NON-FICTION EXPERTISE
US-China Relations
My articles on venture capital, economic development, international relations, and the merger market have appeared in The Harvard Journal of Legislation, The Business Lawyer, The Far Eastern Economic Review, The New Republic, The Deal, The Nation, and Fortune.
My first widely read article, which favorably reviewed France’s recognition of China, was published in 1965 by The New Republic. Subsequent China-focused articles include the Foreign Affairs feature on China’s financial foreign policy in the July/August 2010 issue and the October 31, 2011 Time cover story on China’s upcoming financial difficulties.
My involvement with China goes back to 1963 when I first began studying China’s language, history, culture, and politics. I received my master’s degree in Chinese studies from Yale University in 1965. In 1981, while head of the Merrill Lynch Mergers & Acquisitions Department, I was the lead negotiator for Merrill itself on its entry into the Chinese market through Sun Hung Kai Securities, one of the earliest such investments by a large U.S. financial institution. Since then, I’ve organized track-two dialogues with the Chinese government, Chaired the Finance Committee for the U.S. Pavilion at the Shanghai Exposition, taught at the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, and helped establish a Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at NYU China. I currently serve on the board of the National Committee on US-China Relations.
It is now just over 17 years since the financial crash triggered by the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, and American stockmarkets are again at or near all-time highs. The two main drivers of investor optimism are artificial intelligence and a substantially loosened regulatory environment. These factors, combined with a Wall Street compensation system essentially unchanged since 2008, have now converged to tee up the next financial debacle.
The Economist
China's approach to economic development has turned the country into a lopsided giant, an export juggernaut with one huge financial arm. Following the reforms launched by Deng Xiaoping in 1979, Chinese businesses began using cheap labor and cheap capital to compete on the world market, with ever-increasing effectiveness. Today, Beijing continues to subsidize exports heavily.
Foreign Affairs
Much has been made of the monolithic image presented by the recently named Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party: all men, hair dyed black, dark suits—a visual metaphor, it could be said, for the party’s commitment to the stifling of individualism and creativity. But do not be fooled by surface appearances. Before the reign of this group of Chinese leaders has ended, you are going to be singing Chinese songs, watching Chinese movies, dancing Chinese dances, and buying both products and services invented in China.
Daily Beast
Last month's Third Plenum meeting of Chinese leaders seemed to signal Beijing's intention to experiment with more economic and financial freedom. The Plenum's closing communique speaks of unleashing the inherent creativity of the people to drive the economy. So the relevant question for businesses, both at home and abroad, has to be how effectively Beijing will pursue that aim.It's not just about money for R&D. Innovators have to want to live there, too.
Wall Street Journal
When President-elect Trump took a phone call from Tsai Ing-Wen, the president of Taiwan, it seemed a gaffe confirming our worst fears: Here came precisely the impulsive egomaniac we had energetically opposed as temperamentally unfit to be our president. [But] What Trump accomplished with that one act was to remind the Chinese that he is the dealer in a new poker game… and that there is a new chip on the board.
The Nation
What’s the most important economic question in the world today? One contender is whether the euro will collapse. Another is whether the U.S. will plunge into a double-dip recession. But a third, and possibly the most important over the long term, is whether China can save the world–or whether the entire country is a $6 trillion bubble that’s ready to pop.
TIME
The lawyers' dual objectives in structuring a venture capital investment are to minimize the client's risk and to increase his opportunities for the highest return on investment. Both objectives are furthered by a legal structure which maximizes the investor's "liquidity," that is, his ability to sell the securities for cash. The possibility of sale at an early date may enable the client both to hedge against future decline in the value of securities held by him and to improve his return on investment through early realization....
The Business Lawyer
Articles
Many think of New York as a vibrant, youthful city — intense, demanding, the if-you-can-make-it-there place. And they're not wrong. But it's also a wonderful location for spending your golden years. That is, if you just keep a few simple dos and don'ts in mind.
The East Hampton Star
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Ideologies built around the idea of community and the strength of capital have seldom found a common meeting place. The operative motive in capitalism is the pursuit of private gain, leaving the general welfare to the famous "invisible hand" of Adam Smith. Communal ideas have long been seen as antithetical to those of capital because of their association with ephemeral labor-intensive experiments or with anti-capitalist revolutions. Yet these two traditions are beginning to appear in tandem in America's ghettoes, where the idea of economic development is being adopted by grass-roots black community organizations.
The Harvard Journal of Legislation
The rapport among members of a dealmaking team can be as important as the fit between the companies they strive to bring together. Merrill Lynch has a crack combination in Jack Levy (sans cigar), 29, and his boss Ken Miller, 40, head of mergers and acquisitions...