China Punches Friedman Ticket 2 Greatness w/Iron Fist

The WSJ wants to know “Was Milton Friedman Wrong About China?” The famed Nobel Prize winning economist, you see, famously predicted in 2003: “China will move increasingly toward political freedom if it continues its successful move to economic freedom.” The editors opine, however, “It’s bigness, not capitalism, that lets Beijing get away with so many abuses” today.

Having interviewed Mr. Friedman at length several times around that quote’s publication, may I suggest both the economist & the editors are/were right? The 10K pound elephant in the room is arguably the USSR, which utterly failed because it was as big maybe as China, yet its stagnant leadership utterly botched the capitalism thing. Hence, Mr. Friedman was right about capitalism being the driving force behind hoped for market reforms in China, but the WSJ is right about “Beijing’s blend of Communist Party rule and state [sponsored aka controlled] capitalism is the [actual] ticket [being punched] to Make China Great Again.”

Concluded the editors: Chinese President Xi Jinping “appears to be getting away with it… as Joe Biden is now finding out, [Xi] operates from a very different premise: that the West has had its day.” So, what leader do we have on our side to fight Xi’s fire with fire? Does anyone believe Joe & his handlers along with their 2003 economic mindset give us a prayer for competing successfully in 2021 & beyond?

Davd Soul