Han Feizi is the pseudonym of a columnist for Asia Times, who covers the Chinese economy, technology, and US-China competition. The author lives in Beijing, and has an extensive background in finance and investment banking.

Han Feizi's articles for Asia Times: https://asiatimes.com/author/han-feizi/

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to the guest: Han Feizi
01:39 What it's like in Beijing right now

06:38 Modern Conveniences in Beijing

12:11 What the economy feels like for ordinary people

19:09 China's economic structure: consumption, infrastructure investment, Michael Pettis

30:32 Currency Valuation and PPP: real PRC is significantly larger than US economy

31:45 US high living standards and manufacturing competitiveness

34:13 Globalization and its discontents

40:15 Reversing globalization and the myth of American exceptionalism

45:58 China's increasingly high quality standards and quality of life

58:09 Whither China? Xi Jinping

Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.

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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

This is a crossover episode with the Seeking Truth From Facts podcast.

• (00:00) - Iranian missile attack vs Israel and missile defense
• (13:10) - Is there potential for a 1973-style oil crisis?
• (21:41) - Is NATO getting tired of the proxy war in Ukraine?
• (25:43) - Why has Europe declined relatively since 2008 and what are the consequences of said decline?
• (30:13) - Is procyclical European fiscal policy to blame?
• (34:51) - Has China's infrastructure boom been a white elephant?
• (41:37) - China's energy grid and solar energy transision
• (46:57) - Will India catch up to or overtake China?
• (57:06) - Is liberal democracy really necessary for long-term economic prosperity?
• (01:00:14) - How did Lee Kuan Yew transform Singapore?

Links:

Iran ballistic missiles and missile defense

https://stevehsu.substack.com/p/iran-vs-israel-implications-for-missile

Pershing 2 Missile

https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1843450614552113316

Russia-Ukraine war and Iran blowback

https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1844551899103863154

India development

https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1814994391502667953

https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1815047688829706279

Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.

--

Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.