Command of Commerce
America's Enduring Economic Power Advantage over China
Published on 18. April 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
296 pages
978-0-19-780230-4 (ISBN)
Description
The conventional wisdom has held that China's economic power is very close to America's and that Washington cannot undertake a broad economic cutoff of China without hurting itself as much, or more. In Command of Commerce, Ben A. Vagle and Stephen G. Brooks show the conventional wisdom is wrong on both fronts. The authors argue that America's economic power has been underestimated because conventional economic measures have ignored America's unprecedented control over the world's largest multinational corporations. They further argue that China's economic power has been overestimated due to Beijing's manipulation of its economic data and measurement issues presented by China's uniquely structured economy. The authors also show Washington could impose massive, disproportionate harm on Beijing if it imposed a broad economic cutoff on China in cooperation with its allies or via a distant naval blockade. Across six scenarios, China's short-term economic losses from a broad cutoff range from being 5 to 11 times higher than America's. And in the long run, America and almost all its allies would return to previous economic growth levels; in contrast, China's growth would be permanently degraded.
Reviews / Votes
In Command of Commerce, Vagle and Brooks provide a provocative reinterpretation of China's economic weakness-and of America's enduring economic power. Emphasizing the central role of U.S. firms in high-value, high-technology industries, Command of Commerce shows that China is still a second-tier player in the industries that matter. Required reading for understanding the world economy and the role of China-U.S. relations. * Chris Miller, author of Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology * The conclusions of Command of Commerce are staggering. It's rare that I read a book and am totally blown away by its implications. This is one of those books. It provides the most detailed analysis to date of how economically far ahead the United States is relative to China. * Jonathan Markowitz, University of Southern California * Vagle and Brooks' terrific analysis provides the centerpiece for the next round of China policy debates. This highly readable and compelling book reveals that America has great economic leverage over China that could be deployed in a potential crisis-leverage that would be thrown away if Washington were to decouple in peacetime. * Susan Shirk, University of California, San Diego * This compelling, provocative book thoroughly challenges the conventional wisdom about the relative strength and resilience of the American and Chinese economies. By demonstrating China's economy would suffer far more than America's from a wartime economic cutoff, Vagle and Brooks show how economic statecraft can play a crucial role in preventing conflict across the Taiwan Strait. * Taylor R. Fravel, Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science and Director, Security Studies Program, MIT * Command of Commerce offers a useful corrective to declinist narratives. It is a sharp, data-rich, and policy-relevant study of how economic power actually works, and why the US is still the commanding force in world politics. * Pal Roren, Journal of Peace Research *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Illustrations
32 b/w figures; 9 tables
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
498 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-780230-4 (9780197802304)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Ben A. Vagle | Stephen G. Brooks
Command of Commerce
America's Enduring Economic Power Advantage over China
Book
04/2025
Oxford University Press Inc
€100.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
Ben A. Vagle | Stephen G. Brooks
Command of Commerce
America's Enduring Economic Power Advantage over China
E-Book
04/2025
OUP eBook
€21.99
Available for download
Ben A. Vagle | Stephen G. Brooks
Command of Commerce
America's Enduring Economic Power Advantage over China
E-Book
04/2025
OUP eBook
€21.99
Available for download
Persons
Ben A. Vagle is a policy analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Investment Security. Vagle graduated from Dartmouth College, where he was awarded Honors in Economics and Highest Honors in Government. He also received the Rockefeller Prize in International Relations and the Chase Peace Prize for work on his senior thesis, as well as the Economics Department Outstanding Achievement Award. Immediately following his graduation, Vagle worked at Bates White Economic Consulting solving complex data challenges for lawyers and economists.
This book was accepted before Vagles government service, is based entirely on open sources, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the US Government or US Treasury.
Stephen G. Brooks is Professor of Government at Dartmouth and has previously held fellowships at Harvard and Princeton. He is the author of four books: Producing Security: Multinational Corporations, Globalization, and the Changing Calculus of Conflict (2005); World out of Balance: International Relations and the Challenge of American Primacy (with William Wohlforth, 2008); America Abroad: The United States' Global Role in the 21st Century (with William Wohlforth, Oxford, 2016); and Political Economy of Security (forthcoming).
He has published numerous articles in journals such as International Security, International Organization, Foreign Affairs, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Politics, Perspectives on Politics, and Security Studies. He received his PhD in Political Science with Distinction from Yale University, where his dissertation received the American Political Science Association's Helen Dwight Reid Award for the best doctoral dissertation in international relations, law, and politics.
This book was accepted before Vagles government service, is based entirely on open sources, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the US Government or US Treasury.
Stephen G. Brooks is Professor of Government at Dartmouth and has previously held fellowships at Harvard and Princeton. He is the author of four books: Producing Security: Multinational Corporations, Globalization, and the Changing Calculus of Conflict (2005); World out of Balance: International Relations and the Challenge of American Primacy (with William Wohlforth, 2008); America Abroad: The United States' Global Role in the 21st Century (with William Wohlforth, Oxford, 2016); and Political Economy of Security (forthcoming).
He has published numerous articles in journals such as International Security, International Organization, Foreign Affairs, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Politics, Perspectives on Politics, and Security Studies. He received his PhD in Political Science with Distinction from Yale University, where his dissertation received the American Political Science Association's Helen Dwight Reid Award for the best doctoral dissertation in international relations, law, and politics.
Content
Acknowledgments
Figures and Tables
1: Introduction
2: Measuring the Distribution of Commercial Capacity
3: The Potemkin Superpower
4: China's Economic Weapons
5: Conceptualizing a Wartime Economic Cutoff of China
6: Modeling a Wartime Economic Cutoff of China
7: Foreign Policy Implications for America and China
Notes
Index
Figures and Tables
1: Introduction
2: Measuring the Distribution of Commercial Capacity
3: The Potemkin Superpower
4: China's Economic Weapons
5: Conceptualizing a Wartime Economic Cutoff of China
6: Modeling a Wartime Economic Cutoff of China
7: Foreign Policy Implications for America and China
Notes
Index