The US Does Not Fear Derogation, So Neither Should China

Recently, some well-known media entities have circulated economic opinions from financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, etc., sometimes praising and other times derogating China’s economy. This has created a lot of trouble for China. But in actuality, this is an overestimation of Goldman Sachs and other companies. The boom and bust of the economy is not decided by praise or derogation. In fact, the active badmouthing of the Chinese economy most recently has, at most, only led some sectors to make rapid withdrawals of hot money. This has no impact on the big picture for China, and, to some degree, is actually beneficial to China’s economic transformation. After all, international capital is not dependent on Goldman Sachs and company — many places are prepared to invest heavily in China. Although the Chinese economy will confront some difficulties in the midst of its transformation, there is no doubt that we can steadily forge ahead and reproduce our former glory if we keep a cool head, take appropriate steps, follow regulations, act resolutely and fully exhibit the superiority of our system and our capacity for reform. We should have absolute confidence in this.

In fact, the U.S. itself does not fear bad-mouthing or derogation. The U.S. has never worried about its economy being bad-mouthed. After World War II, the U.S. had at least eight discussions in which it talked down its own economy, each time emphasizing its flaws and garnering endless criticism from external factors as well. However, this had little to no impact on the U.S. economy. Instead, through the discussions and criticism, the U.S. was able to implement measures to fix and improve the system. As for the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis and the subsequent financial crisis, neither were the results of bad-mouthing, but were simply caused by innate flaws in the U.S. banking system. Whether the U.S. will walk away from this financial crisis unscathed also has nothing to do with the promotion or derogation of its economy, but depends on the banking system’s flexibility and capacity for change.

The facts show that the rise and fall of both the U.S. economy and the Chinese economy is not decided by others’ praise or criticism. Since the U.S. does not fear derogation, China has even less reason to be afraid. Rather, China ought to take the criticism and use it to build healthier measures for the development of its economy.