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I'm curious what would have happened if China hadn't industrialized prior to robotics maturing and fully automating manufacturing. Can you leap from subsistenc

by nugget 9y ago

I'm curious what would have happened if China hadn't industrialized prior to robotics maturing and fully automating manufacturing. Can you leap from subsistence farming to software development without much infrastructure in between?

dominotw 9y ago
Yes that's what India did.
seanmcdirmid 9y ago
China was actually never that unindustrialized in recent history. They broke through subsistence farming at least 2000 years ago, so the current miracle is really more of just returning to a former prosperity than a huge leap in society development.
- adventured 9y ago
  China was extraordinarily unindustrialized until recently. Their GDP per capita was $317 in 1990. ~25 years ago they had 3/4 of their population living on $5 or less per day. ~15 years ago they still had half a billion people living on $3 per day or less. Today they still have a quarter of a billion people living on $3 per day or less, one of the poorest large population segments on the planet. China's total manufacturing sector output was a mere $100 to $150 billion in 1990, about 1/10th that of the US. In 1990 China had only 3% of global manufacturing output value, today it's about 25%. China still has 250 to 300 million people living off of or doing subsistence farming. They have the most backwards and inefficient farming systems of any economic power. South Korea's farming is about 40 times more productive. 20 years ago, it was even worse. Their subsistence farming was so bad in the late 1980s, they had half a billion 'farmers' producing enough food to feed only a few hundred million people at low calorie levels; the US accomplishes the same thing with three million farmers. China had a ratio of farmer to provided ratio of sub 1 to 1, the US is typically around 1 farmer/farm worker to 100 provided for. http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-farmer-productivity-2012-8 http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-farmer-productivity-2...
  - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
    If you look at history before the industrial revolution in the west, China was on par with most western countries, and for many periods the richest country on earth. That is way beyond the subsistence farming level, which has a very specific meaning! Even in their darkest time, china did not fall back into subsistence farming, that is just totally ridiculous. Yes, China has a lot of farmers. But no, it isn’t like a poor African country that really is dominated by subsistence farming.

by nugget 9y ago

dominotw 9y ago

Yes that's what India did.

seanmcdirmid 9y ago

China was actually never that unindustrialized in recent history. They broke through subsistence farming at least 2000 years ago, so the current miracle is really more of just returning to a former prosperity than a huge leap in society development.

adventured 9y ago
China was extraordinarily unindustrialized until recently. Their GDP per capita was $317 in 1990. ~25 years ago they had 3/4 of their population living on $5 or less per day. ~15 years ago they still had half a billion people living on $3 per day or less. Today they still have a quarter of a billion people living on $3 per day or less, one of the poorest large population segments on the planet. China's total manufacturing sector output was a mere $100 to $150 billion in 1990, about 1/10th that of the US. In 1990 China had only 3% of global manufacturing output value, today it's about 25%. China still has 250 to 300 million people living off of or doing subsistence farming. They have the most backwards and inefficient farming systems of any economic power. South Korea's farming is about 40 times more productive. 20 years ago, it was even worse. Their subsistence farming was so bad in the late 1980s, they had half a billion 'farmers' producing enough food to feed only a few hundred million people at low calorie levels; the US accomplishes the same thing with three million farmers. China had a ratio of farmer to provided ratio of sub 1 to 1, the US is typically around 1 farmer/farm worker to 100 provided for. http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-farmer-productivity-2012-8 http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-farmer-productivity-2...
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  If you look at history before the industrial revolution in the west, China was on par with most western countries, and for many periods the richest country on earth. That is way beyond the subsistence farming level, which has a very specific meaning! Even in their darkest time, china did not fall back into subsistence farming, that is just totally ridiculous. Yes, China has a lot of farmers. But no, it isn’t like a poor African country that really is dominated by subsistence farming.