Before China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, many people had high hopes for the country. The view among the smart set was that freer trade would build a rising middle class, thereby creating pressures for democratic reform. The elite consensus was also that foreign competition would nudge China away from so many state-owned firms and toward private enterprise. Corruption would decline as well, due to competitive pressures and the “sunlight” that trade with foreign nations would bring.
The joke is on us.
Nearly 25 years later, under the rule of Xi Jinping, China is more autocratic than ever before. Its state-owned enterprises continue, and corruption remains rampant.
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: Tyler Cowen
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, https://bariweiss.substack.com feed and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.
