Economic Update: China: Capitalist, Socialist or What? 

Some economists have projected that both the U.S. and parts of Europe could slip into a recession for a portion of 2023. A global recession, defined as a contraction in annual global per capita income, is more rare because China and emerging markets often grow faster than more developed economies. Essentially the world economy is considered to be in recession if economic growth falls behind population growth.

As a foreigner who lived through the entire duration of zero covid for the past 3 years in China, this is by far the most objective commentary I’ve seen on RU-vid to date. Economists and business leaders are voicing concerns at the start of 2023 that the year could be a difficult one. JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said Tuesday that the Federal Reserve may need to raise interest rates to 6% to fight inflation, higher than the peak level between 5% and 5.5% in 2023 that most Fed officials penciled in after their December meeting. Although I read an article of people that grossed profits up to $500k during this crash, what are the best stocks to buy now or put on a watchlist

some G7 governments, need an “ENERMY” to asking for more money (people's tax) rather than fix their domestic infrastructure for their own people

"America is an open society with a closed mind. China is a closed society with an open mind."

It only took me 56 years and this 30 minute video to figure this out.

Unfortunately, anti-intellectualism in the US is growing in an appalling speed.

No matter what ideology, the best government is to ensure the happiness of all the people. It's not just the happiness of the rich.

Even i am a chinese, i learned the real meaning of communist from this clip. thank you

I wish more people in this country valued knowledge and information from reputable people. The overviews you provide are incredibly important for our future.

Even though I shouldn't be, I'm always surprsised how succinct and compact Prof. Wolff can present the historical and political contexts of economic issues. It shows his years of experience and study of the topics he addresses.

White cat, black cat: what does it matter, as long as it catches mice? -Deng Xiaoping

Dear Prof.Richard Woiff,You are my friend,guide and philosopher in the field of Socialist studies which is the source of inspiration and enlightenment as I am in the third World country like India,Tamilnadu. Keep it up .

The U.S. is causing it's own demise.

"The casualty of the cold War was the truth!" Excellent! That's exactly what happened.

Professor, it’s important to highlight the fact that the US capitalist model only “worked” at the expense of the looting and destruction of the global south. Imperialism is the primary reason why US/Anglo-Saxon capitalism was such a “success” (a “success” for the ruling classes, because the workers living conditions only “improved” in recent decades, and it’s already in decline). And that’s why it’s not honest to compare China and the USSR to the imperialist states, like so many people do. If you want to compare, you have to compare to capitalist countries from the global periphery, who faced similar economic constraints as China and the USSR. Compare the achievements of China to Mexico or Brazil, for example, and you’ll realize the massive success of the chinese model.

Not socialism, not capitalism. China's system can be sum up in one word: pragmatism. It will adopt whatever policies that work best in the current situation. it's not tied down to any single ideology. it's flexible and it's evolving. It's funny people still think today's China is the same China during Mao's era.

These talks are among the most informative offering on all of RU-vid.

I listened to this yesterday on KPFK FM in Los Angeles. It was worthwhile.

Thanks from China. It doesn't matter who is number one in the world, what matters is what is good for all mankind.

The term is "socialism with Chinese characteristics". I laugh every time other calls us communism. Even N. Korea criticized we are changed.

As a Chinese American whose parents left Asia in the 1960s, this has touched my heart, and this is by far in my opinion, your best lesson Professor.

I planned to watch only 10 minutes of the video. Then I realized it was over and I stayed 30 minutes listening to professor Wolff. Very interesting! Hope we can learn the best from China

To be honest as a Chinese, this is the most insightful and truthful video I’ve ever seen.

It's surprising to see the viewing figures on this. When RU-vid started, this sort of thing would get 500-1000 views max

China runs an Industrial Capitalism economy. The CCP prints "interest free money" and injects this money into infrastructure, industry, education, heath care etc...any parts of the economy that generate "real" goods and "wages". The USA runs a Finance Capitalism economy. The government (which is controlled by the "Private Bankers") prints money at interest and injects this money into mainly financial products like stocks, derivatives, bonds and real estate. This part of the economy is entirely "speculative" and generates huge wealth for the Elite (1%) but does not benefit the commons. The US system is parasitic by design.

Outstanding lecture Professor Wolff! Thank you.

Clear, concise, to the point and perfectly understandable. What we have come to expect and enjoy from your brilliant explanations, Mr Richard W. Thanks once more, for this and for keeping up the good work.

This video was praised by the official account of China People’s Daily, so I’ll take a look at the original video.

Professor said : We could learn from each other!! American?learn from someone else?!! NO WAY!

