A China Passage

by John Kenneth Galbraith

In the autumn of 1972, John Kenneth Galbraith, in company with his two predecessor presidents of the American Economic Association, was invited to visit China. The a privileged view of the Chinese economy. The results are in this book. But Mr Galbraith had another idea; it was to go beyond economics and tell of everything a visitor to the Middle Kingdom does, sees, and thinks from the moment he leaves home until he is back again. And here it all is . . .

Genres: History, Nonfiction, China

143 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

John Kenneth Galbraith was a Canadian-American economist. He was a Keynesian and an institutionalist, a leading proponent of 20th-century American liberalism and democratic socialism. His books on economic topics were bestsellers in the 1950s and 1960s. A prolific author, he produced four dozen books & over a 1000 articles on many subjects. Among his most famous works was his economics trilogy: American Capitalism (1952), The Affluent Society (1958) & The New Industrial State (1967). He taught at Harvard University for many years. He was active in politics, serving in the administrations of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson. He served as US Ambassador to India under John F. Kennedy.

He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice: one in 1946 from President Truman, and another in 2000 from President Clinton. He was also awarded the Order of Canada in 1997, and in 2001, the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, for strengthening ties between India and the USA.

Reviews

[Fuego Primero · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es un libro redactado en forma de Itinerario o diario; inicio el 4 de Septiembre de 1972 hasta el 24 de Septiembre de 1972. Fue una visita a China de una delegación de Negocios de Estados Unidos. Pienso que el autor siendo un economista trato de ser demasiado objetivo y no dio un análisis muy detallado desde el punto político, claro viendo la perspectiva del formato del libro ese no era la finalidad del autor.
Como material histórico le doy buen crédito para tratar de entender a ese gigante de Asia, donde en ese instante estaban en plena Revolución Cultural y creo que un mes en China, tiene su valor que bien vale la pena leerlo.
Leí la Edición en Español.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly a travel diary. Surprisingly funny in a snarky way.
The last section is JKG's analysis of China's economy which, is of course, extremely naive and incomplete, but I only know that because I am reading it from this point in history.