Paulson's expectations problem.

• Author: Zoakos, C.
• Position: Hank Paulson - Brief article

Ever wonder why China's economic and political leadership only gives lip service to serious appreciation of the RMB? The numbers explain all. In China today, foreign-funded companies employ a mere 3 percent of the labor force (24 million workers) but produce 55 percent of China's exports, 80 percent of export growth, 22 percent of China's GDP, and 41 percent of GDP growth. By comparison, the domestic companies employ 97 percent of the labor force (776 million workers) and produce 45 percent of exports and 78 percent of GDP (assuming official statistics are correct). Labor productivity for the foreign-funded sector is nine times as high as that in the domestic sector.

Here's the problem. Markets expect U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to...