noahpinion.blog
Modern China is at the “peak of its relative power and effectiveness” and is, in some respects, the “most impressive civilisation humanity has ever built”, says Noah Smith. It has the highest total GDP of any country in history (measured at purchasing power parity) and its manufacturing prowess is unmatched in world history by any other nation bar the US following World War II. It has a high-speed rail network and car industry that “puts the rest of the world in the shade”, and by some measures leads the world in science too. It is the only major country operating at the peak of its powers in this way.
A melancholy moment
And yet there is “something decidedly melancholy about China’s moment in the sun”, for it could easily be a much greater nation than it already is. Its youth is alienated and disgruntled with the pressures of modern living and the political restrictions China’s elite insist on imposing – the ruling party is “obsessed with controlling everything the Chinese people do”. Many young people want to flee the country. Growth is also slowing thanks to the massive property bust and productivity slowdown – growth that is needed if China is to raise living standards. And it needs to because, for all the progress it has made, it is still not rich.
Those two points are probably connected because “any nation’s greatness is ultimately generated by the independent and spontaneous efforts of its people”. It’s not even clear what the point of China’s “obsession with social co
