The Student Room Group

What is this hype with China?

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Reply 20
Original post by Mcnubn
Could you imagine how high international food prices would be if they didn't implement the 1 child policy? -.-


Noodles would be twice the price :cute:
Original post by Mcnubn
Could you imagine how high international food prices would be if they didn't implement the 1 child policy? -.-


Depends, would all these extra people be farmers?
China. Lol. Next people will be banging on about India.

Oh wait.
Reply 23
Original post by Classical Liberal
Depends, would all these extra people be farmers?


Extra farmers doesn't necessarily equate to greater output. This was seen in China when massive of people moved from the countryside to the cities, yet output has stayed the same or even grown :tongue: Theres only so much that can be done on a farm, too many people just means that others are left twiddling their thumbs :tongue: It's the available land that is suitable for farming that determines the output (as well as techniques and technology), not man power
Reply 24
Original post by storeypj
I don't understand this hype about the Chinese economy and how they are going to lead the world economically. They have 1.4 billion people so of course their economy is going to be large. We don't even know for certain if it is going to surpass the US (which has only 300 million people) now with the demographics, pollution, property bubble etc.

So what is this hype with China? If you look at standard of living or GDP per capita, they are still very much behind developed countries and i think that is what matters. So why does everybody think that what China or India is doing is so extraordinary? Its a simple numbers game...


Exactly. And the US has a demographic structure that is fundamentally sound; it can expect to continue to grow in population terms, and remain a young country, compared to Europe and Asia (it happily accepts high levels of immigration)

It seems probable that relative US living standards will decline, but I'm not quite sure they'll necessarily be surpassed in this century, despite the received wisdom.

China, on the other hand, is experiencing demographic atrophy.

All the important, 21st century industries that will ensure long-term growth in living standards, IT, biotechnology, nanotechnology, materials research, &c are areas in which the US still leads by some considerable degree. China only leads in the industries (production-line style manufacturing) that will produce little in the way of income growth and drive living standards up.

The US other advantage is that it is fundamentally adaptive, and unlike the Chinese unsentimental.

China has three major structural issues to deal with before it has a clear run to status as the world's pre-eminent power. It's population issue (one child policy, as well as the issue of migration from rural areas to cities by hundreds of millions of workers who crucially cannot access education and healthcare if they move away from the home village). The second is its political structure. The third is Taiwan, and any other land or sea claims generally.
Reply 25
Original post by ChampEon
Tsk... China only got to where it is by doing inhuman things like making 5 year olds work 18 hour shifts and crap like that. Their 'progress' and 'growth' is nothing to be proud of.


Say that again when average European ADULTS can work 60hours(or more) a week, save 50% of their income(instead of using credit cards to buy the things they can only pay back 5 months later) and prepare for the future(not plan, plan = talk, prepare = do. You know, like saving money, getting more education, wearing
cdms, etc)
Reply 26
Original post by jelf
Say that again when average European ADULTS can work 60hours(or more) a week


"Can" being the operative word here. The only European adults who I think regularly work 60 hours or more a week are lawyers, and probably only in the UK and Germany. Just try telling a Frenchman to work 60 hours a week and see if you don't get beaten with a baguette...
Reply 27
I'm guessing it's because white people(i.e. the US and the UK) don't want another country to be more powerful than them.
China is a powerful country and is now sirpassing the USA and the UK. India is rising to become a rival towards the Chinese. The Chinese have some of the most efficient ways of running a country and it is because of them that we have Kung Fu. It could easily obliterate the UK and the USA. And anyway, it rules the world encomony. The UK is nothing in front of China.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 29
Original post by TieMeUp
Exactly. And the US has a demographic structure that is fundamentally sound; it can expect to continue to grow in population terms, and remain a young country, compared to Europe and Asia (it happily accepts high levels of immigration)

It seems probable that relative US living standards will decline, but I'm not quite sure they'll necessarily be surpassed in this century, despite the received wisdom.

China, on the other hand, is experiencing demographic atrophy.

All the important, 21st century industries that will ensure long-term growth in living standards, IT, biotechnology, nanotechnology, materials research, &c are areas in which the US still leads by some considerable degree. China only leads in the industries (production-line style manufacturing) that will produce little in the way of income growth and drive living standards up.

The US other advantage is that it is fundamentally adaptive, and unlike the Chinese unsentimental.

China has three major structural issues to deal with before it has a clear run to status as the world's pre-eminent power. It's population issue (one child policy, as well as the issue of migration from rural areas to cities by hundreds of millions of workers who crucially cannot access education and healthcare if they move away from the home village). The second is its political structure. The third is Taiwan, and any other land or sea claims generally.


America has some structural problems as well, including very high levels of public and private debt and large current account deficit. China has $1.3 trillion dollars in its currency reserves - that's a lot of America it can go and buy.

It also has some political problems - the two parties are now so polarised that getting any sort of consensus on long-term solutions will be difficult, resulting in a series of short-term fixes.

I guess those problem are fixable for a country like America, but the process may become a drag on its growth. There is also a longer-term threat to the dollar's position as a global reserve currency. Meanwhile, China does not have to reach a particularly high GDP per capita to overtake the USA on total GDP. At that point America will have much less control over the world economy and will be less able to use that control to its advantage as it has done over the last few decades.

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