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Okay, but where will GDP per capita be? If you think about it, it is really sad that China has 1 billion MORE people than the US and yet the GDP of the US is st

Okay, but where will GDP per capita be? If you think about it, it is really sad that China has 1 billion MORE people than the US and yet the GDP of the US is still 165% of China's. GDP per person is the figure that really tells you what the standard of living is for average people, not just total output. The growth of the Chinese economy is not bad for the US. It means more Chinese entering the middle class, buying American goods, offering great products and services to American buyers, etc. If the Chinese economy surpasses ours, it will be a good thing for the US too.

mulmen 9y ago
Is GDP per person really the metric though? Doesn’t wealth/income distribution have something to do with it?
Sephr 9y ago
If the Great Firewall is anything to go by, I would expect Chinese people to be spending less on American services due to more services being blocked.
- partiallypro 9y ago
  The Chinese government has grown slightly more protectionist as of late, imo their current economic situation is very fragile, despite the western fear of the rise of China. The U.S. economy is very diverse and robust, and has undergone several shocks...China, has not in the modern boom really experienced any sort of deep economic swoons. I fear what houses of cards have been built, which normally don't reveal themselves until the chairs run out. Their government is so hamfisted and wasteful, it's hard not to imagine an economic earthquake on the horizon. The US and Europe are really the main drivers of the world economy right now, China and many emerging economies have been slowing down.
  - xref 9y ago
    I am fascinated by what may happen in China financially as well. The chairs have run out on the US many times, and Iceland, and Ireland, and Venezuela, and Argentina, and Greece...you get it.
- dis-sys 9y ago
  there are many many regular US products that are banned from being exported to China. for example, you can order a Intel Phi processor from your local computer shop and build a hobby computer using that, yet it is criminal offence to sell that to Chinese buyers living in China. watch the video below, Chinese citizens could end up in US prison for doing that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0U6ZMeVrB4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0U6ZMeVrB4
  - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
    It’s funny because the Phi isn’t even that great compared to a GeForce, which can be imported into china. Heck, they don’t even ban Teslas.
- omarforgotpwd 9y ago
  Let’s see what happens in the future. I don’t believe that a lot of things the chinese government is doing right now are sustainable. I believe that somehow the markets will eventually open up and closely resemble the US / Europe. Who knows how long it will take or if it will even happen in my lifetime though. The huge advantage of the US over China is a stable and fair rule of law. Things like the first amendment and private property rights matter a lot for business. The article talks about the year 2032. Do you think the firewall will still be live then? I hope not.
  - chrisco255 9y ago
    What firewall? My Baidu search results don't mention a firewall.
    - hactually 9y ago
      Can you use Google? Can you use Gmail/Hotmail? Wikipedia? Facebook? I couldn't from Shanghai
partiallypro 9y ago
Yeah, I wonder when they are expected to surpass the US in per capita GDP; or the median income adjusted for PPP. A lot of China is still in abject poverty.
- mrb 9y ago
  Share of China's population living in extreme poverty: 1980: 88.3% 2013: 1.8% (World Bank)
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  No one is predicting that for all time. Though China is definitely already upper middle income when it comes to gdp/capita, they aren’t a poor country even if they aren’t a rich one. PPP isn’t very meaningful, it doesn’t account for many things being more expensive in china for equivalent developed world lifestyles. It just means people have cheaper life styles outside of services.
matchcohnn 9y ago
> China has 1 billion MORE people than the US and yet the GDP of the US is still 165% of China's That's because the rural population - 800M - only makes about $4/day, or $1400 a year....crippling poor. https://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2016/09/16/china_is_still_really_poor_112050.html https://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2016/09/16/china_is_.... Whenever my clients say they want to expand to China because they have 1.3 billion people! I laugh. >It means more Chinese entering the middle class, buying American goods China urban household's per income isn't that much better....at $4500 dollar/year or around $375 dollar/month.
xenopath 9y ago
>It means more Chinese entering the middle class, buying American goods China urban household's per income isn't that much better....at $4500 dollar/year or around $375 dollar/month. https://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2016/09/16/china_is_ https://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2016/09/16/china_is_ > China has 1 billion MORE people than the US and yet the GDP of the US is still 165% of China's That's because the rural population - 800M - only makes about $4/day, or $1400 a year....crippling poor. https://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2016/09/16/china_is_ https://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2016/09/16/china_is_ .... Whenever my clients say they want to expand to China because they have 1.3 billion people! I laugh.
- dis-sys 9y ago
  this is also witnessed by many businessmen from Taiwan. they concluded that Chinese living in China can't afford to eat $1 instant noodle, the example they described is that once someone opens up a cup of instant noodle in public, people gather around him/her and start to look at the instant noodle in jealous. :)

mulmen 9y ago

Is GDP per person really the metric though? Doesn’t wealth/income distribution have something to do with it?

