Reader Bruce Hall observes:
China’s growth rate is projected to be about twice that of the US.
While this is true, it’s useful to have context when discussing growth rates in an advanced economy (US) vs. an emerging market economy (China).
Figure 1: US real GDP y/y growth (blue), Chinese (red). Projection period indicated by light green shading. Source: IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2024 database, and author’s calculations.
In other words, US growth is pretty hot if trend growth is 2%. Chinese growth is looking pretty lackluster (projected 2024 y/y growth is not matching 5%). (Note: these growth rates are not calculated using PPP GDP’s, they are based on constant local currency GDP’s).
