From https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/articles/charlie-munger-said-no-nation-140107324.html
Title : Charlie Munger Said 'No Nation That Big Has Ever Advanced That Fast' — China Got Rich By Having 'A Bunch Of Poor People Save Half Their Income' - a resurfaced 2019 interview with Yahoo Finance
By Jeannine Mancini , March 24, 2026
Charlie Munger (died in 2023 at age 99) was the late vice chair of Berkshire Hathaway (a company with a US$267 billion equity portfolio as of late 2025 - according to Google AI)
Andy Serwer put the question directly to him, asking what the secret to China's success was.
"They copied Singapore," Munger said ... The Communist leader (Chinese President Deng Xiaoping) said "I don't care if the cat is black or white. I care whether it catches mice"...
Munger didn't leave it vague. "If you ask me who is the one man who did the most for China, it was Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore's first prime minister)" he said ...
"In the whole history of the world, no nation that big has ever advanced that fast," Munger said in the Yahoo Finance interview. "And they did it by having a bunch of poor people save half their income." ...
"They did not use the wealth of the rich world to get ahead. They used the savings of poor people," Munger said, emphasizing that the engine was internal, not imported ...
"I am a huge admirer of what the Chinese have accomplished," Munger told Serwer...
"They had ups and downs, and they make mistakes as well as good decisions," Munger said, before returning to what mattered most in his view. "If the average amount the Chinese are getting ahead, they're not moving backward."
That same logic carried into how he viewed the relationship between China and the United States. "It is stark raving madness on either side not to make a friend of the other really powerful nation on Earth," Munger said, framing cooperation as common sense rather than strategy ...
Title : Charlie Munger Said 'No Nation That Big Has Ever Advanced That Fast' — China Got Rich By Having 'A Bunch Of Poor People Save Half Their Income' - a resurfaced 2019 interview with Yahoo Finance
By Jeannine Mancini , March 24, 2026
Charlie Munger (died in 2023 at age 99) was the late vice chair of Berkshire Hathaway (a company with a US$267 billion equity portfolio as of late 2025 - according to Google AI)
Andy Serwer put the question directly to him, asking what the secret to China's success was.
"They copied Singapore," Munger said ... The Communist leader (Chinese President Deng Xiaoping) said "I don't care if the cat is black or white. I care whether it catches mice"...
Munger didn't leave it vague. "If you ask me who is the one man who did the most for China, it was Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore's first prime minister)" he said ...
"In the whole history of the world, no nation that big has ever advanced that fast," Munger said in the Yahoo Finance interview. "And they did it by having a bunch of poor people save half their income." ...
"They did not use the wealth of the rich world to get ahead. They used the savings of poor people," Munger said, emphasizing that the engine was internal, not imported ...
"I am a huge admirer of what the Chinese have accomplished," Munger told Serwer...
"They had ups and downs, and they make mistakes as well as good decisions," Munger said, before returning to what mattered most in his view. "If the average amount the Chinese are getting ahead, they're not moving backward."
That same logic carried into how he viewed the relationship between China and the United States. "It is stark raving madness on either side not to make a friend of the other really powerful nation on Earth," Munger said, framing cooperation as common sense rather than strategy ...
