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15/ Profitability should be ignored when there is growth potential. When there are lands to conquer, you want to give the generals more so that they can do more conquering. If you try to micro-manage the generals, you lose the war.

16/ This empire building mentality requires individuals with large appetites. People who can actually wield these giant streams of money. They're often very different people who want to manage razor thin margins of a factory or do social good. They're conquerors.

17/ In China's systems, these generals can be reigned in because there are fewer sources of easy debt. Generals run out of money faster. VS in the U.S. where they can access Saudi Arabia's money or a collectivized pool of dumbasses who overextended on credit-card/mortgage.

18/ In China, it's much harder to maintain your mandate of heaven and make it permanent by becoming a flywheel. E.g. tech companies have so much money that they don't NEED to print money, it just flows in. This erodes the influence of the central authority.

19/ Pawnbrokers are a source of debt in China but the market is small.https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1324392326580432897?s=20 …

20/ What Ant financial is doing is that it's providing an alternative source of capital that is not under control of the central government.https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1324392328207888384?s=20 …

21/ This makes it more difficult to reign in the generals who are hellbent on continuing their empire building. It's like creating a Bank of Braavos. If I am a general that wants to create a coup, I WANT the existence of sth like the Bank of Braavos to hire my mercenaries.

22/ The creation of this BoB is exactly what regulators are supposed to prevent.https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1324392336843972608?s=20 …