China’s infrastructure programs give a whole new meaning to “bailout” and “shovel ready.”
In 2007, the U.S. lost its seat to the European Union as the world’s largest economy. The EU’s economy produced $14.4 trillion in goods and services, while U.S. GDP came in at $13.86 trillion. However, the U.S. still has the largest economy of any single country. The next largest is China, at $7 trillion.
Economists tell us that China should overtake the U.S. by 2025 to be the world’s largest economy and is anticipated to grow to about 130% the size of the U.S. by 2050.
In late 2008, China started to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on infrastructure projects, fearing that widespread joblessness could lead to social unrest.
Their stimulus plan, one of the world’s largest, promises to take China a great leap forward and brings the countryside to the same level as their modern coastal cities, priming China for a new level of global competition.
That same leap took the United States decades — and a world war — to build.
China is furiously pouring concrete and laying high-speed passenger, intercity and freight rail lines. Extra spending is being planned in practically every town, city and county across the country urging local and provincial governments to proceed with their projects because they are, in current U.S. lingo, “shovel ready.”
The combined national, provincial and local spending for economic stimulus promises to change the face of China, giving the country a world-class infrastructure for moving goods and people quickly, cheaply and reliably across great distances. Aside from transportation, most of the rest of China’s national stimulus program will be spent on airports, highways and environmental projects, particularly water treatment plants.
Conversely, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009 is allocating less than 5% of spending for the construction of highways, rail lines and mass transit programs. This was to be the first crucial step in a concerted effort to create and save 3 to 4 million jobs, jump-start our economy, and begin the process of transforming the U.S. for the 21st century.
To truly bring about economic stimulus, we must spend our monies wisely on infrastructure projects that keep us moving forward, not straggling behind and playing catch-up.
Read the full text of the January 23rd New York Times article, “China’s Route Forward.”
