I share an article I wrote, with a different view about China https://www.leftvoice.org/the-contours-of-capitalism-in-china
On Sun, Sep 6, 2020 at 6:27 PM Louis Proyect <[email protected]> wrote: > I don't think Richard would object to me posting this: > > Dear Louis, > > Thanks for sending me those two pieces. I would object however that just > because Chinese SOEs have sold so-called ‘shares’ on the NYSE does not > make them capitalist. First, as I explained, they are not privately owned, > they’re profit-maximizing companies. They’re not ‘companies’ at all. They > don’t live or die on the basis of their success in the market place like > regular capitalist companies. Back in the 1990s, the gov had its SOEs hang > out new shingles, to rename themselves ‘corporations.’ Thus the oil > ministry renamed itself the China National Petroleum Corporation, and so > on. They listed shares on stock exchanges and many installed ‘corporate > boards.’ But this was all for show. First, the shares available to be > traded were officially limited to no more than 20% of the value of the > ‘company’ (and who knows what that is because no SOE has ever been sold so > who knows what its value is anyway?). No significant SOE has ever been put > up for sale, and the thousands of trivial small SOEs (tiny coal mines, > village level garment companies and the like) that were sold off in the > late 1990s as not worth bothering about were ‘bought’ by larger SOEs, or by > officers, or by Chinese capitalists. None were sold off to foreigners. > Secondly, those shares listed on the NYSE are non-voting. Their purpose was > just to raise money, for foreigners — to give Western banks, wealth funds, > pension funds the option to speculate on China’s booming economy by giving > those companies piles of Western cash — and no SOEs are permitted to be > sold. There’s no M&A business in Chinese SOEs for Goldman Sachs. Thirdly, > the so-called boards of directors were powerless. The Party ran all its > SOEs. Indeed, last year in a speech I quoted in my next book, Xi ordered > these Potemkin boards of directors abolished, to make it unmistakably clear > that at the Party runs the companies, not the CEO, not the corporate > ‘boards.’ Spectre limited me to 4000 words so I had to cut out this further > discussion but it's all explained in the sources I cited, Richard McGregor, > Carl Walter and Fraser Howie, James McGregor, and others. > > Why don’t you write a review of my book? > > Best, > Richard > > On Aug 21, 2020, at 5:19 PM, Louis Proyect <[email protected]> wrote: > > On 8/21/20 2:37 PM, Richard Smith wrote: > > Dear Louis, > > Where’s the about face? In everything I have written from my first articles > on the Mao period in 1981 to my thesis in 1989 to my book just out i have > consistently maintained that China is a bureaucratic collectivist regime — > purely so under Mao and still mainly so since Deng installed his capitalist > add-on. As the article says China has all kinds of capitalism today but the > ruling class still runs the economy as bureaucratic collectivists not > capitalists though they do also run some state capitalist operations as with > the foreign > companies they’ve bought. And even though as individuals many have private > investments in western corporations, mutual > funds, etc. You can review my history on this question here: > richardanthonysmith.org. > > Best, > Richard > > Sent from my iPhone > > > Yes, I believe that you have been consistent all along. I was under the > wrong impression. My own take of course is that China is capitalist. My > responses to Michael Roberts, who is closer to you on these questions: > > > > https://louisproyect.org/2017/10/30/chinas-state-owned-enterprises-a-reply-to-michael-roberts/ > > > https://louisproyect.org/2018/06/11/is-china-socialist/ > > > > > > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#1235): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/1235 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/76674603/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES<br />#1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.<br />#2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived.<br />#3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
