Introduction

With equity markets in free fall, housing prices skipping downwards, foreign reserves plummeting and industrial production on a road trip back to the last decade, it's no surprise that permabears like Gordon Chang are stocking up on popcorn to bask in what they see as the long-due collapse of the Chinese economy. It all raises the question of how bad things are going to get, which leads to the question of how bad they are right now. Joining Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn and David Moser in the studio today to talk about the Chinese economy and its recent tailspin is none other than Tom Orlik, an economist at Bloomberg and author of the book Understanding China's Economic Indicators. Tom has years of experience writing about China and joins to share his thoughts on what parts of the economy are doing decently and where the real problems lie. Recommendations: Jeremy Goldkorn A People’s Friendship, by James Palmer http://www.chinafile.com/reporting-opinion/postcard/peoples-friendship David Moser Billionaires, by Darrel M West http://www.amazon.com/Billionaires-Reflections-Darrell-M-West/dp/0815725965 New Koch, by Jane Mayer http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/01/25/new-koch Tom Orlik Outside Over There, by Maurice Sendak http://www.amazon.com/Outside-Over-There-Caldecott-Collection/dp/0064431851 The Adventures of Augie March, by Saul Bellow http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Augie-March-Penguin-Classics/dp/0143039571 Kaiser Kuo Mass Flourishing, by Edmund Phelps http://www.amazon.com/Mass-Flourishing-Grassroots-Innovation-Challenge/dp/0691165793/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.