State Capitalism: What is it?

I'm quoting the answer from the Book by Ian Bremmer "The End of the Free Market" page 43.

State capitalism is a system in which the state dominates markets, primarily for political gain. 

But the division between state-capitalist and free market countries isn't always clear. There is no iron curtain separating the two sides neatly into opposing camps. Every country on Earth features both direct government involvement in regulating economic activity and some market exchange that exists beyond the state's reach. No country's economy is either purely state capitalist or purely free-market driven, and the degree of government intervention within each country fluctuates over time. " end quote page 43.

So because of the end of the Iron Curtain we see countries trying all types of forms of capitalism and almost every imaginable form of regulation. And these regulations are always changing worldwide mostly for perceived even if not real advantage by every country on earth. The following quote is to define the basic forms of capitalism found presently on earth in order to make more sense of this.

begin quote bottom of page 43.

"On the far left is utopian communism, with absolutely no free-market activity. It's a game in which the referees have absolute control of very player's every move. This extreme has never existed, because even in the most tightly controlled state, black markets generate supply to meet demand. On the right is utopian libertarianism, which some call anarcho-capitalism. At this extreme, there isno government --and no other authority that can manage, regulate, or or interfere in any way with the operation of markets. It's a game with no referee at all." End quote on top of page 44.

So, obviously since there never has been Utopian communism and no Utopian libertarianism except in worldwide black markets and things like illegal drugs and gun running we can see that most countries are somewhere in the middle between these two basically non-existent extremes. So we go on with a quote from the bottom of page 44 to explain this better:

"---any particular country's place on this line is a snapshot of one particular moment in history. Every country is in constant motion back and forth along this line--though some move much further and much more often than others." end quote bottom of page 44

So, now (withing the United States we can define where Republicans and Democrats fall within this line in each of their ways of thinking. Begin quote very bottom of page 44:

"Republicans ten to argue for lower taxes and less government interference, because consumers tend to spend their money much more efficiently than government can. Democrats counter tha, left to its own devices, the private sector will never provide safe, high quality public goods and services at affordable prices--like education for the poor or health care for the elderly." end quote top of page 45.

So, if I understand this definition of both it sounds like Republicans tend towards Anacho-Libertarianism and their stance is balanced by the Democratic stance of "Let's take care of the poor and elderly". So, it is obvious that any successful society like the U.S. needs at least these two points of view represented and sometimes more.

The following quote though sort of fragmentary I found extremely interesting, Middle of page 45:

"With far fewer limits on its power than an American president must accept, the Chinese Communist Party has made a significant shift from left to right over the past 30 years." end quote middle of page 45.

So it could be said that China in some ways is now the most libertarian capitalist system while also being the biggest proponent of State Capitalism on earth. This combination combined with a 40% below real value Yuan(Chinese currency) makes it almost impossible for any nation to compete with it since it literally makes its own rules (de facto) on the world stage in all economic settings. So, in a sense just like the United States was the driving economic force since World War II, it is possible to say that the economic driving force right now on earth is China. However, how long this lasts without more useful regulations without something collapsing in China is anyone's guess at this point.

For example, when efficiency experts get to any dynamic they tend to enter into the Peter Principle at some point or other. So whether this is the United States trying to be efficient or China there are points for both nations that create "The Law of Diminishing returns". America's weakness at present appears to be that we have been on top and making the rules for so long we've grown fat and complacent and China's weakness appears to be ecological in the loss of health for so many Chinese by trying to change and grow so fast without taking into consideration the health and ecological costs to their nation long term. I see ecologically China making the same mistakes now that the Soviet Union made which made a lot of their country an ecological wasteland. So until problems like these get solved the deaths and injuries to the Chinese people will increase and so will the anger of those whose relatives have died so others could get rich.