Articles by Gautam Sen

Those who puzzle why reasoned policy prescriptions, clearly comprehensible and undoubtedly apprehended by decision-makers, do not lead to change are absolutely correct to attribute the failure to bottomless venality and insane corruption. Yet there is a churning, as the borders of the predatory state recede in the face of an expanding civil society.

The unique conditions encountered by China for its economic and political opening to the wider world are crucial to understand the rapid integration of its essentially centrally planned economy with the international economy. China was able to cushion and regulate its interaction with the world economy through an initial relationship with Chinese overseas investors, especially Hong Kong. This method of buffered entry into the international economy enabled China to deepen its ties with the wider world economy further, without becoming vulnerable to predatory market forces and associated political pressures.