> >Other economists recommend that Beijing continue to expand its issuing
> >of treasury bonds to finance the setting up of a social safety net,
> >including a nationwide social security system and a national medical
> >insurance plan.
>
>Anyone wanna venture a guess at which economists they might be referring to
>here?
Could be World Bank types. The Bank has been arguing since the early 1990s that Asian countries need "safety nets" so that firms can more easily fire surplus employees, instead of keeping them on out of some mistaken notion of social responsibility.
Doug