The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 602 Industrial Policy
Beijing.

Siheyuan.

The temperature in Beijing is still very high in August.

A few degrees cooler than it would be thirty years later, but still very hot.

After leaving Hong Kong, Liu Tao took a special plane back to Beijing.

In addition to taking a vacation, he also attended an important meeting - the 'Torch Project' working meeting.

This is the first national 'Torch Plan' working meeting held by the State Science and Technology Commission, which aims to develop the 'Torch Plan' for high-tech industries!
The purpose of the 'Torch Plan' is to promote the commercialization of high-tech and new technology research results through policy support, and to promote the formation and development of high-tech and new technology industries!

The Torch Plan is to further develop the high-tech achievements in the national Seventh Five-Year Science and Technology Key Project and the high-tech research and development plan, namely the 863 Plan, to form high-tech industrial products that are competitive in the domestic and international markets.

Liu Tao had some contact with this "Torch Project" because more than 30 years later, this project still exists.

Liu Tao drank tea while reading the relevant information of the "Torch Project". The meeting will last for four days.

Since the reform and opening up, due to the influence of the United States and the Soviet Union, there have been two hugely divergent views on economic development.

One view is influenced by American liberal economics and believes in liberal economics, which holds that all forms of industrial policies should be abolished and that everything should be left to the invisible hand of the market and left to the market to choose. Marketization has the highest efficiency, the best driving force, and the survival of the fittest.

This view holds that the reason why industrial policies fail is, firstly, due to the limitations of human cognitive abilities and, secondly, due to the distortion of incentive mechanisms.

One view is that backward countries cannot do without industrial policies. Industries need the guidance of national industrial policies to develop faster and better, so that they have a chance to develop. If backward countries do not have industrial policies, how can they compete with developed countries?

From a certain perspective, this is not only a continuation of the disagreement and debate between capitalist and socialist economics, but also a continuation of the paradigm dispute between American neoclassical economics and Hayek economics to China.

This dispute in the economics community can be traced back to the debate between Keynes and Hayek in the 30s. These two pioneers of economics fought several rounds of battles over whether the government should intervene in the market.

In fact, even after another thirty years, there will still be no conclusion as to who is right and who is wrong, and the debate will still continue.

But there is no doubt that China has chosen industrial policy!
After all, China has its own national conditions. China's state-owned economy and collective economy still occupy an absolute dominant position, and the private economy is still very weak.

This point determines that China will choose industrial policy!

One of the important reasons why Hayek's liberalism has regained favor in the United States is that the British and American economies have been in stagflation since the 70s. The more than ten years of stagflation have made many people believe that Hayek's liberalism can lead everyone out of economic stagflation and back onto the path of rapid economic development.

Even though Reagan implemented free economics after he came to power, and it was even praised as "Reagan's free economics", the problem of economic stagflation in the United States has not been solved in recent years. However, many people believe that it is because it was not implemented properly.

But China does not have this problem. From the reform and opening up to the present, China's economy has been booming. Every year, there are even economic experts who shout that the economy is overheated and the country should step in to cool it down.

This kind of economic stagflation problem does not exist in China at all. Naturally, the national conditions are different from those in Europe and the United States.

After reading the materials in his hand, Liu Tao took a pen and wrote in his notebook, "Since I am attending a meeting, I naturally have to think it through first."

Because this work conference will have an impact on the whole country not just for one or two years, but for a long time.

Liu Tao also hopes that his suggestions will lead to the development of the Torch Plan in a positive direction for the country.

Zhu Lin brought the plate over and gently placed it on the table, placing the teacups, fruit plate and pastries on the plate.

In the distance, the children are playing. Summer vacation is undoubtedly the happiest time for children. They don’t have to go to school and can do their best. No student doesn’t like it.

Liu Tao closed his notebook.

The two of them drank tea here, listened to the chirping of cicadas, watched the children playing in the distance, and talked and laughed in low voices.

At seven o'clock in the evening, Liu Tao was watching the news.

There are three most noteworthy points in today's news. One is that after several months of efforts, the Soviet Union finally achieved its goal and withdrew from the Afghan battlefield with dignity, ending the Soviet Union's nine-year war in Afghanistan.

One point is that China and the Soviet Union successfully resolved long-standing problems and reached a series of agreements through negotiations. Now these agreements have been formally implemented, which has contributed to world peace. That is, disputes can be resolved through political consultation rather than fighting.

The last point is that in South Asia, all forces finally signed a ceasefire agreement, which brought the dawn of peace. Peace has come again and the world has become less chaotic.

With this armistice agreement, 11 countries have gained independence and sovereignty, and the United Nations will soon add 11 sovereign states.

These are also seen as the follow-up impact of Gorbachev's visit to China.

Liu Tao felt both happy and sad. He was naturally happy about South Asia. The strategy had been realized. In the future, there would be more peace there, and there wouldn't be too many fluctuations. China wouldn't need to invest too much energy in this direction, nor would it be too constrained.

Sadly, there will be no more orders from Afghanistan in the future.

If the Soviet army withdraws from Afghanistan, the Americans will certainly not spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year to purchase weapons and ammunition for the guerrillas.

Americans have always been ruthless. They are easy to talk to about anything with a country that they can use. But once a country is no longer useful, they will immediately turn their backs on it.

In the Afghan War, the Americans have invested a lot of money in Afghanistan over the years in order to disrupt the Soviets. They have purchased three to four million guns alone and more than one billion rounds of ammunition.

Now that the Soviet troops have withdrawn from Afghanistan, the Americans will certainly not be willing to give money to Afghanistan anymore.

As for the life or death of Afghanistan, the Americans will not care.

Because Afghanistan is no longer of any use.

Liu Tao shook his head slightly. He was actually very envious of Afghanistan. Afghanistan's geographical location was too important and had huge strategic value. It was located at the crossroads of the Eurasian continent. Whoever controlled this place would have the initiative.

Moreover, Afghanistan has rich natural resources, including iron, chromium, copper, lead, zinc, nickel, lithium, beryllium, gold, silver, platinum, etc., as well as abundant natural gas resources.

But the problem is that Afghanistan is now in ruins, with a lot of work to be done and the forces are even more complicated. The initial investment is too huge and the output is limited, so the gains do not outweigh the losses.

He would rather invest his money in Southeast Asia. Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam all require large sums of money and are more worthy of investment.

And these places are much safer than Afghanistan.

The rewards are much greater too.

As for the two countries implementing the agreement, it is a matter of time. After all, the long border line will not be beneficial to both countries if the strong pressure is not relieved.

(End of this chapter)