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China's Technological Playbook - by Sophie Kim

thecounterfactual.substack.com · 2,158 words · saved by 2 readers

Part 1: The Theft Economy

In 1978, China’s GDP per capita sat at around $157– poorer than most of sub-Saharan Africa. Then, from 1979-2018, it pulled off what the World Bank calls “the fastest sustained expansion by a major economy in history,” with an average GDP growth of 9.5% per year; the country also lifted nearly 800 million people out of poverty. How did they do it? Most of the standard sources on the topic cite market reforms, cheap land and labor, investments in infrastructure and education programs, and the rise of export-driven manufacturing. These are all true. But there’s another input, one the NSA’s…

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