Winner Take All: China's Race for Resources and What It Means for the World

Commodities permeate virtually every aspect of modern daily living, but for all their importance—their breadth, their depth, their intricacies, and their central role in daily life—few people who are not economists or traders know how commodity markets work. Almost every day, newspaper headlines and media commentators scream warnings of impending doom--shortages of arable land, clashes over water, and political conflict as global demand for fossil fuels outstrips supply. The picture is bleak, but our grasp of the details and the macro shifts in commodities markets remain blurry.

Winner Take All is about the commodity dynamics that the world will face over the next several decades. In particular, it is about the implications of Chinas rush for resources across all regions of the world. The scale of Chinas resource campaign for hard commodities (metals and minerals) and soft commodities (timber and food) is among the largest in history. To be sure, China is not the first country to launch a global crusade to secure resources. From Britains transcontinental operations dating back to the end of the 16th century, to the rise of modern European and American transnational corporations between the mid 1860s and 1870s, the industrial revolution that powered these economies created a voracious demand for raw materials and created the need to go far beyond their native countries.

So too is Chinas resource rush today. Although still in its early stages, already the breadth of Chinas operation is awesome, and seemingly unstoppable. Chinas global charge for commodities is a story of Chinas quest to secure its claims on resource assets, and to guarantee the flow of inputs needed to continue to drive economic development. Moyo, an expert in global commodities markets, explains the implications of Chinas resource grab in a world of diminishing resources.

Controversial and bestselling economist Dambisa Moyo tackles one of the most vital geopolitical stories of our time: China's aggressive global crusade to secure natural resources.

Hardly a day passes when newspaper headlines or media commentators dont scream warnings of impending doom—shortages of arable land, clashes over water, and political Armageddon as global demand for fossil fuels far outstrips supply—but only one country appears to understand the importance of controlling these crucial assets: China. In Winner Take All, international economist and bestselling author Dambisa Moyo explains the implications of Chinas aggressive rush for resources around the world, a campaign that surpasses even the voracious demands for raw materials sparked by the Industrial Revolution. As Moyo compellingly argues, Chinas seemingly unstoppable drive will have global consequences for us all.

An international economist and one of the worlds leading experts on macroeconomics and global affairs, in 2009 Moyo was named by Time as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World,” and was named to the World Economic Forums Young Global Leaders Forum. Her writing regularly appears in economic and finance-related publications such as the Financial Times, the Economist, and the Wall Street Journal. In September 2009 Moyo was featured on Oprah Winfrey's “Power List” of twenty remarkable visionaries. She has appeared as a guest CNN, CNBC, BBC, and Fox Business. She has done numerous speaking engagements at organizations including OECD, World Bank, IMF, Council on Foreign Relations, and the American Enterprise Institute. In 2009 she spoke at the TEDx conference at the EU Parliament. She holds a PhD in economics from Oxford and an MPA from Harvard. She lives in New York and London.