As a former student of Mandarin and lifelong China watcher, I am with you 100%. I have been reading with horror the empty threats issuing from Washington. The fact that the West will not look its own history in the eye, and first of all the IMF/Chicago School style of kneecapping emerging economies with debt, is truly incredible in the face of what the Chinese have been offering through BRI. I applaud the Chinese people for their incredible progress in improving living standards and am frankly jealous of the professinal Chinese government that is extremely effective. Long live the PRC!
The amount of ideologically based nonsense about China is almost deafening - and to-day or last night the Pentecultist and rightwing PM of Australia - an acolyte of Trump and now of Biden warned China (can you believe it - The leader of a little 26 million population country built on a dispossessed First Nations land - warns the leader of a 1.5 billion population country - more-or-less within the boundaries it can trace back thousands of years)! At the behest of a US-prompted Taiwan leader calling for HELP!!!! Specifically calling for HELP!!!! from Australia re China and so-called China Airforce space incursions over Taiwan waters! It makes no sense except that the ignorance of the political class in Australia and certainly within the ruling right-wing party - the LNP - knows no bounds. They know nothing of history - for starters. Most of them know nothing of China's history - even more appallingly. Nothing of US deviousness in China from the mid-19th century onwards! Thank-you for this essay. I shall share it far and wide - though ideologues will scarcely be convinced - I understand that - but one lives in hope!
One niggle: "the rising costs of housing, health care, and education, which have been suffocating Chinese families and crowding out their consumption," may be its author's experience, but is not typical in China, where inflation control has been the #1 priority since Deng induced the Tiananmen demonstrations by allowing inflation to reach 200% pa.
With 98% home ownership, the world's best–almost free–education system, great health care (higher longevity than the US at 30% of the cost) suggest that ordinary Chinese are doing just fine.
Outstanding Messers Auerback and Lawrence. Naturally, I have a few observations.
History tells us that Mr. Biden & Co. are doomed to fail. England tried the same trick on the US. It was Jacard looms, not microchips but the concept is the same and you come from one of the states that broke England's monopoly. If we zoom out, what I see as the major difference between the US and China is that China has a legitimate focus - they want to raise their population out of poverty and they want to create a modern China. China doesn't really care what anyone else is doing except to the extent that China will work around anyone who tries to stop them. The US, on the other hand, cares deeply about what everyone else because we insist that we are No. 1 and the only way that we can be that is if everybody dances to our tune. Until we focus on a national goal that we, ourselves can accomplish, we will fail.
Your commentary on the build back better BS I think misses some of the facets of our current political environment. Biden has offered this up but it is a corporatist democratic proposal. Read a moderate republican proposal. Read really tending to help the 1 or 2%. The government is not going to be doing anything to help the bottom of the heap. Which, of course, is the fundamental difference between the US and the Chinese approach.
If the US wishes to compete with China, we need a goal that is every bit as ambitious as the Chinese goal. I don't know... Set up a moon base which is the jumping off point to (a) grow food that the world needs, and (b) mining the asteroids for iron and nickel and whatever else we can find there.(and actually do these things) But at the rate that things are going, we're going to cede that to the Chinese as well.
As a former student of Mandarin and lifelong China watcher, I am with you 100%. I have been reading with horror the empty threats issuing from Washington. The fact that the West will not look its own history in the eye, and first of all the IMF/Chicago School style of kneecapping emerging economies with debt, is truly incredible in the face of what the Chinese have been offering through BRI. I applaud the Chinese people for their incredible progress in improving living standards and am frankly jealous of the professinal Chinese government that is extremely effective. Long live the PRC!
The amount of ideologically based nonsense about China is almost deafening - and to-day or last night the Pentecultist and rightwing PM of Australia - an acolyte of Trump and now of Biden warned China (can you believe it - The leader of a little 26 million population country built on a dispossessed First Nations land - warns the leader of a 1.5 billion population country - more-or-less within the boundaries it can trace back thousands of years)! At the behest of a US-prompted Taiwan leader calling for HELP!!!! Specifically calling for HELP!!!! from Australia re China and so-called China Airforce space incursions over Taiwan waters! It makes no sense except that the ignorance of the political class in Australia and certainly within the ruling right-wing party - the LNP - knows no bounds. They know nothing of history - for starters. Most of them know nothing of China's history - even more appallingly. Nothing of US deviousness in China from the mid-19th century onwards! Thank-you for this essay. I shall share it far and wide - though ideologues will scarcely be convinced - I understand that - but one lives in hope!
Sad and damning! Surely the US is better than this?
Great stuff! Thanks.
One niggle: "the rising costs of housing, health care, and education, which have been suffocating Chinese families and crowding out their consumption," may be its author's experience, but is not typical in China, where inflation control has been the #1 priority since Deng induced the Tiananmen demonstrations by allowing inflation to reach 200% pa.
With 98% home ownership, the world's best–almost free–education system, great health care (higher longevity than the US at 30% of the cost) suggest that ordinary Chinese are doing just fine.
Thanks so much for this. Getting harder to hold my chin up. Keep up your great work.
Outstanding Messers Auerback and Lawrence. Naturally, I have a few observations.
History tells us that Mr. Biden & Co. are doomed to fail. England tried the same trick on the US. It was Jacard looms, not microchips but the concept is the same and you come from one of the states that broke England's monopoly. If we zoom out, what I see as the major difference between the US and China is that China has a legitimate focus - they want to raise their population out of poverty and they want to create a modern China. China doesn't really care what anyone else is doing except to the extent that China will work around anyone who tries to stop them. The US, on the other hand, cares deeply about what everyone else because we insist that we are No. 1 and the only way that we can be that is if everybody dances to our tune. Until we focus on a national goal that we, ourselves can accomplish, we will fail.
Your commentary on the build back better BS I think misses some of the facets of our current political environment. Biden has offered this up but it is a corporatist democratic proposal. Read a moderate republican proposal. Read really tending to help the 1 or 2%. The government is not going to be doing anything to help the bottom of the heap. Which, of course, is the fundamental difference between the US and the Chinese approach.
If the US wishes to compete with China, we need a goal that is every bit as ambitious as the Chinese goal. I don't know... Set up a moon base which is the jumping off point to (a) grow food that the world needs, and (b) mining the asteroids for iron and nickel and whatever else we can find there.(and actually do these things) But at the rate that things are going, we're going to cede that to the Chinese as well.
Wow - all three parts are a treasure - congratulations !!