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Cost of living in countries like China is way way lower then living in USA. A person can live comfortably in China, India for 1000 dollars per month but will have a massive struggle to raise a family in USA for the same amount of money. Millions of Americans have little savings and investment. Just because one can take a loan to buy a car or go to an expensive College doesnt mean that one is doing good in his/her life. How many people in USA can survive on the money they earn without being dependent on Welfare or Loan???
It really depends where in China you are talking about and what lifestyle you live. I lived and worked in Shanghai & Beijing. In both areas, housing is far from cheap. Many things like services are cheaper but many goods are actually more expensive especially imported goods. Believe me, considering the pay differential, it is much easier to live comfortably in the USA. I had an income over $200K with a liberal housing and per diem while I was there so of course, I had a very comfortable lifestyle in China but wouldn't have had a good lifestyle on $1000/mo.
Of course China will keep getting richer, just don't see it reaching the levels of the United States
Yeah, they will definitely get richer, and will probably get to the #1 spot in the world for overall economy size, but I just don't see them ever reaching the level of development of the US, because that would mean their economy would have to not only get to the total size of the US, but then would have to get to 4 times that size to end up with the same per capita GDP.
So I guess there are two different things to look at- it is very realistic to see China eclipse the US eventually as the world's largest economy, but very unlikely, maybe not even possible for them to ever get to the same developed level with a similar living standard.
Cost of living in countries like China is way way lower then living in USA. A person can live comfortably in China, India for 1000 dollars per month but will have a massive struggle to raise a family in USA for the same amount of money. Millions of Americans have little savings and investment. Just because one can take a loan to buy a car or go to an expensive College doesnt mean that one is doing good in his/her life. How many people in USA can survive on the money they earn without being dependent on Welfare or Loan???
It depends on what you mean by comfortable. The living conditions are not all that nice by our own standards over there. Sure someone who has always lived there and is fortunate enough to earn $1000 per month feels pretty comfortable, but for you or I to go there and live in the same exact conditions, we'd feel miserable. I've been there staying with my wife's family, and they do pretty well, owning a couple of condos- and I was just appalled at the living standards in those condos, just so many basic things we take for granted as being standard are not found in the homes there, they are pretty spartan.
And another thing to consider- housing in China is getting EXPENSIVE. My wife's family is from Guangzhou, one of the most developed cities in China, where right now the median salary is around $900 USD per month. However one seems fortunate these days if they can buy a new condo there for any less than $250,000- 300,000 USD! So all of those young people getting to that age of getting married and buying a condo, there is no way on that income that they can afford a condo that costs that much. The only way many are doing it (at least ALL of the ones my wife knows back there) is that their parents help out a lot- parents will kick in lots of the money they have saved over their lifetime to pay half or even more of that condo for the kids and then the kids get a mortgage for the rest. Without that help they would have absolutely no way.
We think it's a struggle here in the US where in many, many areas housing is cheaper than that- yet our pay is substantially higher. Just think how hard it would be to pay for a $250,000 house on a $900 per month salary! Or even if both are working and earning the same amount, at $1800 per month- still that is difficult. And the cost of other goods is not cheap- clothing, electronics, cars, etc. are literally just as expensive now if not even MORE expensive there than they are here in the US. My wife's friends or family from China will have us buy things for them here to send back with relatives when they are here visiting because those items are so much cheaper here. Again, our salaries are so much higher on average here, but yet our goods are the same or cheaper- along with our housing in many markets being the same or cheaper. So much cheaper that the ones over there with good money are actually buying real estate here in the US as investments. My wife has a couple of uncles who actually are doing pretty well financially back there- and knowing that we live here in the Seattle area so they know someone here and started looking at the area, they are considering buying a house here because they think homes in the Seattle area are cheap. My wife's friend who is also very well off back there who came to visit recently made the same comment as we showed them a new home we recently bought- she couldn't believe how cheap housing is here (and we were talking about $400,000 homes!) That was shocking to me as I consider this a very expensive area, but it goes to show how unbalanced things are getting when the median household income here is so much higher than it is over there, and yet they see our housing prices as "cheap".
