China is growing as we shrink. They are fast becoming the new world power. When our grand kids are adults they will wonder why we watched while China took our place at the head of the table. What will we tell them?
If you don’t buy this idea, please educate yourself about what is really going on with China. Here are some starter facts.
By 2015, the year our debt is projected to be $20 trillion, a figure just released this week, China will be part of the middle class growth in Asia that will make the Asian nations middle class the same or more than the population of the middle class in Europe and North America. This has not happened for 300 years. Chinese middle class consumption will surpass that of the US in a few years.
China is already the world’s biggest car market. In 2004 GM sold one car in China for every ten in the US. That ratio for GM is now 1:1. China is the world’s biggest cell phone market.
The Wuguaang Harmony Express from Wuhan to Guangzhou will run at 320 km per hour. Covering the distance form Chicago to Wahington DC in less than 3 hours. China plans to build 16,000 km of high speed trains, with 4 north-south corridors, 4 east-west corridors and 19 inner-city lines. One-quarter of this is done. Meanwhile, we give billions to ethanol producers to produce profits for ethanol producers.
Chinese retail sales have grown since 1990 at a pace 4%-5% faster than inflation. Household consumption is growing at a rate of 8-16% a year. Two car families are skyrocketing. Sales of luxury goods are growing faster than anywhere in the world. And, companies doing business in China are making money. Reports say 75% have equal or higher margins than their average worldwide operations.
If I were the CEO of America and I looked at these data about a competitor, China, I would know we were doomed. The competitor is beating us in every area. Why? The management in China doesn’t worry about the feelings of 2% of the population, they don’t have to jump through bureaucratic hoops to build something, go through endless environmental studies, fight every bit of progress in the courts, and since they build most of the progress themselves, they don’t tax themselves to death.
You don’t need a crystal ball to see where this goes. I’ll bet your perspective is obsolete and you, like me, don’t give the country credit for all the progress they’ve made. A suggestion, pay attention. They are the new big dog.
