Using global comparative data, this book shows why culture, not institutions or policies, is the difference-maker behind China's rapid rise.

Yong Zhao, a distinguished professor at Michigan State University who was born and raised in China, offers a compelling argument for what schools can--and must--do to meet the challenges and opportunities brought about by globalization and technology.

"This book is the outcome of the conference held in Caen (France) in September 1997, in preparation for the International Economic History Congress in Madrid (August 1998). This collection of essays provides, for the first time, a systematic overview of the productivity missions organised in the years following the Second World War, to investigate in situ the production and management techniques adduced to account for the American lead. Bringing together research workers from many countries (Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States), the volume addresses four successive themes. The first one concerns the part played by the United States and that country's action on the international scene. This, in turn, leads to the subsequent query: Did the productivity missions constitute tools for modernisation, or were they devices of domination? The second part considers three national experiences: the United Kingdom, France, and Japan. The third part examines a number of branches: iron and steel, electrical engineering, petrochemicals, and the tyre industry. The final part seeks to assess the impact of the missions. Ultimately, one needs must make a distinction between the rhetoric of productivity, on the one hand, and actual achievements, on the other; the missions were part of a wider process of Americanisation, wherein lies one of the keys to the economic miracles of the post-war era."--Page 4 of cover.

China's rapid rise is doubtless the most significant economic and geopolitical event in the 21st century. What has led to its rise? What does it mean for the rest of the world? When will China overtake the US? Will the conflict between the two superpowers derail its further rise? Can China's development experience be emulated by other countries? These are some of the important questions addressed in this jargon-free, yet rigorous book. It debunks many popular explanations of China's rapid economic growth ranging from abundance of cheap labor, export promotion, demographic dividend, strong government, to mercantilist policies and IP theft. Taking a global comparative approach, this book demonstrates convincingly that the true differentiating factor making China grow faster than other developing countries over the past four decades is the Confucian culture of savings and education. This cultural perspective yields powerful new insights into many questions regarding China's rise.

The Midwest has always been the heart of America-both its economic bellwether and the repository of its national identity. Now, in a new, globalized age, the Midwest is challenged as never before. With an influx of immigrant workers and an outpouring of manufacturing jobs, the region that defines the American self-the Lake Wobegon image of solid, hardworking farmers and factory hands-is changing at breakneck speed. As factory farms and global forces displace old ways of life, the United States is being transformed literally from the inside out. In Caught in the Middle, longtime Chicago Tribune reporter Richard C. Longworth explores the new reality of life in today's heartland and reveals what these changes mean for the region-and the country. Ranging from the manufacturing collapse that has crippled the Midwest to the biofuels revolution that may save it, and from the school districts struggling with new migrants to the Iowa meatpacking town that can't survive without them, Longworth addresses what's right and what's wrong in the region, and offers a prescription for how it must change-politically as well as economically-if it is to survive and prosper.

Something is going wrong on many college campuses in the last few years. Rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide are rising. Speakers are shouted down. Students and professors say they are walking on eggshells and afraid to speak honestly. How did this happen? First Amendment expert Greg Lukianoff and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt show how the new problems on campus have their origins in three terrible ideas that have become increasingly woven into American childhood and education: what doesn’t kill you makes you weaker; always trust your feelings; and life is a battle between good people and evil people. These three Great Untruths are incompatible with basic psychological principles, as well as ancient wisdom from many cultures. They interfere with healthy development. Anyone who embraces these untruths—and the resulting culture of safetyism—is less likely to become an autonomous adult able to navigate the bumpy road of life. Lukianoff and Haidt investigate the many social trends that have intersected to produce these untruths. They situate the conflicts on campus in the context of America’s rapidly rising political polarization, including a rise in hate crimes and off-campus provocation. They explore changes in childhood including the rise of fearful parenting, the decline of unsupervised play, and the new world of social media that has engulfed teenagers in the last decade. This is a book for anyone who is confused by what is happening on college campuses today, or has children, or is concerned about the growing inability of Americans to live, work, and cooperate across party lines.