PODCAST: Hexapodia VIII: Þe China Syndrome!
PODCAST: Hexapodia VIII: Þe China Syndrome!
Five key insights: Hexapodia!, of course. Also: listen to Dan Wang & to Barry Eichengreen, China's slowing migration to the coast looks like a significant error, & China looks not that different...
Appears in this episode
…from the rest of coastal East Asia when looked at in comparative context:
Today Noah Smith & Brad DeLong talk about China, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, Wilhelmine Germany before WWI, & other topics. The key insights are: (1) we need to get Dan Wang on this podcast; (2) in the context of coastal East Asia after WWII, it does not look as though China has any special economic development sauce—it’s just so huge—(3) China’s land-policy slowdown of migration to the coast has made its economic development significantly slower, (4) Barry Eichengreen with his theories of middle-income growth slowdown looks very wise, and (5) hexapodia!
Regional Income Levels in China Today:
The Coast-Interior Divergence:
China Not That Special in Coastal East-Asian Context—Except for Being Very Large Indeed:
If anything, it is distinguished by its late takeoff:
The Three Chinas:
A 50-Million Malaysia, a 300-Million Thailand, and a 1-Billion Vietnam All Mashed Together:
References:
Kathrin Hille: TSMC: How a Taiwanese Chipmaker Became a Linchpin of the Global Economy <https://www.ft.com/content/05206915-fd73-4a3a-92a5-6760ce965bd9>
Barry Naughton: Growing Out of the Plan: Chinese Economic Reform 1978-1993 <https://www.google.com/books/edition/Growing_Out_of_the_Plan/LzzgQP0BX34C>
Noah Smith: China Is Very 20th Century <https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/china-is-very-20th-century>
Noah Smith: China Just Isn’t Very Popular <https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/china-just-isnt-very-popular>
Noah Smith: Invincible Empire?: ‘Can China’s Neighbors Resist Its Overwhelming Power? <https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/invincible-empire>
Joe Studwell: How Asia Works: Success & Failure in the World’s Most Dynamic Region <https://www.google.com/books/edition/How_Asia_Works/dNs33Q1cAX0C>
TSMC: TSMC <https://www.tsmc.com/english>
&:
Vernor Vinge: A Fire Upon the Deep <https://books.google.com/books?id=fCCWWgZ7d6UC>
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PODCAST: Hexapodia VIII: Þe China Syndrome!
Joan Robinson could write. Those first two paragraphs are awesome. Perhaps they jump out at me because I, too, have thought about "what do we really mean when we throw around the word 'Capital' in front of our students?" Has anyone ever done some schematic on how her textbooks vs. Samuelson's influenced the way textbooks were subsequently written by profession? I'm just curious if today's micro books have more DNA from one or the other. My suspicion is that Samuelson's DNA won out, but if I pull a copy of Robinson's "Economics of Imperfect Competition" (published 1930s through the 1940s) off the shelf there is lot there that looks like a modern IO textbook. Shorter: This is why I come to "Grasping Reality"!! Thank you!