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Assertive Chinese and job-hungry Americans are gearing up for a trade war across the Pacific. Fortunately, cooler heads will likely prevail.
The Chinese central bank's decision to raise interest rates is a positive step toward economic rebalancing, but it needs to be followed up by larger rate hikes if China is to increase domestic consumption.
China recently surprised many economists by raising its official loan interest rate in an effort to ward off higher inflation and prevent the further development of a potentially dangerous property bubble.
Chinese policymakers looking to learn from Japan's policy missteps should recognize that Japan's lost decade grew out of its failure to implement early and gradual economic adjustment policies, not its decision to reevaluate the yen.
In order to sustain economic growth during its transition toward a more balanced economy and help keep U.S. demand for Chinese exports high, Beijing should invest in the U.S. transportation infrastructure.
If China is pressured to reevaluate its currency too quickly, it will have to rely on overinvestment to head off rising unemployment, which would exacerbate the fundamental imbalances already present in the Chinese economy.
With disputes in the South China Sea and potential succession in North Korea, a great deal of speculation exists as to how the United States will position itself in the region.
While China needs to revalue its currency to increase household income, it should do so gradually to avoid devastating its economy and hurting exporters and consumers alike.
Liu Xiaobo's Nobel Peace Prize provides a significant boost in confidence to China’s pro-democracy advocates, but the government will likely tighten political freedoms in the short term.
High investment rates have driven China's rapid growth in both GDP and consumption, but it is unclear whether such a strategy is sustainable in the long run.