Now shopping mall giant (Dalian) Wanda, owned by Chinaâs richest man Wang Jianlin, and Vanke, the worldâs biggest residential real estate developer, founded by the mountaineering-loving Wang Shi, have âstunned the capital markets,â in the words of Chinese news site The Paper, by announcing a âstrategic partnership.â.
The second macroeconomic consideration of increased imports is the impact on exchange rates. As we have shown in the previous section, as U.S. consumers increase their consumption of imports, the supply of dollars in foreign exchange markets rises.
The American public overwhelmingly thinks theyâre bad. In a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, 74 percent of respondents said illegal immigrants weakened the economy, compared to only 17 percent who said they strengthened it. Yet the consensus among most economists is that immigration, both legal and illegal, provides a small net boost to the economy. Immigrants provide cheap labor, lower the prices of everything from produce to new homes, and leave consumers with a little more money in their pockets.