I was listening to an interesting talk the other day and something I never really knew about was the difference between the US and Chinese economies. What stuck in my mind was the way the Western Stock market, though volatile, can bounce back quite quickly from a crisis. The Chinese stock exchange is somewhat weaker but the risk is elsewhere. If a Chinese company defaults on a loan for example rather than panic the system keeps chugging along.

In today’s world the Western stock market is more about stimulus to avoid ‘reality/panic’ but it keeps doing its thing. The new technofeudal fiefdoms keep it propped up too. Yet what I find interesting is the need for constant crises in capitalism. It’s like the anxiety of the people in monetary form. The classic disaster/opportunity that becomes opportunity/disaster. I remember my dad who ran his life like a business was always aware of impending disaster.

In my dad’s mind there was always someone ready to outsmart you. I suppose if you are constantly in a crisis anything goes. The risk in the Chinese market is pouring money into unprofitable ventures that are more about potential growth. The scale is huge but even though the failures if compared to the scale are quite low or the rewards are decades away. There is not a lot of short term thinking and it is people focused. The West on the other hand seems more focused on technology than people.