New Books in Economics

Chinese investment in the United States has become an increasingly contentious issue that is much more complicated than headlines suggest. In this episode, we reflect on recent debates in Michigan’s democratic primary and use it as a jumping-off point to examine more than 25 years of Chinese investment in the US and subnational relationships with Chinese business. We’re joined by Emily Conrad, whose research examines Chinese manufacturing investment in the US. We discuss where investment is concentrated and how local governments interact with investments, with attitudes ranging from facilitation to passivity to obstruction. We also discuss how Chinese companies navigate the present environment and varied contexts across the US. As federal scrutiny has intensified and states have introduced new restrictions on foreign land ownership and investment, Chinese firms face mounting political and regulatory headwinds. Yet, investments have not disappeared, and companies are adapting, raising questions about how geopolitics is reshaping investment, manufacturing and subnational policies and politics in the US.

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Emily’s book The Faithless?: The Untold Story of the Electoral College

Analysis of State Attitudes towards Chinese investments over time from Conrad’s research here

Other resources from the episode:

Rhodium Group’s China cross-border monitor

YouTube podcast with Abdul al-Sayed that mentions some about China: here

Wall Street Journal article about the State Armor organization: here

NPR podcast with one of the best overviews on Gotion:here

More on Gotion:

‘No CCP in USA!’: Inside a Michigan town's unhinged war over a Chinese battery plant

A Chinese battery company bet on a small Michigan town for its U.S. expansion

Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate primary debate audio used in this episode

Tweet on the CCP by Sen. Elissa Slotkin

Financial Times article, China’s assault on Europe’s car market has barely begun

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Does it seem like the business world is in its own version of an arms race to figure out AI?

It’s a moment when even a little wisdom, grounded in experience and expertise, provides relief.

But how do you get that wisdom?

If you’re KPMG, you turn to your own secret weapon, Stephanie Kim, who leads Signals & Strategy, to combine the firm’s intelligence AND the steady stream of data from the outside INTO a cogent worldview. Tracking, distilling, and interpreting signals has been Kim’s focus for years. If this were a superhero movie, her code name would be The SYNTHESIZER. In our interview, she outlines the implications of how AI is changing and will change the world of business, neatly bundled into the firm’s 2026 Frontiers Report. Its goal is to help leaders navigate uncertainty, identify opportunity, and make more informed decisions about growth, resilience, and competitive advantage.

To hear a singular perspective on the forces driving transformation and the connections between them, tune into this episode and get ready for the future barreling toward us at warp speed. You can download the KPMG Frontiers Report here.

Real Transformations: Business Change That Works from the Inside Out is co-hosted by Julie Anixter and Dan Hill, PhD, entrepreneurs with deep experience as corporate change agents, devoted to helping companies make continuous change work for everyone through clarity and connection. To learn about their keynote talks, workshops, and labs, check out Real-Transformation.com.
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A bold critique of conventional economics that reveals why the time
and money we devote to care work is vital to our economic future.

Our
economy is much bigger than the dollar value of things we buy and sell.
It depends on us—our health, our creativity, and our moral commitments.
These capabilities don't have price tags but are crucial to a
sustainable future. We need to acknowledge and reward the value of
caring for ourselves and others, especially our children, our elderly,
and those experiencing illness or disability.

From leading feminist economist Nancy Folbre, Making Care Work: Why Our Economy Should Put People First (University
of California Press, 2026) provides a compelling historical and economic
account of care provision in the United States. Folbre traces the long
and colorful history of resistance to bogus claims that only paid work
"counts" and that employees in care services are always paid what they
deserve. Explaining why care providers remain economically vulnerable
today, she argues that more attention to the public benefits of care
provision could help build the political coalitions needed to implement
policies that put people first.

In this comprehensive and bold
book, Folbre upends conventional economic thinking and maps a hopeful
path toward a more equitable and sustainable economy.

Nancy
Folbre is Director of the Program on Gender and Care Work at the
Political Economy Research Institute and Professor Emerita of Economics
at UMass Amherst. She is the author of many books, including The Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values.
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What is the future for cities? In Postcapitalist Cities: Towards a common urban future (Manchester University Press, 2026) Oli Mould, a Professor of Cultural and Historical Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London,
looks at the past, present and future of the city to consider
alternatives to the current capitalist urban model that dominates the
world. Re-examining key concepts such as gentrification and care,
introducing new ideas like solarpunk, and packed with a huge range of
global case studies, the book offers approaches to resist, reject and
reimagine the city. A significant intervention for geographers and
social scientists, the book will also be essential reading for anyone
living in a city today. 
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Subsumption in Kant, Hegel and Marx: From the Critique of Reason to the Critique of Society is the latest book from Dr Andres Saenz De Sicilia, an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Northeastern University London. Andres’ excellent title, published with Brill and released in soft cover with Haymarket Books late last year, is an in-depth exploration of the concept of subsumption as it appears in the works of three great thinkers, and the relevance of the paradigm for modern critical theory.

In this book, Andres traces the concept of subsumption through Kant, Hegel, and Marx, in both its philosophical dimensions and its relevance to critical social theory. Andres examines the utilisation of subsumption as a conceptual framework whereby a particular is brought under a universal, up to the complex and dynamic operations of subsumption in modern-day capitalism, as a system that subsumes human life under the logic of value. As Andres illustrates through the intricate and careful argument in the book, following the use of subsumption in the work of these key theorists not only offers a new perspective to understand these thinkers, but helps articulate a historically-focused and robust framework to investigate the mechanisms of capitalist power. Of particular interest perhaps from a political economy perspective is Andres’ investigation of Marx’s journey through subsumption within the pages of Subsumption in Kant, Hegel and Marx, and also how the theoretical framework of subsumption helps us understand production and social reproduction under capitalism.

Elliot Dolan-Evans is a sessional lecturer and tutor in law at Monash University and RMIT. His research investigates the political economy of global capitalism, forms of international governance, and questions of war and peace. His first book, Making War Safe for Capitalism: The World Bank, IMF and the Conflict in Ukraine, is now out with Bristol University Press.
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