Any discussion of economic growth policy in China immediately reminds me of my first visit to China, in 1982, when very little economic growth had happened for about three decades. Going from the United States to Taiwan earlier in that same year gave me a whole new appreciation of what "poor" means. But then going from Taiwan as it was in 1982 to Guangzhou (via Hong Kong) the same year even more more starkly showed me what real poverty looks like. China's economic growth model of the most recent thirty years has been very consciously patterned on the growth model of Taiwan that began in the 1950s. Three books that I read during my first stay in east Asia helped me understand what I was observing all around me in 1980s Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China. The first book was an abridged edition of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations,
which was very illuminating about why Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Guangdong Province, areas with similar cultures but very different governance, could have such different economic levels. The second book was How the Other Half Dies, now available as a free download of the original book,
which I saw on the bookshelf of a student from France who lived in the same international dormitory I lived in in Taipei. That book has some interesting details about the successful land reform in (South) Korea and Taiwan, details expanded in the book Island China,
a more detailed study of Taiwan's development. Successful economic development doesn't have to be rocket science, especially when there are examples to imitate with varying mixes of natural resources and natural disasters and demographic challenges, of varied cultural backgrounds, all over the world.
http://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Nations-Adam-Smith/dp/161382081...
which was very illuminating about why Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Guangdong Province, areas with similar cultures but very different governance, could have such different economic levels. The second book was How the Other Half Dies, now available as a free download of the original book,
http://www.tni.org/tnibook/how-other-half-dies-0
which I saw on the bookshelf of a student from France who lived in the same international dormitory I lived in in Taipei. That book has some interesting details about the successful land reform in (South) Korea and Taiwan, details expanded in the book Island China,
http://www.amazon.com/Island-China-Ralph-N-Clough/dp/1583483...
a more detailed study of Taiwan's development. Successful economic development doesn't have to be rocket science, especially when there are examples to imitate with varying mixes of natural resources and natural disasters and demographic challenges, of varied cultural backgrounds, all over the world.