TRADE RESEARCH

Trade Book Talks 

Our Trade Book Talks delve into timely research-driven perspectives on global trade issues for an audience of academics, policymakers and trade practitioners. Each moderated session features authors of recently published books that provide insight into the evolving global trade landscape.
Trade Book Talks

UPCOMING

Dinny McMahon on China's Great Wall of Debt

Jonathan Saunders on Empires of Trade: The Ruthless Battle for Global Wealth

Join the Hinrich Foundation Trade Book Talk for a conversation with Jonathan Saunders, author of Empires of Trade: The Ruthless Battle for Global Wealth. Drawing on insights from the book, the session will explore how trade, resources and negotiation have shaped global power from ancient markets to today’s large corporations. It will also link these historical trends to current challenges, including supply chain disruptions and the increasing role of economic strategy in global affairs.

Moderated by Alex Boome, Hinrich Foundation Trade Education Program Director, the discussion will bring together academics, policymakers, business leaders and students for a timely exchange on the forces shaping today’s global economy.

The session will be held online via Zoom. 
Register here for this event
Peter Draper on The Elgar Companion to the G7

Peter Draper on The Elgar Companion to the G7

How relevant is the G7 in today’s fractured global economy? Join our Trade Book Talk for a timely discussion with Peter Draper, Professor and Executive Director of the Institute for International Trade in the School of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Adelaide, and co-editor with Andreas Freytag of The Elgar Companion to the G7 on 12 Feb.


Moderated by Chuin Wei Yap, the discussion will explore the G7’s 50-year legacy, its responses to global crises and its relevance in today’s fractured world economy.

Register here for this hybrid event
Peter Draper on The Elgar Companion to the G7

Michael Pembroke on Silk Silver Opium: The Trade with China that Changed History

The next Hinrich Foundation Trade Book Talk will be with Michael Pembroke, a writer, traveler, historian and naturalist, on 23 January 2026, featuring his new book: Silk Silver Opium: The Trade with China that Changed History.

Registration has closed

MOST RECENT

David Marsh on Can Europe Survive? The Story of a Continent in a Fractured World

Marc Levinson on Geopolitics, Shipping, and the Impact of their Collision on Global Trade

The Hinrich Foundation hosted Trade Book Talk for a discussion with Marc Levinson, author of The Box & Outside the Box to explore how the shipping container revolutionized global trade and how globalization is now shifting from the movement of goods to the flow of services, information and ideas.


Moderated by Chuin Wei Yap, Hinrich Foundation Program Director, International Trade Research, the discussion will explore the rise of global supply chains, the forces reshaping them today and what the next phase of globalization could mean for businesses and policymakers.

TRADE LOGISTICS AND SERVICES

Marc Levinson

23 April 2026

2 min read

The box and Outside the Box

MORE TRADE BOOK TALKS

Dinny McMahon on China's Great Wall of Debt

The Hinrich Foundation hosted a Trade Book Talk on 19 March 2026 with Dinny McMahon, Head of China Markets Research at the advisory Trivium China. Dinny is the author of the book China's Great Wall of Debt: Shadow Banks, Ghost Cities, Massive Loads and the End of the Chinese Miracle.


Moderated by Chuin Wei Yap, Hinrich Foundation Program Director, International Trade Research, the discussion will provide an inside look at the risks behind China’s rapid growth and why they matter for the global economy.

INDUSTRIAL COMPETITIVENESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Dinny McMahon

19 Mar 2026

2 min read

Dinny McMahon on China's Great Wall of Debt

Peter Draper on The Elgar Companion to the G7

The Hinrich Foundation hosted a Trade Book Talk on 12 February 2026 with Peter Draper, Professor and Executive Director of the Institute for International Trade at the University of Adelaide. Draper is co-editor with Andreas Freytag of The Elgar Companion to the G7.


Moderated by Chuin Wei Yap, the discussion examined the G7’s 50-year legacy, its responses to global crises and its continued relevance in today’s fractured world economy.

TRADE GOVERNANCE

Peter Draper

23 Jan 2026

2 min read

Peter Draper on the Elgar Companion to the G7

Michael Pembroke on Silk Silver Opium: The Trade with China that Changed History

The Hinrich Foundation hosted a book talk with Michael Pembroke on 23 January 2026. Michael is a writer and historian working at the intersection of law, global affairs and history. He is a former NSW Supreme Court judge, Chair of Red Room Poetry, and an award-listed author of five books on the forces that shape our world. The Trade Book Talk features his new book Silk Silver Opium: The Trade with China that Changed History.

GEOPOLITICS OF TRADE

Michael Pembroke

23 Jan 2026

2 min read

Michael Pembroke on Silk Silver Opium: The Trade with China that Changed History

David Marsh on Can Europe Survive? The Story of a Continent in a Fractured World

The Hinrich Foundation hosted a book talk with David Marsh, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), on 24 November, featuring his new book Can Europe Survive? The Story of a Continent in a Fractured World.

GEOPOLITICS OF TRADE

David Marsh

02 Dec 2025

2 min read

can europe survive , David Marsh

The World Turned Upside Down: America, China, and the Struggle for Global Leadership

Alex Capri on Techno-Nationalism: How It’s Reshaping Trade, Geopolitics, and Society

Hinrich Foundation Research Fellow Alex Capri’s new book, Techno-Nationalism: How It’s Reshaping Trade, Geopolitics, and Society, is available now. The book draws largely from Capri’s years of research commissioned by the Foundation on these themes.

GEOPOLITICS OF TRADE

Alex Capri

07 Nov 2024

1 min read

Alex Capri on Techno-Nationalism: How It’s Reshaping Trade, Geopolitics, and Society

The World Turned Upside Down: America, China, and the Struggle for Global Leadership

The World Turned Upside Down: America, China, and the Struggle for Global Leadership

In this well-received book, Clyde Prestowitz describes the key challenges posed by China and the strategies America and other liberal democracies must adopt to meet them. He argues that these approaches must be more sophisticated and comprehensive than a narrowly targeted trade war, and that they don't have to contravene international or domestic law.

GEOPOLITICS OF TRADE

Clyde V. Prestowitz and Jr.

07 Dec 2020

2 min read

The world turned upside down

Where Great Powers Meet: America and China in Southeast Asia

Where Great Powers Meet: America and China in Southeast Asia

In his new book, Where Great Powers Meet: America and China in Southeast Asia, Professor Shambaugh examines how the United States and China are engaged in a broad-gauged and global competition for power.

GEOPOLITICS OF TRADE

David Shambaugh

19 Nov 2020

1 min read

Where great powers meet

China, Trade and Power

China, Trade and Power

Stewart Paterson's timely book, “China, Trade and Power: Why the West’s Economic Engagement Has Failed”, promotes reasoned and informed debate on the trade relationship between the West and China.

GEOPOLITICS OF TRADE

Steward Paterson

12 Sept 2016

2 min read

China trade and power

Developing China: The Remarkable Impact of Foreign Direct Investment

Developing China: The Remarkable Impact of Foreign Direct Investment

Commissioned by the Hinrich Foundation to Professor Michael J. Enright, this book provides a powerful analysis of China’s policies toward foreign direct investment.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

Michael Enright

12 Sept 2016

2 min read

Developing China: The Remarkable Impact of Foreign Direct Investment