Mmm, China perfidiously stealing the hard-earned talent of Western engineers? I know just the solution! They should build an anti-communist self-defence wall:

We no longer wanted to stand by passively and see how doctors, engineers, and skilled workers were induced by refined methods unworthy of the dignity of man to give up their secure existence in the GDR and work in West Germany or West Berlin. These and other manipulations cost the GDR annual losses amounting to 3.5 thousand million marks.

Some fine historical irony. Of course, given the way the university system works in places like the US, there's not even a good argument that this imposes costs on the public, who trains personnel only for them to leave and benefit some other state.

Maybe this is what Trump's wall is for.

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 3 points 5 hours ago

trains personnel only for them to leave and benefit some other state.

The entire country of Canada may feel triggered for the last 30 years at this comment.

I mean, all the doctors and nerds come back, but it takes a decade. Are you saying we get a border wall too, and Trump is gonna pay for it ?

[–] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 6 points 7 hours ago

Maybe this is what Trump’s wall is for.

There is a video of thin Mexican worker slipping between the bars (wall had to be see through for some reason) from one side of the border to the other. Obviously wall is meant to keep fat Americans trapped inside America.

[–] shasta@lemm.ee 1 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Why would they say thousand million instead of billion?

[–] modulus@lemmy.ml 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

At a guess, it's following older British norms, whereby a billion is what it is in other European languages (a million million) and a thousand million is a thousand million or, more pretentiously, a milliard. You'd have to ask the authors though.

[–] shasta@lemm.ee 2 points 8 hours ago

That's interesting. Thanks