3 ms·

My economics teacher in high school (not a great source, I know) said that no country has ever been permanently conquered through military might alone. But coun

My economics teacher in high school (not a great source, I know) said that no country has ever been permanently conquered through military might alone. But countries have been by economics. If you believe this (or a variation of this idea) then it's reasonable to consider the possibility that China is using, or could possibly use, economics as a weapon.

YCode 9y ago
China is definitely doing this already, more effectively than any other country they view economics and other alternative forms of warfare as the bread and butter of diplomatic policy and they are very good at mixing it with realpolitik when for example building islands or offering foreign aid.
- adventured 9y ago
  I agree, they're very clearly doing that already. Fortunately there's not much new about it however. Japan was supposed to conquer the world with its economy in the 1980s. Every headline breathlessly touted that fact. It was seemingly universally believed. They had a vast trade surplus, their market was hyper restricted to outsiders, they were rapidly generating wealth and had a higher GDP per capita than the US. The Japanese were conquering one industry after another, whether traditional industrial or electronics, and frequently accused of dumping as they went. Sound familiar? Today: US GDP per capita: $60,000 Japan: $38,000 If China does everything right, somehow avoids any recessions or depressions, sees no major consequences from dictator Xi, magically stops accumulating debt at a torrid pace - in about 20 years they'll finally catch up to the US economy in size. Given their population base, maybe it is inevitable; it won't be easy however. The US has been a comparatively very well oiled economic juggernaut for 150 years, and it's still rolling, commonly outpacing far smaller economies in growth. No country in world history has put together an economic stretch like the US has since the Civil War. China has a lot to prove about being able to manage something like that, especially under a power hungry dictatorship and utilizing a command & control tilted model. Filling in economic slack is the easiest part of growing an economy, that's where all the talking heads got Japan so wrong. Today all the talking heads are extrapolating China's easy fill-in-the-slack growth forward perpetually. They're going to be wrong again, the question is to what degree.
ksec 9y ago
I thought it was rather obvious China has been doing this and doing it for a long time, since joining the WTO.
syshum 9y ago
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we sold ourselves to the lowest bidder"
- dqpb 9y ago
  "to the lowest bidder"?
  - syshum 9y ago
    Yes, we are selling our freedoms and economic security to the lowest priced supplier of cheap goods to fill our consumerist nature

YCode 9y ago

China is definitely doing this already, more effectively than any other country they view economics and other alternative forms of warfare as the bread and butter of diplomatic policy and they are very good at mixing it with realpolitik when for example building islands or offering foreign aid.

adventured 9y ago
I agree, they're very clearly doing that already. Fortunately there's not much new about it however. Japan was supposed to conquer the world with its economy in the 1980s. Every headline breathlessly touted that fact. It was seemingly universally believed. They had a vast trade surplus, their market was hyper restricted to outsiders, they were rapidly generating wealth and had a higher GDP per capita than the US. The Japanese were conquering one industry after another, whether traditional industrial or electronics, and frequently accused of dumping as they went. Sound familiar? Today: US GDP per capita: $60,000 Japan: $38,000 If China does everything right, somehow avoids any recessions or depressions, sees no major consequences from dictator Xi, magically stops accumulating debt at a torrid pace - in about 20 years they'll finally catch up to the US economy in size. Given their population base, maybe it is inevitable; it won't be easy however. The US has been a comparatively very well oiled economic juggernaut for 150 years, and it's still rolling, commonly outpacing far smaller economies in growth. No country in world history has put together an economic stretch like the US has since the Civil War. China has a lot to prove about being able to manage something like that, especially under a power hungry dictatorship and utilizing a command & control tilted model. Filling in economic slack is the easiest part of growing an economy, that's where all the talking heads got Japan so wrong. Today all the talking heads are extrapolating China's easy fill-in-the-slack growth forward perpetually. They're going to be wrong again, the question is to what degree.

ksec 9y ago

I thought it was rather obvious China has been doing this and doing it for a long time, since joining the WTO.

syshum 9y ago

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we sold ourselves to the lowest bidder"

dqpb 9y ago
"to the lowest bidder"?
- syshum 9y ago
  Yes, we are selling our freedoms and economic security to the lowest priced supplier of cheap goods to fill our consumerist nature