#45- Professor Elizabeth Ingleson : How America and China Transformed Global Trade

The Front Row Podcast

Professor Elizabeth Ingleson is a historian of capitalism, US foreign relations, and US–China relations — a timely and critical intersection she explores in her acclaimed first book, Made in China: When US-China Interests Converged to Transform Global Trade, published by Harvard University Press in 2024.In the book, she unpacks a pivotal shift in the 1970s: when the old dream of American companies selling to China’s vast population gave way to a new vision — one of tapping into China’s massive labour force. Drawing on rare corporate archives and extensive Chinese publications, Made in China reveals how business leaders, diplomats, traders, and policymakers on both sides helped reshape China’s role in global capitalism — and, in the process, redefined the American economy itself through deindustrialization and offshoring.TIMESTAMPS:01:52 - Deng's Legacy 02:29 - Why 1978 Isn't the Real Beginning07:46 - The Two Nixon Shocks of 197114:26 - From 400 Million Customers to 800 Million Workers17:43 - Mao's Three Worlds Theory23:43 - Trade vs Diplomacy in US & China 27:27 - The Marco Polos of America 33:41 - Why MNCs Burned Cash In The Early Days38:10 - The Textile Industry As The Canaries in the Coal Mine47:07 - The 1974 Trade Act That Changed Everything55:39 - Rethinking the Good Life57:13 - Manufacturing Jobs: Political Theatre vs Reality1:00:30 - Decoupling: Rhetoric vs Reality1:03:51 - Advice for Graduating Students Full transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: [email protected] access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400