Wharton School's dean: it’s not a zero-sum world

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Geoffrey Garrett, dean of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, recently published an opinion piece titled "Why We Need a Win-Win View of Difference to Tackle Populism," where he pointed out that a better approach to solve economic and social imbalance would be “to make the economy work better for more people.”

While interviewed by CGTN's Dialogue, Garrett explained the essence of his article and the simple logic behind his argument.

01:03

He stated that economics is about identifying, cherishing and exploiting complementarities. In economics, the world is not zero-sum, but positive-sum, and that has been the approach the US has taken to the relationship with China ever since the two countries normalized relations in the 1970s.

“Right now, Mr. Trump likes talking about wins, but wins for him mean 'if I win, you must lose, and if you win, I must lose,'" Garrett said. “For him, [the US-China trade deficit] is a signal that China is winning at the expense of the United States.”

However, Garrett thinks that the rise of China is one of the most remarkable things in his lifetime and the world should celebrate that.

But he also admits it's understandable that it's a challenge for the rest of the world to get used to China's fast development, especially for the US which has been on top at every dimension for decades.

“The US has made a contribution, and I would add the US had benefited enormously from China's prosperity,” added Garrett, “but the notion that everything that has happened in this nation is because of the US, I think, is a gross overstatement.”

01:14

Regarding Vice President Pence's speech on Oct. 4 and the overall narrative on China in Trump's administration, Garrett thinks it's a critique of 40 years of US foreign policy.

“The basic US approach to China has been more engagement. Every time we have a challenge, let's become more engaged. What he (Mike Pence) and President Trump are saying is that hasn't worked, so we have to be tougher,” explained Garrett.

Instead of forcing China to do things, Garrett thinks the US should focus on the common interests and encourage China to reform on things China also wants to change.

He concluded that it would be unthinkable to have a global economy that doesn't include China. Therefore, he's optimistic that even though there are wobbles between China-US relations right now, the path of more engagement will continue.

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