Difference between revisions of "Essay: December 2021 was a pivotal moment in the future of global politics for decades to come"

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See: [[Essay: The United States will be the leading power in the world for the foreseeable future|The United States will be the leading power in the world for the foreseeable future]] ]]
 
See: [[Essay: The United States will be the leading power in the world for the foreseeable future|The United States will be the leading power in the world for the foreseeable future]] ]]
 
As far as the field of [[international relations]], the education website Unacademy.com defines a unipolar world thusly, "A unipolar world is when the majority of the world is dominated by a single state or nation's military and economic power, and social and cultural influence." A bipolar world is when two countries are global superpowers. And a multipolar world is when three or more countries have major influence over the world.  
 
As far as the field of [[international relations]], the education website Unacademy.com defines a unipolar world thusly, "A unipolar world is when the majority of the world is dominated by a single state or nation's military and economic power, and social and cultural influence." A bipolar world is when two countries are global superpowers. And a multipolar world is when three or more countries have major influence over the world.  
 +
 +
In his February 22, 2024 article ''Tipped Power Balance: China’s Peak and the U.S. Resilience'', Yanzhong Huang wrote concerning China's waning economic power: "China's decline in economy and influence might indicate its unlikeliness to displace the United States as a leading global power in the foreseeable future. This development calls for a reevaluation of the U.S. policy towards China."<ref>[https://www.cfr.org/blog/tipped-power-balance-chinas-peak-and-us-resilience#:~:text=From%202020%20to%202023%2C%20the,more%20than%2020%20percentage%20points.&text=The%20bleak%20picture%20on%20China's,China's%20economic%20growth%20has%20plateaued. Tipped Power Balance: China’s Peak and the U.S. Resilience] by Yanzhong Huang, Council on Foreign Relations website, February 22, 2024</ref>
  
 
A strong case can be made that we live in a bipolar world, where the second leading power is economically struggling.
 
A strong case can be made that we live in a bipolar world, where the second leading power is economically struggling.

Revision as of 13:26, March 28, 2024

The Chinese economy is the world's second largest economy.

After China's real estate giant Evergrande defaulted on its offshore debt in December 2021, it sent shockwaves through the Chinese economy.[1]

The bursting of China's bubble economy began in earnest in December of 2021. Since 2021, China’s stock markets have lost about $7 trillion in value (See: Chinese stock markets).[2]

China now has a struggling economy (See: It's time to be very bearish about China's long-term economy
China is no longer set to eclipse the US as the world’s biggest economy soon, and it may never consistently pull ahead to claim the top spot as the nation’s confidence slump becomes more entrenched.

That’s according to Bloomberg Economics, which now forecasts it will take until the mid-2040s for China’s gross domestic product to exceed that of the US — and even then, it will happen by “only a small margin” before “falling back behind.”

Before the pandemic, they expected China to take and hold pole position as early as the start of next decade.[3]

See: Skepticism about China remaining a global power
Map of China

Question: Was December 2021 a pivotal moment in the future of global politics for decades to come?

Newsweek's 2024 article China's Economic Slump Wipes 155 Billionaires off Global Rich List reported "The signs of trouble for the Chinese economy have been flashing red since troubles for real estate giant Evergrande began in 2021."

On January 31, 2024 CNN reported concerning China's real estate crisis:

“ The liquidation of Evergrande as ordered by a court this week has raised more questions than answers about how the collapse of the poster child of China’s real estate crisis will affect investors, thousands of workers, and homebuyers waiting for their apartments

After the company defaulted on its offshore debt in December 2021, sending shockwaves through the world's second largest economy, the Chinese government has taken a leading role in guiding the company through a restructuring. The liquidation of Evergrande as ordered by a court this week has raised more questions than answers about how the collapse of the poster child of China’s real estate crisis will affect investors, thousands of workers, and homebuyers waiting for their apartments.[4]

”

China has been in the midst of a real estate crisis (See: China's real estate crisis). Since 2021, China’s stock markets have lost about $7 trillion in value (See: Chinese stock markets).[5] On February 17, 2024, the South China Morning Post reported that China’s young adults choose to be ‘full-time children’, paid by their parents to do chores amid record-high youth unemployment.[6][7] The Chinese phrase "full-time children" refers to young people who give up working and just live off their parents (See: Youth unemployment in China).[8][9]

On February 6, 2024, Yahoo Finance said concerning the Chinese real estate crisis:

“ China's overreliance on real estate has sent its economy tumbling toward 2008-era financial conditions, Kyle Bass told CNBC on Tuesday.

"This is just like the US financial crisis on steroids," the Hayman Capital founder said. "They have three and a half times more banking leverage than we did going into the crisis. And they've only been at this banking thing for a couple of decades."

The years of double-digit growth China enjoyed prior to the pandemic were made possible by an unregulated real estate market, Bass noted, which leaned too heavily on debt to expand.

