Recommendations from our site
“One of the real values of it is trying to think about not having to choose between either being impressed by some of the things that are going on technologically in China, or being horrified by the political repression — he walks this line between. It’s important that he has the chapters on the one child policy and zero covid, about things that go terribly wrong when the human impact of big projects is not taken seriously enough. What I like about the book the most is being in the company of an incredibly thoughtful person who spent time in many different parts of China thinking about what’s going on.” Read more...
Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Historian
“It’s powerful because it’s simple without being simplistic and…is interspersed with engaging personal stories that deepen the substantive argument. Dan Wang’s claim is that China is largely governed by engineers and the United States by lawyers, and that this difference shapes everything from infrastructure to innovation to risk tolerance. Once you adopt that lens, a lot of observed differences suddenly make sense. Engineers tend to optimize for building and execution; lawyers optimize for process, rights, and constraint. Wang is careful not to turn this into a morality play. An engineering mindset can deliver breathtaking speed and scale, but it can also be ruthless when individuals or rights get in the way. That tradeoff—capacity versus constraint—is one of the most illuminating ways to compare political systems.” Read more...
The Best Economics Books of 2025
Jason Furman, Economist
“Dan Wang’s big conceit here is that China is an engineering economy, and America an economy dominated by lawyers…Dan Wang’s conclusion is that China needs some of America’s respect for freedom of political expression and America needs quite a lot of China’s engineering ambition. Both countries risk killing off the best of themselves if they overdo one or other of those particular tendencies.” Read more...
The Best Business Books of 2025: the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award
Andrew Hill, Journalist
