Published by Promoting Economic Pluralism
Involution — neijuan (内卷) in Mandarin, literally “inward curling” — entered everyday Chinese speech around 2020. The concept was borrowed from the American anthropologist Clifford Geertz, who described a pattern in colonial …
China’s AI boom is creating a different kind of entrepreneur Read More
In her new book, Uneasy Streets sociologist, Caroline Knowles, points out the marks made on British society by Chinese money while Britain’s understanding of the superpower remains scant. She shares …
Chinese lessons Read More
Divya Priyadarshni tells a story of market success built on traditional practices without breaking the mold. And laments that it comes as a surprise. Two years with the district administration …
The shock of the old Read More
Some 1,500 Indonesian students have taken to the streets of the capital to protest against a series of economic policies by the government of President Prabowo Subianto, as Southeast Asia’s …
Indonesian students protest gov’t policies amid economic strain Read More
Taipei, Taiwan – For Li, an engineer at Taiwanese computer giant ASUS, the AI boom sweeping Taiwan has made it an exciting time to work in tech. Taiwan is a semiconductor powerhouse, …
Taiwan’s economy is booming thanks to AI. Not everyone sees the benefits Read More
China is undergoing a renewable energy revolution. In 2025 alone, it added nearly 450 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy capacity, which was more solar and twice as much wind as the rest …
China goes electric, but can it get off coal? Read More
Chinese tech giants are quietly shrinking their workforce — echoing a pattern playing out in Silicon Valley. In 2025, e-commerce major Alibabai reduced its head count by 34% as it continues to axe …
The quiet layoffs sweeping China’s tech giants Read More
Alan Freeman explains why China’s pole position in the artificial intelligence race might be down to sharing rather than competing. When Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company, DeepSeek, released its R1 …
A Chinese giveaway Read More
Adoption of artificial intelligence is on the rise worldwide, but the pace is uneven. As the global economy shifts increasingly toward AI-driven production and processes, wealthier nations are reaping the …
From Chile to the Philippines, meet the people pushing back on AI Read More
It’s Saturday night in Manila, but 25-year-old Chris, who just graduated with a master’s degree, is not getting ready to party. His chair at a call center awaits him, so …
Philippines, the call‑center capital: Taking a deluge of calls for under $2 an hour Read More