Thinking About China
Opinion

What Beijing’s Planners Thought Would Help Has in Fact Hurt China’s Economy

Beijing, in the face of severe economic challenges and even before Trump’s tariffs, pursued a technological solution that has only made matters worse.
What Beijing’s Planners Thought Would Help Has in Fact Hurt China’s Economy
A container ship arrives at the port in Lianyungang, in Jiangsu Province, China, on July 14, 2025. STR/AFP via Getty Images
Milton Ezrati
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Milton Ezrati
Milton Ezrati
Author
Milton Ezrati is a contributing editor at The National Interest, an affiliate of the Center for the Study of Human Capital at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), and chief economist for Vested, a New York-based communications firm. Before joining Vested, he served as chief market strategist and economist for Lord, Abbett & Co. He also writes frequently for City Journal and blogs regularly for Forbes. His latest book is “Thirty Tomorrows: The Next Three Decades of Globalization, Demographics, and How We Will Live.”