Sephr 9y ago

If the Great Firewall is anything to go by, I would expect Chinese people to be spending less on American services due to more services being blocked.

partiallypro 9y ago
The Chinese government has grown slightly more protectionist as of late, imo their current economic situation is very fragile, despite the western fear of the rise of China. The U.S. economy is very diverse and robust, and has undergone several shocks...China, has not in the modern boom really experienced any sort of deep economic swoons. I fear what houses of cards have been built, which normally don't reveal themselves until the chairs run out. Their government is so hamfisted and wasteful, it's hard not to imagine an economic earthquake on the horizon. The US and Europe are really the main drivers of the world economy right now, China and many emerging economies have been slowing down.
- xref 9y ago
  I am fascinated by what may happen in China financially as well. The chairs have run out on the US many times, and Iceland, and Ireland, and Venezuela, and Argentina, and Greece...you get it.
dis-sys 9y ago
there are many many regular US products that are banned from being exported to China. for example, you can order a Intel Phi processor from your local computer shop and build a hobby computer using that, yet it is criminal offence to sell that to Chinese buyers living in China. watch the video below, Chinese citizens could end up in US prison for doing that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0U6ZMeVrB4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0U6ZMeVrB4
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  It’s funny because the Phi isn’t even that great compared to a GeForce, which can be imported into china. Heck, they don’t even ban Teslas.
omarforgotpwd 9y ago
Let’s see what happens in the future. I don’t believe that a lot of things the chinese government is doing right now are sustainable. I believe that somehow the markets will eventually open up and closely resemble the US / Europe. Who knows how long it will take or if it will even happen in my lifetime though. The huge advantage of the US over China is a stable and fair rule of law. Things like the first amendment and private property rights matter a lot for business. The article talks about the year 2032. Do you think the firewall will still be live then? I hope not.
- chrisco255 9y ago
  What firewall? My Baidu search results don't mention a firewall.
  - hactually 9y ago
    Can you use Google? Can you use Gmail/Hotmail? Wikipedia? Facebook? I couldn't from Shanghai

partiallypro 9y ago

Yeah, I wonder when they are expected to surpass the US in per capita GDP; or the median income adjusted for PPP. A lot of China is still in abject poverty.

mrb 9y ago
Share of China's population living in extreme poverty: 1980: 88.3% 2013: 1.8% (World Bank)
seanmcdirmid 9y ago
No one is predicting that for all time. Though China is definitely already upper middle income when it comes to gdp/capita, they aren’t a poor country even if they aren’t a rich one. PPP isn’t very meaningful, it doesn’t account for many things being more expensive in china for equivalent developed world lifestyles. It just means people have cheaper life styles outside of services.

matchcohnn 9y ago

> China has 1 billion MORE people than the US and yet the GDP of the US is still 165% of China's That's because the rural population - 800M - only makes about $4/day, or $1400 a year....crippling poor. https://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2016/09/16/china_is_still_really_poor_112050.html https://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2016/09/16/china_is_.... Whenever my clients say they want to expand to China because they have 1.3 billion people! I laugh. >It means more Chinese entering the middle class, buying American goods China urban household's per income isn't that much better....at $4500 dollar/year or around $375 dollar/month.

xenopath 9y ago

>It means more Chinese entering the middle class, buying American goods China urban household's per income isn't that much better....at $4500 dollar/year or around $375 dollar/month. https://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2016/09/16/china_is_ https://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2016/09/16/china_is_ > China has 1 billion MORE people than the US and yet the GDP of the US is still 165% of China's That's because the rural population - 800M - only makes about $4/day, or $1400 a year....crippling poor. https://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2016/09/16/china_is_ https://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2016/09/16/china_is_ .... Whenever my clients say they want to expand to China because they have 1.3 billion people! I laugh.

dis-sys 9y ago
this is also witnessed by many businessmen from Taiwan. they concluded that Chinese living in China can't afford to eat $1 instant noodle, the example they described is that once someone opens up a cup of instant noodle in public, people gather around him/her and start to look at the instant noodle in jealous. :)