During China’s greatest period of economic growth, fed by widespread industrialization that lifted millions out of poverty, inequality has also increased -- at the fastest pace and to the highest level in the world. It may get worse.China’s Gini coefficient, a widely used measure of income dispersion across a population, has risen more steeply over the last decade than in any other country, according to an International Monetary Fund working paper. Some inequality is to be expected with industri

Viewpoints Sept. 27, 2018

There’s a new breed of spender in charge of China’s wallets, and it’s not crazy-rich Asians.The rise of Pinduoduo Inc. and the decline of JD.com Inc. are good proxies for this shift. Founded three years ago, the e-commerce site Pinduoduo processed transactions worth 262 billion yuan ($38.3 billion) in the second quarter, just 40 percent shy of JD’s gross merchandise volume. The smaller company now has more annual active users than JD, China’s second-largest e-commerce provider with 16 percent of

Viewpoints Sept. 26, 2018

Last weekend in London, the Economist braved angry protesters to host Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist, and white nationalist, at the magazine’s Open Future festival. The week before, outrage on social media and threatened cancellations from invited speakers had forced the New Yorker to cancel a similar public interview with Bannon.The Economist has been a self-conscious flag-bearer of Anglo-American liberalism since it started publication 175 years ago. As its editor wrote

Viewpoints Sept. 20, 2018

Most studies on the impact of artificial intelligence on jobs and the economy have focused on developed countries such as the US and Britain. But through my work as a scientist, technology executive and venture capitalist in the US and China, I’ve come to believe that the gravest threat AI poses is to emerging economies.　In recent decades, China and India have presented the world with two different models for how such countries can climb the development ladder. In the China model, a nation lever

Viewpoints Sept. 19, 2018

If the lack of an external enemy since the end of the Cold War has made America weak and feckless, as some argue, then can the rise of China give America a newfound vigor and sense of purpose? Probably not.　There are several differences between the former Soviet Union and contemporary China that help explain why the USSR came across as so much more threatening. The Soviets had a string of leaders who were well suited to play movie villains. Stalin murdered millions and radiated evil. Khrushchev

Viewpoints Sept. 19, 2018

For a nation of supposedly “stubborn Gauls,” as President Emmanuel Macron described his people last month, the French seem to have taken his economic reform medicine with few complaints. This should not be a surprise. Despite the cliches, surveys mainly show that the French approve of public spending cuts and the rhythm of change introduced since Macron took power in 2017.　Yet clearly Macron is not loved, either. His dwindling approval ratings invoke unfavorable comparisons with predecessors lik

Viewpoints Sept. 19, 2018

Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology is a rare example of a Chinese national champion that’s also become a global leader. But the very ties to China’s surveillance state that powered the company’s rise now threaten to check its progress.　Hikvision’s footprint has grown in tandem with China’s political agenda. Its cameras dot the western region of Xinjiang, where the government has greatly expanded its security apparatus and faces accusations of human rights abuses. The US is now considering san

Viewpoints Sept. 18, 2018

Many countries present a number of different faces to the world, but Russia goes them all one better. Its government is a Janus whose faces are so at odds they might come from separate species.　One of these faces got a lot of airtime last week. First, Gen. Viktor Zolotov, head of Russia’s National Guard, published the video of his out-of-control rant against anti-corruption activist Alexey Navalny, who had accused him of involvement in corrupt procurement practices. Zolotov runs an armed force o

Viewpoints Sept. 18, 2018

When I served as commander of the US Southern Command, my first four-star assignment, I visited every country and territory in Latin America -- except Venezuela. By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had destroyed relations with the US, cratered the country’s economy and polarized its electorate.Death by violence soared, hitting levels 10 times that of the US, and 50 times higher than Western Europe. The nation’s abundance of oil became a curse, as

Viewpoints Sept. 17, 2018

Watch out car companies, here comes the long arm of the Chinese state.　Toyota Motor Corp. is preparing to hand Beijing the technology behind the Prius, its almost-eponymous hybrid car, Bloomberg News reported Thursday. The move comes as Chinese officials push for bluer skies and cleaner vehicles, but it’s an aggressive overture for a company that had, until recently, a passive presence in the world’s biggest car market.　For Toyota’s peers, the agreement would set a scary precedent. Sharing know-

Viewpoints Sept. 17, 2018

By late spring, Fan Bingbing, China’s most popular actress, had become a cultural juggernaut. She had 63 million followers on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social network, and high-profile endorsement deals with some of the world’s most prominent luxury brands. Besides roles in major Chinese and Hollywood films, she’d just enjoyed a prestigious turn as a juror at the Cannes Film Festival. If Anne Hathaway and the Kardashians merged, they would still have fallen short of Fan’s ubiquitous stardom.　T

Viewpoints Sept. 16, 2018

The big state-owned Chinese enterprise is back. But this time, it isn’t looking sturdy enough to prop up the economy.As growth stumbles, Beijing is falling back on a tried and trusted solution: using large, government-backed companies to spur activity. That’s squeezing out private and small firms.　The economy certainly merits concern. Trade frictions and Beijing’s crackdown on the underbelly of the financial system have combined to sap confidence. Higher borrowing costs, weak household spending

Viewpoints Sept. 13, 2018