreign Affairs: Conventional wisdom holds that the state with the largest army prevails, but in the information age, the state (or the nonstate actor) with the best story may sometimes win. Allow me to revise that for business: Conventional wisdom holds that the competitor with the [...]

So the Hutong Secretary went to Jingkelong in Tianzhu to buy some eggs this morning. A five-dozen egg bulk pack set us back RMB 66, or around $10.02. The same eggs, USDA inspected, would have cost us RMB 65 at Vons in California, delivered to our home. Not a big deal, but an interesting anecdotal [...]

In the Hutong Waiting for guests 1203 hrs. The question of whether China’s real estate market is overvalued or not is a recurring theme in the regions business media. The most recent example is an article in MarketWatch by Chris Oliver, which quotes Forensic Asia managing director Gillem Tulloch as saying “the bubble will likely [...]

It is coming to that time of year again, and my email box is beginning to fill with resumes and queries from young expatriates who are looking to find their fortunes, or at least a job, in the wild, wild East. Over on Quora I dropped in an answer to the question "What are the [...]

The Political Power of Social Media Clay Shirky answers critics of the theory that social media moves politics. I like Morozov’s approach better, but Shirky makes some great points. ARF: Move Forward “Not Too Slow” Japanese Institutes of Strategic Studies subtly thrusting ASEAN forward as the core of a regional security grouping. One guess who [...]

China tobacco industry foils anti-smoking efforts – report | Reuters Despite the international patina on this report, it was driven by a researcher from within government. Is Yang Gonghuan a lone crusader, or does he have powerful backing? Study: China traffic deaths higher than police say Not a surprise, but what would be interesting to [...]

China’s Naval Ambitions – NYTimes.com Whether China will be an enemy or a rival, the Pentagon cannot continue to arm the US military the way it has been going about it for the past 40 years. Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Soybeans Are Ancient; Oil Is Not – China Real Time Report – WSJ China’s reflex response to inflation will be to revert to type. Expect more central-driven intervention in the pricing of staples, possibly even leading to price controls. China's Box Office Hits $1.47 Billion in 2010 – The Hollywood Reporter China’s Box Office Hits [...]