Geithner in China

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s visit to China is top fold in most of the newspapers today. You can read the entirety of his remarks in a generally conciliatory address to Peking University, but a key passage was highlighted in this morning’s Wal-Street Journal:

The purchases of U.S. consumers cannot be as dominant a driver of growth as they have been in the past," he said. By contrast, Mr. Geithner argued, China needs to look for ways to unlock the spending power of its own consumers. "Strengthening domestic demand will strengthen China's ability to weather future fluctuations in global supply and demand," he said.

Inside the China Factory

I saw a mention for a new book called Poorly Made in China: An Insider's Account of the Tactics Behind China's Production Game this morning on Alexandra Harney's blog. This looks to be a vivisection of sourcing work in China.

A look at the table of contents led to a quick add to my Amazon.com list. I can't wait to read All We Need Is your Sample and Price Go Up. I expect to see Paul Trost's picture somewhere in the appendix.

If you have not read Harney's The China Price grab a copy of the new paperback edition for your next trip. These stories about the ramifications of China's role as the world's manufacturer reveal an underbelly that might shock folks not privy to the inside of the machine.

New Life for Frequent Flyer Miles

Even though I have not been on an American Airlines flight in years, I was excited to read this morning that a new AAdvantage program allows fliers to book one-way flights for 12,500 miles, half the going rate of 25,000 miles for a round trip ticket.

Anyone who has suffered the aggravation of trying to book award travel should rejoice at this development and hope the other major carries will quickly make the same move.

Are you reading this Andy?

Check out Dean Foust's BusinessWeek article for the details.

Happy travels.