Chinese, US Labor Input Costs Changing Fast

We covered the topic of the substitution and output effects for production inputs in class today. Here’s an interesting discussion of the same topic with specific reference to how labor costs are changing the in US and China.

This isn’t just good news for U.S. manufacturing. It’s another indication that we’re seeing the end of cheap China, and that’s good for Chinese workers, too.

 

Which Country Will be Africa’s “Next Economic Star?”

Francis Njubi Nesbitt says it’s Ghana.

Raising a Child and the Time Value of Money

(A post from guest blogger Stephanie at GDUFS)

When it comes to “time value of money,” we automatically think of finance. But the concept can be used to explain other things, as well. Christine Dunn explains the cost of raising a child:

Money available now is worth more than the same amount in the future because of its potential earning capacity.

From a long-term perspective, it can mean weighing the investment of time and resources in a child, or in the family, now in order to help with their (often hoped-for) future growth and development.

I have made a more conscious effort during this period to really sit down and think about how I want to invest my time and resources – which I define not only as money, but my effort and energy. I have created the proverbial bucket list, but this one isn’t about what I want to do before I die. It’s about what I want to achieve for myself in relation to my kids, my husband and my extended family while we have our time together.

Everyone will have a different approach, but here’s an example of how I’ve been thinking about it. Like any investment process, first I think about some broader themes. For me, these include:

• Providing an international experience: Introducing, and exposing, my family to different cultures and people
• Being connected in our community: Supporting our local network and the institutions that provide for us each day
• Achieving a goal or dream, and learning to appreciate the process as much as the goal itself
• Spending one-on-one time with each member of my family and with friends

Longer term I’m saving miles, and creating a cookie-jar fund, for an international trip of some kind. Ideally I’d like to take my kids back to the Philippines so that they can meet some of my relatives there and understand where their grandmother came from. Until then, I’ll travel with them more locally within the US to the cities where some of our other relatives settled so that they can hear the language, taste the flavors and experience the culture, and feel the love of their extended network.

We can see that our parents do spend plenty of things, like money, efforts, energy, and even life, on us. For our healthy growth, they’re willing to make their every endeavor to provide us with colorful experiences and chances, which enable us to enrich our lives. They invest their life in our life. This is their “time value of money.”