See our new CircleID commentary on the China-Google dustup and its implications for an open Internet:
China is nowhere near closing for business as it did five centuries ago. One doubts, however, that the Ming emperor knew he was dooming his people for the next couple hundred years, depriving them of the goods and ideas of the coming Industrial Revolution. China’s present day leaders know this history. They know technology. They know turning away from global trade and communication would doom them far more surely than would an open Internet.
Stanford economist Paul Romer has had lots of good ideas over the years. Particularly his ideas about the importance of ideas in the economy. But his “Charter City” idea explored at the recent TED conference is one of the best yet.
Romer uses China’s “free zones” envisioned by Deng Xiaoping and initially implemented by one Jiang Zemin as the chief example of how his charter cities would work in practice. He explains how they might cut the political-economic Gordian knot of societies too stuck in the past to make obviously needed rule changes that can open the floodgates of ideas and entrepreneurship. These were the key themes of my paper.
Also check out this working paper by Romer that surveys the economic growth literature (hat tip: Growthology).
"Entropy, Israel, Entrepreneurship, and More" – Interview with George Gilder – by Kim Greenhouse – March 16, 2010 – Here, Gilder nicely summarizes our use of entropy in economic analysis.
"Geithner's Revelation" – The Wall Street Journal – May 12, 2009 – A terrific editorial echoingmy post on the first public official to concede the crucial role easy monetary policy played in the crash.
