The main weakness of China isn’t the money or talent, but the ideological underpinning. The strategy of internal self-sufficiency for food, raw materials, energy, and now technology, coupled with a focus on exports to push other countries into dependency is essentially mercantilism, a 17th century doctrine which failed both practically and

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Beijing has announced several times that it would impose a property tax. Each time it faltered. One of the political reasons is that China’s leaders are familiar with the American slogan “No taxation without representation.” Since the state levies relatively light taxes, which it takes unobtrusively from citizens, it reduces the risk that people

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And remember yet again the impact this hidden tax on savings has on the relationship between GDP growth and household income growth. By lowering borrowing costs substantially, it encourages investment primarily in real estate development, infrastructure building, and of course manufacturing capacity (in China there is very little consumer

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