何谓“酷抠族”？ “酷抠族”是指拥有高学历、较高收入的人群，精打细算过日子，通过转移消费重点，更好地配置“有数”的金钱，追求简单生活、自然的幸福，摒弃奢侈消费，在不影响生活质量的前提下，用最少的钱获取最大的满足感。
“腰缠十万贯，骑鹤下扬州”是一种潇洒，但“一分钱掰两半儿花”也是一种境界，金融危机渐行渐远了，成为“酷抠族”的郑州青年越来越多了。
有一个人 月薪近万，为省钱每天滴满水壶
王滨是郑州市一家知名企业的管理人员，他2005年大学毕业，从小学习努力、成绩优秀，毕业后如愿以偿从事企业管理工作，并一路直升，二十六七岁就做了公司的中层，现在月收入近万元。
王滨在河南农大旁跟三个考研的学生合租了一套两室一厅的房子，每个卧室放两张床，四个人每月分摊150元，室友对他印象最深的，并非他的年轻有为，而是他每天把暖水瓶放到水管下，费半天工夫把水龙头拧到最小，保持水表不转，滴满自己的水壶。
“他平时总提醒我省水省电，快考试了，我晚上在屋里看书，他下班回来说开40瓦的灯泡费电，非让我开5瓦的台灯。”和他同室而住的小李为视力下降抱怨不已，“有时半夜一两点，他看到楼道里的灯亮着，会关了灯再回来睡，说怕公摊的电费多。”
进入2009年，王滨一直在看房，把郑州的楼盘转了几遍，几乎所有的在售楼盘都烂熟于胸，却一直没有出手。据他说，上班四五年攒了近20万元，原想多存点一次付清，但是攒钱的速度远远比不上房价攀升的速度，“我不会考虑按揭，因为不划算，光付银行的利息就占了近一半。”
32岁的阿峰在律师事务所工作，收入丰厚，有房有车。他把自己未来路上的房子租了出去，在文化路一所高校里与人合租：“房子租出去，一月1000元，跟人合租才花300元，学校食堂伙食便宜，水房有免费开水，校园里也不用交停车费。”
有一种现象 精打细算，多挣少花
不仅是王滨和阿峰，记者通过调查发现，在郑州市不少较高收入人群，都在精打细算过日子，很多网友争相晒收入和支出，比拼谁更省钱，郑州不少网友还建起交流如何省钱的论坛。
陈寨蔬菜批发市场摆摊的老王对此深有体会：“不光是老年人，现在早起买菜的年轻人也越来越多。老年人都是坐公交车来的，年轻人大都是开车来的，比老头老太太还会讲价钱。”
今年夏天以来，黄河路、北环、东风路、二七广场附近等处夜市，多出不少开车练摊的年轻人，这些白领练摊族并非天天到岗，经营时间也有限，经营的内容以衣服、包、化妆品、碟片等为主，他们说，晚上练摊多挣一些，白天上班少花一些，省下来的养房养车。
一些刚参加工作的“80后”和在校大学生受到感染，也在省钱过日子。2009年4月签约到一家国企、参加工作半年的小张，跟上学时已经完全不一样了：不打的、不下馆子，购物前还要上网查询各商场的打折信息，货比三家再买。其“看到不少有钱的同事都是这样”。
有一个群体 有钱为何还这么“抠”？
王滨说，在网上像自己这样的群体，被称为“酷抠族”：“我们不是‘葛朗台’，不会像父母那样，一味省钱，而希望通过节俭，理智地去消费，毕竟现在钱不好挣。”
而被朋友称为“小抠”的阿峰，2009年上半年在郑东新区又买了一套房子，他不无得意地说：“钱都是平时省出来的，这套房子就是我平日俭省的回报，可以把父母从老家接来住了。”
郑州大学公共管理学院的社会学家纪德尚说，“酷抠一族”大都是白领和中产阶级，反映当前中产阶级较为脆弱的状态，心理上安全感的缺失，“攒钱其实折射出他们对人生重大问题的担忧，如买房、疾病、养老等”。
纪德尚认为，“酷抠族”不是守财奴，他们精打细算地生活，通过消费重点的转移，满足了自己的消费需求，在不影响基本生活的条件下，这种理性消费的观念是值得倡导的。
酷抠宝典：
变废为宝：没吃完的方便面调味包一定要留下来，也许它正是下一道佳肴的配料。
多多刷卡：各银行推出的信用卡都有不同的回报方式，有积分，有分期付款，花钱也有额外收获。
买“家庭装”：家里常吃常用的东西，如全家人都喝的牛奶、经常用的洗衣粉和卫生纸等，一定要买“家庭装”才合算。
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Amid the global economic crisis, China rises
Global economic crisis accelerates China's ascent, but what role will it play?
