Missing the (Bamboo) Forest for the (Apple) Trees | Platformonomics

Final paragraphs from a timely Charles Fitzgerald reality check; on a related note, see China’s slowdown is the biggest threat to world economy | Washington Post

"Tech needs to set aside the intoxicating dream of selling just one product to each and every person in China and parse the new reality. The Great Firewall of China model of parallel ecosystems may expand to other domains, as today’s deeply intertwined global economy starts to disentangle. Supply chains will have to factor in tariffs and national security concerns. Cross-border flows of capital and acquisitions will flow less freely. Non-tariff barriers and even further technology executive hostage taking may escalate. The prospects for China’s private tech titans (i.e. BAT) are in flux as they find themselves with a Party invitation they can’t refuse.

I don’t believe Mr. Xi’s China’s model will prevail. Despotism undermines itself and it is hard to think of a worse way to build an advanced economy than looking to Mao for guidance. And the Chinese people have seen and tasted too much of the rest of the world to go along with Xi. But the happy path for China’s rise over the last two decades is over and we need to recognize that. It will be bumpy, and not just for Apple."

Missing the (Bamboo) Forest for the (Apple) Trees | Platformonomics