China: The Big Lie: The Truth of Trillions in a Culture of Cash - Softcover

"China: The Big Lie?" is a groundbreaking book that reveals how, in the years since China's rapid economic rise, its middle class is now sitting on up to US$10 trillion worth of savings. Despite China's recent stock market jitters, how we understand China's "off the books" economy is going to fundamentally alter our view about China at the macro- and micro-economic levels for years to come. While mainstream Western media unrelentingly drives home the notion that China is headed for a major slowdown, Cavolo offers a thoroughly researched, on-the-ground look at the relationship between China's secret wealth and its society. He uses insightful analysis into topics as varied as the real estate market, online retailing, and the structure of the Chinese family as the backbone of its economy. For a country plagued by its fair share of misinformation and misconceptions, Cavolo’s unrelenting scrutiny of reality vs. myth is a welcome change. Simply put, "China: The Big Lie?" will drastically alter your perception of China's economy and how it really works. Reviews: “A breezy overview of Chinese spending habits that predicts a rosy future for the world’s fastest-growing economy.” --KIRKUS REVIEWS “Unexpected brilliant insight into the lives of real people provides the reader a new and fresh perspective to help make sense of reality in China today. A must read." --Rory Farquhar Thomson, Head of Corporate & Institutional Banking at Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, Shanghai “Cavolo has written the Freakonomics for China watchers. What Dubner and Levitt did for our assumptions about how America and the global economy work, he does for China, upending all of our notions of how things are by combining shrewd observation, cultural insight, and basic microeconomics to blow apart finance column clichés about China’s rise.” --Nicholas MacDonald, Editorial Director at iTV-Asia “Unknown trillions are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to understanding China. Mario’s book delivers a deep and true picture like no other China book.” --Jacky Cheng, Managing Director at The Scott Partnership “Mario Cavolo gives his readers a ‘boots on the ground’ perspective rarely found in today’s literary circles. He not only writes about the real China, he lives and breathes the culture of the Middle Kingdom with each passing day. It is refreshing to read a book about China that delivers a non-biased account of such a diverse and complex society. Cavolo knows this territory better than most.” --Gene Kern, President at Emperor Food’s China “You’ll never read a more compelling, true and convincing view of the real China. The author handily exposes unknown trillions and masterfully compares and contrasts the driving values and behaviors shaping the dance between the US and China.” --Cedric Frignet, Founder & CEO at iIn-Buzz, Hong Kong “Spot on.... delivers a discerning, entertaining scope that sheds much needed light both essential and entertaining.” --David Turchetti, Managing Director, Blu Inc Media, former VP Programs, AmCham Shanghai

Mario Cavolo is an expert on business diversity in China. He has appeared on Bloomberg TV Hong Kong and is communication advisory and media coach for numerous Asia Pacific senior and MBA-level executives.