Dealing with China (Summary)
by Henry Paulson
Former US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson kickstarts his book with powerful facts about China.
China is home to the fastest super computer, the biggest wind power base, the longest sea bridge, and they produce and use nearly half the world’s coal, cement, and steel. They also happen to own 1.3 trillion dollars of the US debt.
How did this happen?
Paulson doesn’t exactly dive into the history of our relationship with China. He does brag (maybe he’s not bragging…) about his time flying to China in his private jet and dealing with China’s most powerful people. Then he paints a path towards a sustainable relationship with China and lists best practices for negotiating and working with the Eastern power.
Throughout the book, I felt like a small little fly on Paulson’s shoulder — peering into billion dollar deals and entertaining the most powerful people in China. Each story delves into the details of Chinese culture, and how it pertains to Americans.
Without Paulson, our relationship with China could be much different. He expresses his sincere intent on bringing China and the US closer and keeping it that way for the foreseeable future. Both nations are trying to protect their people, but both need each other’s help.
For a while, China was labeled as the fastest growing nation in the world, and some predicted they would soon be on their own throne, looking down at everyone else. That, clearly, is false. China is growing at an alarming rate (still). And, one of the main points of the book: if we attempt to exclude or ignore China, we limit our ability to influence the decisions of their leaders, which in turn, will affect the US.
The sheer size of China is a force to reckon with, and the US understands this. Paulson does a great job explaining how important our relationship with China is, not just today, but for the future.
To wrap things up, we hear about the critical challenges that the US has to deal with: our long-term fiscal situation is unsustainable, without question. And, our debt is the real enemy. Currently, our debt hovers around 18 trillion dollars, which equates to $56,000 per American citizen (in debt).
If we don’t clean our act up, the strength of our country will be undermined because of our financial situation. Why deal with the US on our terms, if we can’t deal with ourselves?
We can only hope that we clean things up, continue to build our relationship with China, and sail towards a mutual relationship. It will help us, China, and the rest of the world.
Should you read this book? Yes.
Scariest Fact:
The US has 18 trillion dollars of debt.
