Submitted by Experience Not Logic Blog

Wow! A lot happened these past few weeks, huh? Tibetan unrest, market crash, commodities crash, market recovery, market crash. My head is spinning with the possibilities of what to post.

Had I been around last week, I probably would have posted on “A ravenous dragon: A special report on China’s quest for resources,” from last week’s Economist. Many of the articles discuss the effect of China’s thirst for commodities. Two discuss the mutually beneficial relationships between China and other developing nations. One worries that China is paying too heavy of an environmental price. Another suggests that “China must learn to do more with less.” The commodities articles are the centerpiece, though. But, after gold and oil each dropped around 10% last week, the Economist articles have lost much of their relevance today.

Had I been around, I almost certainly would have avoided even commenting on the situation in Tibet. I’ll still avoid commenting, but I’ll point you towards some very interesting reporting. Apparently, The Economist’s China correspondent was the only Western journalist in Lhasa when rioting broke out. In the most recent print edition of the magazine and on Economist.com, the correspondent has published the eyewitness account and several photos of the Tibetan uprising. Here’s a list of the articles:

• “Lhasa under siege”
• “Trashing the Beijing Road”
• “Pictures from Lhasa”

Though I can certainly appreciate a [probably fake] ancient Chinese curse, I wonder how much more interesting the times will get? To use a metaphor with a more concrete source, I suspect we are just entering the rabbit’s hole.