The banking system we take for granted is unfixable. The good news is that we no longer need to rely on any private, rent-seeking, socially destabilizing network of banks, at least not the way we have so far.
shows why the current private system is unfixable – and why we don’t need to tolerate it anymore.
Like Vladimir Putin, China's leader is so steeped in a narrative of victimhood and fearful of appearing weak that it is hard to imagine him ever leading China out of the mess he has created. He could well be remembered as the leader who squandered history's most remarkable economic success story.
about the country's increasingly worrisome trajectory, both at home and abroad.
Artificial IdiocyFrank Rumpenhorst/picture alliance via Getty Images
发自安娜堡—与美国和苏联之间的旧超级大国竞争不同,当前初露端倪的中美冷战并未反映出某种不可扭转对立意识形态的根本冲突,却被普遍描绘成了专制与民主之间的史诗性斗争。
此外事实似乎表明专制大获全胜,而民主则一败涂地。美国总统特朗普领导下的美国在新型冠状病毒疫情期间表现一塌糊涂,中国却控制住了病毒。在美国当地连戴口罩的行为都被政治化的时候,中国却在最初爆发疫情的中国武汉以惊人的能力和秩序在十日内对1100万居民实施了病毒检测。对于许多人来说胜负似乎早已明了:专制主义优于自由民主。
但得于这样的结论不仅过于草率,甚至是误导性的,原因有三:首先,正如特朗普领导下的美国不能代表所有民主国家一样,习近平领导下的中国也不应被视为专制国家的范本。韩国和新西兰等其他民主社会也对疫情进行了妥善应对,政治自由并未妨碍其政府实施病毒遏制措施的能力。
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