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China at the Crossroads
This concise and timely book, written by one of the world's leading authorities on China, argues that the country is at a crossroads in its development and explores the challenges that lie ahead.
Paperback
First published April 11, 2003
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September 30, 2016
This book was written in 2002 and is an entry into the debate of whether China should engage in greater opening of its markets, i.e. free markets, or whether it should remain an authoritarian state. As with most sino-scholars, the answer is to point out the vagrancies of the free markets and show that in fact, this could be the single worst thing for China.
While, yes, I agree, I am not the biggest fan of using problems in the US to illustrate the problems with capitalism. Indeed, I would suggest that if people looked at the similarities in economic development instead of pointing out the differences, the nuances of the conclusion might be interesting. This is not to say that Nolan crosses the line. I suspect that much of his commentary is in reaction to those that believe Adam Smith so passionately that they forget that the US is in fact, not a free market according to his definition; but instead, a highly regulated, highly developed system; that has evolved over centuries.
I'm not sure either that that path of Europe serves as a good description either of the path that China must take. The arguments here are only modestly better than a comparative of China to Singapore, Hong Kong and the like.
I wish instead that these scholars would look more for the sign posts and address the issues as they stand, suggesting systems from other nations as tools, and not as potential paradigm shifting philosophies of thought. In other words, China, in the 6 years since the writing of the book, has and will continue to open its markets. Simply, it will not do it in the foolish way that other nations have, which exposes it to the vagrancies of the FX and "fast" money capital inflows. These show a destabilizing effect regardless of the history/culture of a nation.
Otherwise, I have to admit that Nolan is a true expert. He does a fantastic job of weaving in the historical elements of China with the current state of affairs. the amount of research that must have been required for this rather brief 180 page-ish book is significant and for that I give it four stars.
While, yes, I agree, I am not the biggest fan of using problems in the US to illustrate the problems with capitalism. Indeed, I would suggest that if people looked at the similarities in economic development instead of pointing out the differences, the nuances of the conclusion might be interesting. This is not to say that Nolan crosses the line. I suspect that much of his commentary is in reaction to those that believe Adam Smith so passionately that they forget that the US is in fact, not a free market according to his definition; but instead, a highly regulated, highly developed system; that has evolved over centuries.
I'm not sure either that that path of Europe serves as a good description either of the path that China must take. The arguments here are only modestly better than a comparative of China to Singapore, Hong Kong and the like.
I wish instead that these scholars would look more for the sign posts and address the issues as they stand, suggesting systems from other nations as tools, and not as potential paradigm shifting philosophies of thought. In other words, China, in the 6 years since the writing of the book, has and will continue to open its markets. Simply, it will not do it in the foolish way that other nations have, which exposes it to the vagrancies of the FX and "fast" money capital inflows. These show a destabilizing effect regardless of the history/culture of a nation.
Otherwise, I have to admit that Nolan is a true expert. He does a fantastic job of weaving in the historical elements of China with the current state of affairs. the amount of research that must have been required for this rather brief 180 page-ish book is significant and for that I give it four stars.
Displaying 1 of 1 review