As the policy is a form of enforced inequality of opportunity, it is irreconcilable with the paradigm of the liberal economy advocated by 18th century economist Adam Smith, considered to be the intellectual father of modern capitalism.
[2] Academics often cite post-World War II Gaullist dirigisme in France as the pinnacle of the national champion policy.
The policy was abandoned by the government of Margaret Thatcher at the end of the 1970s, shifting instead to a more laissez-faire strategy aimed at maximising foreign investment.
By 2005 all of Britain's "national champions" had come under foreign ownership, with the exceptions of the aerospace (BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce Holdings) and pharmaceutical (GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca) sectors.
[3] The risk involved with such policies is exemplified by the unsuccessful challenges to IBM's period of dominance of the innovative computer market by UK's ICL, France's Bull, and Italy's Olivetti during the 1970s.
In support of Jiang Zemin's aggressive promotion of overseas foreign direct investment as part of "going out," China's State Council assembled a team of 120 state-owned industry groups to be national champions between 1991 and 1997.
[6] In addition to CRRC, notable examples of Chinese national champions include Huawei, Bank of China, and SINOPEC.
[14] In his dissertation, Putin wrote: "The process of restructuring the national economy must have the goal of creating the most effective and competitive companies on both the domestic and world markets."