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So? China is not a capitalist country or a free market country, and they are under no obligation to enable an American company profit for as long as it wants. M
by maxklein 17y ago
So? China is not a capitalist country or a free market country, and they are under no obligation to enable an American company profit for as long as it wants. Most of the money being taken in by Avatar comes from normal chinese people, and is sent straight to America. A controlled market economy is supposed to keep this outflow of cash controlled.
It's a different economic model being practised in China, and this move is perfectly in line with the stated goals of the model.
Nobody loses, it's just an American Multinational that does not profit as much.
- netcan 17y agoAn economist might say the people who don't get to watch the movie lose.
- maxklein 17y agoIt's available as a DVD in the stores.
- netcan 17y agoAs long as they would have chosen to go to see the movie potential utility has been lost, from a basic economics perspective. How much exactly depends on the maximum they would have paid to see it, how much it would have cost and what alternatives (eg dvd) are available
- maxklein 17y agoWhat about the grocers etc that lose because of the money that was transported overseas rather than locally?
- eru 17y agoAmerica has grocers, too.
- netcan 17y agoJust to make things more complicated, those grocery stores carry many Chinese goods.
- netcan 17y agoThis not the place to go through all of economics. I am not the person to do it either. I just wanted to point out a fallacy in your 'nobody loses' statement: You are only considering the business side of the equation. To an economist, the consumer is where the numbers get added. When a consumer chooses option A over option B, there is value in that choice. It might be savings (and the ability to use the amount saved on something else). It might be additional value (Avatar is better then Chinatar). That value is the scorecard for an economy.
- richardw 17y agoIn China the DVD will be copied, which isn't as likely with the film experience. Frankly, both countries worry about the balance of payments, which Chinese consumers consuming American movies helps. To have China focus on keeping every last dollar inside the borders is a form of protectionism, which if other countries followed would result in a general slowdown of trade. Sure this particular movie is a tiny blip, but then if so they should just play the movie until nobody wants to see it. India doesn't have a hard time making movies - Bollywood is a huge success and they export to the rest of the world. Seems like a healthy balance to me.
- ErrantX 17y ago> Nobody loses, Cinema's lose a lucrative crowd.
- nir 17y ago"Nobody loses" - you feel it's healthy that the government dictates what's playing in cinemas? The fact that it's Avatar just tells you about the odds for a film that actually has some value, eg criticism of the ruling party.
- maxklein 17y agoThat's how the chinese system works. It's a communist country with a communist party and a controlled economy: it's not a suprise if this happens. If you don't like such a system that's fine, protest the system, but don't protest a tiny part of the system. If you don't want communism, then say that, but don't say "Avatar should be allowed to make as much profit as it wants, but I don't care about the system". Do you understand the distinction here?
- eru 17y agoWhich definition of communism are you using?
- nir 17y ago>don't say "Avatar should be allowed to make as much profit as it wants, but I don't care about the system" I won't. And IIRC, I haven't.. I understand your point on China's nature, I was wondering about the "nobody loses" conclusion.