Winner Take All

May 15, 2012
Moyo (How the West Was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly--and the Stark Choices Ahead, 2012, etc.) warns about the dangers of international conflicts over land and resources. Though she is concerned that "the world...remains largely ill-prepared for the challenges of resource scarcity and the evolving dynamics around China's central role," the author sharply disagrees with those who assert that China is making an imperial-style grab for raw materials. She asserts that China's policy is different and compares statements of leaders and partners from different countries as proof. China is obtaining access to resources to maintain the growth of its own economy, writes the author, who shows how the country's leaders are prepared to offer money, roads, railways, schools and hospitals in exchange. Moyo contrasts what the Chinese call a "win for all involved" approach with the colonialist approach. She writes that if Western countries "are to have any semblance of standing in the emerging world," they must cease depending on their traditional policy tools. The author compares current global consumption of foodstuffs, fuel sources and major industrial raw materials with China's consumption of the same materials and contends that China's buying power is comparable, on the level of the global economy, to the effect of Wal-Mart's purchasing policies within the U.S. ("one buyer faces many sellers"). Moyo fears that China may be operating in an international "legal vacuum," and she discusses the relation between resource supply and demand and financial markets. Written to clarify important global questions, this book deserves a wide audience.

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