Re:China’s growth figures fail to add up
by miked on Thursday August 06, 2009 @07:04AM
(#745178)
I no longer have the link, but a few years ago I read critiques of Chinese government economic statistics based on a comparison of electricity demand versus gov stats. Quite a discrepancy, as the electricity demand was much lower that the growth stats would predict.
My problem with the stats is that, while I can easily believe the cities are growing at 8%, most Chinese still live in the countryside, and it still quite poor, albeit not as poor as it once was. My uncle-in-law supports his family by farming strawberries on 2 mu of land, roughly an acre or so. That acre's not growing at 8% a year, and they're still using the same fertilizer they always have -- human feces.
My problem with the stats is that, while I can easily believe the cities are growing at 8%, most Chinese still live in the countryside, and it still quite poor, albeit not as poor as it once was. My uncle-in-law supports his family by farming strawberries on 2 mu of land, roughly an acre or so. That acre's not growing at 8% a year, and they're still using the same fertilizer they always have -- human feces.