Blog
I believe the most important thing Americans must do is to secure their economic well-being in an increasingly challenging, complex world. What I have written about all these years is the process of creating wealth, not for any one individual, but for the United States as a whole. Ever since I was a young correspondent witnessing the emergence of China after the country opened in 1979, I’ve believed we have to get more serious about creating wealth. I retain faith in the resiliency of the U.S. economy and the enterprise of American people. If Americans have the right strategies, we can once again create widespread wealth. Come with me on this journey.
Should Americans Learn How To Bow?
April 20, 2020
The Japanese Art of Bowing By Toshio Aritake and William J. Holstein Infectious disease czar Anthony Fauci has suggested that Americans and other Westerners might not want to risk shaking hands with each other once they begin to creep out of their coronavirus isolations and quarantines. What, then, will they do to greet each other? […]
Post-virus, what is “decoupling?”
April 17, 2020
The Wall Street Journal reports that American companies operating in China think that “decoupling” of the U.S. and Chinese economies is increasingly likely. I paste it in below. I continue to think that a real decoupling, as proposed by Peter Navarro, is impossible. The United States and China have effectively merged their economies. American political […]
Young Thais Rebel Against China
April 15, 2020
I’ve been looking for signs about how the world will respond to China post-coronavirus (if there ever is a post.) Will countries turn against Beijing and its One Belt, One Road initiative and its overall attempt to impose its will on others? This Reuters story from Bangkok is a very interesting sign. It’s not specifically […]
David Brooks Nails It–Time For “Aggressive Friendship”
April 10, 2020
I don’t normally comment on soft stuff such as mere human feelings but David Brooks really nailed today in the New York Times. See it here. The punchline: “This is a time to practice aggressive friendship–to be the one who seeks out the lonely and the troubled. It’s also true that character is formed in times […]
Mexico Could Be The Big Winner Post-Coronavirus
April 9, 2020
Everyone is recognizing how dependent the United States is on other countries, particularly China, for vital supplies such as medicine and medical gear. The scramble to figure out which companies can “re-shore” or bring some of that production back to North America is just beginning. Vietnam has too many constraints in terms of labor. So […]
Thinking About Economic Recovery
April 7, 2020
Ever since producing the 1992 cover story for Business Week called Hot Spots, I’ve urged cities, states and regions to think about how their economies work and how they can be improved. The key buzz word is “ecosystem.” How good is their ecosystem for export promotion, for technological innovation, for training and retraining, etc.? I […]
