At some point the question gets asked what access to US markets is worth and what the alternatives are. It wouldn't matter as much if most of the G7 could essentially be counted as offshoots from the US economy, but in a time where the US is pushing trade partners to look for diversification options and trying to exert leverage in trade negotiations? If the data is correct and meaningful, it's very valuable to someone(probably not you or me though.)
Why? Am an Indian and everyone here recognises the fact that the US has been the sole economic hegemon from the early 1900's and it won't change for another 50-75 years at the least.
Otoh China and India were amongst the poorest countries even 4 decades ago and both have grown at a crazy pace, unprecedented as it doesn't involve Oil or stealing from colonies or internal colonisation
The indian right sees folks like ram rahim and the bilkis bano rapists as their inspiration
No need to act innocent in front of foreigners the entire world knows how your bunch was proudly holding rallies in support of these rapists
We all saw subs like indiaspeaks seething when their hero got arrested for one of the largest rape cases in australia. Most of the rape threats on the internet are almost always from one of those rapey indian nationalist accounts which is not surprising at all
GDP per capita means nothing if your elite individuals and the corporations they control own all the P.
How does it mean nothing? A higher output of production generated would mean there's more money generated by the businesses which benefits the state, and provides higher job opportunity.
It's big corporations which generate most of the production, always has been.
Incorrect. Most of their wealth is in stocks, which effectively means that it's circulating among the population. Accumulation of wealth gives the owner the perk of deciding what industry a large part of the country will spend more efforts on, like e-commerce or AI, electric cars or airspace.
Of course, sometimes (but not always) that means pulling resources from some other industries, and people working there are in for a bad day when it happens, but it's not like billionaires are sitting on hoards of bread, taking it out of children's mouths.Â
The crazy part of this is how much of this money never goes back to America at all.
Is America wealthy? Yes, absolutely.
Does it seem the average American is living a life that is 6 times better and more prosperous than the average Chinese or Indian citizen? I don't know.
Does it seem the average American is living a life that is 6 times better and more prosperous than the average Chinese or Indian citizen? I don't know.
6 times better than the average Chinese? Definitely not. Obviously salaries are way lower in China, but so is cost of living. India is a different story.
Cost of living for the average Chinese person is lower than that of the average American because the quality of life of the average Chinese person is lower than that of the average American.
No, the average cost of living is lower because wages are lower. Wages are also way lower in my country the Netherlands than wages in the US, but no way I'd say we have a worse quality of life. Average income doesn't paint an accurate picture.
Even if average quality of life is worse in China than in the US, that doesn't mean it's 6 times worse. That's a ridiculous claim to make. The average Chinese has a comparable life with the average American in terms of quality of life. They work regular jobs as Americans, go out for dinner and coffee, they do fitness and other hobbies, their life expectancy is almost the same as that of the US, etc. The difference between the 2 countries really isn't as extreme as you're making it out to be. It's not Afghanistan we're talking about here.
No, the average cost of living is lower because wages are lower.
No, cost of living in China is lower because the quality of life is lower.
Wages are also way lower in my country the Netherlands than wages in the US, but no way I'd say we have a worse quality of life.
Thatâs great, but Iâm talking about China, not the Netherlands.
Even if average quality of life is worse in China than in the US, that doesn't mean it's 6 times worse. That's a ridiculous claim to make.
I would say itâs a perfectly acceptable claim to make, although the exact number is obviously purely subjective.
The average Chinese has a comparable life with the average American in terms of quality of life.
No itâs not. Compare the size of the average house in China (650 sq ft) to the size of the average house in the US (2200 sq ft), let alone the other specs of those houses. Compare where the average Chinese citizen purchases their goods (local markets, street markets, wet markets, etc.) to where the average American purchases their goods (massive department stores, massive grocery stores, Target, etc.) Even the poorest Americans would scoff at the idea of shopping at wet market. Compare the type of job the average Chinese citizen holds to that of the average American, and so on.
If weâre comparing the top 10-20% in each country, I would say the difference isnât as drastic. But if youâre comparing the citizens in the 30-70% range, the difference is extremely significant. Just compare the number of Americans who immigrate to China versus the number of Chinese who immigrate to America. If the quality of life was comparable, you expect those numbers to at least be relatively comparable, but itâs not even close (even if you account for the home countryâsâ populations).
their life expectancy is almost the same as that of the US, etc.
the life expectancy in the US is not lower due to a low quality of life. The life expectancy in the US is lower because we live an extremely unhealthy and extremely sedentary lifestyle, the latter being a sign of very high quality of life (i.e. convenience).
It's not Afghanistan we're talking about here.
I never said it was. The difference between the US and Afghanistan is even more stark.
No, cost of living in China is lower because the quality of life is lower.
Repeating something doesn't make it true. Go ahead and prove how their quality of life is 6 times lower because of lower incomes.
Thatâs great, but Iâm talking about China, not the Netherlands.
Convenient isn't it? I'm pointing out the flaws in your logic using the Netherlands as an example. Incomes clearly don't accurately portray quality of life.
No itâs not. Compare the size of the average house in China (650 sq ft) to the size of the average house in the US (2200 sq ft), let alone the other specs of those houses. Compare where the average Chinese citizen purchases their goods (local markets, street markets, etc.) to where the average American purchases their goods (massive department stores, massive grocery stores, Target, etc.) Compare the type of job the average Chinese citizen holds to that of the average American.
