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magicnubs | 9 months ago

I wonder what everyone else thinks about this claim made by the article:

> The enduring strength of a state-dominated Chinese system that can pivot, change policy and redirect resources at will in service of long-term national strength is now undeniable, regardless of whether free-market advocates like it.

The writer claims that a command economy gives them an advantage over a free market economy. Top-down production targets and price controls didn't really work for the Soviet Union, but maybe the more immediately-available and granular data available nowadays makes it feasible? The US already has a way to encourage production through various methods (e.g. subsidies). It seems to me the real difference is not the economic system, but that the Chinese government is less beholden to existing interests (that aren't the CCP). The US seems to often be unable or unwilling to accept the temporary pain of a big change, even if it would be better off in the long-term.

discuss

order

amalcon|9 months ago

Modern China isn't a full Soviet-style command economy, it's an attempt to blend some aspects of a command economy into a market-based system. The government effectively sets priorities, but lets the market figure out how to do them.

This is a new thing, and we don't really know how well it works yet.

Teever|9 months ago

The way I see it, it isn't so much about which system is more efficient -- it's about which implementation of either system has less corruption.

The Soviet system failed because of rampant corruption, just like the American system seems to be failing. China seems to be succeeding because they have managed to clamp down on corruption at least as much as has been necessary to keep their economy productive and focused on ascendancy.

If the American people can't get a handle on the open corruption that infects all levels of the system from small town cops to district attorneys to state legislatures to the White House then the debate over the efficiencies of free market capitalism vs. a command driven economy are moot.