If the Chinese want to play hard ball, who will stop them?

Australia has an economy dependent on Chinese trade for its success.
So it's pretty obvious, appeasing Chinese by whatever means, will be the flavour of the month.

But a more subtle global manufacturing shift since Trump election has seen this shift in manufacturing appear more obvious with innovations such as the Japanese Tohatsu marine motors division, move manufacturing to the US as one example.
The Japanese are as reliant on Chinese manufacturing as any in the West.

I suspect we will see more agitation from North Korea towards South Korea in an attempt to add insecurity to its manufacturing base becoming a useful alternative.
One plus for a US revitalised manufacturing base. Maybe the US is relishing the insecurity, while at the same time capitalising on it.

In the short term, it's difficult to see China not screwing the Wests dependence on its manufactured products, which cover the whole gambit of goods, including vehicle spare parts. It could be a great time to be a car salesman as these parts dry up, forcing consumers into more expensive product alternatives made in the West.
In the long run a destabilising of trade can only be good.

Appeasement from here on, will be driven by desperation, a step back to Chamberlains1939 it will be, as politicians try to avoid the obvious questions, while we pay the price they won't!

Dan

Foxy.

Our manufacturing was all but forced to relocate to China and elsewhere when the energy bill exceeded the wages bill!

Every western-style economy rests solely on just two support pillars, energy and capital. The former, never cheaper the latter never dearer.

Thus we are mired in exponentially expanding, record domestic and foreign debt.

All while the former discretionary spending essential for a healthy domestic economy and domestic manufacturing, has been gobbled by energy costs that cascade up through the goods and services, delivery chain.

And has contributed to the cost of increasingly unaffordable housing and rents.

Which in their turn has put upward pressure on wages, albeit, stagnated of late?

In order to reverse these insane trends, we need to quite drastically lower the cost of energy!

And our children and their children will thank us if in addition it is also carbon-free and comes with the lowest fatality per Gigawatt hours, of any energy source, even renewables!

And that energy ks nuclear energy!

However, there are two types of nuclear power and the one I espouse is unconventional, MSR thorium!

Because it can and has demonstrably shown, Yom be safer than coal or gas, cheaper than those two and reliable dispatchable walk away safe cheaper than coal or gas energy.

And produces little or no nuclear waste. But instead a far less toxic product as a 1-3% as so-called waste, that is eminently suitable as long life space batteries. That burn up with reentry.

Also one of the virtually free byproducts of nuclear decay inside MSR thorium is, miracle cancer cure bismuth 213. Bismuth 213 was successfully trialled in some European clinics during 2006 on ovarian cancer with little significant adage to healthy tissue and in treatments that last only hours and doable in day clinic settings.

And if rolled out here, able to support a million-plus annual outback medical tourism enterprises. Along with a huge inflow of (15-16 annual billions) medical tourist dollars.

Fast trains, i.e., VLT would become vastly more profitable if the energy source was MSR thorium SMR's
Alan B.

Giday LEGO

I see your last comment was "Posted by LEGO, Sunday, 14 June 2020 4:50:13 AM"

"4:50:13 AM" Eastern Australian time! Just happens to be a more comfortable 2.50 in the afternoon US Eastern time...

Either you are:

1. Worried and can't sleep

or

2. You're a US based American propagandist stirring up hatred in the Australian community.

Which are you?

Wakey Wakey LEGO

Its only 10:05 at night in Alabama.

You haven't gone to bedyBISE already?!

LEGO,

Your insecurities are loud.

Dear Alan B.,

I'm not an energy expertise and Thank You for your
comments. All in all, I guess Australia has a coupla of
options regarding our energy future.

1) We can continue to have energy price increases and
still be reliant on fossil fuels for our electricity
generation. In the meantime many of our trading
partners would probably have switched to their own,
probably lower emission energy souces collapsing the
market for our energy exports.

Or -

2) Our households and industry can embrace a diverse mix of
new, cleaner energy technologies.

The challenge for our country is to choose the future that
we want and try to work out the best way to get there.
Continuing to do what we've been doing - is not going
to continue to work.

With our scientific organisations like CSIRO - hopefully we
can unlock value from our country's unmatched energy
resources in a way that's responsible and environmentally
sustainable, as well as building a cost competitive,
lower emissions domestic energy sector.

Foxy,

You said above: "Every western-style economy rests solely on just two support pillars, energy and capital."

Actually three. You forgot to include greed.