Global Capitalism: China – US’s First Real Competitor in a Century [November 2021]
https://youtu.be/6q5VsEew0ZM
Transcript
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welcome friends to another global
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capitalism live economic update
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every other month we produce these
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discussions these presentations
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taking up your and my time to talk to
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you about this
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finally for the holiday season coming up
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uh i’m proud to announce that we have
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issued a hard cover version
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of the first book we published
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understanding marxism but it has a new
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introduction that i’ve written
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uh that covers the last few years and
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the relevance of marxism to
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understanding them
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if i dare say so i think it would make
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appreciated
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today is talk and it’s going to take the
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entirety of my presentation is about
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china it’s a response to your requests
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that i present an overview not only of
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china but of this issue of china’s place
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in the world relative to that of the
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united states
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so here’s the title for today’s talk
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china
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the first
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real competitor
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of the united states
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in a century
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and let me explain briefly that title
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it’s a hundred years now that the united
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states became
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the dominant power in a world capitalist
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system world war one changed everything
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the major other contesters for global
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power
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britain
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germany
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were defeated and largely set back
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they could no longer catch up to the
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united states
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something like that happened with japan
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in the second world war and so on
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the united states has not really had
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a serious global economic and political
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competitor
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the soviet union never came close to
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being that economically and basically
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politically either
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having nuclear weapons is a very
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important fact but it is not
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determinant of all else
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china has it all
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economic
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competitiveness
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political competitiveness
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and military
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power including nuclear power
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the united states has not faced
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a competitor on this scale for a century
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and that should be kept in mind as a
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backdrop a context
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for everything that i have to say
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i am neither an advocate nor an enemy of
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the people’s republic of china
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my presentation today
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attempts to be balanced in explaining
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what’s going on
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rather than taking a particular position
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about what’s going on
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so i’m going to begin with china’s
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achievements
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and i’m going to begin with a story
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the world is being changed among other
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things by the development of very rapid
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train transport around the world
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really fast trains
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new motors new locomotives new power
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sources new tracks
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and achieving extraordinary
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speed which entails extraordinary
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economies
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economies of moving people and economies
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of moving product
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and this will translate it is already
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translating into lower prices that can
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be charged by producers and shippers who
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can make use of much more rapid
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train
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transportation
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there are a rapidly growing number of
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rapid trains
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in the world helping
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the countries where they’re located to
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become
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economically stronger
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and here’s the key fact
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two-thirds of the world’s
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fast trains
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are located in the people’s republic of
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china
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the united states basically has none
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even if you count
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the train that runs from boston to
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washington the asla
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it is faster than our regular trains but
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a good bit slower than the fast trains
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i’m talking about and that are
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exemplified above all else in the
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people’s republic of china
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the second achievement that is a story
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but tells a lot
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is the chinese practice of building
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entire cities
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before the people arrive
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to live and work in them
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a little mini fact
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most of the large cities in the world
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cities of a million or more
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are located in the people’s republic of
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china
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that is not only because its population
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is large but that it has developed in
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part using those fast trains
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a network of cities
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built before the people settle into them
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so that there’s a rational plan for how
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the city is
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built
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a rational set of ways that the city can
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grow in the future
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it’s all coordinated with the
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transportation networks roads
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railroads airplanes and so on
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it is a remarkable testament
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to the possibilities the power
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and the success
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of the kind of economic planning that
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china specializes in
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what’s going on here is the next
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achievement
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the chinese deserve recognition for
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they’ve organized a remarkable economy
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partly government owned and operated and
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run enterprises sizable part of their
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economy
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and an another part very large
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of private capitalist enterprises
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some chinese some foreign and some
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partnerships between chinese and foreign
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in other words it’s a classic mixed
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economy
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but what is interesting perhaps most
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is that there is an overarching agency
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which is the government
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and in turn the partner of the
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government the chinese communist party
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who organize
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and control
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both parts
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of their economic system the public
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and the private
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what this means we have now learned
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it means that there’s an agency that can
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coordinate the public and the private
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resources that the chinese have natural
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resources
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capabilities in manufacturing and
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services and shipping and transportation
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coordinate these to bring them all to
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bear on the prioritized objectives of
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chinese economic and social development
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i’m going to give you three quick
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examples of what this ability to
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mobilize and coordinate public and
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private resources
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by an overarching political authority
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has accomplished in china for the last
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25 years
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the gdp the gross output of goods and
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services in china
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has grown on an average of six to nine
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percent per year
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the united states over the same period
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of time saw a gdp growth of 2 to 3
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a year
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no contest
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no comparability
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china is growing three times faster than
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the united states and has been doing so
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year in and year out for a quarter
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century
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an amazing achievement