Assignment:
Answer each three questions. Answers should by about 500 words per question
(1) Li and Yang call the Great Leap Forward a failure of central planning. Riskin points out that Mao was criticized by Deng and others for trying to develop communist relations of production without having developed the forces of production. Discuss this. Use GLF policiesand resultsto illustrate (Riskin, Chap. 6, Li and Yang, class notes).
(2) Lardy writes that growth of China's economy may not be sustainable due to imbalances in China's economy. What, according to Lardy and the class notes, are the major imbalances China faces? Kroeber believes this problem is overstated. Why? According to Lardy, Kroeber and class notes, does a low level of social welfare spending contribute to these imbalances?
(3) Using information from class notes, videos, the China Labor Bulletin, China Labor Watch, and your own research, discuss the general state of well-being in China today. Include such issues as income distribution, health care, work conditions and the environment.
Readings:
The Great Leap Forward: Anatomy of a Central Planning Disaster
By Wei Li and Dennis Tao Yang