« Markets in everything, Beethoven edition | Main | The Economics of *Lost* »
China fact of the day
In parts of China, black ants are sold by the bagful to be steeped in tea or soaked in liquor as a natural remedy for ailments such as arthritis.
Wang sold packages of ants to the investors for up to as much as 10,000 yuan ($1,290) when they were only worth 200 yuan, China Central Television reported.
Here is the story, the sentence is death. The total con is estimated at $387 million, what would Gary Becker say, in any case that is a lot of imaginary ants.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on February 16, 2007 at 09:03 AM in Current Affairs | Permalink
Comments
Just out of curiosity, who taught you to write sentences like "The total con is estimated at $387 million, what would Gary Becker say, in any case that is a lot of imaginary ants."?
Posted by: anon at Feb 16, 2007 11:33:56 AM
i did.
Posted by: anon2 at Feb 16, 2007 4:34:14 PM
It's now New Year's Eve in China. Firecrackers everywhere. Hope to see the host post more positive facts about China in the coming year of the golden pig.
Posted by: jinbu at Feb 17, 2007 8:28:41 AM
Tyler and Alex:
Step up and meet your "positive China comments" goals for the 55th Party Congress! We need to praise China more! The Party NEEDS you!
Posted by: Klug at Feb 18, 2007 10:13:07 PM
First of all, investors were paying 10,000 yuan for a product worth 200 yuan. Do they simply have no
knowledge of the product or the business to which they are investing? It amazes me that over 10,000
people signed contracts with a company just because of a "promise" of up to 60% profit. Promises are
just words that hold no real value when dealing with someone you don't even know and "up to" 60% could
mean anything from 1-60. Only in extreme cases will you ever expect 60%. Not to defend Wang but he's not the only ignorant one in this situation.
Posted by: andi at Feb 19, 2007 2:15:25 PM
A rational crime? Is that the Gary Becker reference? Would the Chinese ants story count? My understanding of a rational crime is that a criminal act is rational to commit even when factoring in the punishment (e.g., when the cost of a parking ticket is less than the cost of a parking spot).
Someone please correct me if I'm missing the reference (of which there is a high likelihood).
Posted by: Trieu Truong at Mar 15, 2007 10:21:31 PM
大家好，我是臺灣人，從臺灣一個人搬家來到美國，環境很陌生，感覺很孤單。以前在臺灣幾家知名的徵信社工作過，我是一個優秀的徵信工作者，希望早點找到適合自己的工作。希望通過貴站，認識更多的朋友。
Posted by: 謝文豪 at Apr 1, 2008 10:43:53 PM
