Why America Runs on Markets — and China Runs on Planning

Описание: For the first time in 150 years, the United States faces an economic rival as large as itself. This documentary explores the fundamental difference between the world’s two largest economies: America’s faith in free markets versus China’s system of centralized planning.
Since 1776, when Adam Smith introduced the concept of the “invisible hand,” the United States has built its prosperity on market competition, private enterprise, and decentralized decision-making. China took the opposite path—launching its First Five-Year Plan in 1953 and maintaining centralized economic control even as it introduced market reforms after 1978.
What You’ll Learn:
• How the U.S. built a market economy from the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 to Reagan-era deregulation
• China’s transformation from Soviet-style planning to its hybrid system of “market socialism”
• Why China’s GDP has grown at 10% annually for four decades while the U.S. averaged 2%
• How purchasing power parity reveals China’s economy is already 15% larger than America’s
• The role of state-owned enterprises, which control 60% of China’s market capitalization
• Why 130 countries now trade more with China than with the United States
• How the 2008 financial crisis revealed the different strengths of markets versus planning
• What China’s dominance in solar panels (80%), wind turbines (40%), and rare earth elements (90%) means for America’s green future
Key Historical Facts Covered:
Bretton Woods Conference (1944) and the creation of the IMF and World Bank
China’s First Five-Year Plan (1953-1957) and the catastrophic Great Leap Forward
Deng Xiaoping’s Reform and Opening Up (1978) that transformed China
China’s entry into the WTO (2001) and its rise as a trading superpower
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (2020)—the world’s largest trade bloc
This documentary uses only verified data from the Federal Reserve, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, CIA World Factbook, and peer-reviewed academic research. Every statistic, date, and historical claim is sourced from credible mainstream institutions.
The Bottom Line:
Markets and planning aren’t just economic theories—they’re competing visions of how societies should organize human activity. One system trusts that individual freedom and competition create prosperity. The other believes centralized coordination achieves what markets cannot. The rivalry between these systems will shape the 21st century global order.

SOURCES & DATA:
• Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED)
• U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
• World Bank Development Indicators
• IMF World Economic Outlook Database
• CIA World Factbook
• Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center: “The Great Economic Rivalry: China vs the U.S.”
• National Bureau of Statistics of China
• Academic research on comparative economic systems

DISCLAIMER:
This documentary presents factual historical and economic data from government agencies, international institutions, and peer-reviewed research. It does not advocate for either economic system or predict future outcomes. All figures and dates have been verified against multiple authoritative sources.