Many China-watchers are pessimistic about its prospects, arguing that it remains overly reliant on Western technology. But thanks to a huge, interconnected market, and an exceptional capacity for learning, the entrepreneurial impulse driving China’s development remains strong....Don't discount China just yet.
Project Syndicate
The Neglected Sources of China's Economic Resilience
Zhang Jun | Dean of the School of Economics at Fudan University, and Director of the China Center for Economic Studies, a Shanghai-based think tank
2 comments:
I recently watch a TED Talks video by Graham Allison (The Thucydides Trap). He's tells a story in the middle of the speech. Here is a quote:
So as we saw with this flipping the pyramid of poverty, China has actually soared. It’s meteoric. Former Czech president, Vaclav Havel, I think, put it best. He said, “All this has happened so fast, we haven’t yet had time to be astonished.”
To remind myself how astonished I should be, I occasionally look out the window in my office in Cambridge at this bridge, which goes across the Charles River, between the Kennedy School and Harvard Business School.
In 2012, the State of Massachusetts said they were going to renovate this bridge, and it would take two years. In 2014, they said it wasn’t finished. In 2015, they said it would take one more year. In 2016, they said it’s not finished, we’re not going to tell you when it’s going to be finished.
Finally, last year, it was finished — three times over budget.
Now, compare this to a similar bridge that I drove across last month in Beijing. It’s called the Sanyuan Bridge. In 2015, the Chinese decided they wanted to renovate that bridge. It actually has twice as many lanes of traffic. How long did it take for them to complete the project? 2015, what do you bet? Take a guess — OK, three — Take a look.
The answer is 43 hours.
Now, of course, that couldn’t happen in New York. Behind this speed in execution is a purpose-driven leader and a government that works.
source: Graham Allison: Is War Between China and the US Inevitable? (Transcript)
Lawyers (US) vs engineers (PRC). Or as Matt would say, artists vs scientists.
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