Abstract: I always ask myself “why is the economy condition in different countries different?” It is a question hard to answer. However, there is no doubt that the difference of the attitudes towards money among different countries contributes a lot to that. In this paper, I want to compare the Chinese and American attitudes which may be typical.
Chinese people’s attitudes towards money
Making more money has become an important part in people’s life. And doing business also becomes a desire for many Chinese young men. There exists an old saying goes “Money makes the mare go”, which shows how necessary money is to Chinese people. Here come some points.
Be cautious when doing business
Chinese people treat money and do their management cautiously. No matter how confident you are, you might be treated as being imprudent when you decide to invest too fast in China. Li Jiacheng, the richest man in our China, once said, “we need to check the stone bridge when crossing the river.”, which was a provident of Chinese people’ cautious attitude towards money.
Love to save money
Deposit has become an important part of Chinese people’s life. Once a Chinese have got some money in his or her hand, his or her first choice is to save it. Although China saw a dramatically economy increase in recent years, which leads to more and more young people preferring consumption, saving the money is still the trend.
The first half of this year, the consequence of the questionnaire survey by The
People’s Bank of China shows that 33.4 percents of Chinese people choose to save their money. Fixed deposit has taken a big part of Chinese’s deposit, most of which are going to be used when they are old or getting ill in the future. To inspire the consumption of Chinese people, which has a great influence on Chinese economy, Chinese government has implemented many policies. However, they are not efficient, for the sense of saving the money already rooting in people’s minds.
If invest, they choose real estate, antique or stock.
Chinese people think that investing to the houses is a way to make money with little risk. In fact, the prosperity of Chinese economy should owe much to the development of real estate market. However, the financial crisis in America tells us that the prosperity of the real estate market comes with a lot of hazard.
Antique is another favorite of Chinese people. It is said that China has 70 million curiosoes now.
And stock market is becoming increasingly hot now. When stepping into a Stock Exchange, you will surely feel surprised to see the big crowd of people laughing, crying or shouting.
Be good at making money
It amazes the world that Chinese people have talent in making money. 60 million Chinese businessmen in the world spread in about 170 countries, including America, Europe and Australia. Recently, Chinese businessmen have promoted a close relationship with Chinese government. 70 percents of foreign investment to China come from Chinese businessmen. Famous for their excellent attitude towards money and art of management, Chinese businessmen are honored as “the Jew in the Eastern”.
What’s the reason of Chinese people’s attitudes? Perhaps thousands of years’ Confucianism has a great influence on Chinese people. We think that money is criminal. Owning too much money can not make you proud. That means you should not use your money, because that shows you are rich. On the contrary, you have to save it.
American people’s attitudes towards money
American people are rich with no doubt, owing to their hard working. The population of USA is 6% of that of the world, and it seems to be too small to its GDP, which is about 30%. The efficiency of American workers ranks the first in the world. Although the white collars are rich, they are not easy. Taking a vocation outside the home without a computer for working is unbelievable. More and more high-level white collar workers work more than 50 hours a week. Generally saying, people with higher income work longer than those lower.
Americans treat money free and easy. There is no doubt that they think much of money, treating it as a symbol of ability, success and strength. However, they actually underestimate the money they make and use in everyday life. That means they do not like to protect and save the money they make. On the contrary, they prefer to consume, and they even use the money in advance, in large scale and are used to borrow-and-spend life style. To the American people, America is an abundant land, having a history of prosperity for 200 years, and now it is still at the height of power and splendors. And to them, America is also a country offering many opportunities and the status and life of everybody here is changing all the time, so anyone can probably be a millionaire. You can use your talent and ability to reach your goal, and you can change your life through a new choice of work, a new marriage or even a new lottery. This optimistic, confident and hopeful style has become deeply ingrained in American people’ s mind, even in those who can earn only about 20 thousand dollars a year. Their money status has been over-valued by themselves without conscious.
Through some statistics, we can see that Americans love to consume, which is in general healthy. Compared with the condition of 10 years ago, the money for pearls and jewels, house furnishings and cigarettes and wine has cut down obviously. Meanwhile they spend more on education, computers, houses and transportation. Compared with people from other countries, American people are more absorbed incharity, for each adult spending about 1097 dollars on the average.
American nation are proud of themselves, as they feel they are smart, powerful, capable and hard working. They always want to be efficient, because time is money to them. Money means a lot, and it can show the value of a person. In this society, the rich are always respecting and adored. Some rich men even have become heroes, such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Rockefeller.
Summary
People form different countries treat money differently. We can not say which way is better, because different culture, distinct history, disparate society structure and unlike sense of worth contributes to it.
Reference:
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