In his new book “Breakneck,” Dan Wang argues that the U.S. has a lot to learn from China. He also says that “no two peoples are more alike.” We have questions.

• SOURCES:
  • Dan Wang, research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, author of Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future.

• RESOURCES:
  • Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future, by Dan Wang (2025).
  • The Anaconda in the Chandelier: Writings on China, by Perry Link (2025).
  • "Is the U.S. Ready for the Next War?" by Dexter Filkins (The New Yorker, 2025).
  • "How smartphones made Shenzhen China’s innovation capital," by Dan Wang (2016).
  • How China Escaped the Poverty Trap, by Yuen Yuen Ang (2016).
  • The Art of Not Being Governed, by Jame Scott (2009).

• EXTRAS:
  • "The Engineering State and the Lawyerly Society: Dan Wang on his new book 'Breakneck,'" by the Sinica Podcast (2025).
  • "Is the U.S. Really Less Corrupt Than China?" by Freakonomics Radio (2021).

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Just beneath the surface of the global economy, there is a hidden layer of dealmakers for whom war, chaos, and sanctions can be a great business opportunity. Javier Blas and Jack Farchy, the authors of The World for Sale, help us shine a light on the shadowy realm of commodity traders.

• SOURCES:
  • Javier Blas, opinion columnist at Bloomberg News.
  • Jack Farchy, energy and commodities senior reporter at Bloomberg News.

• RESOURCES:
  • The World For Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources, by Javier Blas and Jack Farchy (2021)
  • The King of Oil: The Secret Lives of Marc Rich, by Daniel Ammann (2010).

• EXTRAS:
  • "How the Supermarket Helped America Win the Cold War (Update)" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
  • "The First Great American Industry," by Freakonomics Radio (2023).

Licensing began with medicine and law; now it extends to 20 percent of the U.S. workforce, including hair stylists and auctioneers. In a new book, the legal scholar Rebecca Allensworth calls licensing boards “a thicket of self-dealing and ineptitude” and says they keep bad workers in their jobs and good ones out — while failing to protect the public.

• SOURCES:
  • Rebecca Allensworth, professor of law at Vanderbilt University.

• RESOURCES:
  • "The Licensing Racket: How We Decide Who Is Allowed to Work, and Why It Goes Wrong" by Rebecca Allensworth (2025).
  • "Licensed to Pill," by Rebecca Allensworth (The New York Review of Books, 2020).
  • "Licensing Occupations: Ensuring Quality or Restricting Competition?" by Morris Kleiner (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 2006).
  • "How Much of Barrier to Entry is Occupational Licensing?" by Peter Blair and Bobby Chung (British Journal of Industrial Relations, 2019).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Is Ozempic as Magical as It Sounds?" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).