In Reply to: China: generally speaking posted by Alison Raymond on November 23, 1998 at 00:48:26:
: In an overall assessment of the material presented on China I continue
: not to have an understanding of what exactly happened and whether it was
: good or bad. From what the articles explain is that something happened
: where boom, China achieved one of the fastest economic growths. On 11/16
: we discussed some of the factors that might have contributed to this growth.
: From 1949-1978 there was shifting public policy, continous struggle in
: party so no one seems to understand how within all this confusion China
: seemed to come out ahead. From the end of 1978 to present day, what were
: the reforms during this time period that enabled growth? The articles
: provided give complicated mathematical reasoning for growth but what does
: this mean to the rest of us and how do we use this to forecast future
: growth in regards to the policies implemented?
In rural China, where the reforms began, one possible factor shaping the
rapid growth in output was the granting to individual producers the right
to control their own labor time as self-employed farmers and artisans.
This change in the class position of rural direct producers seems to have
contributed to a significant increase in agricultural productivity, as
well as more diversity in the products available to consumers. What do
you think, Alison?