Two, Three, Many Special Economic Zones

Moscow looks around for an authoritarian, crony-capitalist regime to use as a model, and finds itself intrigued by…Communist China:

Like an envious underachiever, Vladimir V. Putin's party, United Russia, is increasingly examining how it can emulate the Chinese Communist Party, especially its skill in shepherding China through the financial crisis relatively unbowed.

United Russia's leaders even convened a special meeting this month with senior Chinese Communist Party officials to hear firsthand how they wield power.

In truth, the Russians express no desire to return to Communism as a far-reaching Marxist-Leninist ideology, whether the Soviet version or the much attenuated one in Beijing. What they admire, it seems, is the Chinese ability to use a one-party system to keep tight control over the country while still driving significant economic growth.

Whole thing here. The best line, from a Your labels mean nothing! NOTHING! perspective: "foreign companies generally consider Russia's investment climate less hospitable [than China's], in part because of less respect for property rights."

Comments

[sage]

What they admire, it seems, is the Chinese ability to use a one-party system to keep tight control over the country while still driving significant economic growth.

Ah, sort of like here in the US. Except for the "significant economic growth" part.

And dibs on that Russian Beauty to your left.

[John Tagliaferro]

And dibs on that Russian Beauty to your left.

BAH! All blondes look alike.

[optometrist]

Not true.

[24AheadDotCom]

There are many different varieties of EthnicRussians; some with a more "southern aspect". Refer to MetArtDocument #723, #9291, and #832 for examples.

Say, does everyone realize just how dumb this is? I mean, that's really, really dumb.

[John Tagliaferro]

Shut the fuck up LoneWaco.

[Abdul]

Hey, lonewacko actually made a substantive point.

I never saw a greater variety of hawtness then when i visited Russia. Unfortunately, they all seem to hit the "berlin wall" at about age 40 when their bodies acauire the sleek styling of a Zil limousine.

[John Tagliaferro]

Awa

[Tulpa]

Tara Reid doesn't look alike.

[John Tagliaferro]

Ya, does too, infinity.

Unlesss she is not a natural blonde then you are otherwise refuted.

[hmm]

Russia isn't alone. More than a few political scientists are advocating the Chinese model or some variation of it to solve African problems. I've heard it openly advocated by academics more than once. Cause you know the last few hundred years of intervention there have been so fruitful for the country.

[John Tagliaferro]

The problem with Africa is commercial access. Nature screwed tha continent. Loads of resources and potential customers, but precious few ports and fewer rivers to the interior.

[hmm]

You can build infrastructure. You just need a government that isn't tribal based and raping everything in sight because of 1000 year old rivalries to do it.

"...in part because of less respect for property rights."

Or people don't want to be murdered fall down stairs or off tall buildings and people really have an aversion to being imprisoned for life for having titles like banker and journalist.

[John Tagliaferro]

Certainly you can build infrastructure and that is what the continent of Africa needs, but if they had an existing good structure of ports and interior rivers they would not need do many roads and rails.

The tribalist ninsense would not be si strong if they had that either.

There you go graduate students. There is a paper for you.

[@]

They've never heard of trains?

[John Tagliaferro]

United Russia's leaders even convened a special meeting this month with senior Chinese Communist Party officials to hear firsthand how they wield power.

This is a far cry from the old days when EVERYTHING Communist (including SDS releases and Ramparts articles) were directed from Moscow.

[hmm]

Russia and China used to dislike each other. The world was better off that way.

[Aresen]

The model worked so well in Mexico under the PRI.

[Nixon]

You idiots have flushed all my hard work down the drain.

[John Tagliaferro]

Hi RMN! Nice to read you again! Thanks for being the biggest Leftoid ever to collect all of the crap the Left wants to dump on Conservatives, since Hitler.

[Tulpa]

This is nothing to worry about. Obama just needs to go to Moscow and give a speech about the hope-giving powers of democracy and all will be well.

[John Tagliaferro]

He gave them much more than that.

[G Mc]

There's not much communist about Communist China anymore.

[G Mc]

A thought:

Assuming that greater wealth is generally correlated with greater freedom (in terms of opportunity, choice, mobility, etc.), could it be that in a country such as Russia, in which political reform that would truly protect the individual is unlikely, that economic growth spurred by following the Chinese model might actually be a good thing?

[G Mc]

That's also assuming that such an approach would actually lead to economic growth, by no means a given in the world of reality.

[Jorgen]

The secret to Chinese Growth is starting out really fucking poor. China's GDP per worker is still about half Mexico's, for a little perspective. It's really not hard to get growth by going from one of the worst governments in the world to a very very bad government; the hard part is getting growth once you're already at or near the highest productivity any country in the world has achieved. The problem with focusing on GDP growth is that what we really care about is GDP level. This approach is like asking the desk clerk who earns half as much as you how he got a 2% raise while your boss, who earns 5 times as much as you, took a 1% pay cut.

[squarooticus]

Sage QFT: "Ah, sort of like here in the US. Except for the "significant economic growth" part."

In an openly one-party system like China's or Russia's, at least the commoners know the extent of corruption (everything), where they stand (in the gutter), and where power really resides (the elites). In a system like ours that is effectively one-party but masquerades as two-party, the commoners don't understand this power dynamic and are thus outraged at every instance of an official abusing power, as if there's any other way for a government to operate.

[AT]

Well put, square.. squirll...well, you knou who you are.

[Jenna Patrick]

Maybe Russia should focus on improving their aging infrastructure instead of worrying about keeping a tight control, but I guess I'm not surprised.

[Cabeza de Vaca]

Isn't the Chinese model just an updated form of corporate facism? I never understood why people think their system is so unique.

[DJF]

But I thought that Reason Magazine loved China and its communist controlled sweatshops? I thought that Reason believed that China was the free market in action and a beacon of hope in the globalist economy. A world where if we don't happen to be born into a insider family or go to the right schools we can look forward to working for $5 a day at Walmart factory no7, (formally Mao Zedong factory no 7) in Shanghai if we are lucky.

""""The best line, from a Your labels mean nothing! NOTHING! perspective: "foreign companies generally consider Russia's investment climate less hospitable [than China's], in part because of less respect for property rights.""""''

From what I understand unless they have changed things lately in China you have no property rights since the communist government owns all property, they give you rental or leased property as long as you don't upset the local communist offical. What China does provide is one stop shopping for bribery since once you bribe the communists you can do whatever you want. While Russia is authoritarian they don't have that kind of control, you might have to bribe several different groups.

[Groovus Maximus]

Isn't the Chinese model just an updated form of corporate facism?

After they got their hands on Hong Kong, yes. They were smart enough not to overcook their golden goose.