There is a lot going on in China today, this week, this month, this year. There’s internal Chinese politics. There’s U.S.–China politics. There’s concern about the Chinese economy. There are hints of possible economic reform. Amid all the shouting, something is happening low on the radar that could turn out …
China has the world’s second-largest GDP, the world’s largest monetary base, and the world’s largest foreign exchange reserves. Its large internal and external economic imbalances can matter a great deal to the global economy. There are claims China is now rebalancing. It isn’t. Claims of rebalancing are based on the …
Both The Washington Post and the Financial Times have more front-page stories today on the seemingly endless saga of the fall of senior Chinese Communist Party official Bo Xilai. These particular two stories claim that Bo’s ouster has boosted China’s economic reformers, led by Premier Wen Jiabao. This is a …
Two years ago, the United States Department of Defense “discovered” mineral deposits in Afghanistan—gold, iron, copper, cobalt—that it claimed were worth almost $1 trillion. Actually, the deposits were worth almost nothing, they had previously been worth almost nothing, and they are still worth almost nothing. They will have value only …
If you heard that people based in a certain country completely compromised the computer systems of Nortel, a Canadian telecom firm that has since collapsed, what country would you guess? If you heard that a company based in a certain country was accused of receiving commercial secrets stolen from DuPont, …
President Obama just announced plans to borrow millions of dollars from countries likeChinato create a new federal bureaucracy tasked with policing the trade practices of countries likeChina. The new bureaucracy is more about politics than trade. The International Trade Enforcement Center (ITEC) will have as many as 60 employees. With …
Yesterday, the Department of the Treasury released an initial estimate of foreign holdings of U.S. securities, including Treasury bonds, as of June 30, 2011. This estimate serves as a correction of monthly figures Treasury publishes, known as the Major Foreign Holders series. There are three implications of the new data …
The first step in solving a problem is admitting it. For years, the Chinese government and their defenders overseas insisted first that China was still reforming, then that state-led economic development was superior to market-led development. Evidence to the contrary came as news to many. There has always been a …
