Global Studies’s Updates

The Postcapital Economy

Image courtesy of WiNG / Wikimedia Commons

http://thenewinquiry.com/ | Original Article | by Izabella Kaminska

For years, China’s country’s growing spare capacity and rising investment have worried outsiders like me about the sustainability ofits growth model. The idea that Chinese demand for resources—which were ultimately being used as much for manufacturing for the export market as domestic-based consumption—was indicative of a competitive and sustainable global bid for goods and output seemed to me unconvincing. Especially without evidence that any rebalancing from investment and export-driven growth to consumption-based growth was really happening.

Two things have since led me to adjust my opinion.

The first was an encounter with a Chinese fund manager in Geneva about two years ago. Ever mindful of not being brainwashed, I came prepared with what I considered an extremely convincing argument for the case against the Chinese investment case. But rather than have my case knocked down, the fund manager never hesitated to agree with every point. It was confusing.

Read more...