As a Chinese, I can prove that we never call us communism

China is a developing and transitional society... not a close society.

So very glad you are here, during this crisis to guide and inform, Professor.

This is a real education money can’t buy. Thanks to Prof Wolff for explaining capitalism, socialism n communism’s in layman’s can understand. Times very well spent. 👏👏👏👍👍👍

Prof. Wolff, could you do an episode on Vietnam as well? I've heard worker co-ops actually have a presence there. Also, their handling of Covid is commendable.

WOW! just wow...Prof Wolf is so SHARP, entertaining and brilliant.

This is the best ever video I have watched on this topic, The professor is crystal clear in delivery of these concepts. THANK YOU Professor!

Thank you professor Richard Wolff for your views on capitalism, socialism and communism.

The Chinese always say, look in the mirror to make sure we are in good form. Professor Wolfe's speech ensures that we are doing the right thing.

I want to thank you personally for explaining some of these points that I thought I already understood in a much more complete fashion. Good job Sir, thank you.

That answered a lot of questions that floated through my mind over the years!!!! Thanks professor.

I always learn so much from Prof. Wolff, and this is one of the most enlightening lessons yet. Thank you so much. Never stop.

Ohh my God.....my whole vision has changed now....what a great explanation ...👏👏👌

God, why am I not listening to him every day. I'm sorry, Professor. I will remedy this deficiency.

Thank you for explaining so clearly. Time well spent.

These videos are more than necessary in today's america

Doing the comment in order to boost the algorithm. Great job!

Thank you for the valuable video. The infant Soviet Union was attacked by 14 capitalist countries. China, on the other hand had a reservoir of overseas Chinese capital available, once the Chinese economy opened up to investment.

Oh my god!! This is the best 30min I have ever spent on RU-vid. What a immensely clear view of the current world. Where it came from and where it can head to ? This is really an awesome piece of content..

US act like a gangster.

An exchange of ideas is much more preferable to an exchange of missiles.

Oh god, finally could see some commonsense not BS of China or USSR in youtube, and be watched more than 1k times....

