Is the future really Asian?
Book review: “The future is Asian”. By Parag Khanna.
Two strengths:
(1) it provides a good summary of the modern history of Asia, and
(2) it offers a birds-eye view of the major political and economic issues confronting Asia. It is comprehensive.
Four weaknesses:
(1) it fails to explain why the population of five billion must translate into prosperity. To me, the huge population seems a huge burden to the environment and the labour market. Technologies are posing an unprecedented challenge.
(2) it does not explain why the US dominance is weakening. To me, it is growing. Despite the crisis of 2008, the US has come out more quickly than everyone else and is now leaving the rest of the world further behind.
(3) the author makes a fool of himself when he talks about balance of payments, FX reserves, the Chinese monetary policy or the P2P lending market. Fair enough, he is no economist. See attachments.
(4) it is true Russia is pivoting to Asia. But only a little bit. Many parts of the book exaggerate a small event into a trend. Some parts of the book appear written by our friends in Beijing’s propaganda agencies.
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