Reviews for The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China, and What It Means for All of Us

The average rating for The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China, and What It Means for All of Us based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-04-16 00:00:00 Michael Norton A very readable, but meticulously researched look at the growth of India and China and the particular challenges each faces as they become more integrated with the global economy. Meredith highlights how much China and India are changing the global economic and political landscape and argues that if America does not keep up by investing in mathematics, science and research, improving its educational system and providing better safety nets for those who will inevitably lose their jobs to China and India, it will fall far behind. She emphasizes that protectionism is not the answer especially when China's and America's economies are so intertwined. I thought this book was fascinating on many levels. In particular, the different paths of India and China and their different political systems raises the interesting question of which is better for economic growth--authoritarianism or democracy? Or perhaps less starkly, does authoritarianism produce fast but unsustainable growth while democracy produces slower but more sustainable improvements? I doubt it's that clear of a dichotomy but it certainly provides food for thought. Highly recommended.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-06-06 00:00:00 David Walsh 78 China open, 91 India, Mao famine 30-40M, China began in rural farms as collectivism failed going to free market, 40% decrease with collectivism, intellectuals burn books universities closed with collectivism or socialism, ussr was revolution vs evolution, revolution due to corruption, 760M rural 570M urban, 91 reforms to drop state own and tax from 56 to 40, government control all levels corruption and life long employment, since 96 politics and regulations unstable with corruption, dereg airlines telecom banks with corruption, infosys, disassembly line, atomization of supply chain, ¼ china with medical, youth support parents, save due to recent path of penniless peasants left by Mao and cultural revolution broke China tradition, diamonds in demand, older workers of state owned companies are poor workers and to be avoided as entitled, 97K officials in 2006 punished for corruption which hurts poor most, shrinking pop by 2015 due to one child policy with 40M more males, aging China and youth of India, air pollution costs $54B and 600K deaths, 5-10 worse than worse US cities, India home cooking fires, China 8% water with 22% pop, can do hard work with fair chance, savings in America as low as depression era, need to cut spending in US.