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How China And America Became One Economy And Why The World's Prosperity Depends On It
Simon & Schuster
October 2009
On Sale: October 13, 2009
352 pages ISBN: 141658370X EAN: 9781416583707 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
THE EMERGENCE OF CHINA as an economic superpower is now
widely recognized, but as Zachary Karabell reveals, that is
only one aspect of the story. Over the past decade, the
Chinese and U.S. economies have fused to become one
integrated system. How China and the United States manage
their relationship will determine whether the coming decades
witness increased global prosperity or greater
instability.Karabell traces the twenty-year history that
began with the suppression of the protests in Tiananmen
Square in 1989. The Chinese leadership adopted a policy of
aggressive economic reform and courted U.S. companies and
expertise. Karabell charts how integral those companies --
including Federal Express, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Avon, and
Wal-Mart -- have been to China's success and how integral
China has been to their growth. Though accelerated by the
admission of China to the World Trade Organization in 2001,
the economies began to fuse without attracting much notice.
Preoccupied with the threat of terrorism and wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan, the United States soon found itself deeply
in debt to China while also reaping the rewards of China's
growth.Now both countries find themselves in an unfamiliar
and challenging position. After years of seeking closer
integration with the United States, China has begun to
question the wisdom of that embrace. The United States,
buoyed by China's loans, faces a level of dependency that
has generated considerable anxiety. The intertwinement has
enhanced the global economy but undermined the sovereignty
that governments so crave.Yet, as Karabell argues, the
fusion has advanced too far for either to extricate itself
without severe harm. The challenge for the United States is
to embrace this new world even with some loss of relative
power in order to ensure its prosperity in the future; the
challenge for China is to recognize that it is now a major
player on the world stage with all the risks and
responsibilities that entails. We need them and they need
us, but the jury is still out on whether either can fully
accept that new paradigm.In a book rich in individual
stories, Karabell, informed by his considerable experience,
not only provides the first comprehensive account of how
these two countries became one economy but also makes a
compelling case for why its continuation in the future is a
vital element of a stable, prosperous world.
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