The country's response to high youth unemployment has been revealing.
By Rollin Hu Editorial Assistant |
In a commencement address earlier this year, a college president in China gave some not-so-inspiring advice to the graduating class: "You must not aim too high or be picky about work," he said. "The opportunities are fleeting." |
His bleak words distilled a growing pessimism about the overall Chinese economy. Consumer and business confidence is dismal. Concerns over debt dissuade future investment. For young people in cities, the economy looks worse — around one-fifth of them are out of work. The Chinese leader Xi Jinping's policy solution boils down to telling young people what my parents told me when I didn't want to do my homework: "Eat bitterness." In other words, suck it up. Will they? |
In a guest essay for Times Opinion, the political economist Ho-fung Hung evaluates the extent to which young people's economic dissatisfaction will translate into social unrest in China. He finds that youth unemployment has been a perennial problem for the Chinese state throughout history; after all, jobless young people helped the Chinese Communist Party get its own revolution started. |
In response to its economy, the Chinese government could pursue policies that expand economic opportunity or double down on repression. The government has chosen the latter, just as it has repeatedly over the decades. Authoritarian tactics like tightening state surveillance and censorship of dissent are, in this sense, economic policy. As Hung puts it, "it is clear that these actions are aimed at least in part at containing the political fallout of a worsening economy." Xi may very well succeed at consolidating the state's control, but at what cost? |
Here's what we're focusing on today: |
Forward this newsletter to friends to share ideas and perspectives that will help inform their lives. They can sign up here. Do you have feedback? Email us at opiniontoday@nytimes.com. |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment