We welcome back Arvind Subramanian, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, to Kopi Time. We focus on some recent work by Arvind and Shoumitro Chatterjee (see article here), in which they argue that China’s continued dominance in low-skill export sectors reflects not just efficiency, but deliberate policy choices that prevent poorer countries from climbing the development ladder. We talk about their findings, nuances to the conclusions, implication  for trade and exchange rate policy, geopolitical considerations, and delve into a few issues beyond the article, including China’s rapid climb up the technology value-addition ladder. We also touch in Arvind’s new book,  A Sixth Of Humanity: Independent India's Development Odyssey, co-authored with Devesh Kapur.

<p>We welcome back Arvind Subramanian, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, to Kopi Time. We focus on some recent work by Arvind and Shoumitro Chatterjee (see article <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/china-manufacturing-surplus-costs-for-low-middle-income-countries-by-shoumitro-chatterjee-1-and-arvind-subramanian-2025-10">here</a>), in which they argue that China&rsquo;s continued dominance in low-skill export sectors reflects not just efficiency, but deliberate policy choices that prevent poorer countries from climbing the development ladder. We talk about their findings, nuances to the conclusions, implication&nbsp; for trade and exchange rate policy, geopolitical considerations, and delve into a few issues beyond the article, including China&rsquo;s rapid climb up the technology value-addition ladder. We also touch in Arvind&rsquo;s new book, &nbsp;A Sixth Of Humanity: Independent India's Development Odyssey, co-authored with Devesh Kapur.</p>

Kopi time is a podcast series on insights from markets and economies around the world, hosted by Taimur Baig, Ph.D., Chief Economist of DBS Bank Ltd.

<p>Kopi time is a podcast series on insights from markets and economies around the world, hosted by Taimur Baig, Ph.D., Chief Economist of DBS Bank Ltd.</p>

Kopi Time podcast with Taimur Baig

DBS Economics & Strategy

Kopi Time E164: The “new China shock” with Arvind Subramanian 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/f6ad7490-363d-4f1f-8948-abf300412a6f/clips/32415a33-8fad-44a9-a176-b395002c2620/transcript