Building things and breaking things in China (Summer School World Tour)
Planet MoneyChina’s turbocharged growth may have made it rich, but now it has to deal with rich country problems.
High-speed trains that connect every town. Gleaming new bridges and skyscrapers. An apartment (or two) for every family. No country on Earth has seen the kind of economic growth that China has over the last 50 years. China has become the factory to the world, a grand experiment in central government planning mixed with personal ambition.
It was all enabled by what our guide for today calls, an engineering state, a central planning mindset where leaders believe they can engineer their way out of economic problems. And problems are mounting.
Today on the show, the perils of prosperity and the despair of success as China deals with overbuilding.
We’ll travel back to China’s free-wheeling boom-era of the early 2000s and hang out with a property developer who amassed his wealth at the center of the action – private jet rides, thousand-dollar fish soup, casual bribes. Then, as the economy slows, we ask what can we learn from the despair of success. Does rising youth unemployment signal a less prosperous future? With young people struggling to find white-collar jobs, some of them are opting out of work altogether.
Featured Episodes:
Featured Terms:
Support:
Read:
This episode of Planet Money Summer School is hosted by Robert Smith. It was produced by Sophia Paliza-Carre, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Maggie Luthar. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
High-speed trains that connect every town. Gleaming new bridges and skyscrapers. An apartment (or two) for every family. No country on Earth has seen the kind of economic growth that China has over the last 50 years. China has become the factory to the world, a grand experiment in central government planning mixed with personal ambition.
It was all enabled by what our guide for today calls, an engineering state, a central planning mindset where leaders believe they can engineer their way out of economic problems. And problems are mounting.
Today on the show, the perils of prosperity and the despair of success as China deals with overbuilding.
We’ll travel back to China’s free-wheeling boom-era of the early 2000s and hang out with a property developer who amassed his wealth at the center of the action – private jet rides, thousand-dollar fish soup, casual bribes. Then, as the economy slows, we ask what can we learn from the despair of success. Does rising youth unemployment signal a less prosperous future? With young people struggling to find white-collar jobs, some of them are opting out of work altogether.
Featured Episodes:
Featured Terms:
- Socialism with Chinese Characteristics
- Engineering State
- Malinvestment
Support:
Read:
- Our book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life (Audiobook here)
- Our weekly longform Planet Money newsletter
- Our weekly Indicator link round-up newsletter
- Dan Wang’s book: Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future
This episode of Planet Money Summer School is hosted by Robert Smith. It was produced by Sophia Paliza-Carre, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Maggie Luthar. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
Read more
Share this episode:
The podcast:
The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, “Meet me at the bar and tell me what’s going on with the economy.” Now imagine that’s actually a fun evening.
Explore more content:
Business A random podcastHow can I listen to other podcasts?
Click here to discover another podcast randomly, or here to browse our categories. Lazy? That's okay, we did some research and selected podcasts just for you.
And what is Podmust?
Podmust is a french project aiming to promote the best podcasts. You can help us by sharing this page (this also helps the podcast, by the way). Thank you! 🙏
Stay informed, the audio way.
Podmust curates what you need to listen.
Discover some of our collections:
our best Business podcastsour best Music podcastsour best News & Politics podcasts.
Strait and narrowing: the Iran deal crumbles
The Intelligence
From Trump’s Attorney to Attorney General: The Rise of Todd Blanche
The Daily
One Week. Two ICE Shootings. Zero Body Cams.
CNN One Thing
Can Anyone Stop Todd Blanche from Becoming AG?
What Next
In recent cases, immigration enforcement has turned deadly. How did we get here?
Consider ThisSen. Alex Padilla: Lawmakers Have Responsibility for Health Transparency
California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla sits down with NOTUS’ Igor Bobic to talk about transparency over illness in Congress, California’s proposed billionaire tax, and his concerns… On NOTUS2028 fantasy draft: Democrats
The next presidential election is more than two years away, but it’s not too early to start discussing likely contenders. We do an NFL-style draft of the candidates who may lead the… The NPR Politics PodcastJPMorgan Has Historic Q2 & New York Temporarily Bans Data Centers
Morning Brew DailyTrump Will Escalate Attacks, ICE To Halt Vehicle Stops, More
Bloomberg News NowStripe checks out PayPal
Wall Street BreakfastBlanche Confirmation Hearing, US and Strait of Hormuz, ICE Vehicle Stops
Up First from NPRTrump Flip-Flops on Strait of Hormuz Plan, and U.S. Cyclospora Outbreak Spreads
The HeadlinesICE Patch: DHS Halts Vehicle Stops, for Now
Start Here
UK Edition
The lawyer who took on Meta – and won
When Mark Lanier and his young client Kaley faced Meta and Google in an LA courtroom earlier this year, it seemed a bigger battle than David v Goliath. Lanier, however, was determined to… Today in Focus
The method in the madness of Thomas Tuchel
The England football team’s manager Thomas Tuchel has led his squad to a World Cup semi-final against old rivals Argentina. A cerebral football obsessive, he has a tendency to… The Story
What will Burnham do about North Sea oil and gas?
If you’re interested in this episode, you may also like ‘GB Energy: We CAN bring bills down’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002x589Energy industry bodies and trade unions have… Scotcast
Burnham's cabinet: Ed Miliband fails the smell test
Who will be in Andy Burnham's cabinet? It looks like Ed Miliband will not be chancellor after all. We have scoops for you about who's in line for the big jobs in the Westminster cabinet… The State Of ItWell, the bad news is: we're French. But the good news is: Podmust curates the world's podcasts so you can focus on staying informed or entertained. And voilà!
© Podmust