What’s Really Driving China’s Growth
A fat guy on a donkey. Really. That’s what’s driving China’s growth.
It sure as heck isn’t China’s government.
Economic growth and prosperity stands on the shoulders of countless people making self interested choices that will benefit themselves without initiating violence against others.
Savings is Fueling China’s Growth
What is the choice that really drives significant growth? Savings. For what are savings, if not the choice to consume (destroy or degrade) later, and not today?
Saving is the only way to fuel economic growth and capital formation, and is done by individuals, not by government.
In China, people save a lot. And that fuels enormous growth. That along with putting to good use all of the knowledge available in today’s world.
But without the first (savings), the second (implementation of already developed knowledge, such as technology) would not be possible. There just wouldn’t be the resources to do so.
What Government is Good For
The only thing the government can do to help economic growth, besides getting out of the way, is protect the life and property of others. Almost anything else that it does is harmful, generally to the overall economic health of a country, specifically to those who are sacrificed for the ‘benefit’ of others.
It was only through China’s government doing less harm that growth was made possible. It is true that whenever governments do too much harm, it is not possible to save much of anything or create much of value. See China’s past for examples.
But it does not follow that government choice is the driver of growth and prosperity. That’s like saying that bully in the schoolyard helped you grow and develop as a person because he decided to steal from you or beat you up a little less every year.
No, economic growth is fueled by the choices of individuals, separate from government.
That brings us back to the fat guy on the donkey. It’s a crass metaphor, but you could say the fat guy is anyone that chooses to save, and the donkey the workers who put those savings to good work. Thrift and industry, in the traditional sense.
Where’s the government in this picture? Exactly - nowhere to be seen.
the source of the economic development happening here lies however in the following ways:
the cost of natural resources
rob of the labour(esp, poor immigrants)
use of technology(mostly “invited from overseas”)
You really think that the great majority of Chinese economic development came through the low cost of natural resources, forced labor, and stolen technology?
How about other countries that do the same (steal technology, make use of very cheap resources, have access to cheap labor) but still can’t seem to develop like China?
Your point that there is rampant piracy is taken - this has attributed to some economic development by China that would not have happened if they hadn’t stolen such intellectual property.
The one about exploitation of labor is more complicated. As long as the laborers voluntarily agree to and understand their working conditions and pay, they are better off by definition. That’s not to say that other injustices don’t happen to many workers & farmers in China.
All wrong.
China is purely developing with FOREIGN money from Taiwan.
I guess there is not even one successful “Chinese” company without m oney or technology from Taiwan.
Martin,
That’s a funny view of things, and just a little bit ignorant of the fact that savings (of which there is plenty in China) are what allow capital formation.
You’re saying that there have been no real savings in China, despite the massive official numbers? That all of the savings that have fueled China’s enormous growth have come from Taiwan?
Chinese culture also plays an important role - a culture that value science and engineering more than anything else.