China Against Herself: Long
Island University
Economist Advocates WTO Welcome
Internationally renowned economist Panos Mourdoukoutas, professor of
economics at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University in Brookville,
New York, recently made public his controversial view of China's role in
the World Trade Organization (WTO). Against scores of civil rights activists
and humanistic organizations, Dr. Mourdoukoutas advocates the addition
of China to the World Trade Organization despite its civic transgressions.
Co-author of the new book China Against Herself: Innovation or Imitation
in Global Business, Dr. Mourdoukoutas believes that China is not a
viable competitor in the World Market and poses no threat to Japan or the
United States. "Like the guest who arrives last to a crowded party,
there is little left for China in the world market," says Dr. Mourdoukoutas.
"China joins the global economy a little bit late, lacking the ability
and capability to innovate and sustain a competitive edge."
Dr. Mourdoukoutas also calls attention to China's lack of an expanding
world market frontier and poor domestic markets as justification for his
opinion. "China is a large producer of traditional manufacturing products
- a market maker in world markets. Expanding her exports as part of the
WTO will cause price destruction and undermine the growth of her economy."
If China joins the WTO and no country benefits, why would this move
be an intelligent choice? "Politically," says Dr. Mourdoukoutas,
"there is no route left to take. If America leads the opposition to
China in the WTO, China's economic ruin will be blamed on our leaders publicly.
By allowing China to join the WTO and fail on its own, America shifts the
blame to Chinese leaders and avoids the stigma of destroying a nation's
economy. It is important to remember that China is not another Japan."
"Although China shares with Japan a number of necessary conditions
for export-led industrialization -- it is missing two sufficient conditions.
Namely, China does not have an "infinite" world market frontier
for her products. Nor does it have the urgency, ability and capabilities
to innovate -- conditions that would allow it to attain sustainable competitive
advantages and economic growth," Dr. Mourdoukoutas said.
This is not a new issue. It is a matter of culture and social institutions
and social institutions and values that for centuries have driven the country
into isolation and seclusion and limited two indigenous and non-transferable
economic resources -- entrepreneur and management.
As the world approaches the 10th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square
conflict, human rights leaders overwhelmingly disagree with him. But Dr.
Mourdoukoutas notes that human rights issues are now serving as a smokescreen
for fear. "Public polls from the beginning of the decade rank China
as second only to Iran as a threat to American interests. Despite the fact
that China continues to make strides in the human rights arena and is addressing
the issues arising from Tiananmen Square, a majority of the world opposes
trade with China because they are threatened by its growth." He adds,
"If China is a threat, it is a only a threat to herself, to her socialist
past and her market future, to her cultural might and economic realities."
"The world has nothing to fear," claims Dr. Mourdoukoutas.
"As a member or outcast of the World Trade Organization, China does
not have the urgency or capability to ever become an overwhelming world
power. But if Congress leads the decision to shun China, it is preparing
America to be blamed when China's economy fails." Dr. Mourdoukoutas
makes public his view concurrent with President Clinton's intention to
bring the issue before Congress this summer.
Panos Mourdoukoutas tackles China's economy in relation to the world
in China Against Herself: Innovation or Imitation in Global Business?
Published by Quorum Books, a division of Greenwood Publishing Group Inc.
of Westport, Connecticut, he co-wrote the book with Yuko Arayama, a professor
of economic theory and director of the Contemporary Japanese
Economic Research Program at Beijing University. To purchase the book,
call (203) 226-3571, fax: (203) 222-1502, web site: www.greenwood.com.
For more information call the C.W. Post Public
Relations Office at (516) 299-2333 or e-mail pr@cwpost.liu.edu
or send mail to: Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus, 720 Northern
Blvd., Brookville, New York 11548-1300.
