Unlike the USSR's centrally planned economy, China learned to harness capitalism. It allows markets to create wealth but maintains the state's absolute power to direct industries and eliminate dissent. This hybrid model is a more potent and efficient form of authoritarianism.

Robinson separates economics from politics: China allowed entrepreneurship but kept extractive political institutions. He calls this 'extractive growth,' likens it to Soviet rapid growth, and says absolute power corrupts, so the model will fail eventually, though he cannot say exactly how. It is just a matter of time.

In Western economies, capital controls the governance system, leaving elected officials subordinate to bondholders, central banks, and military-financial nodes. Conversely, China’s authoritarian framework places the state strictly above capital, dictating terms to corporate and financial entities.

A key contrast between the U.S. and China lies in the security of wealth. In China, even billionaires can be purged by the state. In the U.S., wealth is more easily converted into political influence and security, making it a safer haven for the ultra-rich, though this creates societal imbalances.

Unlike the US, China's political system makes a trillionaire entrepreneur impossible. As demonstrated by the crackdown on Jack Ma, once an individual's wealth and influence become politically problematic or challenge the state, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will intervene to curtail it, regardless of economic success.

The Chinese Communist Party's popular support, its modern "Mandate of Heaven," is built on its proven ability to deliver stability, safety, and prosperity. Western assumptions that the populace secretly craves democracy overlook this deeply rooted, performance-based social contract.

China's Communist Party (CCP) architected its system with capital controls and ultimate state authority to prevent subordination by Western corporate and financial powers. Unlike in other nations, there is no private entity or external force more powerful than the CCP.

Unlike the West, China never developed constraints on imperial power because there was no independent church or landed aristocracy to challenge the emperor. The state captured the entire intellectual class through its exam system, preventing checks and balances from forming.

A contrarian view suggests China is the last defender of human agency. While the West cedes control to market forces and technological phenomena ('techno-capitalism'), China's centralized system ensures a human is ultimately in charge, able to discipline tech platforms and override market logic, thereby preserving state-level human control.