Tao Wang is an economist who worked at the International Monetary Fund after gaining a doctorate at New York University. She later joined the investment bank UBS where she is currently a managing director and chief China economist. In a recent interview she talked about her new book Making Sense of China’s Economy, and the issues facing the world’s second-largest economic power. The following is a lightly edited transcript of that conversation — the views expressed are Tao’s own and not those of UBS.
Tao Wang.Illustration by Lauren Crow
Q: Your book is a terrific overview of China's economy and how it works. What were the main misunderstandings about China's economy that you were trying to address?
A: I wasn't necessarily trying to address any two or three specific misunderstandings, but I do feel many of the narratives and discussions about China's economy can get quite simplistic or too one dimensional. For example, people sometimes attribute China's economic success