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In this week’s Asia Unbound podcast I speak with Joshua Kurlantzick, CFR’s senior fellow for Southeast Asia, about his new book, State Capitalism: How the Return of Statism is Transforming the World. Kurlantzick explains that although state capitalism has been around for more than two decades, it has entered a new era of popularity. At its best, it can be a force for good in which governments, such as those in Singapore and Norway, use the profits from these state-owned companies to fund infrastructure projects, create jobs, and promote models of transparent corporate governance. Oftentimes, however, particularly under authoritarian regimes, such as those in China and Russia, states wield their companies as tools of the state rather than as profit generators that create wealth for average citizens. This breed of state company can stifle entrepreneurship, concentrate profits among rentier elites, and serve as powerful economic weapons against other states. Listen below as Kurlantzick describes the importance of state capitalism in today’s global economy and the challenge it may present to U.S. interests.
C. V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies