Keeping the Lid on the Financial Pressure Cooker: Scattered Thoughts on Satya Gabriel’s Insights into the Chinese Financial Structure

Abstract

Satyananda Gabriel sees the world from his own unique and informed perspective. China and its persistently oblique financial system present a conundrum that resists facile explanations. This essay, initially presented by proxy at the Eighth International Conference of Rethinking Marxism, reflects on Dr. Gabriel’s approach to unraveling the mysteries of Chinese financial development.

Key Words:

• Satyananda Gabriel
• China
• Economics
• Finance
• Financial Institutions

Notes

1 For those readers who have missed out on the pleasure, Sydney, Australia, by any reckoning, is a long way off from most of the settled world. No one just happens to arrive there on the way to somewhere else. In most cases, if you are sufficiently adventuresome to travel any further, you will find yourself heading back to your original destination. The city is best understood as being geographically ‘the end of the line.’ Consequently, “The Tyranny of Distance,” a phrase coined by Geoffrey Blainey (1966), prevails. Of course, these days it is quite possible to “Skype” in one’s appearance. But time zone differences and a basic sense of attached tawdriness made this option less than practical. This then is a long-winded apology, which claims that though I naturally wanted to attend the Rethinking Marxism Conference to present my appreciation for the work of Professor Gabriel, I instead had to settle for a proxy arrangement.