Is China's Economy Really Approaching Super Power Status?

The Financial Times doesn't think so; new research by the Asian Development Bank shows that China's economy is both smaller and poorer than previously reported. From the article:

"The results tell us that when the World Bank announces its expected [Purchasing Power Parity] data revisions later this year, China’s economy will turn out to be 40 per cent smaller than previously stated."

Read the whole article for an explanation on what Purchasing Power Parity is, why it is a good gauge of an economy's size, and why it shows that China's economy is smaller than expected.

Along with their growing ecological nightmare, news that China's economy is nearly half the size that was being reported is further evidence that the Chinese are no closer to eclipsing the American market than the Japanese were in the 1980's. Phew.