I’d like to flag out a historical milestone in China’s success. On Nov 12th 1978, Chairman Deng Xiaolin visited Singapore for 2 days and was impressed with what Singapore achieved just 15 years after being kicked out of the Malayan Federation with no natural resources including water - all it had was a port developed by the British for servicing it’s opium trade route and serfs brought into the former colony as security guards, coolies (hard laborers) and maids. He asked Lee Kuan Yew how it was possible. Lee Kuan Yew said “we’re largely descendants from farmer, if we can do it, a China can definitely do it better!” And Deng went silent. We then know that Deng officially kicked off the “reform and opening up” initiative on Dec 18th, 1978. He definitely had reforms in mind prior to his visit to Singapore, though it’s noteworthy that the meeting with Lee definitely had significant impact on him. Since then, China have been sending government officials to Singapore for observation trips in their efforts on linkage with the international community. Till around early 2000, China was still pretty much lagging overall except for the direct municipalities of Shanghai and Shenzhen (credit cards were not commonly available in 2000, and Beijing had only 2 lines for their subway - East/west line and circle line, for example). By 2019, China was already at the forefront in many areas, and started to lead in an assortment of sectors between 2010 to 2020, including mobile payment platforms like Alipay and WeChat and the extremely robust mobile shopping, UAVs, surveillance and other cameras, for example. I first visited China Guangzhou and Shenzhen in 1992, just prior to Deng’s supervision tour to the south. In 2000 I visited Beijing for business development in the then so-called B2B2C e-Commerce but returned disappointed because China did not have an online payment system in place (no credit cards). I then went to Beijing for an immersive MBA in Beijing in 2002 and stayed there since, and witnessed and lived through the entire miraculous development and rise of China. I bet no American who has never visited China before could ever imagine how all of everything could have been possible in the past 30 years. The amount of poverty alleviation of the general public (in contrast with how the average American got poorer and poorer), the amount of infrastructural development (in contrast to America’s aging infrastructure with little progress made), clean energy production and electric vehicles (Americans have Tesla 😊), etc. Average wage was 96 yuan/month and minimum worker wage was 36 yuan/month back in 1985. In 2020, average wage for non private sector is 8,115 yuan/month (my sister in law takes over 10,000/month in a government owned enterprise in a tiny 4th tier city of about 1 million population near Wuhan, Hubei), while in private sector it could be on par with American MNC. With that said, “Communist China” may carry that taboo word for Americans or the rest of the Cold War minded Western countries which achieved their current state of democracy over a few hundred years of evolution, it is in fact a pretty typical emerging country/economy. Centralized planning and control allowing for free market dynamics within the steering framework for development is critical for focusing resources driving towards success in the desired direction. While it may sound too much of a flattery for Singapore to say China’s economic reform was modeled after Singapore in its early stages, we can at least say there was heavy reference to the tiny island country, especially as it relates to the SEZs Shanghai and Shenzhen given the uncanny resemblance in rapid development (even including land filling parts of the sea 😂). Singapore had a lifelong patriarch, who guided and steered the country from its forced foundation till he died, and while there were a handful of MPs in its parliament from opposition parties and hence was accepted by the West as a democratic country, it was the same party that led the government from foundation till now, with overwhelming majority seats in parliament (I’m approaching 50 years old and have had once chance to vote, since many districts have walkover wins in Singapore due to lack of candidates to compete for MP seats in many districts in Singapore, small as it is). Largely similar situation in Malaysia. The point is not to debate what is democracy and what is not, but more importantly, WHAT’S EFFECTIVE in make lives better for the people. Scientifically and factually looking at the results delivered by the “evil CCP regime” over the past 3 decades in terms of the good done for its people, poverty alleviation, infrastructural development, safety and security, healthcare and retirement, housing, etc., global internet access (closing an eye on VPNS that permit expats and citizens alike to access Google, Facebook, Twitter, RU-vid, Pornhub, you name it) all the basic metrics of human rights and fairly so even the advanced metrics of human rights that a country owes its people, not a single country come even close to China!!! Overwhelming majority of the 1.4 billion Chinese citizens of all ethnicity are happy with the “evil CCP”, and are proud of the “evil CCP and Chines regime”. Support and loyalty to the government is unmet across all countries in the world. Why shouldn’t they? I’d be if I were a Chinese citizen, wouldn’t you? In stark contrast, how many Americans are happy with their government? Many of my American friends voted for Obama not because they supported him but because they didn’t want to vote for McCain being worried he may die on the job and did not trust the candidate for VP who will run the country if that happened. People voted for Trump because they wanted a change hoping he could bring some, and voted Trump out because the changes were too radical for many Americans. Sure, Chinese voters don’t have “a real choice”... but do Americans really have that choice? Or is it just choosing from two sides of the same coin? How many politicians can run campaigns without donors? So why all these smearing, slandering and lies? Same reasons what common people like you and me do. Jealousy and envy. These people run governments and they know they are eating CCP dust when it comes to making lives better for the people, all of the people. Because they know they are funded by the top 1% (less actually) and there are reciprocal obligations that need to be met. Dun matter who. You want to be a MP or Congressman, you’d better have some dough behind you, and all dough comes with obligations. No one’s fault. No system is perfect and I think it’s a well know fact that autocratic governments tend to be more effective and efficient, either in crashing the plane or takeoff to unlimited frontiers. Democratic governments on the other hand hedge against despotic dictators but pay the price as we see in America right now. And the right balance is up for debate and comparison. I’d say that the likes of infrastructural development and public utilities should not be commercialized though, example being the electricity supply disaster in Texas, amongst the many American examples.

Well when you have the government above the private enteprise, people’s need come before profits. But if you let private enterprise on top, greed dictates! Awesome explaination from professor richard wolff

Thank you for clarification of this topic. There is so much confusion in my family about Socialism and Communism.

China and the United States have no insoluble contradictions such as history, nation, and territory.In the past, the Chinese always looked to the United States, envied the United States, and learned from the United States. The Chinese have not hated the United States hysterically. It's just that there is a trade dispute between China and the United States, and the two sides have not reached a consensus. The United States has always been a model for China to learn from in many aspects. The United States should cooperate with China for common development and common progress. The Pacific Ocean is large enough to accommodate China and the United States.

What a great video! Very informative and educational.

appreciate the even-handed nonhostile treatment of China. Rare even amongst leftist tendencies.

Thank you Pro for your knowledgeable lecture! Excellent explanation of “socialism”, “communism”, “capitalism” and the good comparisons of the similarities and differences between Soviet Union and China ......”China and USA can coexist and both prosperous! “ However, it seems USA government doesn’t like the idea of coexistence!

Great and sincere analysis without bias. Well elaborated. Kudos.

As always, professor it was a very educational and enlightening vlog ;)

"A fundamental contradiction does not exist between socialism and a market economy." "No matter to what degree China opens up to the outside world and admits foreign capital, its relative magnitude will be small and it can't affect our system of socialist public ownership of the means of production." -Deng Xiaoping

Thank you Prof. Wolff. Your contributions to the working class are invaluable.

China actually has the largest economy in the world from a microeconomic standpoint. The USA simply has a larger economy based on GDP per capita, but most real economists don’t fully rely on that.

