"The War for Wealth" by Gabor Steingart

This book is just published in May 2008 by McGraw Hill $29.95. Dr. Henry Kissinger recommends it very highly and I do concur with him for his insightful review.

On page 104. The Chinese economic miracle was made possible only by China's entry into the global economy. The joint venture began with less than $7 million in 1980 but mushroomed to $27 billion by 1990. The sum of all foreign investment in China is about $250 billion today. I hinted the opening of China to the world on page 8 in "A Glimpse of the Chinese Language" published by the RAND Corporation in 1965 when Dr. Kissinger was a consultant at RAND and I was a member of the research staff in the Department of Economics. Moreover,I gave a lecture to the staff at the Chinese Embassy in early 1970s to the same effect with my modest vision as an economist with macroview of China to be opening up for the benefits of other nations as well. The combination of Chinese labor and Western capital to be reflected as factors of production for international division of labor in basic economics. Furthermore,I lectured in different cities in China almost every year since 1981. It is gratifying to witness the drastic changes in China. The first American Nobel laureate Paul Samuelson mentioned the great potential of China in the book from page 261-274. The prognosis of Goldman Sachs in 2050 is that the future of China will be ahead of the United States. Needless to say,that remains to be seen. Professor Samuelson stated that the globelization leads to a win-win situation for people in China but is different in the USA because professional members of the workforce will profit,while the run-0f-the-mill working class people will be the losers. I would recommend the role of community colleges to train the grassroots with the title of "The Future of Community Colleges" published by the Congressional Record,July 18, 1974 and quoted by Richard T. Gill of Harvard in economics textbooks in 1970s and 1980. Moreover, "Keys for Economic Understanding" was published in 1971 with the same rationale. Cf. www.ask.com for reference. Prof. Samuelson also stated that poor Americans shop products made in China to boost their living standard. Here is an evidence of Sino-American economics in action. Students at Harvard asked Economics professor Joseph Schumpeter about the future of economic systems suchh as Capitalism and Socialism. Schumpeter replied "Socialism"and his students were shocked because Schumpeter was a conservative economist. But the professor replied:"My prediction is not necessarily my preference." Well,Schumpeter's prediction can be seen in China's system i.e. Socialism with Chinese characteristics i.e. to get rich is glorious with profit incentives within the laws. Samuelson's conclusions are :
1. Taking the middle way. My thought turns to "Zhang rong zhi dao" in Chinese philosophy.
2. Be less aggressive. I would think of Zhuangzi, the Chinese philosopher who stressed tranquility for equanimity.

Adam Smith was a professor of moral philosophy and economics. Here we can detect the underpinning of economics in philosophy of life. No wonder Ph.D. in economics would mean Doctor of Philosophy in Economics. But how many economists are philosophers? Intellectual food for profound thoughts,indeed!

Francis Shieh a.k.a. Xie Shihao,a lifelong student of philosophy of humanity regardless of race,color and creed of nations' economic systems. May 11, 2008