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China sentence and a half of the day
China's government, she says, genuinely wants to tackle its horrific pollution problem. The problem is that it can't:
Here is more.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on July 11, 2007 at 01:23 PM in Current Affairs | Permalink
Comments
Property rights and courts could solve most of the ground and water pollution.
But yes, China is far more decentralized than most outsiders realize. The leadership is genuinely worried that Taiwanese independence could fracture the country.
Posted by: 8 at Jul 11, 2007 2:01:00 PM
I predict the Chineese government will address the problem by executing whomever is in charge of pollution control.
Posted by: pawnking at Jul 11, 2007 3:20:51 PM
Old Chinese saying, "The mountains are high, the emperor far away." Out in the sticks, they don't care what Beijing says.
Posted by: Max at Jul 11, 2007 3:39:52 PM
Old Chinese saying, "The mountains are high, the emperor far away."
I gotta say, I find "When the cat's away, the mice will play" for more clever.
Posted by: Keith at Jul 11, 2007 3:43:12 PM
In the south they say, "the emperor has his ways, and we have our ways"
Posted by: N at Jul 12, 2007 1:04:09 AM
My favorite old Chinese saying: "Kill the chicken to scare the monkeys."
My guess is the former Chinese FDA official was a chicken.
Posted by: M.D. Fatwa at Jul 12, 2007 1:54:33 AM
Isn't that a bit like saying I really want to lose weight but I can't because I don't have the willpower?
How is that different from every other country in the world?
Posted by: Jack at Jul 12, 2007 3:28:05 AM
I can testify that in Seoul, when the winds are blowing from the southeast or due east, the air is beautiful. When they're coming from the West, you can't see for anything, and not just because of the humidity. It's sad to think that the cleanup that apparently has taken place here in the ROK (where I have seen very few smoke-belching factories even in the huge industrial parks as we travelled around the country) is somewhat undone by Beijing et al.
The Chinese students here with us on our exchange program even say it is a huge problem and they are worried like anyone who has to live with those sorts of issues.
Posted by: Neal at Jul 12, 2007 9:44:30 AM
Jack,
The difference between China and many western countries is that the center has limited ability to extract data, and even less so, information from the local. Much knowledge is locked locally either unexpressed, or if expressed, subject to different interpretations when it is removed from the local context. Remember the old saying “knowledge is power.” In China, the local has the power. There is not much the center could do except for threatening severe punishment of bad deeds. Severe, it is. But both the center and the local know few bad deeds will be found out; and only the severe ones receive severe punishments.
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Thanks.
Posted by: jack at Jan 6, 2008 9:44:35 PM
Posted by: 鑽石 at Apr 2, 2008 9:09:46 PM
