Milton Ezrati is a contributing editor at The National Interest, an affiliate of the Center for the Study of Human Capital at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), and chief economist for Vested, a New York-based communications firm. Before joining Vested, he served as chief market strategist and economist for Lord, Abbett & Co. He also writes frequently for City Journal and blogs regularly for Forbes. His latest book is "Thirty Tomorrows: The Next Three Decades of Globalization, Demographics, and How We Will Live."
China’s local governments have supported growth through heavy borrowing and spending big, but their debt loads are another hurdle to China’s development.
Taiwan has decided, as have Americans, Europeans, and the Japanese, to diversify sourcing and investing away from China. It must be getting lonely in Beijing.
The picture of a once-optimistic and enthusiastic Chinese middle class has changed with many now slipping toward poverty—sad for workers, dangerous for the CCP.