> I disregard PPP estimates since so many subjective and cultural decisions have to go into PPP calculations, and during a civil war there is a wide space for t

> I disregard PPP estimates since so many subjective and cultural decisions have to go into PPP calculations, and during a civil war there is a wide space for the PPP decisions to include the political factors that we should ignore when discussing the real economy. Please link to alternative data that supports your argument. > Likewise, why would it be valid to convert to USA currency? Why not measure year to year growth directly, from the perspective of China? In most economic studies values are converted to US dollars because it is a stable point of reference. Again, if you have data to backup your wild assertions in this thread that go completely against conventional wisdom then I would be very interested in seeing it. Great claims require great evidence. > The variations in the currency exchange would again introduce those political factors that a person would want to ignore if they were curious about the real strength of the Chinese economy. Of course it's not a perfect measure. But you said in an earlier message that "During the worst year of the Cultural Revolution, China still managed to grow 8%." However, the data we do have shows the opposite: the worst year had negative (-8.1%) growth. I don't think any adjustments to currency would account for such a large swing. Sometimes it's best to just admit you're wrong. It certainly would lead to less down votes.