bladerunner
Banned Idiot
I think he's trying to point out they coped with the task despite Spielberg bailing.
How can CHina catch up with the West when its hands are tied?
- Thread starter antimatter
- Start date
I think he's trying to point out they coped with the task despite Spielberg bailing.
Schumacher
Senior Member
I hope when you say 'pretty close', you didn't mean to include his claim that US is worth $300 trillion as compared to the $14 trillion above.
Quickie
Colonel
Just for curiosity, how much does it cost to buy a set lunch of macdonald's in an average city in China and United States? How much is a can of drink, a bow of noodles or other food items.
P. S. Food is just a section of the economic pie but perhaps this would show why it's necessary to measure economic output in PPP terms too.
P. S. Food is just a section of the economic pie but perhaps this would show why it's necessary to measure economic output in PPP terms too.
Don't quote me on the chinese price, I'm only going by what I remember from a few years ago when I was there.
McDonald meal:
China: ~25 yuan
Canada: $7~9
Can of Coke:
China: ~3 yuan? (really not sure)
Canada: $1 at vending machines
Bow of noodle:
China: you can find them for 5 yuan at small roadside restaurants, larger restaurants are much more expensive
Canada: $5 at chinese food court.
In the end, food in china is definitely cheaper if taking currency difference into account.
petty officer1
Junior Member
Really interesting article form BBC stating that China holds resources such as bauxite and magnesium, all those metal are used to produce industrilal instrument, and more importantly MIlitary hardwares. And not selling it to US and EU. I don't blame China doesn't want to sell, (since US and EU have military sanction on China, why should China sell them materials to make weapons, Which might be used againt them someday) but does this violate WTO rules? I know WTO rule says you can't limit Import but export will be tricky...
RedMercury
Junior Member
T-U-P: your prices are about correct as of mid 2009. The thing is, McDonalds is like middle class food in China, suitable for dates and the occasional treat, not dirt cheap crap as it is in the US, so it is hardly a correct point of comparison. For something more everyday, 6-8 RMB will buy you rice and 2-4 side dishes plus soup in a big city, and more in a small one. Migrant workers can get boxed meals even cheaper.
Just considering food skews the purchasing power comparison quite a bit. Commodity housing, especially in big cities, is comparable to the nominal value from currency conversion. Of course, crappier housing can be much cheaper, say a room for 300 rmb a month. In terms of electronics and cars, prices are basically what you would get from currency conversion, making them quite a bit more expensive in comparison to food. In terms of daily use items, they would go from direct conversion (in a large supermarket like carrefour or trustmart) to maybe half or a third of that if you buy questionable goods from a small shop.
Labor is cheap though. A shop clerk in a small shop can hope to make like 5 rmb an hour, an average college grad (without specialized skills) can only hope to get a position that starts at around 1500 rmb a month.
Just considering food skews the purchasing power comparison quite a bit. Commodity housing, especially in big cities, is comparable to the nominal value from currency conversion. Of course, crappier housing can be much cheaper, say a room for 300 rmb a month. In terms of electronics and cars, prices are basically what you would get from currency conversion, making them quite a bit more expensive in comparison to food. In terms of daily use items, they would go from direct conversion (in a large supermarket like carrefour or trustmart) to maybe half or a third of that if you buy questionable goods from a small shop.
Labor is cheap though. A shop clerk in a small shop can hope to make like 5 rmb an hour, an average college grad (without specialized skills) can only hope to get a position that starts at around 1500 rmb a month.
I don't have time, these few days. I will, 2 weeks from now, use my family relatives as examples and tell you folks about the real "Chinese Income" and "purchase power."
bladerunner
Banned Idiot
He never mentioned how he arrived at the figure, but what ever figure it is now post financial meltdown, I think it is obtained by putting a monetary value on the country's assets, such as natural resources (eg Total oil reserves at current prices), buildings,the value of public and private companies, merchant banks and their funny money, and the ordinary net assets of the American House Holder which is currently worth about $50 trillion
American households lost US$1.33 (NZ$2.12) trillion of their wealth in the first three months of the year as the recession took a bite out of stock portfolios and dragged down home prices.
The Federal Reserve reported that household net worth fell to $50.38 trillion in the January-March quarter, the lowest level since the third quarter of 2004.
The first-quarter figure marked a decline of 2.6 percent, or $1.33 trillion, from the final quarter of 2008.
Net worth represents total assets such as homes and checking accounts, minus liabilities like mortgages and credit card debt.
I also read that the peoples savings now amount to $600 billion in round figures since late last year. So if the people can keep this up and keep paying of their debt and mortgages, the nett worth of the individual can only get better.
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Quoting figures without quoting cost of living index is bad economics. Its also bad scholarship not to include especially when the CIA Factbook also lists GDP/PPP first and foremost.
China:
" GDP (purchasing power parity):
Field info displayed for all countries in alpha order.
$7.8 trillion (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 3
$7.104 trillion (2007)
$6.475 trillion (2006)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars"
Japan:
" GDP (purchasing power parity):
Field info displayed for all countries in alpha order.
$4.348 trillion (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 4
$4.365 trillion (2007)
$4.263 trillion (2006)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars"
People's savings in China is estimated at 3.3 trillion US$. The savings rate in China is many times higher.
bladerunner
Banned Idiot
I hope when you say 'pretty close', you didn't mean to include his claim that US is worth $300 trillion as compared to the $14 trillion above.
I'm a little puzzled by what you exactly mean. It seems to me that you seem a little confused over what GDP (the annual monetary value of what a country produces)
as to the est. nett worth of America, which in this case, Friedman determined it to be $300 Trillion.. but you must be aware that this is based on asset value in a given point in time so it is most likely to fluctuate.
Perhaps you may like to read my reply to Schumacher (post42) for a extended explanation.