China Quote by Esther Dyson
“We had made a - sort of a national decision that we wanted to be this intellectual property country, where we would have things manufactured in China, but we would do the design, we would do the creative stuff.And now what we have done is, we have forgotten that that's what we wanted, and we're making the intellectual stuff more and more free. And, so, we're sort of left with less and less.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Interview on Innovation Policy, 2014
The quote warns that a nation may lose its strategic advantage if it outsources design and creativity while focusing only on low‑cost manufacturing, leading to erosion of intellectual property value.
In simple terms: Losing creative edge harms economic power.
Key Takeaway
Protect and invest in domestic innovation.
Themes
innovation
economics
intellectual property
globalization
Mood
concerned
reflective
Type
policy
economic
strategic
When to use this quote
- government policy
- corporate R&D
- education systems
- trade negotiations
Key Concepts
strategic autonomy
value chain
creative economy
Questions to Reflect On
- How can a country retain creative control while leveraging cheap manufacturing?
- What policies safeguard domestic intellectual assets?
A Different Perspective
Balancing cost savings with long‑term innovation is challenging.
![“[The Dalai Lama] told me some years ago, "I've made every concession to China, and I've been as open and tolerant as I could, and still things get worse in Tibet." If you look at it from one point of view, as he himself says, his monastic position of forbearance and nonviolence hasn't reaped any…” quote by Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9fe/pico-iyer-1252_benefits_the-dalai-lama-told-me-some-years-ago-i_678.jpg)
