una lettura "austriaca" dell'espansione economica cinese:
The Austrian School of Economics is the best market theory.
- It studies the actual market.
- It gives entrepreneurship central status.
- It understands economic growth as a continuous process of innovation.
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In contrast, neoclassical economics is not a good market theory.
- It studies an imaginary market contained in the computers of economists.
- It ignores entrepreneurship.
- It cannot tell us the true cause of economic growth...
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Zhang contrasts property-based rights with position-based rights. Position-based rights, such as those pertaining to government officials, are “loosely and non-exclusively defined and often subject to frequent administrative changes.” The holders often have discretionary power to change the boundaries of the rights, and only an administrative process (rather than a legal process) can resolve disputes. Rent-seeking activities are “inborn” with position-based rights.
Position-based rights are term-limited and non-marketable. Sounding like Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Zhang points out the implication that “the incumbent holder has only a short horizon of using the position-based rights” and therefore seeks to maximize their personal value during the term in office, “not the discounted present value of long return flows.” In China, the rights attached to a position determine not only authority, but also personal income, perks (such as using a car, and of what type), control benefits and prestige.
Therefore, concludes Zhang, competition for positions is value-destructive. In contrast, competition for property-based rights among entrepreneurs is value-creative.