Red Firecracker

"Burnout" seems to be the adjective observers want for a description of China's numerically impressive first-quarter expansion of gross domestic product, clocking in at nearly ten percent. But according to the Wall Street Journal, via IP, Beijing's troubles are not limited to market forces:

As the market plumbs six-year lows, China's 60 million retail investors are an embittered lot — sounding a jarring note amid the capitalist changes transforming China's economy. The government once touted the nation's two stock exchanges, started in 1990 and 1991, as founts of opportunity. But they have turned out to be full of rotten companies that relied on political connections to get listed. Regulators have had little success fighting rampant insider trading and poor disclosure. For the ruling Communist Party, the rage of investors who have lost their nest eggs could be toxic. The party has long struggled to keep a lid on social unrest, especially among unemployed workers and overtaxed farmers. Now a big chunk of the middle class is angry, too.


Kleptocracy is profitable only to a small number of people for a short amount of time. And if signs are to be believed, the regime's time is running out.

FROM ALL SIDES: Could the Million Man Army be just as dangerous to Beijing? (Hat tip, IP.)

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