Questions
Weeks 2-3
What is meant by a "traditional" economy? Is a "traditional" economy necessarily stagnant? Does "traditional" indicate a lack of complexity? What are the main features of China's economy in the late imperial period? What do these features imply about the future prospects and potential for accelerated growth?
To what extent can economic events after 1840 be explained by the expansion of foreign economic activity in China? What was the economic impact of the West? How important was foreign influence in China's economy during the late 19th century?
Week 4
Did China's free-market economy expand during the first four decades of the twentieth century? What was the economic impact of war and inflation during 1937-1945?
Week 5
How did China's economy perform under a system of socialist planning? How did the socialist system function? What were its strengths and weaknesses? How successful were China's efforts to adopt modifications to counteract the inherent shortcomings of the socialist system while maintaining its advantages? Did the material welfare of Chinese households increase, decline, or stagnate during the era of socialist planning? Can we say that Chinese socialism "failed"? or "collapsed"?
Week 6
What do we mean by "economic reform"? What do we mean by a "market economy"? Why did China’s leaders decide to initiate economic reform? What were China’s reform leaders seeking to achieve? Is economic reform in China similar to reform in other socialist economies? in non-socialist Asian economies like Taiwan and Korea? How can we measure the success of economic reform?
Week 8
How does agriculture contribute to the development of the national economy? What factors determine the growth of agricultural production? Is central control of agriculture possible without massive inefficiency? How does development change the nature and structure of the rural economy? Why does the farm sector remain important despite its declining share of total output?
Week 9
What are the main features of urban development during China’s socialist era? How was urban growth organized? How was it financed? Why is urban reform more complex and gradual than reform in the countryside? How has reform affected the structure and operation of China’s urban economy? What are the consequences of reduced control over domestic interregional migration? What do urban product markets look like after two decades of reform?
Why does reform take so long? Why is China's market system incomplete after two decades of market-oriented reform? What do we mean by "institutional structure"? How does the institutional structure of a market system develop? How do property rights, transaction costs, transparency of economic arrangements, contract enforcement, commercial law, government treatment of money-losing enterprises, and banking practice affect the behavior of economic agents and the efficiency of economic activity?
Week 11
What has happened to the economic welfare of Chinese citizens over the past four decades? Is income distributed evenly or are there wide gaps between monetary and non-monetary incomes of various groups and regions? What sort of welfare provisions exist, and what effect does their presence or absence have on other aspects of the economy (e.g. birth rates)? What are the environmental consequences of rapid economic growth involving 1.2 billion people?
Week 12
How does China's government chart the course of the economy under the former planning system and the current mix of plan and market? What resources does government command? What control mechanisms are used? Is China exposed to the sort of macroeconomic instability that we see in Korea or Indonesia? What is the importance of the financial system to the economy as a whole? How is China’s financial system organized? What is the balance between direct and indirect finance? What choices are available to people who save money? What are the strengths and weaknesses of China’s financial system?
Week 13
How important is the world economy to China? How important is China to the world economy? How have the answers to these questions changed during the past 40 years? Who benefits from U.S.-China trade? All Americans? Most Americans? Only a few Americans? All Chinese? Most Chinese? Only a few Chinese? Does trade with China reduce employment opportunities for United States workers? Who benefits from U.S. corporate investments in China? What consequences will follow Chinese entry into the World Trade Organization?