Friday, October 26, 2018

Chinese Billionaires

 Francis Fukuyama appears to be impressed with the Chinese model of state-capitalism.

He said, “The Chinese are arguing openly that it is a superior one because they can guarantee stability and economic growth over the long run in a way that democracy can’t… if in another 30 years, they’re bigger than the US, Chinese people are richer and the country is still holding together, I would say they’ve got a real argument.” But he cautioned that “the real test of the regime” would be how it fared in an economic crisis.

In the meantime, China produced billionaires at the rate of two a week in 2017 and was currently the leading country for entrepreneurs to create wealth. Worldwide, total billionaire wealth rose 19% to a record $8.9tn, shared among 2,158 individuals. UBS and PwC said there were already more billionaires in Asia than in the US. On present trends, they would be wealthier than their US counterparts within three years.
"Over the last decade, Chinese billionaires have created some of the world's largest and most successful companies..." said Josef Stadler, head of ultra-high net worth at UBS Global Management. "But this is just the beginning. China's vast population, technology innovation and productivity growth combined with government support, are providing unprecedented opportunities for individuals not only to build businesses but also to change people's lives for the better."

One Chinese billionaire told the researchers: “Nowhere else in the world can you find better conditions for growth than in China. The continued progress of wealth creation is supported by government policies liberating the economy, while urbanisation and business model disruption has crafted powerful new entrepreneurs.”
There were only 16 Chinese billionaires as recently as 2016, the report said, but now nearly one in five billionaires worldwide was Chinese.

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