BEIJING (AP) -- The auto-parts maker Delphi Corp. is headquartered in Troy, Mich., in the heart of the region that made the United States the car capital of the world. It's a place where the phrase "buy American" is right at home.
Now the 3,000 employees of Delphi's brake and suspension unit are getting a new boss. Battered by weak sales, Delphi is selling the unit to investors led by a company named Shougang Corp.
Shougang is a steel maker owned by the government of China -- a government that calls itself communist but espouses a "socialist market economy" as it marches down globalization's road toward a capitalistic future.
"Everyone's so desperate for cash that the Chinese show up with a checkbook and people say, `Yes, please'," says Arthur Kroeber, managing director of Dragonomics, a Beijing research firm.
Explosive growth in China and India, coupled with Japan's clout as the world's No. 2 economy, has long been expected to shift economic power from the United States to Asia as this century progresses. The financial crisis and resulting Great Recession are accelerating that process.
"China certainly comes out of the crisis stronger rather than weaker, and it's the opposite for the United States," says Stephen Roach, chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia.
Even some Americans have begun declaring this the "Chinese century" since it began nearly a decade ago. But while they and others fear the rise of China in international relations and the global economy, the reality is less dramatic: Beijing is still getting its own sprawling, chaotic house in order and is in no position to supplant the United States as global leader in the near future.
At the same time, Beijing's power remains undefined: On an unfamiliar global stage, it is unsure what role it wants to play.
For decades, China followed the dictum of its late supreme leader, Deng Xiaoping, to keep its head down abroad and focus on development at home. But earlier this decade, emboldened by success and mindful that their globalized economy needs stability, communist leaders started pressing for a place among the nations that manage world affairs.
These days, Beijing is claiming a bigger voice in global economic forums such as the Group of 20 and is getting more deference in the United Nations, which could mean protection for friends such as Iran and Myanmar. Its military spending is the world's second-highest, behind that of the United States.
"China is very likely to be the second-most-powerful country -- if it isn't now, then within a decade," says Kenneth Lieberthal, director of the Brookings Institution's John L. Thornton China Center in Washington.
For the United States, it's a mixed blessing. The American and Chinese economies are intertwined, and the success of one depends on the health of the other.
The United States is China's biggest trade partner. China sent $338 billion in goods here last year. Beijing is Washington's biggest creditor, with more than $800 billion invested in government debt. American automakers look to China's growing market to propel future sales.
The financial crisis set back U.S. growth by years and will add trillions to the federal debt over the next decade. But China avoided the worst of the crisis. Its banks are healthy and, with the help of a 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus, this year's economic growth is on track to top 8 percent.
Already, demand from China can affect oil prices, and it is starting to influence what products are available worldwide. Western jobs are tied to Chinese spending, from British auto factories to Australian iron mines. Chinese money is financing development of oil fields from Venezuela to Central Asia.
And China's role as Washington's lender-in-chief is altering the dynamic of the countries' relationship.
At a meeting in London in April, President Barack Obama assured his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, that Washington would cut its budget deficit -- a promise no American leader ever had to make to a Soviet leader.
Washington's three-year-old strategic dialogue with Beijing has long been dominated by U.S. trade grievances. But the latest round in July, overshadowed by America's need for China to keep buying its debt, became a discussion between equals.
China, a major destination for foreign investment, was starting to reverse the flow and invest abroad before the financial crisis. The crisis accelerated that and has led to a flurry of deals. In some cases, Chinese companies have stepped in to save Western jobs -- a notion unthinkable a decade ago.
In Britain, China's Nanjing Automobile Group plans to reopen the Longbridge factory idled by the collapse of MG Rover to make limited-edition MGTF sports cars. And in Sweden, Beijing Automotive is joining a bid to buy Saab from General Motors, while Geely Automobile wants to acquire Ford's Volvo unit.
