Comments on: China’s challenge - reestablishing its standing as an economic superpower

By: andyxu

andyxu — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:13:10 +0000

Basically, China is indisputable proof that trade, through the comparative advantage mechanism, will benefit both the importer and the exporter.

Will China “reclaim their share of the world GDP?” probably not for at least the next few years, as China cannot forever rely on manufacturing and services for its GDP growth. But because of trade, China is certainly on the right track to great success. God bless China.

By: Jack Lo

Jack Lo — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:48:21 +0000

China is a perfect example of why complete isolation SUCKS. Now that China has again opened up its market to trade, it is on course to become a global superpower once again. From another standpoint, free trade isn’t always about economics. I know that this is an economics class and all we care about is efficiency. But in reality, we’re not just economic beings. As John C. Calhoun said, “I regard free trade, as involving considerations far higher, than mere commercial advantages, as great as they are. It is, in my opinion, emphatically the cause of civilization and peace.”

By: KatherineYang

KatherineYang — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:49:08 +0000

China is impressive, but I still worry about it expanding too much. You know, the higher you go, the harder you fall and all that. But I guess that’s true about other countries too, like the Roman empire.

By: richardtu

richardtu — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:40:42 +0000

China sure is an amazing economy bloom. As we all know, if China expands its economy, then it will definitely surpass America’s economy and become the world’s largest financial place. However, it doesnt choose to do so, because they want to be the largest export nation. Therefore, they focus on trade with other countries.

By: Jeff Ye

Jeff Ye — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 11:37:43 +0000

I find it interesting how the more China expands and develops, the more opposition there is from the U.S. against “red China”, even though a relatively large portion of American economy depends on China. I think it’s also amusing how, as Conrad put it, one of the most underdeveloped countries can progress to one of the world’s, if not THE world’s, top superpower(s) simply by trading more with other countries. All i can say is, AznPride!

By: Conrad Liu

Conrad Liu — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:21:54 +0000

Wow, YunQi that really makes a guy think…it seems like China’s just destined to remain a superpower no matter what. Simply by changing its philosophy that trade is good, it’s now gone from one of the most underdeveloped countries to a major superpower? That, coupled with the fact that it now holds the most foreign assets, around 1.4 billion, as we’ve been told in class (mainly because of….*sigh*….the U.S.), can only serve to show how resilient this country is economically. After last class, we now know that China will probably keep increasing these reserves, as the U.S borrows more and more from China, while China happily accepts it. Sheesh, maybe they ARE the “central” country…

By: Christina Hu

Christina Hu — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:25:16 +0000

China is truly amazing… I mean, not the last couple of hundred years but the fact that it remained a superpower for such a long time, longer than perhaps the United States ever will, I’m slightly sorry to say. And despite its dramatic downturn, it has come back so quickly economically, although it is a hundred years behind the west in terms of humanitarianism and common courtesy on the road… that aside, though, China will become the superpower again, once it establishes a stable domestic market (so crises in other countries won’t strike it a death blow) and once people get it through their thick heads that China is no longer really communist -.-

By: yunqimok

yunqimok — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:34:39 +0000

So for everyone who doens’t know why we study something dead and useless like history…now you know! China was one of the first examples that proved the insufficiency of a self-sufficient economy. In fact, after China was brutally ripped open by the British in the 1800s with the Opium Wars and such, Japan learnt from the example and did not resist when Commodore Perry from America reached its shores and demanded that Japan open itself up to trade with the rest of the world.

Pride, it goeth before a fall. China learnt that very painfully and very quickly too. Arrogance kept China from progressing, and if you really think about, if China had decided to go around expanding, it could possibly have conquered the whole world. We would have a global empire of all people speaking Chinese, one currency, one religion…

By: Helen

Helen — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:16:41 +0000

A similar thing happened in Russia. Much of tsarist Russia missed out on transformations that reshaped Western Europe, such as the scientific revolution and the rise of individualism, and that eventually led to their defeat by Britain and France in the Crimean War. This again goes to show that autarky is neither economically nor politically ideal.

Both of these countries can be compared to Aesop’s “The Tortoise and the Hare”, with Russia and China being the arrogant rabbit that “slept” (aka went into isolation) and the rest of the world being the turtle that slowly caught up and even went past the rabbit. The rabbit didn’t know any of this until it learned it the hard way. Just like the rabbit would have won the race for sure, think how different China, and even Russia, might be today had they not isolated themselves from the rest of the world.