China, the world’s second largest economy, has established an international bank to compete with the IMF/World Bank, is building artificial islands in the South China Sea and fortifying them, is investing billions of dollars in developing trade routes all around the globe, and has made major advances in quantum communications which would be unassailable. China is the world’s most serious economic threat to the US and Europe. It is essential that world government and business leaders understand China. This course will explain China’s economy and politics from 1949 to the present. In addition to gaining an in-depth knowledge of China, students will learn some basic economic tools that can be applied to other counties and time periods.

The professor for this course recently wrote two books on China, taught courses on China’s economy and politics in Thailand, and taught comparative US and Chinese economic development courses at the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies. He lived and studied in China for two years.