China quadruples GDP (1 gen 2000 anni – 1 gen 2008 anni)

Descrizione:

On the other side of the world, China quadrupled its gross domestic product (GDP) in just eight years, between 2000 and 2008. The vast nation of 1.3 billion people posted economic growth rates consistently near 10 percent — higher than the United States achieved during its own periods of furious growth in the 1950s and 1960s. Although still governed by an authoritarian Communist Party, China embraced capitalism, and its factories produced inexpensive products that Americans eagerly purchased — everything from children’s toys and television sets to clothing, household appliances, and video games. To maintain this symbiotic relationship, China deliberately kept its currency weak against the American dollar during the 1990s and 2000s, ensuring that its exports remained cheap in the United States.

Although American consumers have enjoyed the short-term benefits of inexpensive Chinese goods, China’s rapid rise in manufacturing presents challenges as well. The influx of Chinese consumer goods helped to shrink further the manufacturing base in the United States, shredding jobs and fraying communities. But the more formidable economic challenge China presents may be the global trade and infrastructure network it continues to build — a combination of new roads and rail lines as well as modernized ports and shipping facilities. This multibillion-dollar initiative, known as the “Belt and Road” program, will soon link Asia, Africa, and Europe in a vast trading network with China at its center. If China captures more and more trade through this network, the United States will face a sharp uphill battle to maintain its own global economic position.

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