

The End of China’s Economic Miracle? - tokenadult
http://online.wsj.com/articles/the-end-of-chinas-economic-miracle-1416592910

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calebreed
Interesting article, thanks for posting! While I agree that there has been
over-extension with regards to infrastructure development especially in
residential housing, one thing I think we should remember is the power the
central government in China holds to change course when necessary, even when a
crisis has not yet occurred (imagine living in a country that can ground all
flights for a day with no explanation and people take that as par the course:
[http://on.wsj.com/1wVToAd](http://on.wsj.com/1wVToAd)). A similar point on
over-extension could have been made about US expansion in the 2000s being
completely attributed to the debt-induced US housing bubble, but our
government had no focus or institutional power to stop that until the crisis
had already occurred. In this case at the governmental level, China, with its
ability to set long term policy and pre-empt crises, might have a leg up.

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seanmcdirmid
Corruption is endemic in the ruling class who own much of China already. It
will be really hard for the government to turn themselves and their families
from winners into losers...so the effects of whatever reforms they take will
probably fall on the have-nots, who might not take that very well.

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tokenadult
It's good to hear from an observer who has been in China in recent years on
topics like this.

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austinz
This is an excellent example of what is wrong with China journalism today,
drawing sweeping conclusions based on a handful of cherry-picked anecdotes.
For an article with actual analysis, try
[http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2014/11/chinas-i...](http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2014/11/chinas-
interest-rates).

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droope
Yes, this article is terrible.

"Shift the economy toward innovation? That is the mantra of every advanced
economy, but China’s rivals have a big advantage: Their societies encourage
free thought and idiosyncratic beliefs"

Which can be translated to "this people are different from us, how could they
ever be successful?"

