I’m not an economist or a futurist, and I’ve never been to China. But for what it’s worth, I strongly suspect that the predcitions one hears constantly these days about China dominating the 21st century are likely to be wrong, perhaps spectacularly so.
John Pomfret, former Beijing bureau chief of The Washington Post, thinks so too. He offers a series of reasons to support his position. The most compelling, it seems to me, is this one:
The place remains an authoritarian state run by a party that limits the free flow of information, stifles ingenuity and doesn’t understand how to self-correct.
I find it slightly depressing that so many American leaders, including American business leaders, don’t seem to believe this.
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