The New Left vs. The New Right in China
October 5th, 2008
The New Right (”let’s do incremental economic reforms, but let’s do them fast and let’s be aggressive about them, privatize state owned enterprises with all deliberate speed, etc.”) were behind much of China’’s success the past several decades.
More recently, the “New Left” (”we need to slow down growth, focus on the environment, focus on issues of social and equity and harmony, etc.”) has gained favor, both with the general populace and many top CCP government leaders.
Many in the West are not even aware this economic and social debate and controversy currently rages in China, and how momentum has shifted from the New Right to the New Left in recent years (did you?).
See this interesting op-ed piece relating to this subject that recently appeared in the Wall Street Journal [subscription required] titled, Development Doesn’t Require Big Government.
Said article argues, among other things, that developing countries are learning the wrong lessons from the current US economic crisis.
Your thoughts?
Should developing countries like China continue to move forward with all deliberate economic growth and speed, or, pull back the growth throttle? Discuss and defend your answer.
And, would your answer change if you were a Chinese citizen? Chinese economist? Chinese government official? (Versus a person sitting in the comfortable confines of your own, wealthy, developed country?)
For more on this important topic, check out Mark Leonard’s new book, What Does China Think?
Entry Filed under: Beijing
2 Comments Add your own
1. Morgan O'Hara | October 12th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
When it comes to China, the government won’t pull back the throttle. They wouldn’t risk doing anything drastic – the chance to make renminbi is what keeps things chugging along. Government has tried to control growth. A prime example of this is the export driven industrial sector. Government would like to reduce polluting industries and build up their domestic economy. But markets trump politics. Beijing has a hard time keeping factories from sprouting up in the provinces. And forget about improving the air quality.
Government knows that their best bet is to keep the economy growing. The New York Times recently reported that peasants may soon be given rights to their farmland. This would have huge ramifications. Of those 70,000 protests that happen every year in China, almost all take place in the countryside. This is “a step that could draw hundreds of millions of farmers more firmly into the market economy, now centered around the cities.” What does this move portend for China? I think it’s a bold step – they have antiquated farming methods which should be brought up to speed – but what will the unintended consequences be?
To relate this to the idea of how much government is good government, let me say that were China to let some speculatory companies fleece farmers by the millions, there would be social unrest. Here government should help set up a system with safeguards and guiding principles. We’re now learning the hard way that markets do not do a great job of regulating themselves. They’re created by people, so they’re inherently imperfect. While I believe in markets, especially more than I believe in restrictive regimes, it’s folly to think that government shouldn’t push for regulations, incentivize worthy endeavors and help set a nation’s vision.
2. Chris Carr | October 13th, 2008 at 8:53 am
Good comment, Morgan. Thoughtful. Well done.
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