Hi Richard, I've been enjoying my holiday stay in Dallas during the past week, thus the delay...
What you said was cogent and free of name-calling, bullying and muddled thinking. I'm glad to offer a reply.
I agree with you that China IS moving in the right direction. What I'm saying is that I wish the day when the small entrepreneur can spend more time dealing with customers and competition and less time dealing with gov't regulations and guanxi would come sooner. Ultimately, China's salvation (and jobs) will come from an unleashed, burgeoning legion of small entrepreneurs with their own private capital ***properly invested & protected***; it won't come from Central Government's "economic policy" (whatever the form) of mobilizing resources & "reforming" the state-run mega-enterprises. Hopefully China is "taking notes" from the Korea situation. I maintain that the small entrepreneurs, who usually do not have the resources to maintain gov't guanxi and coddle up to officials, would do best under a system of open & clear rules that are enforced and followed by everybody w/o exception.
One last thing about China needing foreigners' advice on what to do: It seems that there are some people (I'm not talking about you or anyone else on this board for that matter, so don't take offense) that are remarkably thin-skinned and sensitive when faced with suggestions and criticisms about China's economic and social policy. It's long past time to ditch the nineteenth-century historical baggage of humiliation and defeat. That means be proud of her achievements, yet realize that there are plenty of room for improvement--just like any other modern nation, the Yanks included. |
