Limits of arbitrariness

The exercise of sovereign power (like taxation) is limited only by what you can get away with. China steals the intellectual property rights of virtually every company that invests in that country, and most of the companies just grin and bear it; the Chinese market is too attractive to boycott it in protest. China also indulges in large-scale hacking of computer networks around the world, it forces content companies ranging from Google to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp to play ball on censorship, and it has a beggar-thy-neighbour stance on currency policy.

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