Today in the Wall Street Journal, economist Gary Becker writes about what would make China’s economy grow at an even faster rate. From the editorial (emphasis mine):
No country in the modern world has managed persistent economic growth without considerable reliance on private enterprise and decentralized private markets. All centrally planned economies failed to achieve sustained development, including the Soviet Union before its collapse, China before market reforms began in the late 1970s, and Cuba since Castro’s revolution in the late 1950s.
This is advice that the state government in Missouri should take to heart. Through the use of programs like targeted tax credits, TIF, and the LRA’s land holding policy, the government in Missouri attempts to plan the economy and consequently stunts its growth.
Missourians and the Chinese alike would experience more economic growth if the government allowed private enterprise and the decentralized market to function.
