Keyu Jin on Chinese regulation, innovation, finance, and more

Keyu Jin laments the loss of private-sector confidence in China, shows why the country could take the lead in cutting-edge technologies, and more. The PS Say More Newsletter | [View this message in a web browser]( [PS Say More]( This week in Say More, PS talks with Keyu Jin, Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the author of [The New China Playbook: Beyond Socialism and Capitalism](. To read the full interview – in which Jin laments the loss of private-sector confidence in China, shows why the country could take the lead in cutting-edge technologies, addresses misconceptions about its economic model, and more – [click here](. Keyu Jin Says More... Project Syndicate: In December 2021, you [argued]( that China’s regulatory crackdown on tech companies was both misunderstood and overblown in international media. Far from attempting to “cut billionaires down to size,” China’s authorities were seeking to address the “social tensions and vulnerabilities that come with unchecked market-driven growth.” China has effectively [concluded]( its regulatory crackdown, and now wants to [nurture]( tech companies. How has the tech landscape in China changed? Have the authorities achieved their goals, or merely changed tack? Keyu Jin: Yes, local governments across China have lately been working to bolster private innovators. Even second-tier cities like Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hefei, Suzhou, and Wuhan have nurtured global companies working in areas like quantum computing, artificial intelligence, electric and autonomous vehicles. As I explain in my new book, [The New China Playbook: Beyond Socialism and Capitalism]( this “decentralized” approach to boosting innovation is what enabled China to achieve economic reform and growth. China’s “unicorns” are geographically diffuse, not concentrated only in cities like Beijing and Shenzhen. But while the creation of a more supportive environment is a start... [Continue reading]( [PS. Subscribe to PS Premium now to secure your copy of PS Quarterly: At Arms.]( By the Way... PS: As you note in The New China Playbook, China has become embroiled in trade disputes with the advanced economies, especially over subsidies, restrictions on foreign investment, and demands for technology transfer. But “outside pressure on China to change some of its [trading] practices maybe a blessing in disguise.” What measures would help China “ensure continued engagement with the global trading system” and benefit its economy? KJ: China changed thousands of laws, and pursued state-owned-enterprise reform, so that it could join the World Trade Organization in 2001. This is an example of pressure leading to positive change. Another is the Chinese government’s more recent strengthening of intellectual-property protection – a change that is good not only for foreign companies, but also for Chinese firms, among which competition is arguably the most intense. Today, China remains... [Continue reading]( [PS Say More: Simon Johnson on stablecoins, artificial intelligence, inequality, and more]( [Simon Johnson on stablecoins, artificial intelligence, inequality, and more]( Simon Johnson explains why a moratorium on advanced-AI development would do little good, pours cold water on the prevailing techno-optimist narrative, makes the case for scrapping payroll taxes, and more. Johnson is a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, a professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, and the author, with Daron Acemoglu, of [Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity](. [Read now]( [PS. Subscribe to PS Digital now.]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [LinkedIn]( Project Syndicate publishes and provides, on a not-for-profit basis, original commentary by the world's leading thinkers to more than 500 media outlets in over 150 countries. Receipt of this newsletter does not guarantee rights to re-publish any of its content. This newsletter is a service of [Project Syndicate](. [Change your newsletter preferences](. Follow us on [Facebook]( [Twitter]( and [YouTube](. © Project Syndicate, all rights reserved. [Unsubscribe from all newsletters](.