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Building things and breaking things in China (Summer School World Tour)
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China's Threadbare Safety Net and the Eisenhower Comparison
At 38:05 · chapter starts 35:40
One of the episode's most counterintuitive segments: Robert Smith points out that for a supposedly socialist state, China has a remarkably thin social safety net. Dan Wang confirms and quantifies it — China spends roughly 10% of annual income on redistribution, compared to about 20% for the US and 30% for Western European countries. [1] — Dan Wang "China spends only about 10% of annual income on redistribution — half what the US spends and a third of Western Europe's 30%. Despite the c…" 35:30 The tax base is heavily reliant on regressive consumption taxes, and China has never managed to impose a meaningful property tax. The result is an economy that is capitalist in its rewards and parsimonious in its protections. Wang's most provocative claim lands here: the contemporary Chinese Communist Party, with its emphasis on manufacturing, skepticism of immigration, and fierce commitment to traditional gender roles, looks more like Eisenhower-era Republican America than any European socialist government. Robert Smith names the logical conclusion — 'China as a US conservative's dream' — and notes the jealousy that creeps into American political discourse about China's manufacturing might.
China spends about 10% of annual income on redistribution, compared to ~20% for the US and ~30% for Western European countries.
The Chinese Communist Party's actual agenda — emphasis on manufacturing, skepticism of immigration, fierce commitment to traditional gender roles — looks more like Eisenhower's Republican Party than European socialism. It's the US conservative dream wrapped in a communist flag.
