Command of Commerce : America's Enduring Economic Power Advantage over China

The conventional wisdom has held that China''s economic power is very close to America''s and that Washington cannot undertake a broad economic cutoff of China without hurting itself as much, or more. Command of Commerce shows that the conventional wisdom is wrong--America''s economic power has been vastly underestimated and China''s overestimated. Across multiple scenarios, the book shows that China''s economic losses from a broad cutoff would be far greater than America''s. A powerful analysis of the true scope of US and Chinese economic power, this will reshape our understanding of the most important geopolitical rivalry in the world.

The conventional wisdom has held that China''s economic power is very close to America''s and that Washington cannot undertake a broad economic cutoff of China without hurting itself as much, or more. In Command of Commerce, Ben A. Vagle and Stephen G. Brooks show the conventional wisdom is wrong on both fronts. The authors argue that America''s economic power has been underestimated because conventional economic measures have ignored America''s unprecedented control over the world''s largest multinational corporations. They further argue that China''s economic power has been overestimated due to Beijing''s manipulation of its economic data and measurement issues presented by China''s uniquely structured economy. The authors also show Washington could impose massive, disproportionate harm on Beijing if it imposed a broad economic cutoff on China in cooperation with its allies or via a distant naval blockade. Across six scenarios, China''s short-term economic losses from a broad cutoff range from being 5 to 11 times higher than America''s. And in the long run, America and almost all its allies would return to previous economic growth levels; in contrast, China''s growth would be permanently degraded.