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China Confronts the Great Recession: ‘Rebalancing’ Neoliberalism, or Else?

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Emerging Economies During and After the Great Recession

Part of the book series: International Papers in Political Economy Series ((IPPE))

Abstract

This paper posits that China’s economic transformation since the turn of the century has tended to converge to what can be called the Golden Age Model. Characteristic of the model is rapid growth in productive investment, and therefore productivity and wage growth, underpinned by the institutional nexus of ‘Big Business, Big Labour, and Big Government’. The convergence to the Golden Age Model has been seriously hindered by neoliberal-oriented policies over the past few years, so much so that there is a real danger of the Chinese economy being subject to the full rigour of the Great Recession. The prospects for the future depend, thus, on the rivalry between the political-economic forces behind the two models. And the outcome of the rivalry will be of fundamental importance given the fact that China has already become a globally significant centre of production, holder of financial resources, and carrier of outward direct investment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SOAS, University of London, UK

    Dic Lo

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  1. Dic Lo
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cambridge Centre for Economic and Public Policy, University of Cambridge, UK

    Philip Arestis (Director of Research and Professor of Economics) (Director of Research and Professor of Economics)

  2. University of the Basque Country, Spain

    Philip Arestis (Director of Research and Professor of Economics) (Director of Research and Professor of Economics)

  3. University of Leeds, UK

    Malcolm Sawyer (Emeritus Professor of Economics) (Emeritus Professor of Economics)

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© 2016 Dic Lo

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Lo, D. (2016). China Confronts the Great Recession: ‘Rebalancing’ Neoliberalism, or Else?. In: Arestis, P., Sawyer, M. (eds) Emerging Economies During and After the Great Recession. International Papers in Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137485557_7

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