So far, China's effort to slow its economy is not working.

China's economy continues to grow at double-digit rates. Commodity and resource utilization remain high, speculative excesses abound, and exports? China's trade surplus keeps soaring, with the United States and Europe incurring rising trade deficits.

The Chinese government announced that over the past 12 months, China's trade deficit with Europe increased an alarming 46% to $135 billion, The New York Times reported. Over the same period, the trade deficit with the United States did not increase as much, in percentage terms, up 18%, but in absolute terms the U.S. still leads the pack with a daunting $162 billion trade deficit.

Surging trade surplus

Further, during the past 12 months, China's overall trade surplus exceeded $250 billion, including a record $27 billion in October 2007.

More infant deaths, this time not from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), but rather, badly-designed cribs.

According to today's reports: "About 1 million Simplicity and Graco Inc (GGG) cribs are being recalled after three children became entrapped in their cribs and died of suffocation, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Friday. Two infants, a 6-month-old and a 9-month-old, died in the recalled cribs, which were sold through May 2007. A 1-year-old child died in a newer model of the cribs, which has not been recalled but is being investigated by the safety agency, CPSC officials said. In all three deaths, the consumer had installed the drop-rail side of the crib upside down, the CPSC said. This creates a gap in the crib that children can slide into and suffocate. Seven other infants have been entrapped in the cribs, according to the CPSC. There have been 55 reports of the cribs' drop sides detaching or the hardware failing to hold the side to the crib."

How does this happen? Why does this happen? The companies in question are not novices. Guess what...Simplicity Inc., of Reading, Pa., is listed as manufacturer of all the cribs, which were made in China. I think this is another example of an American company losing control of the process and forgetting that our product safety standards are not universal and that developing countries with rapidly expanding industrialization just don't get it.