audere_est_facere

We don't really get Chinese tourists here. Rich chinese -yes but large numbers - no.

ira

>Alan's statement has to be understood as: Typical American cars (rear-wheel drive sedan with big engines and automatic transmission) are not very appreciated outside North America.<

They still make these cars in the US?

>Travel is a luxury! During WWII the pound was a constant $5. <

Remember how many Americans went to the UK in 1943-1944, even with the high exchange rate?

NeoPatrick

"Remember how many Americans went to the UK in 1943-1944, even with the high exchange rate?"

Yea, ira, and many of them were even given "free" transportation from the UK to the coast of France!!

robjame

Ahh, but we Canadians had found it to be a worthy destination years before that...

kerouac

I dug up a few goodies on French tourist revenue from various government websites.
--1-- 56.1% of the tourist money spent in France is by French tourists.
--2-- 34.4% is spent by foreigners.
--3-- 9.5% is spent in France by French tourists but to pay for overseas vacations.

Origin of foreign tourists.
UK/Ireland -- 15.6%
USA -- 12.6%
Germany -- 11.7%
Belg./Lux -- 10.1%
Switzerland -- 9.4%
Italy -- 7.5%

Regarding the Chinese:
"France is the most prestigious destination in the world" according to a Chinese magazine published exclusively for Shanghai millionaires.
However, at the moment, France consists only of the Eiffel Tower, Versailles and Alsace (due to a short story by Alphonse Daudet studied in all Chinese schools). 30-50% of the Chinese tourists' budget is paid to a travel agency and all of the rest of the money is for shopping, their favorite brands being Vuitton, Armani, Zegna, Mont Blanc and Cartier. Chinese spending increased 41% over the past 2 years. 472,000 Chinese tourists visited France in 2005 with an average shopping budget of from 800 to 3000 euros per person. The biggest complaint of Chinese tourists is the lack of hot water for tea in their hotel rooms.

ira

>Remember how many Americans went to the UK in 1943-1944, even with the high exchange rate?"

Yea, ira, and many of them were even given "free" transportation from the UK to the coast of France!! <

Not only that, but a free cruise to the UK. Maybe cheap transportation costs overcame the poor exchange rate.

>with an average shopping budget of from 800 to 3000 euros per person. <

Hey kerouac,

An average can't be a range. It has to be a number.

StephenG

Top 5 selling vehicles in US for first 9 months 2006:

1. Ford F150 (truck)
2. Chevrolet Silverado (truck)
3. Toyota Camry
4. Honda Accord
5. Dodge Ram (truck)

All of these vehicles are assembled in the US and 80% parts manufactured in US and Canada.

Most Honda and Toyota dealerships are owned by US corporations and the idea that Japanese Cars are Japanese is a myth. Jobs, (wages) and majority of profits that are created by these companies are reinvested in the US economy.

kerouac

Ira, you are absolutely correct about the word "average" -- probably a sloppy translation my part, but I think that they meant that certain groups had an average shopping budget of 800 and others an average of 3000 -- obviously not staying in the same hotels. One of the things about Chinese tourists that dismays a lot of the Parisians is that the Chinese groups eat almost exclusively in Chinese restaurants (which, I must add, they do find excellent in Paris) -- this includes the groups from Taiwan.

crefloors

I wouldn't be surprised to find that the Chinese only eat in Chinese restaurants. My hairdresser is Chinese, raised in Vietnam..she doesn't eat bread, milk products or cheese of any kind. Her kids were born in the US so eat like anyother kids and she will fix or buy things like burgers, etc. for them, but won't eat it. She still cooks Chinese or Vietnamese only for herself and her husband. So, anyway, tell the Parisians not to be shocked.

superheterodyne

>>
>Alan's statement has to be understood as: Typical American cars (rear-wheel drive sedan with big engines and automatic transmission) are not very appreciated outside North America.<

They still make these cars in the US?<<

Wel, the Crown Victoria is still around, so is the Lincoln Town Car (I know, both are being phased out). These two are amost caricatural (separate body and chassis...)

As for automatic transmissions - they stil dominate American market, ditto for big engines, at least in comparison with what is found in Europe.

ira

>the Chinese groups eat almost exclusively in Chinese restaurants <

Maybe if the other restaurants provided chopsticks...?

Sue_xx_yy

Flanneruk

I do take your point that when workers are paid pennies per hour, as they are in China, the wage spread is far too great for any currency devaluation to effectively address. Western workers in comparable industries, living as they do in countries with high living standards and prices, simply can’t compete.

You have also reminded me about the importance of productivity improvements, when it comes to competitiveness of industries. (It seems I wasn’t altogether asleep during news reports of the results of all those trade disputes!) On that note, those very productivity improvements are such that ‘primary’ industry isn’t what it used to be. Our food and forestry products plants aren’t exactly staffed by wide-eyed yokels these days, since said plants are computerized and mechanized to the hilt.

