We sat down with Dan Wang, author of the bestselling Breakneck, to talk about China and what an “engineering state” is in the longer developmental-state tradition.
A very “unputdownable” book …. My only comment is that there is a subtle risk of technological determinism in the narrative. By emphasising institutional design and technocratic governance, the book sometimes appears to suggest that the primary explanation for China’s rise lies in administrative efficiency and engineering capacity. But economic outcomes are also shaped by geopolitics, international finance, commodity cycles, and strategic alliances. I understand it is a domestic focused - bounded book but there’s a wider global political economy angle that isn’t examined
Is Dan Wang insinuating that the way to interpret valuations in the U.S. is linked to the sheer pricing of getting things done in the country? The same uniquely American things influence both cost of delivering public services and creating value in private markets (as seen in capital raises and valuations)
A very “unputdownable” book …. My only comment is that there is a subtle risk of technological determinism in the narrative. By emphasising institutional design and technocratic governance, the book sometimes appears to suggest that the primary explanation for China’s rise lies in administrative efficiency and engineering capacity. But economic outcomes are also shaped by geopolitics, international finance, commodity cycles, and strategic alliances. I understand it is a domestic focused - bounded book but there’s a wider global political economy angle that isn’t examined
Is Dan Wang insinuating that the way to interpret valuations in the U.S. is linked to the sheer pricing of getting things done in the country? The same uniquely American things influence both cost of delivering public services and creating value in private markets (as seen in capital raises and valuations)
Excited to watch this
yay!