Be an Airport Good Samaritan

Thanks to the original social media guru Chis Brogan for including my thoughts on good vibes in the airport on his great new travel site, Man on the Go. I'll be looking for all of my China Hands to upload their wisdom to this contribution-based video blog.

A few Thoughts on the RMB

China indeed came through with the promised revaluation of the RMB over the weekend, effectively reverting to the "pre-crisis" pegging criteria for the currency established in 2005.

By the close of business in Asia on Monday, the Renminbi had advanced almost .5%, to 6.7976 per dollar.

This looks like a blip on the radar, but represents the only real move in the RMB over the past two years, as the PRC government prevented appreciation of the currency in an effort to drive exports.

Check out John Hudson's post on the Atlantic Wire blog for a round up of punditry following China's big move. Lots of comments about posturing ahead of the G-20 summit and a few prognostications of the evolution of China's economy that address a gumbo of currency, labor and social issues.

As someone no longer bound to rationalize PRC economic policy as part of my job, I am more interested in the larger issues of State Capitalism in play for China. Ian Bremmer addressed the threats for China's government last year in Foreign Affairs:

I think that state capitalism is ultimately unsustainable in China. A government that micromanages economic life can take enormous credit when it helps generate three decades of nine percent annual growth. But when things begin to slow and the pace of economic expansion can no longer match the pace of rising public expectations, the leadership will have to shoulder a lot of the blame. When the gap between rich and poor reaches a tipping point, when go-go growth produces a true ecological disaster, whatever the turning point, the party will have to take the lion's share of responsibility. But these chickens won't be coming home to roost in the next couple of years. This is probably a much longer-term management challenge for the leadership -- though one much larger than any it has yet faced.

Kid Utopia at the Tellus Museum

This past weekend we make a spur of the moment trip an hour north of Atlanta to visit the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, GA. This may be the best museum for kids in Georgia!



While Tellus is a new creation, its roots lie in the collection of the old Weinman Mineral Museum. The brand new 120,000 square foot facility, on a beautifully manicured campus, has it all: space stuff, dinosaurs, old cars, a planetarium and the core collection of rocks and minerals.

The campus is beautiful, the exhibits include an extensive play and learn areas, and there is even an opportunity to touched fossilized dino poop. What more do you want? Load up the Family Truckster and hit the road!

Tally in the Gulf

Click image to enlarge. Via Economist.com

Jazzy Note for Your Wednesday

Changes in China Could Raise Prices Worldwide

“For a long time, China has been the anchor of global disinflation,” said Dong Tao, an economist at Credit Suisse, referring to how the two decade-long shift to manufacturing in China helped many global companies lower costs and prices. “But this may be the beginning of the end of an era.”

Changes in China Could Raise Prices Worldwide - NYTimes.com

Chasing the General

Will and Genevieve in Hot Pursuit

Need a perfect day trip for a Thomas the Tank Engine obsessed child or the family Civil War buff? Head north of Atlanta to Kennesaw, GA to visit the newly expanded Southern Museum, and its most famous artifact, the steam engine The General.

Immortalized by Buster Keaton, the theft of The General by James Andrews' ring of spies in 1862 was a sensation in the North and the South. In an effort to prevent reinforcements from Atlanta coming to the defense of Chattanooga, Andrew's Raiders ripped apart sections of the Western and Atlantic rail line, set fires and cut telegraph lines as they rushed towards Union lines in the hijacked train. The conductor of the The General stayed in hot pursuit of the bandits and most of the raiders were captured after the train ran out of fuel.

The conductor, William Fuller, became a Confederate folk hero. Andrews and many of his compatriots met the gallows, but their antics had a Doolittle Raid-type effect for the Union. The first awards of the newly created Medal of Honor were made to thirteen of the soldiers involved in The Great Locomotive Chase.

The Museum is a treasure trove of railroad memorabilia and Civil War artifacts. The General itself is the show stopper. Kids will enjoy the run through Tunnel Hill (above) as well as the park and displays across the street from the Museum.

Want a taste of The General's story in Atlanta? Fuller lays in rest at Oakland Cemetery. You will also find a discrete plaque (on the cemetery wall facing Memorial Drive, across from Doc Chey's) commemorating the Raiders.