主题：英媒：我们需要新资本主义来抗衡中国 -- dolong

This is not true. The Great Depression was because;

-the Fed contracted the money supply by a third.

-Government action turned a downturn into a crisis (protectionist measures)

The 2007-09 crisis was because of government action in US & UK;

- interest rates were deliberately held far too low for far too long.

-US laws forcing banks to lend mortgages to anyone.

The problem with free markets is that it's never really been tried. There is always a special interest group claiming special subsidies, or bone-headed government action (such as bail outs and regulation to name two).

Far too much government is the problem, not the solution.

February 3, 2010 9:46 PM GMT on community.timesonline.co.uk

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Fabulous, coherent sketch of the major socioeconomic trends of the past 100 years, and the shape of the future to which they might point.

I believe the West is a victim of its own affluence : "idleness and abundance of bread", as Ezekiel put it, which is bound to help leaner, hungrier and tougher systems steal a march on us. Added to this, our hedonism and moral relativism – not to mention mass immigration - have fragmented our sense of community, to the point that we no longer know what values we stand for, except that of Tolerance, which, in the absence of a more positive principle, results in the democratic (!) triumph of the lowest common denominator.

On a global level, the sobering impact of our indebtedness to China has yet to make itself felt, but I imagine our standards of living will gradually become more equal to theirs, as the East works its way to wealth and influence, and we tread water in economies which are in any case already pretty well satiated.

The most fundamental question that divides us concerns the priority we accord to Freedom. In my view, we in the West have assumed it to be an absolute virtue, with the consequence that we have, for instance, allowed pornography to flourish and sex to be commercialized on a mass scale, to the detriment of the family unit and of the role of the woman. In the East, on the other hand, Freedom is seen as just one of a number of sometimes competing values : moreover, it is not intrinsically good, but is to be judged rather on its fruits. Here could be the start of a mutually redemptive dialectic.

I think it was Asa Briggs who realized that he needed to know Economics if he was to understand History. Perhaps it is equally important to remember Pascal’s observation, that “Everything starts in mysticism and end in politics.”

Good luck, Anatole !

February 4, 2010 12:12 AM GMT on community.timesonline.co.uk

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I would expect someone with a name like Kaletsky to be more familiar with the dangers of a government controlled economy.

China's huge growth has been entirely down to their economic liberalisation over the past 40 years, which has allowed their economy to switch from capital-intensive industries (chosen by the government) to labour-intensive industries (market chosen).

I also find it hilarious that you think we have liberal economic policies in the West. Have you ever tried to start a business? The sheer amount of laws, regulations and taxes have been strangling British industries for years. If the government was really interested in saving British jobs, they would get out of the way.

Remember, the government has no money of its own. Every penny it spends was stolen from the people. Stolen from the productive, efficient private sector and given to the unproductive and inefficient public sector. Now there's a recipe for economic growth, right Anatole?

And the current financial crisis? Well according to the economists who actually predicted it (like Peter Schiff) it was caused by low interest rates (set by the central bank, not determined by the market). Too much cheap money flying around means people make bad, risky investments/loans. Eventually the bubble bursts and the house of cards that is (was) the Western economy comes crashing down. Exactly the same thing caused the Great Depression, which was of course predicted by those criticizing the Fed's low interest rates.

So I suppose you're right when you say our current system of capitalism has failed. You just have no idea why and no idea how to fix it.

Perhaps you should study some economics before you publish a book on it.

February 4, 2010 3:05 AM GMT on community.timesonline.co.uk

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China is run by engineers and they believe in industry and technology: their goal is to absorb our technological know-how without payment and take over the worlds industry.

The west is unfortunately run by bankers and lawyers who don't care if China destroys our industrial base as long as house prices keep rising and government can keep borrowing money.

A global patent system and strong enforcement of both patent and copyright laws are essential if western technology companies are to compete. Until the intellectual property issue is resolved tariffs should be used to make it un-economical to do high-technology development or manufacturing in the east.

February 4, 2010 1:28 AM GMT on community.timesonline.co.uk

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There is more to it than just economics. Europe and the US seem to have resigned themselves to Chinese dominance. Given their advantages,among them a per capita income that is at least ten times higher than the Chinese and a huge lead in science and technology, that is a bit premature. In any event, to meet the challenge will require rather more than fiddling around with financial arrangements as Anatole Kaletsky appears to imagine. People will just have to study much harder, work much harder. If that means saying good-bye to the plaintive, self-pitying, slack and dumbed-down plebeian culture that currently prevails throughout the West, so much the better. It's a darwinian world out there. Unless the US and Europe wake up in time, they will end up providing the hard-working Chinese with helots.

Santiago Macquarrie

February 4, 2010 12:11 AM GMT on community.timesonline.co.uk

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Prior to the 1800s, when India and China were the two biggest economic powers and US and Europe were just fledgling economies, we "took on" China through imperialism and slavery...100 years of that made certain that we came top and China and India were nothing.

Now that the natural balance is gradually coming back, are we going to go on yet another crusade because we can't have it our way in the world (without violence)?

February 3, 2010 9:58 PM GMT on community.timesonline.co.uk

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