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Breaking the Wall of Efficient Innovation
Video

Breaking the Wall of Efficient Innovation

What Can Be Learned from China’s Planned Capitalism?


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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Innovative
  • Overview

Recommendation

For the economically narrow-minded, the Chinese economy has become synonymous with “deep, cheap labor.” Management professor Doug Guthrie describes how innovative Chinese economic models are breaking through walls of traditional economic theory, spurring China’s economic growth. While always politically neutral, getAbstract recommends Guthrie’s perspective-shifting report to economists, global business executives and anyone interested in sustainable economic innovation.

Summary

Many proponents of capitalism, particularly in the United States, extol the free market system and reject all other models. They believe that markets can solve the world’s difficulties better than governments can. While that may or may not be true, people lack “the political will to actually live in a market world.” While citizens are happy to take risky bets in the open market, they are loath to let those markets discipline behavior – for example, by letting struggling banks fail. Thus, today’s free market system is imperfect.

Many believe China is merely a source of “deep, cheap labor” and lacks the trappings of true innovation.

About the Speaker

Doug Guthrie is dean of the George Washington University School of Business.