Vietnam over China?

By Dennis Fisher 

Image Credits: english.vietnamnet.vn

Where do most of your goods come from? If you asked anyone this question a typical response would probably be China. It feels like every time you look at a tag on a piece of clothing, shoe, toy, car part, or even furniture it will simply state “Made in China”, and in fact, the US spends about $29 Billion dollars on imports from China (1). Most big name companies will have at least some of their goods produced in China. Corporations such as AT&T, American Eagle, Coca-Cola, Dell, Gerber Foods, Hershey Foods, Honda Motor, Huggies, Ikea, and LG produce in China (2). The list goes on and on. The benefits of producing in China have been cheap labor on large scale orders, but recently another Asian nation has been attracting business away from China.

How Will The Rise of the BRICS Affect Us?

by Viva Avasthi

On Saturday 27th October I attended a lecture on the rise of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) as part of the University of Cambridge's Festival of Ideas. 

The speakers were:

Jaideep Prabhu
University of Cambridge
Judge Business School

Isabel Hilton

Journalist

Martin Jacques
Author
'When China Rules The World'

Michael Keith
University of Oxford

 In this series of six articles...

I will be presenting the economic development of each country from the BRICS in detail by addressing the three questions posed below. In order to do this, I will use my research as well as the opinions of the aforementioned speakers.

1. Why have the BRICS experienced such rapid economic growth?
2. How has this affected us?
3. How will this affect us?

The first article in the series is on Brazil, since it is the 'B' in 'BRICS'.

The final article will be an overview of how the BRICS have affected us and will affect us as a group of countries.

The graph below highlights the fact that there has most definitely been a rise of the BRICS. 



This graph measures the GDP based on the PPP (Purchasing Power Parity, which accounts for differences in spending power available through different currencies) of each country rather (than the more common) GDP based on current prices. 

I have included the data on the US, UK and Germany so that the BRICS can be compared to other non-BRICS countries. Please move your cursor over the graph to see the various statistics.

7 Reasons for the Chinese Economic Miracle

by Chris Pearson

The Chinese economy has been growing at an average rate of 10% for the past three decades. This unprecedented growth has astounded onlookers, but many who do not read into the Chinese economic miracle have little to say about why this has happened. They often chalk it up to exports and the manufacturing boom, often represented by a 'made in China' signature on the bottoms of cheap plastic products. That is only a small part of why China is rivalling the United States as the world's industrial powerhouse. Here are seven reasons for the Chinese economic miracle.

1. Peasants could farm a section of land for themselves

Previously, both the ownership and use of land was collectivised. Farms were people's communes, whereby all the peasants working the land owned it, and they farmed collectively. The reform that ended 20 years of collective farming didn't redistribute land ownership; rather, it allocated the use of land through a contract, so that peasants could choose how they wanted to farm the land. This reform took place over 5 years and considerably increased efficiency and output.

2. The relaxation of price controls on foodstuffs

Before the reforms, basic foods such as grain, meat and eggs were distributed using a strict rationing system by the government. The price that was paid by the government for these foods was so low that firms didn't want to produce them. It led to bad food quality and inefficient production.

The farming reforms were the first step out of three to undo the pricing controls. The second step was the introduction of free local markets to support the first reform. And the third step involved aggressively raising the price ceilings, which helped suppliers and promoted productivity. The government also lowered the price for agricultural machinery to promote farming mechanisation.

China at a Glance

by Chris Pearson

China is becoming much more important in the world economy, meaning recent reports of a slowdown cast doubts into the minds of pundits abroad. China's GDP is fast approaching that of the US and this means that news about the Chinese economy holds much sway with global markets. 

Many assume that China is growing through its export revenue - but they are wrong - rather, 92% of  its growth comes from investment spending. Expected then, are those who believe that this surging investment level is fueling a fixed-asset price bubble -  like what happened in Japan and to the Asian tigers in the 90s. The difference between investment in China and the investment in the Asian tigers, prior to 1997, is the different sources of money used to invest. China's funds cannot be pulled out from under itself as easily as what happened to the Asian tigers because it does not rely on foreigners' money to fund its investment. 

China's One Child Policy: a Good Idea?

by Shireen Avasthi

How big is your family? How many siblings do you have? If you'd been born in China, you wouldn't have any: you would be an only child.

Is that fair? should a government be allowed to decide how many children a couple have? Whether or not a child has brothers and sisters to play with. Should anyone have the right to decide if a child has an enjoyable childhood?

If you have siblings, think about all the fun you've had together. Of course you have your arguments, but above all, you genuinely have a good time together.

I'm sure children with no siblings also have a fun-filled childhood; all the extra attention from parents must be great, but imaging doing all those exciting things with someone closer to your age to share them with. Wouldn't that be great?

I'm not denying that China's one child policy is a sensible way to try and control their immense population problem: it is. But are the rights families and children are required to give up in order to enforce this too heavy a price to pay?