Is communism the way forward?
Whilst on holiday, peering out over turquoise bays, ones mind starts to wander and what better route to take than pondering whether communism really has some postive aspects which we, in the capitalist world, would do very well to replicate.
I think my mind has had the space to wander into this rather philosophical space because there has been little to discuss on the Italian tax front (one of my favourite topics). We are waiting for the big announcement on exactly how Mario Draghi intends to overhaul the tax system in Italy and that decision is ‘supposedly’ being announced shortly (but will likely take longer than expected, as is always the case in Italy!). As soon as I know anything I will let you know.
So to continue my thought wanderings I thought we should talk about China.
But before I get into the detail, I want to write about a conversation I had with some clients (who shall remain nameless), who took a long trip along the old Silk Road some years ago. They had been amazed at the development they had seen along the old route, and that it had mainly been funded by China. They also travelled in China itself and commented on the magnificence of its technological and infrastructure progress. These clients, who I would say could easily be classified as socialists and defenders of free speech, said that given what they had seen and the speed at which China can just ‘get on and do things without arguing about it’ does make you wonder ‘if there is some merit to their form of communism’.
And with that thought in mind, this E-zine will explore some of those aspects of Chinese governance. This E-zine was inspired by a blog post I recently read from an asset manager called David Coombes at Rathbones Asset Management (a collaborative partner to The Spectrum IFA Group). His blog puts some recent issues surrounding China’s political decisions in a new and interesting light.