China Persists in the Myth of Planning
The government of China has launched its 13th five-year plan (known as 13.5), sticking with the form if not the substance of Stalinism. But in our modern and networked world, China wants the world to understand its planning process, so it released this catchy video in American English:
What’s China gonna do? Better check this music video
The video explains how comprehensive the planning process is:
Every five years in China, man
They make a new development plan!
The time has come for number 13.
The shi san wu, that’s what it means!
There’s government ministers and think tank minds
And party leadership contributing finds.
First there’s research, views collected,
Then discussion and views projected.
Reports get written and passed around
As the plan goes down from high to low,
The government’s experience continues to grow.
They have to work hard and deliberate
Because a billion lives are all at stake!
It must be smart: note the picture of Einstein along with Chinese leaders such as Mao Zedong (around 0:50).
Of course, this “planning process” doesn’t work. In the best of circumstances, it’s no match for a billion producers and consumers making decisions every day about what actions are likely to better their own condition. It’s characterized by bureaucracy, backward-looking decisions, and cronyism. In less-than-ideal circumstances, when the planners are armed with total power and inspired by an ideological belief that they can actually direct the ac...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: David Boaz Source Type: blogs
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