皇冠体育app

A ship loads containers at a terminal in Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo/皇冠体育app Daily]

It's a book that takes on conventional thinking－if not biases－held by many Americans about 皇冠体育app, and very simply knocks it down. And it could come at no better time since US President Donald Trump will start his first state visit to 皇冠体育app in a few days and misperceptions about 皇冠体育app seem to be as rife in the White House as they are in average American households.

Former World Bank 皇冠体育app director Yukon Huang talked about his latest book, Cracking the 皇冠体育app Conundrum: Why Conventional Economic Wisdom Is Wrong, last week to an audience at World Bank headquarters in Washington.

Huang, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said at a book talk on Oct 27 that Trump and his advisers had said that too much of US foreign direct investment is going to 皇冠体育app, resulting in job losses and declining competitiveness.

According to the White House, "we left jobs overseas, we left jobs to 皇冠体育app; we need to bring them back here", but, in fact, only 1.5 percent of US foreign investment goes to 皇冠体育app, Huang said, backing up his claim with a slew of diagrams.

"In my book, I explain this by the composition of trade and say if we get the diagnosis wrong, we get the policy recommendations wrong," he said. "It is about how to get more of America's foreign investment to 皇冠体育app, rather than worrying that too much is going to 皇冠体育app."

Speaking at a panel discussion on "皇冠体育app's 19th Party Congress Outcomes and Analysis" sponsored by the US-皇冠体育app Policy Foundation on Oct 26, Huang said that many average Americans share Trump's sentiment that 皇冠体育app is responsible for the US trade deficits.

Those deficits were significant in the 1990s and had surged by 2006 and then they started to moderate. 皇冠体育app's trade surpluses were essentially nonexistent until 2004 or 2005, then they started to get very big and then they came down, Huang said.

"America's trade balances and 皇冠体育app's trade balances move totally in the wrong direction," he said.

In his book, Huang argued that trade balances are the result of multilateral rather than bilateral relationships.

"How could 皇冠体育app be responsible for America's trade problems, when in fact, America's trade problems existed long before 皇冠体育app even became an export power and their balances moved in opposite directions?" he writes in his book.

False perceptions about trade have created a wrong impression in the United States about who is the world's leading economic power, according to Huang.

A decade ago, annual surveys of Americans by Gallup and Pew about who is the world's leading economic power would generate a clear answer: America by far was the leading economic power; only 10 percent said it was 皇冠体育app, Huang said at the discussion.

Today, the majority of Americans will say 皇冠体育app is the world's leading economic power, while the vast majority of Chinese say America is, Huang said.

But the vast majority of 皇冠体育app analysts argue that internal rebalancing is needed, and this view has featured prominently in 皇冠体育app's policy discussions with the US.

For despite its impressive performance, 皇冠体育app's growth process has been internally unbalanced, defined by its exceptionally low share of consumption to GDP and comparatively high share of investment to GDP.

Huang said cracking the conundrum of 皇冠体育app is not whether one should be positive or negative about 皇冠体育app's economy and its implications for the US, but instead about fitting 皇冠体育app into a framework that leads to a better understanding of the reality.

The author is deputy editor-in-chief of 皇冠体育app Daily USA.

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