Quote of the day

Monday 23rd November, 2009

“Public spending on eating and drinking is a waste of social assets.  We need to criminalise this by law, so I proposed amending the criminal law and introducing the ‘crime of wantonly squandering public funds’.”

- Zhao Linzhong, a delegate to the National People’s Congress, China’s parliament.  Having become fed up with lavish banquets and official wining and dining, he has proposed making the “squandering of public funds” a crime.  Throwing lavish banquets has long been a Chinese tradition, both in government as well as business.  According to the official People’s Daily, China spends up to 200 billion yuan ($29 billion) a year on public wining and dining – a sum larger than the cost of the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s biggest hydroelectric project. (full story HERE)



7 Comments

  1. FLS November 23rd, 2009 at 5:10 pm

    I liked his quote. Isn’t it fascinating to see a glimpse of New Labour at work. See something – don’t like it – criminalise it. Oh wait, this story is about China….

    $29 Billion?!?! Boy, those guys know how to party! The only thing for us to note is that they can spend this on food and drink AND still have enough left out the surplus to build multiple ‘Three Gorges’ dams….

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  2. LFAT November 23rd, 2009 at 6:08 pm

    No doubt Gordo would call this a ‘calorie-stimulus’ package.

    I’ll get my coat.

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  3. Shaun Pilkington November 23rd, 2009 at 6:54 pm

    @ LFATNo doubt Gordo would call this a ‘calorie-stimulus’ package.

    Surely you mean a ‘fiscally responsible nutrient enrichment incentive stimulus for endogenous growth’?

    And while $29billion sounds a lot, bear in mind that’s under $29 a head per capita. How much does all our government, all the tiers, departments, local authorities and quangos, spend on entertainment? Is similar to a per-capita equivalent of $1,740,000,000 (approx £1.08bn)based on 60 million people multiplied by 29 dollars divided by 1.6 to the pound?

    Uh huh. Thought so.

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  4. BS November 23rd, 2009 at 7:19 pm

    I know now what Gordon meant by the EU being able to compete with China

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  5. BM November 23rd, 2009 at 7:33 pm

    It’s not like he was elected.

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  6. Tony E November 23rd, 2009 at 8:40 pm

    But isn’t that the whole point of Communist/Corparatist dictatorships:

    ‘We are all equal Brothers but some are more equal than others?’

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  7. jameshigham November 23rd, 2009 at 9:12 pm

    They have no problem with hypocrisy and double standards – entry requirement, I believe.

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