IP and GDP
Posted by unbrand on 31 December 2004 | 0 Comments
What percentage of the non-food things you buy are made in China? 20%? 40%? 95%? I just started noticing that the vast majority of things I buy are made in China. The keyboard I’m typing on is made in the USA and I’m pleasantly surprised by that. U-S-A! Woo-hoo! Here’s to the last American company to actually make something. Apart from my keyboard, my computer, table, clothes, sofa, kitchen gear, all this stuff that I’ve bought recently, is made in China.
China is rapidly becoming (if they aren’t already) the global economic leader because they make stuff. Seriously. If you make stuff, you get to control all kinds of things. It’s only by inertia that America thinks it’s running the show. That shit’s gonna change real soon.
So why is China kicking so much global butt? My theory is this: lack of intellectual property laws. As far as I can tell, intellectual property laws don’t really exist, or at least are not enforced the way they are in, say, the United States. People in China are not so strung out over legally protecting what they’re creating. They’re too busy making stuff. I’ve always thought the last dying gasp of a company is when they try to survive off of patent litigation or other legal manoeuvres. It’s kind of like a car running on fumes at that point—surviving on the remnants of what was there.
From a high tech industry standpoint, China is really going to kick into high gear and dominate as they’ve alredy indicated.