Thank you sir. Clear, coherent, to the point. Students must see this. I shall share and do my part.

Kinda surprised you didn't mention Deng Xiaoping and his economic liberalizing reforms in the 70s which dismantled collectives among other things, I feel like that is extremely important to this discussion.

This is one of Richards best updates so far.

Wow just discovered this guy a couple of weeks ago. Phenomenal. Thank you!

Thank you for your insight and the work you do. My concern is that deregulated corporate greed will destroy itself. I do not think we can get control of that without a lot of civil strife. In my opinion the difference in China and America, is in how and who controls their military. I'm very concerned we are on the verge of becoming a corporate owned military dictatorship.

I am always pleased to hear thoughtful perspectives from Professor Wolff.

THIS SHOW IS EXCELLANT AND INFORMATIVE AND TO HERE THE TRUTH IS LIBERATING. THANK YOU

One thing I like about these presentations is that the closed-captioned part isn't run by idiots, like the ones we have here in Pittsburgh.

I am from China. In our country, lands in city areas are owned by government, however lands in rural areas are divided into small parts and owned by different collections of farmers and villagers, basically by taking a village as a unit. Each family in country can get a small piece of land to build their own house and yard. If local governments or companies want to get lands in rural areas, they must consult with the village committee and in many situations they need every involved farmer's permission. But farmers can refuse to sign their names if they think the compensation is not enough.

An excellent synopsis. Clear and concise. Thank you!

Wolff seems pissed. I love it

Great logical opinions! I really like your explanation regarding to the three ties of the society in US and China. It makes sense to explain why China is ascending and US is descending.

Bless you for sorting this mess out for us Professor Wolff. I will be corroborating your input but am impressed by your lucid explanations.

20yr of American Edu & I just learned more about the 3 "Super Powers" in 30min on RU-vid. Hmm, that can't be good for Dr Wolff!

You’re insights on the subject is always appreciated doctor, thank you! I learned a lot.

Super interesting and very well presented. Thank you sir!

“Is China socialist or capitalist?” “Yes.”

The problem with allowing unbridled capitalism.and mega rich, is it puts the real.power in the hands of people that were not elected and do not represent the citizens and who cannot be held accountable. It also does away with FOI and transparency of government.

This was once again a great talk. Thank you so much

Amazingly informative, so happy I found this channel!

Thank you Dr Wolff I love to listened your channal because it's very interesting informetived.And i learned a lot , from your blog.Thank you sir.

Thank you, professor Wolff, this cleared up a few things in my mind. 🙂

"or what" is probably the most accurate answer. It has a plurality of different modes of production from co-op to state socialist to private and more.

Super informative. Keep up the fantastic work, it is much appreciated.

first time heard a different interpretation of community-sm instead of a mainstream one . very inspirational . BTW, that does happen in local communities in my neighborhood . the local representatives (usually voted by the local community) help make the community a better place in very small ways like trash recycling , helping the elderly , better management of the community funds etc . the local residential community committees are very decentralized and very efficient in running the community.

the best you have done yet, love it.

Noon and noon professor speech is better than nobody's. Thank you so much

Professor, your work is indispensable for a better world. Greetings from Wisconsin. ✌✌

As a Chinese, when I was a kid in primary school, I was thought that we must study hard , work hard and fight for communism. I remember I asked my teacher what is communism like, and she told me she didn’t know either because we are far away from it. To me, communism is like a dreamland. When I grew and became an adult, I found nobody talks about this topic and even the government media does not. So communism only lives in Children’s text book.

The three-layer theory of governance structure is a clever way to understand US and China. Chinese leaders called their model as “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics,” but they have not been able to explain it as well as what Dr. Wolff did. Thank you for educating us!

Thank you, I was wondering what your views were on the definition of state capitalism, and its relationship to the current Chinese economy. You do good work.

I was wondering if you believe the other way and broadcasting the opposite vision of the government breathing in china.... I have been to many countries across the world but USA is different, its bright, its lively, its free. Let's be free... Let's achieve things,materials,positions by our hardwork,let's have what we deserve. Capitalism is the best way ... Atleast better than a well organized dictatorship. Capitalism rocks.

You explained very well the differences and similarities between the American economic system and the Chinese economic system. I am subscribing to your channel.

What a powerful talk. Possibly even the most powerful edition yet. I love it. ✊

It seems to be about what happens to surplus production. Power is the means to that end, ergo greed-driven predatory politics and the struggle between property rights and human rights.

very enlightening . thank you!

Interesting. I've been to China and thinking about moving there after the pandemic.