this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2025
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[–] xiaohongshu@hexbear.net 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Yes, the Chinese state wants to balance the budget. That is not even a central tenet of neoliberalism, though. What is are privatization, the destruction of state capacity, and the elimination of regulation.

This is incorrect. In fact, privatization did happen in China. All of the big tech and renewable energy companies you hear about including EV, solar, AI and robotics are all private companies.

However, you are still missing the fact that China had been able to avoid austerity for the most part because of the tremendous exchange of cheap Chinese goods being sent to the Western countries. Many other countries (especially post-Soviet Eastern European countries) also tried to balance their budget but simply did not have the vast labor pool to dominate the export market to matter.

This is the real outflow of China’s wealth - an immense outflow of real resources and labor for decades that could have been spent to improve the lives of the Chinese people. This is the reason why people in the West can enjoy cheap goods.

Always think in real terms and it’ll make sense. Who’s gaining the actual goods and services, and who’s working hard to make them in exchange for a financial asset.

[–] jack@hexbear.net 3 points 1 day ago

This is incorrect. In fact, privatization did happen in China. All of the big tech and renewable energy companies you hear about including EV, solar, AI and robotics are all private companies.

The existence of private companies is not privatization. Privatization is the sale of public goods, services, infrastructure, and enterprises to private, for-profit entities. Under neoliberalism, this becomes the overriding priority of the state that takes precedence over all socially useful functions of the state. There is nothing off-limits in neoliberalism's privatization regime. The bulk of China's economy, especially the "commanding heights" remain under state and party control. This is entirely incompatible with neoliberalism.

However, you are still missing the fact that China had been able to avoid austerity for the most part because of the tremendous exchange of cheap Chinese goods being sent to the Western countries. Many other countries (especially post-Soviet Eastern European countries) also tried to balance their budget but simply did not have the vast labor pool to dominate the export market to matter.

This is the real outflow of China’s wealth - an immense outflow of real resources and labor for decades that could have been spent to improve the lives of the Chinese people. This is the reason why people in the West can enjoy cheap goods.

I agree with and acknowledge all of the above. That's the nature of being a colonized, developing country. It's not Chinese neoliberalism.

[–] FuckyWucky@hexbear.net 1 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

Also, "sound finance" is very much a tenent of neoliberalism, especially so under an economy with significant for-profit private sector. It's the job of the state to ensure that overproduction isn't going to 'trash' (giant trade surpluses). I say its trash because its very similar, if the market fails and there is an excess of say, wheat, in the economy, most socialists would say the Government should purchase it at a floor price and give it for free. Now, instead of giving to your own people, you decide to give to Americans and Westerners just because they can afford to buy it, its done 'naturally' by the market.

Exports under a market economy cannot be considered the same as a central planner deciding to give solar panels to Cuba for free or at cost for ideological or political reasons. It arises from the capitalist wanting to maximize profits.

In such an economy it is capitalist tendency to hoard and to much lesser extent workers tendency to save that give rise to massive Government deficits or build up of private sector (commercial bank) debt.

In a pure state run economy (without commercial bank lending), the state deficits would be naturally much smaller, since prices are flexible downwards without causing unemployment and because a large source of leakage i.e. capitalist tendency to hoard is absent.