Chinese Economy II

Previously I discussed the Chinese Economy from the inside. One of the things that is mentioned a fair bit here in Australia is that fact that their economy will soon be bigger that that of the USA. While this is a major milestone, I think it had no great significance. You see, China has approximately 4 times the population. So the Per Capita GDP is quite small. If they caught up on that measure, that would be significant. Anyone who has been to China knows how patchy the economic development is, and just how far they have to go. Also GDP is only one measure. Total wealth is another. There are so many more. And then there is the issue that so much of the existing infrastructure is of such a low quality. I was always amazed that they do such a poor job at plumbing. All of those buildings need a lot of fixing to bring them up to standard of what would be considered good building practice here in Australia. That is not to say that this will not happen, or that it happening is not a good thing, but it will still take quite a long time, even at the break-neck speed that China is growing. What the USA needs to do is keep their eyes on the ball. They have a good track record at this in the last few centuries.