Cross-posted from: https://feddit.de/post/7986685
The second-largest economy in the world has weakened in the past few years, due to high debt, an aging workforce, slower internal demand, and an ongoing crisis in the real estate sector—the force that had driven much of its explosive growth in the last few decades. These factors were compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the country imposing drastic measures including its zero-COVID policy which lasted until December 2022.
Forgive the arrogance of this statement, but I find it bewildering how dumb national and international economists are.
Take one step back and there’s a lot of obvious critical flaws in their whole ambition: the kind of growth everyone’s chasing is specific to industrialization. It’s like measuring your child’s height and weight from age 3 to 10 and then trying to keep them growing an inch a year forever. It’s both impossible, and also hugely destructive.
That’s a good point and on top of that I (not a China expert) am not sure that China values quantifiable growth in the same way the U.S. does, so those figures might just be footnotes on China’s path to wherever it’s going.