The following is a conversation with Ku Jin, an economist at the London School of Economics specializing in China's economy, international macroeconomics, global trade imbalances, and financial policy. She wrote the highly lauded book on China titled The New China Playbook: Beyond Socialism and Capitalism that details China's economic transformation since 1978 to Today. and it dispels a lot of misconceptions about China's economy that people in the west have. This is the Lex Freedman podcast. To support it, ...

A bank in China has been barred from trying to lure customers by giving away these wildly popular Leubu dolls. Financial institutions like Ping and Bank are trying to capitalize on raging demand for PopMart's monster characters with a life-siz collectible recently fetching $150,000 at auction. Regulators stepped in to shut down the marketing stunt, Bloomberg News reported, citing sources who said these giveaway practices drive up costs and hurt margins.But the promotional tactic of resorting to Leubu dolls ...