For your information, Taiwan's per capita wealth is below most western european countries.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CravingMountains
Taiwan isn't doing bad though. GDP per capita is almost $40,000. Higher than most of Europe. If China can reach that level then that isn't too shabby at all.
In nominal terms, IMF forecasts it to be 13.7T in 2018, compared with 21.6 for the U.
That wiki page's data was erroneous. IMF's latest forecast shows that China's GDP (PPP) does not overtake the U.S. until after 2018. Report for Selected Countries and Subjects
In 2018,
United States' GDP (PPP) is US$21.6 trillion
China's GDP (PPP) is US$20.7 trillion
European Union's GDP (PPP) is US$19.4 trillion
So China's GDP (PPP) will overtake the EU by 2018, but not yet the US (probably around 2020).
China is overestimated by the West-and much of the rest of the world-as a superpower. It lacks the military might to be called a superpower. It also fails to culturally-influence the world, or draw immigrants in, to the same degree that the USA, or former superpowers like Russia, Britain, France, Spain, Rome, Greece, or Portugal have done. The same, to a degree, goes for India. The Chinese military not only lacks the proper training, but also is not as equipped as well as other nations. Japan has a far better navy than China. India's first aircraft carrier was built in India, as opposed to the Chinese purchase of a former Soviet carrier. China has a big military, yes, but what good is that when several enemy/rival nations (India, South Korea, Japan, pretty much all of Southeast Asia, and even Russia, to an extent) surround you? Not to mention that the USA, and after them, Russia, are far more powerful in terms of military might!
China is overestimated by the West-and much of the rest of the world-as a superpower. It lacks the military might to be called a superpower. It also fails to culturally-influence the world, or draw immigrants in, to the same degree that the USA, or former superpowers like Russia, Britain, France, Spain, Rome, Greece, or Portugal have done. The same, to a degree, goes for India. The Chinese military not only lacks the proper training, but also is not as equipped as well as other nations. Japan has a far better navy than China. India's first aircraft carrier was built in India, as opposed to the Chinese purchase of a former Soviet carrier. China has a big military, yes, but what good is that when several enemy/rival nations (India, South Korea, Japan, pretty much all of Southeast Asia, and even Russia, to an extent) surround you? Not to mention that the USA, and after them, Russia, are far more powerful in terms of military might!
China can economically influence or even control many countries. It is a new way of being a superpower.
China is overestimated by the West-and much of the rest of the world-as a superpower. It lacks the military might to be called a superpower. It also fails to culturally-influence the world, or draw immigrants in, to the same degree that the USA, or former superpowers like Russia, Britain, France, Spain, Rome, Greece, or Portugal have done. The same, to a degree, goes for India. The Chinese military not only lacks the proper training, but also is not as equipped as well as other nations. Japan has a far better navy than China. India's first aircraft carrier was built in India, as opposed to the Chinese purchase of a former Soviet carrier. China has a big military, yes, but what good is that when several enemy/rival nations (India, South Korea, Japan, pretty much all of Southeast Asia, and even Russia, to an extent) surround you? Not to mention that the USA, and after them, Russia, are far more powerful in terms of military might!
Well if you mean pop culture then yeah, but general cultural influence? I think it's had tremendous influence. For instance even in small country towns in Australia one can find Chinese restaurants. Well the Chinese don't exactly encourage immigration, but the number of ex-pats living and working in China has grown tremendously.
I don't know if Russia is far more powerful in military might...
Of course China will keep getting richer, just don't see it reaching the levels of the United States
hardly any country in the world reach the levels of Americans.
Did the British, Japanese, Australians, Germans? No. If you compare average wage and local cost of living, west Europe, Japan and Australia are all much poorer.
America's moderate population and massive resource make it richer than any other country. Norway may boast a much higher GDP per capita, but try to live in Oslo for a year and tell me you have a much life than in Los Angeles.
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