China 'becomes world's second largest economy'

[DavidDvorkin]

Source: BBC

China says its economy grew by 8.7% in 2009, and by 10.7% in the final quarter of the year, compared with 2008.

Analysts say it is likely that China has now overtaken Japan as the world's second largest economy behind the US.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8471613.stm

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And still growing rapidly.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. uh huh, yeah

and the soviets were a big threat too.

[DavidDvorkin]

2. Are you questioning what the article says or whether this is significant?

[onehandle]

5. This is in no way the same. The Soviets were our adversaries.

We are happily handing over our financial future to China.

If we had the same relationship with Germany in the thirties as we do with China now, we would all be speaking German.

[DavidDvorkin]

3. China could overtake US by 2020

According to PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5issneGDW7aV3ZtZsdCs6m-SI1GnA

[onehandle]

4. Will. Brush up on your Chinese, kiddies. nt

[bossy22]

19. unlikely until 2030

the PWC estimate is using very optimistic scenarios for china and a very pessimistic scenario for the US

[notesdev]

6. I believe the Chinese numbers

hahahahahahah yeah right

After their bubble pops they won't even be able to fake it. If you believe this you have no idea just how bad off the vast majority of Chinese really are.

[HeresyLives]

8. Rome laughed too. n/t

[Meldread]

7. Meanwhile, America sells its economic sovereignty to China.

They are running circles around us. There are too many people in Washington stuck in the old way of thinking. Wars are no longer fought on battlefields. China looks at economics in the same way we look at war. It's a strategy for dominance, control, and power. They are committed to becoming the next major super power, and they WILL achieve it.

Meanwhile, we stupidly take on more and more debt with China as our creditor. Doesn't anyone in Washington realize that this gives China an immense amount of sway over both our domestic and foreign policies? They can crush us, literally, with this one sentence: "Pay us back now."

[lib2DaBone]

9. China is financing our war debt.. and our whole economy...

Chinese glass is going in the new world trade center.. and chinese steel is being used in road and bridge repair in the Oakland Bay area.

Wasn't it Clinton who GAVE the Chinese our super high-speed computer technology? And wasn't it the Chinese who kept our AWAC radar high-tech air surveillance airplane and disassembled it part by part on Hainan Island?

And I think I read recently where GM is considering constructing a high tech auto plant in China.

VERY FOOLISH foreign policy... we will come to regret the day that we gave them the rope by which we hang.

[Romulox]

17. At what point is it THEIR war then, THEIR whole economy???

The Piper calls the tune...

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. What goes up.............

[RZM]

11. China is rising . . .

But they still have a long way to go to make it to the top. And even then, their per-capita numbers would still trail that of Western nations by a large margin. China isn't yet competitive with the West or Japan on the world market when it comes to electronics, autos, and other high-end/durable goods. In the future they might be, though that's not a sure thing. I question the gloom and doom we hear about China 'taking over' economically. I think a much more pressing story is the pollution and environmental damage that China's (largely unregulated) rapid growth is causing, which will exponentially increase as China's growing middle and elite strata become accustomed to higher standards of living.

[proteus_lives]

12. And in the 70s/80s people were saying "Better start learning Japanese."

The bubble's going to pop and the various domestic troubles they keep under the rug are going to be a huge problem.

[Triana]

13. Thanks to the US and our rediculous trade imbalance

No political will to do a damn thing about that, either.

[gtar100]

14. Ah, the sweet smell of success. The Republicans are so right.

No environmental protection, low wages, no unions, low export costs, no pesky consumer protection laws...man, the sweet smell of success. It's everything we ever dreamed of for our little world. Even the communists are capitalists - now that's a feather in their hat. Skies the limit. What a beautiful world. So happy for China. So happy for America - cheap, cheap, cheap... it's all so cheap. What could possibly go wrong?

[bossy22]

15. i've always believed that china was "cooking the books"

I've followed chinese growth for the last 5 years. They are a growing country but i don't believe it is as fast as they say it is. Just look at the real-estate market and it screams bubble

[Bucky]

18. God, I hope you're right. The more China becomes successful, the more greenhouse gases they emit

I saw an economist once give a lecture on "the last thing the environment needs is another billion people living like Americans." They worry me.

[Romulox]

16. On the bright side, "Free Trade" with China has really opened the country up for Democracy!

Oh, wait.

But it's a huge market for US manufactured goods!

Oh Jeesh!

But at least Hollywood makes a mint over there, due to strong IP right enforcement (required for membership in the WTO).

Ummm.... :shrug:

[reformist]

20. China is already #1

When you adjust for purchasing-price-parity. Example: a Big Mac in the US costs $3.59 but in China that same Big Mac costs only $1.85, so you have to essentially multiply China's GDP by about 2x to get their "real" GDP.