The Chinese Economy
Adaptation and Growth
By Barry Naughton, 2018
An up-to-date review of China from a true economist expert’s perspective, the Second edition of The Chinese Economy, subtitled Adaptation and Growth, takes an in-depth look at the Chinese Economy from the many different sectors including agriculture, industrial, technological, and health care. Barry Naughton outlines in his extensive book of twenty essays the various issues associated with economic growth, such as labour struggles, living standards, and banking investments, both domestic and foreign.
Unique to the 2nd edition of The Chinese Economy is the perspective evaluation of the urban and rural growth of China since 1949. Naughton heavily points out the imbalance between the living structure and the labour structure in such that the presence of high tech industries, growing higher level industry jobs, and increasing demand for luxury products of high quality clash with the stark presence of sweatshops and high percentage of low income citizens.
More of a collection of twenty individual essays on twenty different focuses, The Chinese Economy, though not fluidly unified through a common story, is unified by a common economic evaluation: a growing bubble, an ever worsening unstable economy, and a very bad distribution of national wealth. A true evaluation of the country from all aspects, the 2nd edition by Barry Naughton is a must-read book for individuals and investors wanting to peer into the “real” China.