ago, the government instituted "tight-money policies, intended to control inflation and slow what has been the world's fastest growing major economy" (Shenon, Philip. "China Halts Listing of New Stock." New York Times, sct. D1). However, after doing so, China's Securities Regulatory Commission was forced to stop the issuing of new issues on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock exchanges because the value of the markets had decreased so greatly. This latter move was "meant to calm millions of first-time Chinese investors who evidently went into the market believing that stock prices could only go up" (Shenon "China Halts" D1). Might this policy show a union of economic and moral concern? If so, it demonstrates the desire on the part of the government to show some kind of responsibility, some moral force, to its citizenry. At the very least, the strategy appears to show a practical desire on the part of the government to take control over what could have been a bad economic situation. Indeed, after these measures were instituted, China's trade deficit decreased (Hansell D2) and the stock markets' volume attained record highs ("Stocks Surge in China as Volume Sets Record." New York Times sct. D2). To be sure, Chinese investors remain somewhat wary about the stock market and, ironically enough, more control of the stock markets appears to be necessary (Shenon, Philip. "A Nail-Biting Ride in Shanghai." New York Times sct. D1). But, in discussing Chinese attempts to control inflation, Philip J. Suttle, head of emerging markets research at the investment firm of J.P. Morgan, has predicted that "it looks as though the Chinese are going to have the soft landing they are aiming for" (quoted in Hansell D2). China's interest in stock markets is no longer restricted to within its own boundaries. This month, Shandong Huaneng Power Development Company, "the first mainland Chinese company to have its primary listing on the New York Stock Exchange" ("China ...
