A Late Maoist Industrial Revolution? Economic Growth in Jiangsu Province, 1966-1978

According to the conventional wisdom, the promise of the Chinese revolution of 1949 went unfulfilled in the Maoist era. Instead of taking-off, the economy grew slowly and widespread rural poverty persisted. The economic turning point was instead the famous political climacteric of 1976-78. But this metric of aggregates is the wrong criterion by which to judge China’s economic record because industrial revolutions have regional beginnings. They invariably take place against a backcloth of slow aggregate growth and stagnant material living standards. Accordingly, we should dwell neither on China’s slow overall growth nor its widespread poverty before 1978, but look instead for evidence of an emerging regional growth pole. This article argues that Jiangsu was such a growth pole in the late Maoist era, and that its record bears comparison with that of Lancashire and Yorkshire during the early years of Britain's industrial revolution. This holds out the intriguing possibility that a Chinese economic take-off, diffusing out of the Yangzi delta, would have occurred even without post-1978 policy changes

Steering Mirror System with Closed-Loop Feedback for Free-Space Optical Communication Terminals

Precision beam pointing plays a critical role in free-space optical communications terminals in uplink, downlink and inter-satellite link scenarios. Among the various methods of beam steering, the use of fast steering mirrors (FSM) is widely adopted, with many commercial solutions employing diverse technologies, particularly focusing on small, high-bandwidth mirrors. This paper introduces a method using lightweight, commercial off-the-shelf components to construct a custom closed-loop steering mirror platform, suitable for mirror apertures exceeding 100 mm. The approach involves integrating optical encoders into two off-the-shelf open-loop actuators. These encoders read the signal reflected on purposefully diamond-machined knurled screw knobs, providing maximum contrast between light and dark lines. The resulting steering mirror has the potential to complement or replace FSM in applications requiring a larger stroke, at the expense of motion speed. In the presented setup, the mirror tilt resolution achieved based on the encoder closed-loop signal feedback is 45 μrad, with a mean slew rate of 1.5 mrad/s. Importantly, the steering assembly is self-locking, requiring no power to maintain a steady pointing angle. Using the mirror to actively correct for a constantly moving incoming beam, a 5-fold increase in concentration of the beam spot on the center of the detector was obtained compared to a fixed position mirror, demonstrating the mirrors ability to correct for satellite platform jitter and drift

Estándares de vida en el Japón de la preguerra y la China maoísta

Previous comparisons of living standards in Japan (1868-1941) and China (1949-1978) have been hampered by the limited data. New material published over the last decade have now filled many of the gaps on Japanese income distribution and China 's famine. These materials make it clear that the process of the early industrialisation was extremely painful in both countries, and that it is hard to present either as a development model for other nations to emulate.Las comparaciones previas de los estándares de vida en Japón (1868-1941) y de la China (1949-1978) se han visto afectada por la falta de datos. Los nuevos materiales publicados en la última década han llenado muchos de los vacios sobre la distibución del ingreso en el Japón y la hambruna que se presentó en China. Esos materiales muestran que los procesos iniciales de la industialización fueron extremadamente penosos para ambos países y que es dificil promover cualquiera de ellos cómo un modelo de desarrollo que pueda ser imitado por otros países

Estándares de vida en el japón de la preguerra y la china maoísta

Las comparaciones previas de los estándares de vida en Japón (1868-1941) y de la China (1949-1978) se han visto afectada por la falta de datos. Los nuevos materiales publicados en la última década han llenado muchos de los vacios sobre la distibución del ingreso en el Japón y la hambruna que se presentó en China. Esos materiales muestran que los procesos iniciales de la industialización fueron extremadamente penosos para ambos países y que es dificil promover cualquiera de ellos cómo un modelo de desarrollo que pueda ser imitado por otros países.Previous comparisons of living standards in Japan (1868-1941) and China (1949-1978) have been hampered by the limited data. New material published over the last decade have now filled many of the gaps on Japanese income distribution and China 's famine. These materials make it clear that the process of the early industrialisation was extremely painful in both countries, and that it is hard to present either as a development model for other nations to emulate

Living Standards in Prewar Japan and Maoist China

Previous comparisons of living standards in Japan (1868–1941) and China (1949–78) have been hampered by the limited data. New materials published over the last decade have now filled many of the gaps on Japanese income distribution and China's famine. These materials make it clear that the process of early industrialisation was extremely painful in both countries, and that it is hard to present either as a development model for other nations to emulate

Chinese Economic Development

This book outlines and analyzes the economic development of China between 1949 and 2007. Rather than being narrowly economic, the book addresses many of the broader aspects of development, including literacy, morality, demographics and the environment. The distinctive features of this book are its sweep and that it does not shy away from controversial issues. For example, there is no question that aspects of Maoism were disastrous but Bramall argues that there was another side to the whole programme. More recently, the current system of government has presided over three decades of very rapid economic growth. However, the author shows that this growth has come at a price. Bramall makes it clear that unless radical change takes place, Chinese growth will not be sustainable. This large, comprehensive text is relevant to all those studying the economic history of China as well as its contemporary economy. It is also useful more generally for students and researchers in the fields of international and development economics