After 3 wks in China, I think almost all current economic weakness is due to this controlled de-leveraging of the housing mkt + lower consumer confidence from that. See declining ratio of rental px to income from 2019 to 2024 below. China is de-leveraging mother of all bubbles

My first book project is a co-edited volume with Marshall Meyer titled “The Arc of the Chinese Economy” that will be published by Cambridge University Press in November 2025! Chapters by leading experts:

The 80th anniversary of the August Revolution celebrations happening in Vietnam. These are portraits of 13 Vietnamese-Chinese (Hoa) based in central Vietnam who resisted Japanese rule. 10 of them were executed in April 1945 alone before Vietnam’s independence was declared.

I'm excited to share that my first monograph, "China's Date Debate: How Manchurian Scholars Rewrote World War II," is available for preorder through the University of Michigan Press, China Understandings Today series! press.umich.edu/Books/C/China-… via University of Michigan Press

But the same inequality data can be looked against income (GDP per capita) in a Kuznets-like fashion. Then, the story is somewhat different: China went from $5k to $20k without an increase in Gini; Brazil registered a decline in inequality but its income fell behind China's

Paul Samuelson wrote: “Mine is a simple ideology that favors the underdog and (other things equal) abhors inequality.” When he became rich, he wrote: “I have generally voted against my own economic interests when questions of redistributive taxation came up.”

The CCP’s triumph over the KMT shocked the world—even the Soviets bet on the KMT with more aid. My book, Domination and Mobilization, asks: how did the CCP survive and prevail? 👇 #ChineseHistory #CCP #KMT #ChinesePolitics #AuthoritarianPolitics #PoliticalHistory #PartyBuilding

Vietnam’s 🇻🇳 military parade on September 2 will be its largest ever, marking its 80th year of independence. For the first time ever, Russia 🇷🇺 will be marching in Hanoi, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia. 🇨🇳 🇱🇦 🇰🇭

. Matt Bruenig hits it on the head here. The welfare state is not equivalent to development econ, which focuses on intervention and human capital effects. Welfare states, particularly in the Nordics, are rather built on principles of egalitarianism, solidarity and autonomy.

Upward mobility increases with baseline inequality—a sharp contrast to the traditional Great Gatsby story, from Laura Mayoral, Debraj Ray, and @ggenicot nber.org/papers/w34144

“Trump has switched the United States’ role from global insurer to extractor of profit,” writes Adam Posen. China will likely be the least affected by this shift, “while Washington’s closest allies will be the most damaged.” foreignaffairs.com/united-states/…

This is one of the most influential papers in labor economics in the last 30 years.

Absolutely must listen episode on Chinese collateralised lending in developing countries open.spotify.com/episode/3iP9MO…

Very important paper, for two reasons: 1) Key finding: employment *is* falling in early-career roles exposed to LLM automation 2) Shows that administrative data (millions of payroll records) is much better than survey data for questions requiring precision (occupation x age)

I'm very pleased that Tran Luu Quang will be the next Party Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City, a city that I care about. His leadership and his precedessor's, Le Van Thanh, were widely respected in Hai Phong, my home city, which has now become one of Vietnam's most developed cities.

Seems that Vietnam will be attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit (SCO) for the first time ever. Earlier this year, China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, suggested that Vietnam formally join the SCO. My bet is that Vietnam will join. vietnamnews.vn/politics-laws/…

"Vietnam’s Literary Tradition and Westernization in the 1930s: A Case Study of Vũ Trọng Phụng’s Số Đỏ." By Dr Lu Xia, Peking University. Link: myemail.constantcontact.com/CSEAS-Next-wee…

Why the Indonesian economy is struggling, and the sharp dichotomy between the official GDP figures and the economic reality on the ground ft.com/content/0eb14d…

THREAD: Indonesia has been rocked by days of mass protest, triggered by anger at a rise in legislators’ incomes. I’ve been writing with colleagues about the class gap between voters and politicians for years 👇

This whole piece by Jonathon P Sine is impressively researched and provocative. cogitations.co/i/169678747/ma…