East meets West in Human Capital of Health&Economics

Anne Christoffel wrote to the Washington Post, March 24, 2009,published on page F2:

Why is it acceptable for groups such as the American Medical Association to act as if the more than 1,000 year old clinical practice of acupuncture in China and other parts of East Asia does not exist(Millions Embrace Acupuncture, Despite Thin Evidence")? It was in use when state-of-the- art in Europe was bloodletting and surgery by barbers. To question its effectiveness merely because its principles do not fit our medical paradigms is analogous to saying that before the principles of electromagnetism were understood, electricity was hokum.

I am sure that the readers can easily detact such stereotyped humor or nonsense.

Francis Shieh a.k.a. Xie Shihao,a graduate student from Shanghai(East) to meet USA(West) since September 1947. However, I am still learning such comparisons with varied opinions if or when endorsed by open-minded folks for sake of humanity.

On page A1: Stocks soar 7% in response to plan aiming to shore up lenders' books with euphoria to the Obama administration. I have reason to believe that most Americans are delighted about such good news.

However,Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman is now filled with a sense of despair. He wrote the plan was certain to fail and that this failure would inevitably drag the entire world into a long and painful depresssion. Published by the Washington Post,March 24th pmn page D1, cited by Steven Pearlstein with the following to be continued on page D2:

"Krugman despairs that Geithner,Summers and Bernanke are really nothing more than warmed-over Hank Paulson, so blindedly by the free-market ideology that they refuse to consider the only viable option, which is to nationalize all the big banks."

Krugman's assumption is that the current depressed market prices for loans is the correct price,from which he jumps to the conclusion that all big banks are insolvent and need to be natinalized. But these markets are broken not because many loans are bad, but because of a lack of investment financing. It is the interaction of the two problems in economspeak, solvency and liquidity - that has caused the market to break down and prices to collapse. As for the nationalization mantra, it is hard to see what that would accomplish." To me,the mix of public sector and the private sector would be the way for economic growth in the long run.

Let the empirical evidence be the final judge during the days to come.

Page E1: Michelle Kwan has been busy studying international relations at the University of Denver after her departure from figure skating competition. She is a famous American champion of Chinese ancestry. Americans are proud of her as an American citizen and Chinese folks are equally delighted for her contribution as a person of Chinese ethnicity.

We are witnessing much more Sino-American Economics in every field of endeavor re globalization: One World,One Economy of stability and One Human Race for wellbeing on earth. Have faith,hope and LOVE!

March 24, 2009 at 10.46 a.m.