"It's better to be part of the race than to watch it from the stands," says Paul Akerlund, a union representative at Saab. "We see advantages in gaining access to the Chinese market, which is the fastest-growing auto market in the world."
In diplomacy, China is only starting to stake out positions on a wide array of global issues. It has used its influence in the United Nations to help allies such as Sri Lanka resist Western pressure on human rights. But Chinese leaders have yet to decide what overall political and military role they want abroad.
"They clearly want to be a country of some gravitas both regionally and globally," Lieberthal says. "But there are a lot of aspects of the American approach -- too ready to interfere, to tell others what to do -- that the Chinese criticize as `hegemonic.'"
Even as it is on track to overtake the American economy in size as early as 2030, China is burdened by enormous problems of corruption, poverty and pollution. Measured by income per person, China ranked 130th out of 210 economies in a World Bank survey last year, behind most of Latin America and parts of Africa.
"China's foreign currency reserves are huge. But that does not mean we are a rich country," says Cho Tak Wong, chairman of Fuyao Group, which produces glass for Chinese and global automakers. "We are about 100 years behind the United States."
China also has become a fast-growing market, and the financial crisis has only increased its importance to global companies. Chinese demand affects everything from global steel prices to the design of consumer goods. Cadillac created its 2008 CTS with China in mind, adding a deeper back seat for Chinese buyers driven by chauffeurs.
Other countries' urgent need for cash has created opportunities for Beijing to make deals for resources to drive its booming economy. State companies have struck oil deals in Brazil, Venezuela, Russia and Africa and bought stakes in Australian and Canadian miners.
Delphi turned to Chinese buyers for its remaining brake and suspension operations after it sought bankruptcy court protection four years ago. The buyers are Shougang and two partners -- the Beijing city government and an auto-parts maker, Tempo Group. Delphi says the $90 million sale should close in November, seven months after it was announced.
Contrast that with 2005, when Chinese oil company CNOOC Ltd. tried to acquired Unocal Corp. CNOOC offered to pay more than a rival American bidder but withdrew after critics in Washington said the sale might threaten U.S. energy security.
Still, the United States has many strengths that China lacks. The U.S. remains the world center for innovation in many areas and a magnet for smart, ambitious immigrants.
"Europeans may hope that the U.S. has been knocked down a peg or two, but even if that is so, they could be in for a nasty surprise," says Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners, a London brokerage. "Never underestimate the ability of the American people to rise to a challenge."
BEIJING (AP) -- The auto-parts maker Delphi Corp. is headquartered in Troy, Mich., in the heart of the region that made the United States the car capital of the world. It's a place where the phrase "buy American" is right at home.
Now the 3,000 employees of Delphi's brake and suspension unit are getting a new boss. Battered by weak sales, Delphi is selling the unit to investors led by a company named Shougang Corp.
Shougang is a steel maker owned by the government of China -- a government that calls itself communist but espouses a "socialist market economy" as it marches down globalization's road toward a capitalistic future.
"Everyone's so desperate for cash that the Chinese show up with a checkbook and people say, `Yes, please'," says Arthur Kroeber, managing director of Dragonomics, a Beijing research firm.
Explosive growth in China and India, coupled with Japan's clout as the world's No. 2 economy, has long been expected to shift economic power from the United States to Asia as this century progresses. The financial crisis and resulting Great Recession are accelerating that process.
"China certainly comes out of the crisis stronger rather than weaker, and it's the opposite for the United States," says Stephen Roach, chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia.
Even some Americans have begun declaring this the "Chinese century" since it began nearly a decade ago. But while they and others fear the rise of China in international relations and the global economy, the reality is less dramatic: Beijing is still getting its own sprawling, chaotic house in order and is in no position to supplant the United States as global leader in the near future.
At the same time, Beijing's power remains undefined: On an unfamiliar global stage, it is unsure what role it wants to play.
For decades, China followed the dictum of its late supreme leader, Deng Xiaoping, to keep its head down abroad and focus on development at home. But earlier this decade, emboldened by success and mindful that their globalized economy needs stability, communist leaders started pressing for a place among the nations that manage world affairs.
These days, Beijing is claiming a bigger voice in global economic forums such as the Group of 20 and is getting more deference in the United Nations, which could mean protection for friends such as Iran and Myanmar. Its military spending is the world's second-highest, behind that of the United States.
