Talking About China

China's strides from 1978 to date have been largely laudable and the fact that the country has managed to lift about 400 million people out of poverty is proof that this is unprecedented. Notwithstanding this achievement, many speak of China as if its rise into a high income country is inevitable.

Discussions about China are rarely informed by reality but by the fear of the dragon. For instance, there's the assumption that China will easily replace the United States as the largest economy in the world in a short while. While I have been an admirer of some China's economic reforms, I came to the view that this is overstated after reviewing comparative data between China and the US. to my astonishment, they are not close today as the US is far far ahead both in respect to the strength of its economy in addition to the productivity of its workers.

John Pomfret rehashes the main arguments about China's longer-term prospects impressively in the Washington Post. A more incisive review about China's economic and political affairs is addressed in this book. In my view, the book forms a must-read in order to dispassionately discuss China. The book provides a reasonable balance sheet but confirms what that China is still a developing country, albeit a large and fast growing one, as some of its leaders claim.