[tchaffee]

China isn't the USSR. China is increasingly capitalist, has had years of excellent economic growth, and has a quickly growing middle class. So my question remains: who gets unelected first when the middle class suffers? I don't think it's the dictator.

[nine_k]

With more heavy-handed government involvement, I'd suppose that China is decreasingly liberal-capitalist and increasingly state/crony-capitalist. Government-controlled huge semi-monopolies are known for comparatively lower efficiency.

[tchaffee]

Then what's confusing is why China's economy grew at something like 10% for many years. When was the last time the US saw that kind of growth? Why aren't corporations democracies? I'm not convinced you have a strong persuasive case, but data is always welcome.