Three Billion New Capitalists: The Great Shift of Wealth and Power to the East

by Clyde V. Prestowitz Jr.

By the beginning of this century it was already commonplace to speak of the U.S. as a “hyperpower,” to talk of its military, political, and economic clout as unprecedented in world history, and to assume that American dominance would continue at least throughout our lifetimes. It is conventional wisdom that America will have no serious rivals for at least a generation. But the American position is far more fragile and ephemeral than much of the world believes.Clyde Prestowitz shows the powerful yet barely visible trends that are threatening to end the six-hundred-year run of Western domination of the world. The trends include America’s increasingly unsustainable trade deficits; the equally unsustainable (and dangerous) buildup of massive dollar reserves in places like Japan and China; the end of America’s position as the world’s premier center for invention and technological innovation; the sudden entrance of 2.5 billion people in India and China into the world’s skilled job market; the role of the World Wide Web in permitting many formerly localized jobs to be done anywhere in the world; and the demographic meltdown of Europe, Japan, Russia, and, in later decades, even China.Three Billion New Capitalists is a clear-eyed and profoundly unsettling look at America’s and the world’s economic future, from an author with a history of predicting the important trends long before they become apparent to others.

Genres: Economics, China, Nonfiction, Business, Politics, Collections, School

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Clyde Prestowitz (born 1941) is the founder and President of the Economic Strategy Institute. He formerly served as counselor to the Secretary of Commerce in the Reagan Administration. He is a labor economist.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_V....

Reviews

[Charles Blumberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author questions how long America will continue to dominate the world. Space and time has been eliminated with the age of the internet and your neighbor being half a world away.

Threats to US domination:
(1) China became a manufacturing power after opening up to capitalism with foreign investment and the endless supply of cheap, non-unionized labor.

(2) India became technology self sufficient after US cut off aid to India as part of Cold War and opening up to capitalism after the end of the Cold War.

(3) End of the Dollar as the world currency. Americans spend too much and save nothing while Asians consume too little and save too much. Eventually, the IOUs will be called and require payback and we will have no cash on hand to pay.

According to the author, what the US needs to do:
(1) Balance budgets
(2) Create a new world currency based upon the dollar, yen, and euro so that we are not at risk of the world dumping the dollar and creating a crisis
(3) Energy independence
(4) Overhaul tax system that encourage saving by eliminating the income tax and replacing with sales tax
(5) Control social welfare and entitlements
(6) Invest in our aging and outdated infrastructure

[Hubert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by a clear Reaganite neoliberal free trade wonkie, but definitely well-written; also explains the backdrop for the current credit crisis. The author uses specific cases to elucidate grander points concerning globalization.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written in 2004 and still has a lot of relevant information portaining to the current economic situation. He used a lot of interesting real life examples, but they were somewhat repetitive. Basically, China and India are going to take over the world for different reasons.

[Tammyra]

Very interesting view on the economic and inevitable power shift to China. I thought it was a good read because it's one of those books that really make you think! Check it out!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about the shifting trends of economies, but goes into a little too much detail about economic theories

[Shelby Sanford · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was very general...not a great read for those who are already familiar with the topic. It would probably make a great first read however...

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read! The recommendations fall short but the issues raised are important to consider. It is written from a US policy perspective, which I appreciated while others may not.

[Lily · Rating 1 out of 5]

*YAWN*