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The China Dilemma?: Rethinking US-China Relations Through Public Choice Theory
A public choice analysis is politically neutral; it merely seeks to understand and predict the actions of political actors within the system that they operate. Introducing the logic of economics into a space dominated by political science and sociology is an important addition to the discussion. We believe that our observations can be used to make a wide variety of observations on China and US-China relations. Our main priority with this book is not to necessarily promote one agenda over the other but to set the table for a more sober and complete conversation regarding China.
About the Authors
Ryan M. Yonk is Senior Research Faculty at the American Institute for Economic Research. He holds a PhD from Georgia State University and a MS and BS from Utah State University. Prior to joining AIER he held academic positions at North Dakota State University, Utah State University, and Southern Utah University, and was one of the founders of the Strata Policy. He is the (co) author or editor of numerous books including Green V. Green, Nature Bureaucracy vs. the Environment, The Reality of American Energy, and Politics and Quality of The Role of Well-Being in Political Outcomes. He has also (co) authored numerous articles in academic journals including Public Choice, The Independent Review, Applied Research in Quality of Life, and the Journal of Private Enterprise. His research explores how policy can be better crafted to achieve greater individual autonomy and prosperity.
Ethan Yang is an Adjunct Research Fellow at AIER as well as the host of the AIER Authors Corner Podcast.
He holds a BA in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations with minors in legal studies and formal organizations from Trinity College in Hartford Connecticut. He is currently pursuing a JD from the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University.
Ethan also serves as the director of the Mark Twain Center for the Study of Human Freedom at Trinity College and is also involved with Students for Liberty. He has also held research positions at the Cato Institute, the Connecticut State Senate, Cause of Action Institute and other organizations.
Ethan is currently based in Washington D.C and is a recipient of the 13th Annual International Vernon Smith Prize from the European Center of Austrian Economics Foundation. His work has been featured and cited in a variety of outlets from online media to radio broadcast.
About the Authors
Ryan M. Yonk is Senior Research Faculty at the American Institute for Economic Research. He holds a PhD from Georgia State University and a MS and BS from Utah State University. Prior to joining AIER he held academic positions at North Dakota State University, Utah State University, and Southern Utah University, and was one of the founders of the Strata Policy. He is the (co) author or editor of numerous books including Green V. Green, Nature Bureaucracy vs. the Environment, The Reality of American Energy, and Politics and Quality of The Role of Well-Being in Political Outcomes. He has also (co) authored numerous articles in academic journals including Public Choice, The Independent Review, Applied Research in Quality of Life, and the Journal of Private Enterprise. His research explores how policy can be better crafted to achieve greater individual autonomy and prosperity.
Ethan Yang is an Adjunct Research Fellow at AIER as well as the host of the AIER Authors Corner Podcast.
He holds a BA in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations with minors in legal studies and formal organizations from Trinity College in Hartford Connecticut. He is currently pursuing a JD from the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University.
Ethan also serves as the director of the Mark Twain Center for the Study of Human Freedom at Trinity College and is also involved with Students for Liberty. He has also held research positions at the Cato Institute, the Connecticut State Senate, Cause of Action Institute and other organizations.
Ethan is currently based in Washington D.C and is a recipient of the 13th Annual International Vernon Smith Prize from the European Center of Austrian Economics Foundation. His work has been featured and cited in a variety of outlets from online media to radio broadcast.
Kindle Edition
Published November 26, 2023
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 15, 2025
It's okay, though a pretentious take on the subject, as most of the public choice analysis comes down to "China does this because REASONS," while never giving empirical backing for its claims outside of anecdotal accounts. Once you parse away the economic anecdotes by Yonk, which are decent by themself, you're left with Yang's application, which most of the times, sounds like a China uncensored video but with none of the humor
My main problems that make me warn people not to read this book are the sources and the obvious falun gong bias from Yang.
The sources are just bad. They try to lead you to think that they use credable sources by using APA style and lots of Chinese language authors, but most of the times, the sources lead into columns and English language reports. The only sources they use from China are from state media in English, which is not good. Imagine writing a economic analysis of the US, but only citing Hungarian blog posts and voice of America for your background. That's basically how this book reads.
What's even worse is their treatment of falun gong. They have a whole page describing the cult as a "new religious movement," with all the flowery language of a progranda publication on them. They completely leave out the cults beliefs, or the fact many of their persecution claims were invented by the founder to peddle their religious system (such as the organ harvesting ring based on a traditional Chinese custom of assigning faith to organs, thus making falun gong supporters be attacked because they have the most profitable organs). I was really surprised the authors would do this, only to see that Yang was a regular pundit on New Tang Dynasty (a falun gong run media agency), and it became much less of a surprise.
Once again, I would avoid this book. The economic research is by the numbers, and the Chinese analysis is God awful. Just scroll through the news while reading mises, and it will serve you much better then this book.
My main problems that make me warn people not to read this book are the sources and the obvious falun gong bias from Yang.
The sources are just bad. They try to lead you to think that they use credable sources by using APA style and lots of Chinese language authors, but most of the times, the sources lead into columns and English language reports. The only sources they use from China are from state media in English, which is not good. Imagine writing a economic analysis of the US, but only citing Hungarian blog posts and voice of America for your background. That's basically how this book reads.
What's even worse is their treatment of falun gong. They have a whole page describing the cult as a "new religious movement," with all the flowery language of a progranda publication on them. They completely leave out the cults beliefs, or the fact many of their persecution claims were invented by the founder to peddle their religious system (such as the organ harvesting ring based on a traditional Chinese custom of assigning faith to organs, thus making falun gong supporters be attacked because they have the most profitable organs). I was really surprised the authors would do this, only to see that Yang was a regular pundit on New Tang Dynasty (a falun gong run media agency), and it became much less of a surprise.
Once again, I would avoid this book. The economic research is by the numbers, and the Chinese analysis is God awful. Just scroll through the news while reading mises, and it will serve you much better then this book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review