DOWN ON THE FARM - IN CHINA
Robyn Meredith
Forbes, October 22, 2008
Wall Street's crisis has washed across the ocean to China and slowed the Chinese economy down to single-digit growth for the first time in five years. The Chinese government is alarmed. But Beijing is taking a vastly different approach than Washington: Rather than bail out bankers, investors and savers, China is concentrating on the plight of its peasants.
To those in the West, China's "save the farmers" approach may seem nonsensical. After all, the farmers are not worse off than they were before, unlike stock investors or real estate owners. And anyway, shouldn't China be cutting interest rates and investing in big banks to stabilize them? (Actually, it has cut rates twice, and invested in banks--but they're American, not Chinese!)
Instead, China is dramatically transforming policy for the nation's 730 million farmers. For the first time since Mao collectivized farming in 1955, China's farmers will have a free market for the land they till. This is a historic change for China, and lest anyone miss the significance, Beijing announced it on the 30th anniversary of the last major set of rural reforms, which marked China's first steps towards capitalism.
Back in 1978, China had 1 billion farmers working on collectively owned farms managed by communes. Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping decreed that communes would divvy up their land and assign a small plot to each household, which was then allowed to choose what crops to plant and was paid at year's end for its harvest. Later, farmers were given other freedoms, and today, farmers are allowed to sell what they produce on their small plots of collectively owned land.
Forbes, October 22, 2008
Wall Street's crisis has washed across the ocean to China and slowed the Chinese economy down to single-digit growth for the first time in five years. The Chinese government is alarmed. But Beijing is taking a vastly different approach than Washington: Rather than bail out bankers, investors and savers, China is concentrating on the plight of its peasants.
To those in the West, China's "save the farmers" approach may seem nonsensical. After all, the farmers are not worse off than they were before, unlike stock investors or real estate owners. And anyway, shouldn't China be cutting interest rates and investing in big banks to stabilize them? (Actually, it has cut rates twice, and invested in banks--but they're American, not Chinese!)
Instead, China is dramatically transforming policy for the nation's 730 million farmers. For the first time since Mao collectivized farming in 1955, China's farmers will have a free market for the land they till. This is a historic change for China, and lest anyone miss the significance, Beijing announced it on the 30th anniversary of the last major set of rural reforms, which marked China's first steps towards capitalism.
Back in 1978, China had 1 billion farmers working on collectively owned farms managed by communes. Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping decreed that communes would divvy up their land and assign a small plot to each household, which was then allowed to choose what crops to plant and was paid at year's end for its harvest. Later, farmers were given other freedoms, and today, farmers are allowed to sell what they produce on their small plots of collectively owned land.
(...) [artículo aquí]
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