A Fantastic book
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I bought this book after reading an article about the Chinese economy that suggested all was not as it seemed and I wanted to know a bit more. Hutton's book is illuminating about what he writes not just about China but also the western democracies and economies. Where others have seen rambling I have seen context that has helped me to understand the points he is making. Hutton's book is a refreshing break from some of the nonsense peddled by our own political leaders and economic scaremongers. I cannot recommend this book too highly.
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Graffiti on the wall
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Disappointed. Not quite to expect from the title. Will Hutton had much to say about the development of Western capitalism and has some good points about the potential problems that China has to deal with. For all its so call erudition, Will Hutton, failed to account for the fact that capital accumulation is as important if not more so than infrastructure in the development of western capitalism. A major omission is the lack of discussion on the role of colonial workers and slave labour in the accumulation of capital. China has industrialised without having to depend on the labours of other nationals and peoples, a very important distinction.
Let us hope that the Chinese model will be able to resolve the many contradictions associated with rapid economic development.
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A wake-up call
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I found this work both fascinating and deeply unsettling... I am neither an economics nor political expert, but I do appreciate that there is no system or culture that operates in isolation, particularly not in the current age. Hence, for me, the title of the book was not misleading... It may seem trite to say this, but if you entitle a work "...China and the West..." then your book should cover both China and the West and I found that this book did so, and did it admirably, on both counts.
I believe that I learnt a lot about the current situation in China; I received some tantalising insights into why China has a particular view of institutions that is perhaps different from the prevailing view among Western societies about very similar institutions (Banks, Corporations, Government itself). I am motivated to read more widely on this topic.
What Hutton's work also gave me was an overview of the tensions in Western societies that lead to inherent instabilities and these, coupled with the instabilities in the Chinese system, in turn lead to deeply unsettling conclusions about the longer term stability in the region (and hence, the world). I find it rather worrying that the USA is effectively bankrupt and its hegemony threatened by it's financial situation - what will happen when the Chinese economy decides to withdraw from support of the dollar...? Let us hope that democratic principles have a stronger hold in China when that society achieves world (economic) domination and I happen to agree 100% with the notion that western societies should lead by example. Enlightenment and engagement - what a powerful message to send to all world societies and one that we in the west are manifestly failing to promulgate. I found those chapters that illustrated this dearth very interesting.
For me, the book was a resounding success!
And, as for the existence of a veritable arsenal ranged along the mainland shore facing Taiwan, then all I can say is: "ooo-er...!!"
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slightly disappointing.
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I had looked forward to reading this book for a long time, as Hutton is a fantastic writer and I normally agree with much of what he says. The writing on the Wall is not a bad book - in a lot of ways Hutton is spot on with his analysis of the world and the targets of his criticism. There are also nuggets of real insight into China here (hence the three star rating), and it is worth reading for this reason.
The main problem is, as a previous reviewer points out, that this book isn't really about China. There isn't really enough analysis of Chinese politics and economics to really back up his central thesis: that if china is to survive it needs to become more like the West. You are left with the sense that Huttons faith in the so called European 'enlightenment infrastructure' is exactly that - a belief. Personally, I expected a bit more in the way of hard analysis here.
But still, a good read - especially if you are not well aquainted with China.
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Good in parts but rambling
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I wanted to read this book to understand more about the phenomenal rise of China and the effect this might have on the West, the UK and my family. I teach Chinese students, use Chinese products (who doesn't?) and eat Chinese food but I'm encouraged by our media to fear and mistrust China. This book goes part of the way to helping me understand what's going on but it was a hard slog to get to the end because it is so rambling. Having nearly given up half-way through, I'm glad I did not because when Hutton finally gets into his stride he is very good. However, the chapters I enjoyed were not really about China, dealing as they do with the US budget deficit, the polarisation of US politics, the global environmental crisis, the importance of our Enlightenment heritage and the still disastrous effect of the UK class system. All good stuff, but not directly relevant to China. The early chapters on China should be much more clearly written and more focused and I would have welcomed some case studies to illustrate some of the points being made. Chinese history and the Chinese socio-political environment seem to be so far removed from my experience as a westerner that the rather dry history lesson presented by Will Hutton is not helpful. As a non-economist I still feel bamboozled by some of the arguments in the book about the interlocking effects of the values of the renminbi vs. the dollar and euro, the levels of western debt and investment in China etc. A few diagrams might have helped here. I hope Hutton is correct when he argues that we need not fear China and that the West needs to find ways to engage constructively to our mutual benefit. Let's hope our politicians are able to show some leadership in this respect.
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