Beyond the Data: China’s Economy with Leland Miller
China Considered
Intro
This chapter explores the importance of the China Beige Book as a critical tool for analyzing China's economy. The speakers discuss its origin in the need for reliable data and how it provides deeper insights into economic trends, especially during significant events like the COVID pandemic and U.S.-China relations.
In a wide-ranging conversation, Dr. Elizabeth Economy and Leland Miller talk about his experiences running China Beige Book, his insights on the Chinese economy, and conclude with a discussion about the Trump Administration’s trade policy.
Miller discusses the early skepticism surrounding the China Beige Book and the process of transforming it into a valuable tool that gathers data from across the Chinese economy while serving as an independent “check” to the Chinese government. He provides insight into the methodology used, from conducting thousands of surveys within China, to looking at labor, manufacturing, and market data which altogether provide a unique view of the Chinese economy and at times, run against the consensus. The two then transition to a conversation on the Trump Administration, having a nuanced discussion on how tariffs and a reshaping of US trade policy affect both the domestic and global economy.
Recorded on February 12, 2025.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Leland Miller is the co-founder and CEO of China Beige Book. Before co-founding China Beige Book in 2010, Leland was a capital markets attorney based out of New York and Hong Kong and worked on the deal team at a major investment bank. He holds a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was Hardy C. Dillard fellow and editor-in-chief of the International Law Journal; a master’s degree in Chinese History from Oxford University; a BA in European History from Washington & Lee University; and a graduate Chinese language fellowship from Tunghai University (Taiwan). A noted authority on China’s economy and financial system, he is a frequent commentator on media outlets such as CNBC, Bloomberg TV, CNN, and FOX Business, and he has served as guest host of two of the financial world’s top morning news shows, CNBC Squawk Box and Bloomberg Surveillance. His work is featured regularly in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, Washington Post and many others.
Elizabeth Economy is the Hargrove Senior Fellow and co-director of the Program on the US, China, and the World at the Hoover Institution. From 2021-2023, she took leave from Hoover to serve as the senior advisor for China to the US secretary of commerce. Before joining Hoover, she was the C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and director, Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is the author of four books on China, including most recently The World According to China (Polity, 2021), and the co-editor of two volumes. She serves on the boards of the National Endowment for Democracy and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. She is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group and Council on Foreign Relations and serves as a book reviewer for Foreign Affairs.
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ABOUT THE SERIES
China Considered with Elizabeth Economy is a Hoover Institution podcast series that features in-depth conversations with leading political figures, scholars, and activists from around the world. The series explores the ideas, events, and forces shaping China’s future and its global relationships, offering high-level expertise, clear-eyed analysis, and valuable insights to demystify China’s evolving dynamics and what they may mean for ordinary citizens and key decision makers across societies, governments, and the private sector.
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