China is a more densily populated country, obviously more people live in apartments than in large houses. That doesn't mean their quality of life is lower. You can have excellent apartments.
Wait, buying from markets is worse than buying from large grocery stores? What are these standards you're making up? Also what evidence do you have that Chinese people buy more from markets than Americans?
If weâre comparing the top 10-20% in each country, I would say the difference isnât as drastic. But if youâre comparing the citizens in the 30-70% range, the difference is extremely significant. Just compare the number of Americans who immigrate to China versus the number of Chinese who immigrate to America. If the quality of life was comparable, you expect those numbers to at least be relatively comparable, but itâs not even close (even if you account for the home countryâsâ populations).
It's not extremely significant at all. You're literally just making this up lmao. The only difference you know of as a fact is the gap in average incomes, but this doesn't make the quality of life worse, let alone 6 times worse, because cost of living is lower as well.
I never said it was. The difference between the US and Afghanistan is even more stark.
The difference between China and Afghanistan is stark. The difference between China and the US isn't stark at all. Quality of life for the average person is quite comparable nowadays. Maybe you can actually explain how it's 6 times worse, rather than just making the same claim over. Go ahead, I'll wait.
The answer to your second question is most definitely yes. The US has huge inequality but the standard of living is still a lot higher even for the poorest Americans.
Yeah, man, me too. This is why the U.S government is famously not concerned about China. Sorry for the image; I really don't know how to respond to this one LMAO
EDIT this post is tongue in cheek. I'm well aware of the size difference of the fleets. Otoh look at the projections and that story is set to change by 2040s.
Did the Ford class just fall from the sky to you? Also China doesnât have 2 oceans on either side, theyâll match US navy in its backyard only by mid this century. But for global reach? Never!
All that manufacturing prowess just to hope in controlling their own region, and thatâs their plan for the rest of our lifes.
What do you mean by global reach? Is it just military power projection? Then yes, China doesn't have present or future plans to build 800 military bases around the world nor to be the world's police. But when it comes to economic power projection, China has reached every continent from middle Africa to South America to Mexico. They learned from the mistakes of USA same as they learned from the USSR.
What good conclusions do you think people are trying to draw here??? It's a comparison for fun to give a bare insight into how world economies compare in size, it's meant to be simple, fun and just not that deep for you to have a problem with it.
Even then, it's not like it's some crazy comparison to make, it's just large world economies, you don't have to have every disclaimer and asterix listed there.Â
That a country of 350 million people is outperforming 3 billion? Itâs literally just perspective on how high the nominal gdp output of the US is (and by extension the nominal gdp per capita), I donât know why that would be not allowed for comparison especially with the âChina taking over everythingâ narrative that has been pervasive for like 2 decades.
If we use PPP then China + India is about 2.5 times US. Nominal GDP mostly represents the fact that people like trading and investing in US dollar, and China keeping their currency low to gain export advantage.
Those could change very quickly. If China one day decides to become the center of investment and consumption, like they used to be before the 17th century, US would clearly be marked as #2, maybe even #3 if India does the same. That could even be good for US due to the dollar no longer be pushed so high and itâd be more profitable to manufacture in America.
Yes everyone knows about PPP, the point is that the image is showing one thing and everyone else is clamoring for it to show another thing and saying itâs misleading because itâs not showing that thing they want. Itâs not misleading, itâs showing one measurement of a complex topic.
To your other point China has been trying to desperately become a consumption economy for like a decade and it has mostly failed, so I donât really know what you mean by âone dayâ when it already has. And in regards to investment, it will only be the âcenter for investmentâ when they donât have a government that can seize your assets at will, i.e the end of the CCP as we know it. Until then itâs unlikely to happen
Iâm not even disputing the entirety of what youâre saying, Iâm just wishing people could stay on topic and actually engage with whatâs being displayed or at the very least acknowledge theyâre talking about a different thing
Gdp ppp only works as a comparison for how well people live in their own country. When it comes to global power raw gdp and gdp per capita show a better picture.
Resources cost almost the same globally, raw talents costs the same, most high quality technology and devices cost the same.
Thats why a country of 300+ million can own multiple carrier groups, control most of the worlds internet traffic, have huge influence while something like India can barely project power outside their borders.
This is hilariously dumb comment. How come nobody has brought this up to China yet? Theyâre gonna be pissed when they find out there was just this one simple trick to become the center of investment and consumption all alongâŚ
China faces a lot of structural issues to raise consumption, they also partly donât want to do make the sacrifices required to start the transition, at least not yet. In a short comment I couldnât write down all the analyses from economists like Michael Pettis, about both Chinaâs huge potential and unwillingness to make the change. My comment was also not meant to belittle the US. Nevertheless, the fact that the usd has huge advantage and the cny is artificially repressed has to be pointed out.
It is comparable if you're speaking of significance in the data. If you're stating a wrong opinion, then the answer you're looking for is in the real world, where that data is comparable.
colony of ants is compared to a snake in many stories.. so are thousands of bees to 10s of hornets. what is your point? if the op wanted to compare per capita he would show that.
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u/Lez0fire 3d ago
Blue line: Almost 3 billion people
Red line: not even 350 millions
In what world is that comparable?