26 June 2008

China Lectures Syria on Economic Development

I found this on Marginal Revolution, one of the best economics blogs.
"What can we do," the Syrian Finance minister asked, "to increase Chinese investment?" "Well," the Chinese minister replied, "before we invest in Syria you most open your markets, cut your subsidies, and reduce regulation..."
I like Syria, and I hope they follow the advice. From what I saw, I think it's possible they will, although slowly.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

China (and to a lesser extent Singapore) show that the best way for an authoritarian government to suppress dissent is to increase prosperity.

Of course they could have gotten than from Machiavelli as well, but better late than never I suppose.

Anonymous said...

In case of statecraft China doesn't really need to learn from that Italian guy. Ever heard of Han Fei and legalism? The Chinese can put up a nice grin and dismiss Mr. M as an understudy...