Skip to main content

Curated by Project Syndicate

China’s Challenges

37 commentaries

The Chinese authorities' grand policy pronouncements of recent months have given rise to serious concerns about President Xi Jinping's ability to overcome the powerful vested interests that are impeding economic rebalancing and long-term growth. Can China sustain its rapid economic and political rise, or will domestic malaise undermine its regional and global ambitions?

Sort by: Show:
  1. The Perils of Financial Freedom
    ChinaBankofChina_Liu Tao_Flickr Liu Tao/Flickr

    The Perils of Financial Freedom

    May 9, 2014 Adair Turner warns that full liberalization of China's bank sector could lead to another global crisis.

  2. Russia and the Silk Road Approach
    PutinXiG20meeting_Host Photo Agency_g20russia.ru Host Photo Agency/g20russia.ru

    Russia and the Silk Road Approach

    May 6, 2014 Ana Palacio emphasizes the economic and security benefits of China's latest initiative.

  3. China is Still Number Two
    ObamaXiOvalOffice_White House Photo_Pete Souza White House Photo/Pete Souza

    China is Still Number Two

    May 5, 2014 Jeffrey Frankel pours cold water on the claim that the US economy has been surpassed.

  4. Global Ground Zero in Asia

    Global Ground Zero in Asia

    Apr 30, 2014 Nouriel Roubini says that if the global order blows up, the detonation will occur in Asia.

  5. Reimagining China’s Urban Future

    Reimagining China’s Urban Future

    Apr 30, 2014 Bert Hofman highlights the institutional reforms needed to keep migration on track and inequality in check.

  6. Asia’s Giants Under New Management

    Asia’s Giants Under New Management

    Apr 21, 2014 Kishore Mahbubani assesses the enormous global impact implied by leadership shifts in India, Indonesia, and China.

  1. khrushcheva171_MIKHAIL METZELPOOLAFP via Getty Images_putinkim Mikhail Metzel/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

    Putin and Kim’s Cartoon Summit

    Nina L. Khrushcheva thinks that Russia's recent meeting with North Korea was intended primarily as a warning to the South.
  2. haykel18_MANDEL NGANAFP via Getty Images_mbs Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

    Saudi Arabia’s New Nationalism

    Bernard Haykel explains the reasoning behind the Kingdom's ongoing domestic- and foreign-policy transformation.
  3. wagner22_Lukas SchulzeGetty Images_pollution Lukas Schulze/Getty Images

    The Green Growth Mindset

    Gernot Wagner sees doctrinaire debates about capitalism as irrelevant or even deleterious to the decarbonization effort.
  4. mallochbrown17_GIANLUIGI GUERCIAAFP via Getty Images_africawomenpolitics Gianluigi Guercia/AFP via Getty Images

    Africa Is the Future of Multilateralism

    Mark Malloch-Brown explains why the continent should be at the forefront of efforts to bring about international reforms.
  5. op_yi2_PEDRO PARDOAFP via Getty Images_chinahousing Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images

    A Chinese Bubble Long in the Making

    Yi Fuxian

    The Chinese government is very good at covering up small problems, but these often pile up into much bigger ones that can no longer be ignored. The current real-estate bubble is a case in point, casting serious doubts not just on the wisdom of past policies but also on China's long-term economic future.

    traces the long roots of the country's mounting economic and financial problems.
  6. bp industrial policy Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

    Industrial Policy Is Back

    From semiconductors to electric vehicles, governments are identifying the strategic industries of the future and intervening to support them – abandoning decades of neoliberal orthodoxy in the process. Are industrial policies the key to tackling twenty-first-century economic challenges or a recipe for market distortions and lower efficiency?

  7. fischer208_DrAfter123Getty Images_AIhuman DrAfter123/Getty Images

    Is AI a Master or Slave?

    Joschka Fischer wonders whether humanity can even hope to maintain control in an era of “mega-crisis.”
  8. haldar25_BettmannGetty Images_friedmanreagan Bettmann/Getty Images

    Laying Chicago Economics to Rest

    Antara Haldar

    From breakthroughs in behavioral economics to mounting evidence in the real world, there is good reason to think that the economic orthodoxy of the past 50 years now has one foot in the grave. The question is whether the mainstream economics profession has gotten the memo.

    looks back on 50 years of neoclassical economic orthodoxy and the damage it has wrought.
  9. delong254_ Samuel CorumGetty Images_january6riot Samuel Corum/Getty Images

    America’s Broken Civic Bargain

    J. Bradford DeLong worries that Republicans have abandoned one of the core principles that sustains a democracy over time.

Edit Newsletter Preferences

Set up Notification

To receive email updates regarding this {entity_type}, please enter your email below.

If you are not already registered, this will create a PS account for you. You should receive an activation email shortly.