One of our favorite writers on foreign affairs, George Friedman, has an interesting column on wealth inequality in China. Find it at his Geopolitical Futures website.
Friedman’s basic point: while China has an economy very nearly the size of ours, on a per capita basis it is seriously unimpressive. Because China has a population roughly four times ours, on a per capita basis it ranks with places like Guyana and Costa Rica.
In other words, not at all impressive, though much better than under Mao. Friedman suggests that, in many ways, China is a third-world country, albeit one organized and regimented to produce the military and foreign policy trappings of a major player.
