Rapid Progression or Restriction Point?
In a thought-provoking analysis, Dan Wang, a Hoover Institution research fellow and former technology analyst, explores the governance cultures of China and America in his book, Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future.
China, labelled as an "engineering state" in the book, has seen extraordinary physical development, rapid productivity gains, and wealth accumulation. This engineering state is attributed to the engineering-oriented approach in China, as per Wang's analysis. A notable example is Shenzhen, a city that has evolved from a low-end manufacturing center to a global innovation hub.
However, Wang does not expect China to surpass America across all areas, despite its technological advances, industrial power, and larger population. He warns that China's engineering state, with its focus on numeric targets, is too rigid to allow the Chinese people to live happily.
Meanwhile, in America, a group known as the Sentimentalists, who indulge in liberal pieties, are opposed by a recognizable group called the Industrial Party. The Industrial Party, often labelled as modern fascists by Wang, advocates for an engineering-state model and promotes techno-industrial development, manufacturing, and technological self-reliance as foundational to China’s long-term economic and strategic goals.
The Sentimentalists' opponents are often advocates of liberal economics, Western-style political reforms, or those critical of state-led industry policies and China's techno-nationalist agenda. The article suggests that for America to become a place where big things are built and ambition stirs, it must overcome proceduralism and progressive sentimentalism.
This proceduralism is identified as a source of contemporary America's ills, similar to the views expressed by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson in Abundance. Wang suggests that America must remember its engineering heritage and elevate a greater diversity of voices among its elites to overcome this lawyerliness.
The Biden administration's industrial policy initiatives, such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS Act, were cluttered with extraneous progressive policies, according to the article. This cluttering, Wang suggests, could hinder America's progress in becoming a global leader in technology and industry.
In conclusion, Wang's book warns that American firms have been absorbing strengths from Chinese cities like Shenzhen over decades. China's industrial might is described as a strategic advantage that could potentially overwhelm all rich countries. However, Wang does not expect China to surpass America in manufacturing, as China's focus on an engineering state model may limit its ability to foster a happy and prosperous society.
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