They'll therefore wind up having to spend those dollars -- here, of course -- and who knows what inflated prices they'll have to pay for things? In the 1980s, the Japanese pursued the same strategy of aggressively exporting to the U.S. while propping up the dollar, and in the end, they wound up buying companies and buildings in this country for vastly inflated prices. For example, the purchased Rockefeller Center for about three times its appraised value, and wound up selling it back to U.S. investors for about a 2/3 discount a couple of years later. Their economy paid the price for these policies, too. Starting about 1990, it went into a decline from which they're still trying to recover. No one know yet what the impact of China's policies will ultimately be, but it wouldn't be at all surprising...

They make money by squeezing as much profit out of their businesses as possible, which in turn makes their shareholders quite happy. Sometimes, the businessmen themselves are shareholders. There are only three ways to increase profit: sell at a higher price, cut costs, or a combination of the two. Supply and demand tend to dictate prices, which makes the best way to increase profit cutting costs.
Musicians need to understand this concept when they start in the business, although it's probable that almost none of them do. If they did, however, they'd understand they need to look out for their own interests and