The China Boom
Why China Will Not Rule the World
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- $33.99
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- $33.99
Publisher Description
Many thought China's rise would fundamentally remake the global order. Yet, much like other developing nations, the Chinese state now finds itself in a status quo characterized by free trade and American domination. Through a cutting-edge historical, sociological, and political analysis, Ho-fung Hung details the competing interests and economic realities that temper the dream of Chinese supremacy—forces that are stymieing growth throughout the global South.
Hung focuses on four common misconceptions: that China could undermine orthodoxy by offering an alternative model of growth; that China is radically altering power relations between the East and the West; that China is capable of diminishing the global power of the United States; and that the Chinese economy would restore the world's wealth after the 2008 financial crisis. His work reveals how much China depends on the existing order and how the interests of the Chinese elites maintain these ties. Through its perpetuation of the dollar standard and its addiction to U.S. Treasury bonds, China remains bound to the terms of its own prosperity, and its economic practices of exploiting debt bubbles are destined to fail. Hung ultimately warns of a postmiracle China that will grow increasingly assertive in attitude while remaining constrained in capability.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this challenging but informative study, Hung, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University, traces the formation of the modern Chinese economy and, per the title, sheds doubt on notions of China's rising dominance. In light of the country's recent stock market crash, this timely work provides valuable insights into the development of its economy, though these may be too scholarly for a non-academic audience. The opening sections about China's history of commerce will be fascinating and accessible even for casual lay readers. Hung describes how an influx of American silver in the 18th century created the first commercial boom, albeit without triggering capitalism and industrialization. This was followed by a period of economic deterioration and "agricultural involution" in the 19th century. Hung goes onto the early 20th-century era of competing warlords, and through the Mao period up to modern-day China's capitalist boom, which continued almost unaffected through the 2008 recession. As Hung enters the body of his analysis, the writing becomes more academic and potentially inaccessible for non-specialists. Nonetheless, his research is compelling and paints a convincing picture that China may not be the superpower many predicted it to be.
