"Spending money is patriotic"

[unixronin]

In which the recession hits China, and the Chinese government reacts by telling Chinese it's their "patriotic duty" to spend money on Chinese-made goods, whether they were previously planning to buy them or not.

Now, where have we heard that before...?

A propaganda campaign has been launched, with politicians announcing that “spending money is patriotic”.  Li Zhe, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference announced in Beijing: “Everyone and every institution should spend what they make in one year just on buying things.”

In the southern town of Hangzhou, the local government has announced civil servants will receive one-tenth of their pay in shopping vouchers in order to set an example.

One wonders that the Chinese are supposed to buy food with, while they're spending a year's income "buying things".  You can't squeeze blood out of a stone.