Japan exported capital, China exported industrial power. That distinction may ultimately define the different trajectories of the two great Asian economic models of the modern era.
In “The political economy of modern capitalism” (The Edge, June 1, 2026), I argued that modern economic systems are ultimately shaped less by ideology than by the incentives embedded within them — incentives that determine how savings are allocated, how firms compete and whether capital compounds into productive capability or merely financial wealth.
The clearest modern contrast may be Japan and China.
