China's economic model defies label of authoritarian capitalism
Winston Mok says in trying to pin down the Chinese economic model, it's easy to overlook its essence of competition and evolution between various models across the nation
The great debate of this century is capitalism versus capitalism, as per the name of a book by late French economist Michel Albert. But it is not between Western neo-liberalism and Chinese authoritarian capitalism. Rather, it is between Anglo-Saxon liberal capitalism and the more coordinated economies in continental Europe and Japan.
In the 1980s, the Japanese model of state-coordinated development, with its long-term orientation, was hailed as a superior alternative to American short-term capitalism. The bursting of Japan's asset bubble brought such admiration to an end.
Germany chose a different path with a more worker-oriented social contract. More recently, Nordic welfare capitalism has been seen as an exemplary model balancing growth and equality. Closer to home, Singapore's eclectic approach, mixing market liberalism and state activism, has outperformed Hong Kong's laissez-faire economy.
The Anglo-Saxon model of liberal capitalism is not representative of the Western world. Market fundamentalism as advanced by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher was a recent turn from Franklin Roosevelt's more compassionate New Deal.
It would be misleading to label China's capitalism as authoritarian just because of the visibility of its state giants
From the 1860s, under the legacy of Alexander Hamilton, the US pursued more than a century of protectionist policies and infrastructure investments. In supporting innovations, with heavy state-sponsored research in technology from IT to biotechnology, the US is perhaps the unsurpassed development state in modern history. The East Asian model, with China as a potent variant, is arguably an emulation of the "American school" of economics in the Hamiltonian tradition.
The nature of China's economy is an enigma. There are a range of opinions on whether it is more state or market oriented. It would be misleading to label China's capitalism as authoritarian just because of the visibility of its state giants. China's export-oriented economy is driven by private enterprises - which operate by the rules of international competition.