China: The new space superpower?

[MOBIUS]

Yes Kent, China has almost 3 times the population you think it has...

[dannubis]

Having recently been to China, they are catching up fast... I didn't recognize the place and it only has been 2 years since my last visit. Impressive...

[Ban Kenobi]

Comparing China to Japan is a little weird considering that China has ten times as many people. It's like saying the US couldn't possibly be a superpower because look at how weak Canada is.

[molly bloom]

Oooh. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

That's a fein lein you're treading.

[kentonio]

Yes Kent, China has almost 3 times the population you think it has...

I'm scared.

[Felch]

Comparing China to Japan is a little weird considering that China has ten times as many people. It's like saying the US couldn't possibly be a superpower because look at how weak Canada is.

They both rode demographic bulges to transform into export driven economies. Japan isn't doing poorly because its population is small, it's doing poorly because the schools don't teach kids how to think, its population is rapidly aging, and the entire economic model is too rigid to compete with the rest of the world. Japan had a huge real estate bubble, China has real estate bubbles now. Japan spent insane amounts of money on ridiculous infrastructure projects, China is wasting insane amounts of money on highways to empty cities.

None of the problems China faces are going to be made any easier by being bigger.

[Ban Kenobi]

The assertion that Japanese people "don't know how to think" is ludicrous (how exactly did they do so well in industries like automobiles and video games if they can't think?) and if China were only half as rich as Japan on a per capita basis then China would have overtaken the US. If you're arguing China is just like Japan that means China will eventually be more powerful than the US.

[Felch]

If you're going to quote me, please quote me accurately. I didn't say that the Japanese don't know how to think. I said that their schools "don't teach kids how to think." Rote memorization and cramming is a great way to look good on PISA or whatever the test du jour is, but it cripples creativity and initiative. You wind up with outstanding factory workers and salary-men, but stifled entrepreneurs and innovators. Japan and China do well in industries (e.g. automobiles) that can effectively employ government support along the old zaibatsu model, but they are stagnant and unresponsive elsewhere. After all, when was the last time you played a Japanese made video game? Everything good is coming from North American or European companies like Firaxis, Bioware, Bethesda, Valve, and Rockstar North, or tiny indie developers in the west. Nintendo and SquareEnix just keep making the same games over and over.

[Aeson]

Manpower is an important thing. If nothing else, it gives a bigger gene pool to pull elites from. China's also using it to spread across the globe in a way that Japan never did. Chinese businesses are everywhere in SE Asia and Africa, grabbing up resources. (Japan tried this in WWII and their method kinda backfired ... China's methods are working much better.)

[DaShi]

I'm scared.

I find the best indicator of America's continued dominance is that people like HC and reg haven't jumped ship yet.

[DaShi]

Manpower is an important thing. If nothing else, it gives a bigger gene pool to pull elites from. China's also using it to spread across the globe in a way that Japan never did. Chinese businesses are everywhere in SE Asia and Africa, grabbing up resources. (Japan tried this in WWII and their method kinda backfired ... China's methods are working much better.)

Not if you don't have a system that allows the elites to be identified and keep them in country.

[regexcellent]

Once again a communist country demonstrates its prowess at building potemkin villages and engaging in pointless, expensive prestige projects.

[kentonio]

I find the best indicator of America's continued dominance is that people like HC and reg haven't jumped ship yet.

Why would they? Most rich Western people love to talk about how they'll jump ship at the slightest provocation, yet never seem to actually have the balls to follow through. Maybe the whole idea of learning a new language and embracing a new culture isn't that inviting when you can just sit back on a pile of money and whine about it instead.

[DaShi]

Exactly, they won't because America is still a far better place to live. Meanwhile, China's rich are all looking for a way out.

[kentonio]

Exactly, they won't because America is still a far better place to live.

Of course it is. Mummy and Daddys money and contacts go a long way.