On 14 April Beijing announced its plan to improve air quality during the Olympic games. What the plan amounts to is a collection of stop gap measures which should - so the Beijing authorities desperately hope - alleviate pollution on a short term basis for the duration of the games. Among other things, driving will be restricted and construction projects will be halted to limit the amount of dust spewed into the air. Factories will be closed in Beijing and possibly in several neighboring provinces. The announcement did not indicate who would bear the financial losses from these various closings. Consider for a moment what it says about the nature of a nation's political system when the government is able simply to order businesses to close. Demolition began a couple of days before the announcement on the massive construction site pictured here; this photo was taken on 13 April.