Red Alert: How China's Growing Prosperity Threatens the American Way of Life

by Stephen Leeb, Gregory Dorsey (With)

Overview

"I would caution readers to dismiss Stephen Leeb's warnings only at their peril." -- Thomas Kaplan, chairman, Tigris Financial Group

The American Dream is close to being replaced by a living nightmare:

• Key commodities that are essential to our daily lives and that are widely believed to be abundant are running critically short. Even worse, the Chinese are doing what they can to monopolize the world's dwindling resources.
• The U.S. is now largely dependent on our greatest economic rival for rare earth elements as well as a host of other minerals-all of which are absolutely essential to the development of alternative energies and are critically important for our defense industry, computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices.
  
• While America has been fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, China has focused its substantial muscle on securing vital commodities from these and other lands to upgrade its infrastructure and industrial strength to meet the resource challenge head-on.
• China has wrapped itself in the green flag of combating climate change while systematically discouraging other nations from adopting similar policies in a bid to gain time to achieve its plans.
  

Red Alert is a provocative and frightening look at the growing political, economic, and social power of China and the threat that nation poses to the Western world. It lays out how the Chinese are strategizing to overtake the United States as the world's premier economic power-and details how our failure to respond quickly will result in a permanently lower standard of living for Americans.
Peppered with startling statistics, charts, and evidence of how China continues to expand its economic reach, Red Alert is both controversial and powerful in its scope.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781609418847
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	10/19/2011
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Regarded as one of the nation's experts on global economic trends, Stephen Leeb has written several bestselling books, including The Oil Factor, The Coming Economic Collapse, and Game Over.

Table of Contents

Foreword Thomas Kaplan, Chairman, Tigris Financial Group xi

Preface xvii

Chapter 1 The Enlightened Ruler Lays His Plans Well Ahead 1

Chapter 2 China's Environmental Smokescreen 11

Chapter 3 Peak Oil Has Arrived-and Peak Coal Isn't Far Behind 27

Chapter 4 Blind to Copper Realities 49

Chapter 5 Rare Earth Elements Are Getting Rarer-and China Has Them 73

Chapter 6 Other Critical Commodities and China's Global Land Grab 85

Chapter 7 The Rise of Resource Nationalism 101

Chapter 8 Why Dealing with Declining Resources Is Easier for China 117

Chapter 9 The Limits of Western Democracy in Dealing with Critical Problems: Tiananmen Square versus 9/11 137

Chapter 10 Responses to the Financial Crisis of 2008 157

Chapter 11 The Other Critical Metal: Gold 171

Chapter 12 China's Additional Strengths 183

Chapter 13 Potential Pitfalls: China's Infrastructure, Food, and Water 195

Chapter 14 A Message for America from Confucius 211

Index 227

About the Authors 237

Editorial Reviews

The U.S. was galvanized by the terrorist attacks of September 11, but according to economist Leeb, what we should have been worrying about was the contemporaneous emergence of China's enormous impact on commodity conservation and use. By 2012, the Chinese will hold a leading position in every aspect of renewable energy. Leeb argues that we as a nation are not paying enough attention to the threat of China's growing influence; he paints a picture of our government as fundamentally scattered and shortsighted, though his ire isn't aimed at any particular administration. Our political and economic systems don't lend themselves to tackling major problems until they reach crisis proportions, whereas the Chinese are relentlessly long-term thinkers (furthermore, their leaders don't have to answer to a fickle electorate). While we have no plan as to how to secure or develop our resources, China does, and its drive for growth means that its leaders will leave carbon reduction (and other initiatives) to the free market. Though he does touch upon the potential problems China will face, his main purpose is to provoke Americans to wake up to a situation that threatens to destroy our economy and our environment. Terse, well-reasoned, and comprehensive, this is a much-needed shot in the arm for American complacency. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Because it is useful for understanding current world politics and finances, this book is recommended for all adult readers.—Library Journal

The U.S. was galvanized by the terrorist attacks of September 11 , but according to economist Leeb, what we should have been worrying about was the contemporaneous emergence of China's enormous impact on commodity conservation and use. By 2012, the Chinese will hold a leading position in every aspect of renewable energy. Leeb argues that we as a nation are not paying enough attention to the threat of China's growing influence; he paints a picture of our government as fundamentally scattered and shortsighted, though his ire isn't aimed at any particular administration. Our political and economic systems don't lend themselves to tackling major problems until they reach crisis proportions, whereas the Chinese are relentlessly longterm thinkers (furthermore, their leaders don't have to answer to a fickle electorate). While we have no plan as to how to secure or develop our resources, China does, and its drive for growth means that its leaders will leave carbon reduction (and other initiatives) to the free market.
Though he does touch upon the potential problems China will face, his main purpose is to provoke Americans to wake up to a situation that threatens to destroy our economy and our environment. Terse, well-reasoned, and comprehensive, this is a much-needed shot in the arm for American complacency.—Publisher's Weekly

From the Publisher

Economist Leeb (Game Over: How You Can Prosper in a Shattered Economy) argues that while U.S. officials and politicians engage in short-term myopic planning, endless legal maneuvering, scandals, and wartime investing that are crippling American economic viability, China's government is run by visionary scholars with backgrounds in such fields as chemistry and engineering who are carefully analyzing the long-term, big picture. China is gaining ground as a superpower and attaining competitive advantage over other countries, especially the United States, by using its profits to invest in and control mineral commodities such as coal, oil, zinc, silver, and gold. These resources are becoming scarce, and the author argues that access to them will determine the standard of living for future generations. According to Leeb, the Chinese government recognizes the importance of these resources to key industries such as renewable energy and electronics and views the ability to accumulate them as proof of the country's strength. He also discusses the global demand and supply of key resources such as water. VERDICT Because it is useful for understanding current world politics and finances, this book is recommended for all adult readers.

Caroline Geck

Economist Leeb (Game Over: How You Can Prosper in a Shattered Economy) argues that while U.S. officials and politicians engage in short-term myopic planning, endless legal maneuvering, scandals, and wartime investing that are crippling American economic viability, China's government is run by visionary scholars with backgrounds in such fields as chemistry and engineering who are carefully analyzing the long-term, big picture. China is gaining ground as a superpower and attaining competitive advantage over other countries, especially the United States, by using its profits to invest in and control mineral commodities such as coal, oil, zinc, silver, and gold. These resources are becoming scarce, and the author argues that access to them will determine the standard of living for future generations. According to Leeb, the Chinese government recognizes the importance of these resources to key industries such as renewable energy and electronics and views the ability to accumulate them as proof of the country's strength. He also discusses the global demand and supply of key resources such as water. VERDICT Because it is useful for understanding current world politics and finances, this book is recommended for all adult readers.—Caroline Geck, MLS, Newark, NJ

Library Journal