China Leapfrogged Two Centuries In 40 Years

10 thoughts on “China Leapfrogged Two Centuries In 40 Years”

1. America’s trade policies are incompetent. Morrison has the answers but are our leaders listening ?

   1. I hope they are, Fred. As you probably know, the most recent issue of Imprimis has a great article on how tariffs have evolved over American history. Pay particular attention to the post-WWII period:

      https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/tariffs-in-american-history/

      1. That is good history, Triad.

         Although Gordon is a little facile re the Tariff of Abominations (Calhoun was actually a moderate in the affair) and the fact that Lincoln’s party was very committed to raising the tariff, adding immensely to the South’s motivation to ask for an amicable divorce. Gordon implies the tariff increase at that time was merely to fund the war; the Morrill Tariff was passed the minute the Southern Congressmen left the chamber (months before the invasion of the South).

         1. You are right, J. Sobran, about the economic component (including tariffs) being a key driver of secession and ultimately the Civil War.

2. China leapfrogged from being a bureaucratic autocracy where the individual is owned by the rulers…to being a bureaucratic autocracy where the individual is owned by the CCP. The little detail of letting its citizens make & keep some profit as long as they are creatures loyal to the CCP just proves that fascism produces a bit more prosperity than communism.

   1. It’s an evil system, J. Sobran, as you know. We were very naive when we decided to make the country’s elites more prosperous.

      1. The theory was good: Free trade the world over has created friendly relations and disincentivized war. Examples are many. Think how Japan is our friend, after the US dropped the nuclear bombs on 2 of their cities, viciously firebombed Tokyo (not military bases), and humiliatingly ground them into the dirt in WWII–thus giving them every reason to hate us.

         China is the exception. At some point, the repeated dishonesty, stealing of intellectual property, using Uyghur slave labor to make the world’s solar panels (with secret kill switches no less) & so forth should have caused us to disengage. And indeed, private investment from the US in China belatedly stopped a couple of years ago I think.

         1. We gave them a certain degree of economic power, unfortunately. And economic power breeds military power. Fortunately, their system is inherently weak; and without our propping them up, it seems they will have enormous difficulty keeping things from unraveling.

            1. I think you are right. Additionally, the misallocation of capital via political assignment and artificially low interest rates means that they are a lot poorer than GDP figures would indicate, with reams of interest-eating debt generating no return. In the “patriotism is the refuge of the scoundrel” sense, let’s hope that doesn’t make the ruling class more war-like.

            2. Absolutely, J. Sobran. Thanks…

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