Plus, I am also reminded that our trade balance with the US is reasonably even – okay, it’s somewhat in our favour, but the deficit is not only stable, it’s nowhere near the size of the one the US runs with China, for example, relative to total trade with that country. I tend to think of imports as involving luxury goods for consumers, which is true, but imports are also needed by industry. So for those industries that need to import, as opposed to export, from the US, the lower US dollar is coming as a salvation. Perhaps this explains why the effect overall isn’t as bad as I expected.

So, you’ve convinced me – in due deference, I must buy the next round of beer. (It can even be Newcastle Brown, if you like...)

However, I’ll maintain that politics does still play a role in economies. Things aren’t entirely automatic and self-regulating. You might buy a used car from China if the price was right, but I don’t think either the UK or the US government is going to start buying their tanks from China anytime soon.

walkinaround

logos...i never complained about the weak US dollar...why would i as i earn £?

>>>>>>>
As for automatic transmissions - they stil dominate American market
>>>>>>>

STILL dominate?
are automatic transmissions being phased out? are they old fashioned? this statement seems very odd, especially since automatic transmission cars are gaining in popularity in europe, especially here in the UK. no doubt that many people around the world are scratching their heads in wonder that we still shift gears over here.

NeoPatrick

I had quite a little discussion (argument) with a sales clerk at the Land Rover showroom in London. I mentioned that my Range Rover in the US was an automatic and she insisted I could have gotten it in standard (not that I'd want to). She KNEW I was wrong that Land Rover does not export any standard shift Range Rovers to the US.

Neil_Oz

By 2020 as many as 100 million Chinese will be earning enough to travel overseas. Australian experience is that Chinese tour companies can be very imaginative in their efforts to monopolise their clients' spending, directing them to Chinese-owned shops in popular tourist destinations (as well as collecting a range of phoney "government taxes" for, e.g., stepping onto a beach). The venerable Chinese tradition of kickbacks or "squeeze" as well as natural inclination ensures that they'll always eat in selected Chinese restaurants. In time, no doubt, an increasingly sophisticated clientele will begin to do its own thing, but the sheer numbers are staggering.

flanneruk

Sue xx:

Thanks for the gracious agreement.

And yes of course politics is part of all this: not least the political decisions much of Europe and North America have taken to have their interest rates set by dispassionate technocrats (it's only 9 years ago that Britain let politicians do that), and much of their imports flow free (less than two years ago, the EU and US still imposed quota limits on 51% of the clothes China made).

But don't exaggerate the importance of old-style politics. China might not be exporting many tanks to the west: but ten years ago I was selling the British Army uniforms made in Romania.

I lost the contract. To uniforms made in Vietnam.

And that's no huge innovation. A century ago, Britain and Germany - totally aware a war was on the cards - were among each other's major military suppliers.

ira

At this time, the GNP has retreated to a mere $1.966

superheterodyne

>> STILL dominate?
are automatic transmissions being phased out? are they old fashioned? this statement seems very odd, especially since automatic transmission cars are gaining in popularity in europe, especially here in the UK. no doubt that many people around the world are scratching their heads in wonder that we still shift gears over here. <<

Well, replace "still" by "do".
Automatic transmisions are gaining popularity in Europe, that's true ; however, they're radicaly diferent from the "old" torque converter + automatic gearbox : most of the new ones feature a conventional clutch and a robotised

superheterodyne

>> STILL dominate?
are automatic transmissions being phased out? are they old fashioned? this statement seems very odd, especially since automatic transmission cars are gaining in popularity in europe, especially here in the UK. no doubt that many people around the world are scratching their heads in wonder that we still shift gears over here. <<

Well, replace "still" by "do".
Automatic transmisions are gaining popularity in Europe, that's true ; however, they're radicaly diferent from the "old" torque converter + automatic gearbox : most of the new ones feature a conventional clutch and a robotised gearbox. (this design was, by the way, first found on the... 1955 Citroën DS).


It may seem nothing to you, but it's quite important. Automatic transmissions were hindered in Europe because of the leser engines we have here and the higher fuel costs (since a torque converter _does_ waste energy).

Anyway, my main point was - and stil is - that American "domestic" cars have not been huge export sucesses outside North America, unlike German or Japanese cars, and actually were not intended as such. US brands in Europe always designed and built the biggest part of their sales locally.

MarkvonKramer

>>>>>> Budman says: The top 1% of wage earners pay over a third of the taxes, and the top 50% of wage earners pay over 96% of income taxes. <<<<<<<

Maybe that is because they have those same cooresponding shares of the wealth?

MvK