This year Courtney and I headed out to China to visit my parents again. We go back every few years and I'm always struck by the amazing amount of progress and change that greets us. The pace of change in China is like that on the Internet but in the physical world.
3 years ago when we were in Guangzhou (located about 3h from Hong Kong) we flew through what would be considered a pretty typical airport in the US, this year as we flew a brand new
Since the last time we were in Hong Kong in December of 2006 a brand new Ferry terminal awaited us and the race was on between Shanghai and Hong Kong for the world's tallest building (neither city will disclose the height of their buildings yet).
Change and modernity are viewed as not only positive but as necessities. Growth is taken for granted in a way that it is not in other parts of the worlds including North America. As much as the US might have been the home of capitalism once that mantle has been taken up by China now.
China is willing to prioritize for growth and doesn't think twice about it. For example, think about all the rules and regulations that govern what can be built here in the US. How often does the skyline change in our cities? I have lived in San Francisco for 7 years now and with few exceptions there has not been a large amount of change in our skyline. Yes, there's a new building going up by the Bay Bridge but it is the exception that proves the rule - it's one building in 7 years and it has taken a long time to get done. There are an incredible amount of rules designed to keep things as they are instead of allowing htem to grow.
China also has access to a labor pool that is rapidly becoming more skilled and higher value. In contrast, the US is wracked with indecision on what to do about immigration. In my mind the answer is clear. We must enable a young dynamic workforce in the US. Many from Central & South America who are looking for better lives need to be allowed freer access to our markets to help build the economy. Failing to do this means that China will have an important lever for growth that we lack. It won't catch the US now but in another 20 years it could be a devastating difference.
This amount of change is driven by a fearlessness in the culture. In many ways it is easy for them to be courageous because they have little to lose and the alternative to continued growth is terrible and immediately obvious. We in North America have much to lose and so it is easy try and maintain the status quo. You can see these attempts in everything from our zoning policies, to what we subsidise, to who we do and don't let in the country.
Ironically it is these attempts to maintain it that will slowly but surely erode it.
