I was wondering why Ross Gittins has suddenly gone China gaga having written three pieces on it in the past week. They’ve been half decent efforts:
And today on China versus Australia:
Sorry if I sound wide-eyed, but I was mightily impressed when I visited China as a guest of the Australia-China Relations Institute. Obviously, we were directed to the best rather than the worst but, even allowing for that, it was still impressive. Those guys are going places.
In a hurry. I was struck by how fast-moving the place is – in several senses. We argue interminably about getting a high-speed rail link, while the Chinese just get on with it.
…So many of us have outdated perceptions about China. It’s a poor country producing cheap clothes and toys and knick-knacks in sweat shops.
That used to be true, and in parts of the country still is. But these days China is a middle-income country anxious to get rich gloriously.
…China is big; we think of ourselves as small. China is confident, impatiently pushing towards a better future; we are fearful, waiting for more luck to turn up.
A few points. Mr Gittins should apologise for being wide-eyed. If he hasn’t visited China in recent years then his soothing drivel for baby boomers has been based upon pure ignorance.
Second, if Mr Gittins wants Australia to be more like China and to embrace renewal, confidence and a dynamic future then he should stop writing soothing drivel for baby boomers that encourages them to fearfully hang onto their assets and the paralysed economic model that supports them.
Third, its bloody embarrassing that Domainfax’s top economic commentator can only fly to China on a paid-up junket but that’s what happens when media business models reflect the stagnant baby boomer “confidence economy” that relies exclusively upon real estate revenue.
In short, Mr Gittins is the living embodiment of everything he wishes Australia was not.
