Ombudsman Alert China VS. the USA: Who Wins and Who Loses?

China VS. the USA: Who Wins and Who Loses?

BY DR. LOUIS ALPERT

Ombudsman

As an alumnus and former mathematics instructor at M.I.T, this ombudsman once again received the permission of editor David Rotman of the MIT Technology Review, to quote directly from their current article  bearing the above-stated title:

“Born in Beijing and educated at Harvard, Yashheng Huang, a professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, is a keen observer of China’s entrepreneurial efforts and the role the government has played in the country’s remarkable growth.” The Technology Review recently interviewed Dr, Huang, posing several key questions which will be presented below together with their responses from him:

‘IN WHAT AREAS OF TECHNOLOGY IS CHINA AHEAD?’

“In AI(Artificial Intelligence) and Big Data, China is surging ahead, there’s no doubt, These are areas compatible with the government’s politics and things like its ‘social credit’ system. People also talk about life sciences. To some extent, that’s developing fast for similar reasons as AI. You just plunge ahead without privacy complaints, without safeguards, regulatory constraints.

In a very crude sense, you can develop science very fast without constraints,

In anything that requires a lot of capital commitment, and that’s in line with the political objectives, you can expect China to move forward. So, for example, in quantum computing and maybe even microchips.”

‘HOW MUCH DOES CHINA DEPEND ON THE US FOR FINANCE, TALENT, and IP?’

“China is not dependent on the US for financing, and is exporting talent to the US. In terms of intellectual property, we just don’t know. There’s a perception that China parrots US, and I think as a general description that’s probably right. but China is also producing some IP  as well. I think China is, however,very dependent not just on the US but also on Japan, South Korea, and other countries for critical, key components in their manufacturing.”

Finally, ‘WHO IS LOSING MORE FROM THE TRADE WAR?’

“If I must give an answer, I would argue China. Even though the Chinese economy is growing at a higher level, it is tending downwards. Whereas the US economy is trending upwards. There is concern about overheating in the US economy, but to some extent, a trade war acts as a brake on an overheating economy. In the Chinese case, its like taking away the fuel from a fire that is diminishing. Whether the US has the tolerance, that’s a separate question. It could be that the US is losing less, but then the political system here is more sensitive.”

Please address all comments and questions to: editor@rocklandcountytimes.com