[dustinblake]

We already have something far more insidious in the United States - Credit Ratings. Not only are the tendrils woven so thoroughly into nearly every aspect of modern life, they are run by for profit corporations with zero transparency and accountability. Getting access to credit/loans/housing/jobs/insurance and likely a whole lot more depends on your credit rating. Mess up your credit (often by no real fault of your own) and watch whatever tenuous grip of financial normalcy you have disappear - everything will now be much more difficult and much more expensive as you try to reconstruct your life over the next decade or two. Good luck.

China would love to have our credit ratings system - but I suspect that they don't fully have the financial transaction transparency and society-wide buy-in just yet to be able to really make it work. I'm sure they'll get there eventually, but for now, they still have a large enough 'alternative' economy/non-regulated transactions and exchange that would both allow people to escape the scrutiny of a more official credit ratings system and these unregulated economic channels would likely grow larger due to people's displeasure and avoidance of the ever increasing authoritarian reach. Social credit introduces this concept using data and tools they have available, and eases this into daily life with less existentially disrupting capability - at least for now.