The Rise of China and the Demise of the Capitalist World Economy

May 24th, 2009 by Andy in General Topics

This looks like an extremely insightful and important work…

A bit like Malcom X, author Minqi Li used prison time to read widely. The latter studied radical political economy for two years when Chinese leaders locked him up for a critical public speech after the Tiananmen upsurge in 1989. That was then. He is an author and assistant professor of economics at the University of Utah now. Li’s ‘The Rise of China and the Demise of the Capitalist World Economy’ is a must-read for all concerned with the future of the earth and its people.”

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Li’s critique of “sustainable capitalism” is devastating in its breadth and depth. He argues, persuasively, against that notion with proof that requires no more than high school math. His clear prose lays out the costs and benefits for the planet and people under the current social system with respect to nonrenewable and renewable energy, minerals, water, food and climate change. Li reveals, layer by layer, the “laws of motion” of an extractive system of producing and exchanging commodities that is fast careening towards an unsafe future.

To be clear, this book is much more than a compendium of dire analysis, data and statistics. Li analyzes the current crises as the outcomes of history that women and men make under conditions they do not choose. Thus, he offers no hard and fast blueprint for a post-capitalist tomorrow. Li does favor labor internationalism and a shorter working day. Both developments, in his view, are basic to a more rational way of organizing people to sustain themselves and the natural world.

Read The Full Review by Seth Sandronsky

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