China's Technology Triumph

7 hours ago

Dan Wang's book 'Breakneck' provides a detailed account of China's economic and technological success, highlighting better infrastructure in China's poorest provinces compared to the US's wealthiest regions.
Wang critiques China's top-down, technocratic model, arguing that central planning cannot manage a complex economy better than the market, a view influenced by thinkers like Friedrich Hayek.
The book suggests China is ruled by engineers, contrasting with the US's lawyer-dominated governance, but this narrative is questioned due to lack of evidence linking leaders' engineering backgrounds to economic success.
China's governance is complex due to its vast scale, with distinct regions like 'Hayekian China' (tech-savvy urban areas), 'Fundamental China' (less developed regions), and 'Communist Party China' (central governance in Beijing).
China's rise as a manufacturing giant is attributed more to geopolitical cooperation with the US during the Cold War and the properties of technology itself, rather than governance trends.
The book emphasizes the importance of core industries with complex supply chains in driving economic growth, as seen in past industrial revolutions.

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