Han Debate Echoes In Beijing

The piece consciously pairs today’s industry strategy fight with the Western Han 'Salt and Iron' debates over state monopolies. It argues China’s modern industrial‑policy push revives a deep pattern of state–market bargaining about coordination and rents. — Reading current policy through long‑cycle patterns helps forecast China’s economic behavior and its tolerance for market autonomy.

Sources

The Industrial Policy Debate of 2016: Zhang Weiying on Entrepreneurs and Innovation (Part 2)

Thomas des Garets Geddes 2025.08.27 70% relevant

This 2016 Zhang–Lin exchange reprises China’s long-running state–market argument—akin to the 'Salt and Iron' template—by pitting New Structural Economics and policy 'picking winners' (Lin) against Zhang’s claim that state-distributed rewards blunt entrepreneurial discovery and waste resources.

The Industrial Policy Debate of 2016: Justin Yifu Lin vs. Zhang Weiying (Part 1)

Thomas des Garets Geddes 2025.08.21 100% relevant

Opening frame: Discourses on Salt and Iron used to contextualize Lin–Zhang’s 2016 debate.