Agree with your premise. I think that the history of the last half century or so has shown that there are some inherent advantages to the western style free democratic approach as it intersects with economic development, particularly in technological applications. (The internet would have never evolved in a communist environment). I'm old enough to remember back in the early 60"s how it seemed that the other side's economic system appeared at the time to have some advantages that would "bury us" well, we know how that turned out. In my opinion the system the Chinese have implemented of a sort of command economy with capitalistic free enterprise at a lower manufacturing level and few true democratic freedoms will prove to be ultimately unstable and less of a threat than we now think.
Nuff Said?
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Agree with your premise. I think that the history of the last half century or so has shown that there are some inherent advantages to the western style free democratic approach as it intersects with economic development, particularly in technological applications. (The internet would have never evolved in a communist environment). I'm old enough to remember back in the early 60"s how it seemed that the other side's economic system appeared at the time to have some advantages that would "bury us" well, we know how that turned out. In my opinion the system the Chinese have implemented of a sort of command economy with capitalistic free enterprise at a lower manufacturing level and few true democratic freedoms will prove to be ultimately unstable and less of a threat than we now think.
Notmuchlonger
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
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I would look out for political change at some point. As my wise FIL says " See,find,out"
In the last 34 years CEO pay has increased over 700%, the average workers pay over the same time is just under 6%. I don't blame people for feeling the got the short end of the stick.
Crazy data point of the day: How much CEO pay vs. worker pay has grown - Post Leadership - The Washington Post
What you say is right. But why are people picking extreme examples to make a comparison? Sport stars and entertainers also makes millions. You can just as easily compare yourself to someone in China or India who makes $100/month.
My point is that we (United States) have lost our competitive edge because we are no longer as driven or motivated as compared to other countries. Growing up I always though the carrot was attainable. I aimed high and only got half way there. Now it seems that people give up even before they start.
FinanceDude
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Really? So noone can get rich unless you are a CEO? I know a fair number of millionaires that would disagree with that ALL seld-made, NONE are coporate types...........
The thing is, that study didn't take extremes, that was the average CEO pay. In my opinion, people are just as motivated as before, but they are also more cynical about the possibility.
They still want to attain wealth, they just believe the odds are stacked much more heavily against them.
Tractor guy
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I'm much more optimistic about the West's and my children's prospects than most of the media. I've lived in Japan and worked closely with Chinese companies. Based on my experience I have the following opinions.
1) The West and particularly the U.S. cultural and legal system of free trade, patent protection, rule of law, and incentives for improving your way of life are a fundamental advantage over any government managed economy. I put Europe, China, India, and Japan in category of government managed. Its been my experience that free market economies are much more flexible than government managed ones. The government managed ones can do extremely well when their policies line up with prevailing winds (eg Japan in the 80's) but can't change direction well when times change. (eg Japan in the 2000's).
2) China has been growing quickly from a small base. I'm very worried about how they are going to transition from a high growth mode to a more sustainable way of life. They cannot afford the congestion, pollution, and resource requirements to raise all of their population to the U.S. mean. But, if they don't do this, their likely to have a revolution. The populace believe that they can improve their lives and are not going to take kindly to heavy handed attempts to slow down the growth. When the Chinese economic engine falters, it is going to have a ripple effect on the rest of the world. They are now "too big too fail."
3) I'm not particularly worried about China passing the U.S. So what if they do? The U.S. economy passed the UK's a long time ago and I don't think anyone would argue that the quality of life in UK is worse because the U.S. has a higher per capita GDP. I lived there for 5 years. In many ways, I enjoyed my life more then than where I'm living now near Chicago.
1) The West and particularly the U.S. cultural and legal system of free trade, patent protection, rule of law, and incentives for improving your way of life are a fundamental advantage over any government managed economy. I put Europe, China, India, and Japan in category of government managed. Its been my experience that free market economies are much more flexible than government managed ones. The government managed ones can do extremely well when their policies line up with prevailing winds (eg Japan in the 80's) but can't change direction well when times change. (eg Japan in the 2000's).
2) China has been growing quickly from a small base. I'm very worried about how they are going to transition from a high growth mode to a more sustainable way of life. They cannot afford the congestion, pollution, and resource requirements to raise all of their population to the U.S. mean. But, if they don't do this, their likely to have a revolution. The populace believe that they can improve their lives and are not going to take kindly to heavy handed attempts to slow down the growth. When the Chinese economic engine falters, it is going to have a ripple effect on the rest of the world. They are now "too big too fail."
3) I'm not particularly worried about China passing the U.S. So what if they do? The U.S. economy passed the UK's a long time ago and I don't think anyone would argue that the quality of life in UK is worse because the U.S. has a higher per capita GDP. I lived there for 5 years. In many ways, I enjoyed my life more then than where I'm living now near Chicago.
