In Line Behind a Billion People: How Scarcity Will Define China's Ascent in the Next Decade

Nearly everything you know about China is wrong! Yes, within a decade, China will have the worlds largest economy. But that is the least important thing to know about China. In this enlightening book, two of the worlds leading China experts turn the conventional wisdom on its head, showing why Chinas economic growth will constrain rather than empower it. Pioneering political analyst Damien Ma and global economist Bill Adams reveal why, having 35 years of ferocious economic growth, Chinas future will be shaped by the same fundamental reality that has shaped it for millennia: scarcity. Ma and Adams drill deep into Chinese society, illuminating all the scarcities that will limit its power and progress. Beyond scarcities of natural resources and public goods, they illuminate Chinas persistent poverties of individual freedoms, cultural appeal, and ideological legitimacy and the corrosive loss of values and beliefs amongst a growing middle class shackled by a parochial and inflexible political system. Everyone knows the 21st century is Chinas to lose but, as with so many things that everyone knows, thats just wrong. Ma and Adams get beyond cheerleading and fearmongering to tell the complex truth about China today. This is a truth you need to hear whether youre an investor, business decision-maker, policymaker, or citizen.