Hilary Faxon

Recent Actions

• Posted China's coal collapse to Shanghaiist
  Coal has been a booming export business for China in recent years, but inadequate supplies may threaten not only foreign trade but also energy supplies at home. While the increasing global demand for the fuel has allowed both China and India to successfully tap a huge international market, the rising cost of transporting the product has contributed to the search for local coal. In the U.S., the largest energy-consuming nation in the world, followed closely...
• Posted U.S. Presidential candidates in China — the personal and the political to Shanghaiist
  Things are getting heated in the build-up to U.S. Presidential elections this coming fall, and China is a subject that both candidates keep coming back to, and that American voters are eager to hear about. The faltering Olympic organization and burgeoning economy of the PRC have been getting most of the attention, but in the past few days it has been other issues that have turned the attention of the Presidential hopefuls and their supporters...
• Posted Burgernomics and the Chinese yuan to Shanghaiist
  The Economist has issued its latest Big Mac Index which uses the price of McDonald's hamburgers to compare international currencies. The fast food dish is a funny but apt international measuring stick, since its 31,000 stores in 119 countries make it a widespread global phenomenon. But all those burgers are telling essentially the same story, at least as it relates to China: the yuan is severely undervalued. That might be bad for foreign economic competition,...
• Posted Government offers perk package for harmonious parents to Shanghaiist
  Yesterday we heard that authorities in Sichuan were offering hush money to parents who lost children in the May earthquake. The story has been circulating widely, and more details about the government’s attempts to placate parents have come to the fore. Not only are officials apparently going door to door offering pay outs of around 60,000 RMB, they’re sweetening the deal by adding more incentives to keep up the harmonious front. The list includes pensions,...
• Posted Olympic terrorists arrested in Shanghai to Shanghaiist
  Police said yesterday they had cracked down on a Shanghai terrorist cell planning violence at Olympic soccer matches in the city. Shanghai’s Olympic security office head Cheng Jiulong said police, who were put on “crisis” level several days ago, had learned of several international terrorist organizations and staged raids successful in arresting potential attackers. Information not mentioned in Jiulong's report included how many people were arrested, when they were taken into custody and where they...