✳flâneur — a map of the web's best reading

Will this be the Chinese Century? - by Noah Smith

noahpinion.blog · 3,370 words · saved by 1 readers

Witnessing America’s flamboyantly stupid economic self-harm and its slow descent into authoritarianism has made some people ask whether the 21st century will end up being the Chinese Century. Thomas Friedman says yes: “There was a time when people came to America to see the future,” [an American businessman in China] said. “Now they come here.”… President Trump is focused on what teams American transgender athletes can race on, and China is focused on transforming its factories with A.I. so it can outrace all our factories. Trump’s “Liberation Day” strategy is to double down on tariffs while gutting our national scientific institutions and work force that spur U.S. innovation. China’s liberation strategy is to open more research campuses and double down on A.I.-driven innovation… [W]hat makes China’s manufacturing juggernaut so powerful today is not that it just makes things cheaper; it makes them cheaper, faster, better, smarter and increasingly infused with A.I…China starts with an e

Will this be the Chinese Century? Probably yes, though that may not mean what people expect. Noah Smith Apr 17, 2025 536 66 66 Share Photo by Freeman Zhou on Unsplash Witnessing America’s flamboyantly stupid economic self-harm and its slow descent into authoritarianism has made some people ask whether the 21st century will end up being the Chinese Century. Thomas Friedman says yes : “There was a time when people came to America to see the future,” [an American businessman in China] said. “Now they come here.”… President Trump is focused on what teams American transgender athletes can race on,

Explore this link on the map →

saved by

related reading