"China is very likely to be the second-most-powerful country -- if it isn't now, then within a decade," says Kenneth Lieberthal, director of the Brookings Institution's John L. Thornton China Center in Washington.
For the United States, it's a mixed blessing. The American and Chinese economies are intertwined, and the success of one depends on the health of the other.
The United States is China's biggest trade partner. China sent $338 billion in goods here last year. Beijing is Washington's biggest creditor, with more than $800 billion invested in government debt. American automakers look to China's growing market to propel future sales.
The financial crisis set back U.S. growth by years and will add trillions to the federal debt over the next decade. But China avoided the worst of the crisis. Its banks are healthy and, with the help of a 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus, this year's economic growth is on track to top 8 percent.
Already, demand from China can affect oil prices, and it is starting to influence what products are available worldwide. Western jobs are tied to Chinese spending, from British auto factories to Australian iron mines. Chinese money is financing development of oil fields from Venezuela to Central Asia.
And China's role as Washington's lender-in-chief is altering the dynamic of the countries' relationship.
At a meeting in London in April, President Barack Obama assured his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, that Washington would cut its budget deficit -- a promise no American leader ever had to make to a Soviet leader.
Washington's three-year-old strategic dialogue with Beijing has long been dominated by U.S. trade grievances. But the latest round in July, overshadowed by America's need for China to keep buying its debt, became a discussion between equals.
China, a major destination for foreign investment, was starting to reverse the flow and invest abroad before the financial crisis. The crisis accelerated that and has led to a flurry of deals. In some cases, Chinese companies have stepped in to save Western jobs -- a notion unthinkable a decade ago.
In Britain, China's Nanjing Automobile Group plans to reopen the Longbridge factory idled by the collapse of MG Rover to make limited-edition MGTF sports cars. And in Sweden, Beijing Automotive is joining a bid to buy Saab from General Motors, while Geely Automobile wants to acquire Ford's Volvo unit.
"It's better to be part of the race than to watch it from the stands," says Paul Akerlund, a union representative at Saab. "We see advantages in gaining access to the Chinese market, which is the fastest-growing auto market in the world."
In diplomacy, China is only starting to stake out positions on a wide array of global issues. It has used its influence in the United Nations to help allies such as Sri Lanka resist Western pressure on human rights. But Chinese leaders have yet to decide what overall political and military role they want abroad.
"They clearly want to be a country of some gravitas both regionally and globally," Lieberthal says. "But there are a lot of aspects of the American approach -- too ready to interfere, to tell others what to do -- that the Chinese criticize as `hegemonic.'"
Even as it is on track to overtake the American economy in size as early as 2030, China is burdened by enormous problems of corruption, poverty and pollution. Measured by income per person, China ranked 130th out of 210 economies in a World Bank survey last year, behind most of Latin America and parts of Africa.
"China's foreign currency reserves are huge. But that does not mean we are a rich country," says Cho Tak Wong, chairman of Fuyao Group, which produces glass for Chinese and global automakers. "We are about 100 years behind the United States."
China also has become a fast-growing market, and the financial crisis has only increased its importance to global companies. Chinese demand affects everything from global steel prices to the design of consumer goods. Cadillac created its 2008 CTS with China in mind, adding a deeper back seat for Chinese buyers driven by chauffeurs.
Other countries' urgent need for cash has created opportunities for Beijing to make deals for resources to drive its booming economy. State companies have struck oil deals in Brazil, Venezuela, Russia and Africa and bought stakes in Australian and Canadian miners.
Delphi turned to Chinese buyers for its remaining brake and suspension operations after it sought bankruptcy court protection four years ago. The buyers are Shougang and two partners -- the Beijing city government and an auto-parts maker, Tempo Group. Delphi says the $90 million sale should close in November, seven months after it was announced.
Contrast that with 2005, when Chinese oil company CNOOC Ltd. tried to acquired Unocal Corp. CNOOC offered to pay more than a rival American bidder but withdrew after critics in Washington said the sale might threaten U.S. energy security.
Still, the United States has many strengths that China lacks. The U.S. remains the world center for innovation in many areas and a magnet for smart, ambitious immigrants.
"Europeans may hope that the U.S. has been knocked down a peg or two, but even if that is so, they could be in for a nasty surprise," says Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners, a London brokerage. "Never underestimate the ability of the American people to rise to a challenge."
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