China and the challenge of creative destruction

If China is to continue its remarkable economic success of the past 30 years, it needs to tolerate and even encourage disruptive figures such as Steve Jobs. David Rowe argues that it is unclear whether the existing power structure is prepared to do so

I well remember the moment I realised the Soviet Union was destined to fail. It came upon learning that photocopiers were considered subversive devices subject to tight state control. Such controls necessarily stifle creativity and channel it in destructive directions. One of the wonders of free markets is that they provide a socially constructive outlet for the maniacal drive and obsessive focus of successful innovators.

A contrasting, seductive attraction of centrally controlled economies is