'The Rise and Fall of the EAST' chronicles China's economic history

China’s economy, once a global growth powerhouse, now faces significant challenges including deflation (an overall decline in prices), sluggish consumer spending, and a troubled property market. Globally, China’s economic troubles could disrupt trade, influence commodity prices, and have ripple effects on the international financial system, presenting both challenges and opportunities for other nations.

Economics is the study of how we allocate resources—food, clothing, money, time, effort, and knowledge. Economists begin this study by examining incentives: the driving forces behind our decisions. By understanding how we respond to incentives and the psychological instincts that steer us, we can better understand how market forces work and how governments and firms can use incentives to foster a healthy economy.

In Naked Economics, bestselling author Charles Wheelan strips away the complexity from some of the most powerful theories in economics, allowing readers with little or no background in the subject to understand many of the field’s fundamental concepts. He concentrates on the logical pieces of how and why people behave in certain ways, how markets function, and how governments can design incentive systems that encourage healthy economies.

Though the U.S. economy has grown at a healthy clip in 2021, signs point to a slowdown. Much of this is simply the plateauing of the surge of post-lockdown growth, but there are also specific challenges facing the country. Slow-burning problems like the continued spread of the Delta variant, the ongoing labor shortage, supply chain disruptions, inflation, surging energy prices, and an overvalued stock market will depress growth heading into 2022. The possibility also looms of a sudden, acute shock—such as the potential collapse of the Chinese real estate market, should its largest property developer, Evergrande, default on its $300 billion of debt.

Despite robust economic indicators in the US, including a 4.9% GDP growth rate, low unemployment, and a strong labor market, public opinion surveys find many Americans are pessimistic about the economy. Factors contributing to the negativity include persistent inflation, political polarization, the media, and lasting scars from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Venture into the enigma of America's economic landscape with "The Daily," as speakers Sabrina Tavernise and Jeanna Smialek dissect the juxtaposition of solid economic indicators against a backdrop of dwindling public confidence. The latest episode, "The Bad Vibes Around a Good Economy," unravels the paradox of low unemployment and inflation at odds with the nation's pervasive sense of financial instability, casting a gloomy shadow where optimism should theoretically reside.

Delve into generational dreams and digital influence as Tavernise and Smialek survey the psyche of young adults grappling with the elusive American dream, and the role of social media in echoing or amplifying economic anxiety. The podcast threads political responses with historical insights, weighing in on policy interventions like student debt relief and revisiting legacies such as Henry Kissinger's. Join the quest for understanding as "The Daily" continues to navigate through the interplay of economic realities and public sentiment in a world where facts and feelings often collide.

Economists expect the economy to slow significantly in the second half of 2021 compared to its heady growth in the first half. Pessimists predict a crisis prompted by the Federal Reserve’s response to inflation. They also warn that the U.S. has bubbles in multiple markets (stocks, housing, and commodities) and that the economy is overly dependent on temporary fiscal spending. Optimists say inflation worries are overblown. We cover the main perspectives.

Chinese firms have pioneered a different approach to online shopping than Western firms, blending e-commerce with everything from social media to gaming to financial services within the same apps. Western companies can learn a thing or two.

China’s economy, once a global growth powerhouse, now faces significant challenges including deflation (an overall decline in prices), sluggish consumer spending, and a troubled property market. Globally, China’s economic troubles could disrupt trade, influence commodity prices, and have ripple effects on the international financial system, presenting both challenges and opportunities for other nations.

As Covid continues to rage around the globe, supply chains have run into problems at every step: shipping containers are scarce, ports are overwhelmed, truckers are in short supply, and railroads are backed up, and manufacturing is delayed. Firms are looking to change their operating practices to reduce future vulnerabilities, like finding more local sources for raw materials and product components. Larger firms are also getting more intimately involved in transportation. Companies like Amazon and Walmart are leasing their spare trucks and warehouse space to other firms, as well as offering logistics consulting and other services.

Have you ever felt powerless to impact politics? Like the major decisions are all being made by powerful people far away? You’re not alone—and things haven’t always been this way. In The Power Elite, American sociologist C. Wright Mills discusses how a small group of corporate, military, and political leaders has taken over a vast majority of American political and economic decision-making. This class of power elites are unaccountable to the people, can exercise their power broadly, and have exploited many American institutions for their own benefit.

Writing in 1956, Mills explores how the power elite came into existence after the American Civil War and how they solidified their power in the years after World War II. He also discusses who these elites are, how they operate, and what their rule means for the American people. Our guide to The Power Elite will cover his theories while also providing historical examples, dissenting opinions, and context for the era in which the book was written.

Do you donate to charity because you care? Or are you lying to yourself and others about the true reason? In The Elephant in the Brain, software engineer Kevin Simler and economics professor Robin Hanson controversially argue that human behavior is driven by selfish motives—and that your own brain is hiding them from you. These hidden motives shape everything from our conversations and purchasing decisions to our schools and health care systems. The authors say if we learn to recognize these “elephants,” we can improve our individual behaviors and our social institutions.

As we explore Simler and Hanson’s theories, we’ll cover topics like why we’re constantly deceiving each other, why charitable giving is actually selfish, and why the purpose of education is to certify future employees. Along the way, we’ll challenge some of the authors’ arguments by providing alternative explanations, and we’ll explain how you can put their insights to work in your own life.

The Undercover Economist will help you think like an economist without boring you with endless graphs or complex math. By thinking like an economist, you’ll use principles like scarcity, price targeting, the stock market, and game theory to make better decisions every day. By understanding these economic principles, you’ll learn how economics operates in everyday life, why you make the economic decisions that you do, and what happens when these principles break down.

Hostility between the US and China has been growing for over a decade, eroding the wary but pragmatic relationship of years past. Now, as tensions threaten to escalate, diplomat and politician Kevin Rudd argues that a full-blown military conflict can and should be averted.

Rudd claims that this tenuous relationship is unraveling due to a combination of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s strategies and priorities, the US’s reactions to China’s rise to global prominence, and deep mistrust and ideological differences on both sides.

In this guide, we’ll explain the complex factors contributing to hostility between the US and China and describe Rudd’s recommendation for how these two global powers can avoid full-on war—an outcome that would take a huge toll on the US and China as well as global stability. We’ll also provide updates and additional context on the historical events discussed, nuances underlying the foreign diplomacy trends, and counterarguments to some of Rudd’s points.