Comment by kennywinker
8 hours ago
> Great! Here is a few million go make AI.
So how is this different from the US? It’s VC’s making the choices not the gov - seems little different. Maybe scale?
> They're not unfamiliar with burning tens of billions to get a few hundred million of value.
The chinese economy seems like proof this is a valid strategy that pays off in aggregate. Yet when gov here attempts any kind of economic development policy it seems largely unpopular.
> you are not competing, because they are just burning daddies money
So like the american defense industry then?
VC's gauge what the market wants, the Chinese government is one person who decides what he wants.
One of these is grossly inefficient compared to the other, despite the final outcome looking similar from some angles.
Do you genuinely believe dictator-for-life\\esc\\esc president Xi Jinping is picking projects personally?
And if the problem is just efficiency, that’s not really a moral failing. It’s just an optimization issue.
I’m not defending the chinese system because i think it’s good - i’m saying it’s not substantially different from the american system. A group of rich oligarchs and a couple semi-randomly selected smart+lucky sociopaths get to pick industries that get flooded with cash based on how much money they think they will make or if they will stroke their ego - not based on if they will be good for the planet or the people on it.
I’d actually prefer a world where anybody who wanted to start a business was given a shot and money to make it happen based on if people want to work on it. Not blessed oligarchs, but the actual people who will build the thing or use the thing.
"Capitalism good, but state capitalism bad".
Not only are US VCs dumping billions in shitty Bluetooth connected dog collars and other kinds of crap, apparently according to you because that's "what the market wants", it's also an incredibly stupid reading of how the Chinese government works.
They target specific industries that are important, according to them, like solar panels, batteries, cars, etc. They then dump billions into a bunch of companies, and see which ones come out alive and on top.
As it stands, it's been pretty accurate for many things, and has made them market leaders on many, many things. But sure, jerk off the VC model, after all YC thinks the market wants... AIs and ERPs. Woo.
I'm failing to see where our descriptions diverge. You aren't acknowledging is that China has unbelievable waste and crushing debt from it (provincial debt, because they typically finance these projects).
Of course the system is great for getting projects build and advancing. China has a massive workforce to fund it's money hose. It's awful for doing it efficiently, because there is no incentive to be efficient when you never have to pay the creditor back.