Caboose braking in India and China: one physical, one functional
Friday, March 17, 2006 at 9:36AM ARTICLE: "In India, the Path To Growth Hits Roadblock: Slums; Huge Squatter Settlements Hem In Development Sites; A Potent Political Force," by John Larkin and Eric Bellman, Wall Street Journal, 17 March 2006, p. A1.
ARTICLE: "Chinese Regulator Lacks Enforcement Power to Close Polluters," by Rebecca Blumenstein, Wall Street Journal, 17 March 2006, p. A6.
Doesn't get any more real that the limits imposed by impoverished squatters. I remember driving around Mumbai back in 2001: fantastic development right next to vast squalor. Same deal basically holds in China, where it's the inability to sell or properly value rural land that leads local party bosses to reclassify the land and speculate on that basis.
Nasty stuff that gets you peasant revolts, so the caboose braking is quite similar in both countries, despite the political differences.
But it is true that China lacks far more functional capabilities for processing such demands from the caboose population. When the main enforcer of pollution regs says he's not empowered nearly enough, you know the Communist Party is headed into new territory. To empower this guy is to standardize the regs, making them transparent. Once transparent, other rural areas will demand similar enforcement. Pretty soon it's the law that matters more than the Party.
Until then, the caboose braking by the rural poor will only increase.
Sean: I think we need a glossary entry for "caboose braking," no?
Reader Comments (6)
Yes, sir, I do. Will do.
Hey Sean - just a note to let you know that I appreciate your relatively activist assistanceship. I read Barnett via rss and rarely click through to the comments, so I don't know whether you've been getting pats on the back or, for that matter, what the general tenor of discussion is around here. Anyway: good work, keep it up. And make sure the good doctor stays addicted to blogging. I'll miss him if he disappears entirely into the private sector.
don't know if you'll check back in on this or not, robert, but thanks for the kind words...
The situation in China with regard to peasants' property rights is incredibly similiar to ... XIIth century England. King Henry II created the "assize of novel dissein" in 1166, thereby taking the gentry's property claims out of baronial courts and into the king's courts. Trial by jury, standarization of judicial procedures, secure property rights: the results were truly spectacular. The Chinese are already toying with the idea of jury trials in civil cases. Interesting times ahead.
Speaking of glossary entries, it would be useful to have a link from the blog to the glossary, or to have some indication on the home page of which glossary (PNM or BFA) one should look at. When trying to understand "caboose breaking", it's not clear at all where to start. Thanks!
Gentlemen,
These articles back up three points. 1) China is not nearly as large a threat as many think. Yes, they are increasing defense spending. Yes, the purchase of new technologies (as opposed to using half of your budget to maintain outdated equipment