With defaults now plaguing the industry, this spells massive trouble for the country's broader economy. The real estate sector makes up around a quarter of the country's GDP and 70% of household wealth.

"The basic architecture of the Chinese economy is broken," Bass summarized.[10]

”

The writing is on the economic wall: China's economy has likely peaked

The flag of China

The January 23, 2024 South China Morning Post article China claims ‘biggest corruption in statistical sphere’ amid fake data crackdown indicates: "The accuracy of China's economic data has long been questioned, as many feel there is a gap between reality on the ground and the official figures, and Beijing has intensified efforts to crack down on data fraud in recent years amid efforts to dispel doubts."

With the above in mind, as can be seen by the below articles and videos, there is an abundant amount of evidence indicating that China's economy has likely peaked.

Articles:

  • China’s rise is reversing, Financial Times, November 20, 2021 (The past two years have seen the largest drop in the China’s share of global GDP since the Mao era)

Videos:

We live in a bipolar world where the second leading power China is financially struggling

See also: The myth of multipolarity. What do the terms unipolar, bipolar and multipolar mean as far as international relations?

The United States will likely be the strongest country for the foreseeable future and this is is due to the strengths of the USA and partly due to the weaknesses of China and Russia.

See: The United States will be the leading power in the world for the foreseeable future

As far as the field of international relations, the education website Unacademy.com defines a unipolar world thusly, "A unipolar world is when the majority of the world is dominated by a single state or nation's military and economic power, and social and cultural influence." A bipolar world is when two countries are global superpowers. And a multipolar world is when three or more countries have major influence over the world.

In his February 22, 2024 article Tipped Power Balance: China’s Peak and the U.S. Resilience, Yanzhong Huang wrote concerning China's waning economic power: "China's decline in economy and influence might indicate its unlikeliness to displace the United States as a leading global power in the foreseeable future. This development calls for a reevaluation of the U.S. policy towards China."[11]

A strong case can be made that we live in a bipolar world, where the second leading power is economically struggling.

Previously, I wrote the related essays:

The material below argues that the world is not presently multipolar.


"The United States and China are undoubtedly the two most powerful countries, but at least one more country must be roughly in their league for multipolarity to exist. This is where claims of multipolarity fall apart. Every country that could plausibly rank third—France, Germany, India, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom—is in no way a rough peer of the United States or China." -The Myth of Multipolarity, American Power’s Staying Power, Foreign Affairs, 2023

However, a number of leading geopolitical analysts are skeptical about China remaining a global power as it faces a number of serious intractable problems (See: Skepticism about China remaining a global power).

I do agree with Donald Trump that America should not get into "endless wars" that do not serve America's vital interests.[12] I also agree with Trump's policy of not using the American military to "solve ancient conflicts in faraway lands".[13]
Chart of the growth of U.S. GNP from January 1947 to January 2023.

A great strength of the United States is its very consistent growth of its GNP over decades and its quick recovery the few times its GNP has gone down.[14]

In addition, research indicates that in the long-term, non-authoritarian countries are more likely to experience greater economic growth. See: Time Under Authoritarian Rule and Economic Growth, CORI Working Paper No. 2007-02

For more information on this topic, please see:

*Should You Be Bullish on America?

Why is America so rich?

*Size of a working age population in a country and its correlation with national GNP in advanced economies. The ability of the United States to attract some of the best and brightest workers in the world

*Slow and steady growth over the long term via capitalism and the rule of law versus short-sighted authoritarian economic growth that is costly to the long term economy
Investopedia says about the importance of labor productivity to an economy, "Labor productivity is largely driven by investment in capital, technological progress, and human capital development. Labor productivity is directly linked to improved standards of living in the form of higher consumption."[15]

According to Yahoo Finance: "According to Yahoo Finance: "Efficiency in production, also coined as productivity, is one of the major driving forces behind economic resilience in a country... The United States has one of the strongest economies in the world. The country hosts some of the largest companies in the world, which contributes to the high GDP per capita in the country."[16]

As can be seen in the map above, the USA has one of the highest labor productivity rates in the world and it is significantly higher than both China and Russia.[17]

See: Essay: The USA has one of the highest labor productivity rates in the world - significantly higher than both China and Russia
The USA was among the most 10 most diverse economies in 2018 according to the Word Atlas website.[18]

Read the articles: The Importance Of A Diversified Economy and Resilient, stable, sustainable: The benefits of economic diversification
In August of 2023, the USA was outproducing Russia and Saudi Arabia in oil production.[19]. The best is yet to come![20][21]

The U.S. Energy Information System reported in 2023: "Strong continuing international demand for petroleum and other liquids will sustain U.S. production above 2022 levels through 2050, according to most of the cases we examined in our Annual Energy Outlook 2023 (AEO2023). We project that the United States will continue to be an integral part of global oil markets and a significant source of supply in these cases, as increased exports of finished products support U.S. production."[22]

For more information, please see: The USA is outproducing Russia and Saudi Arabia in oil production. The best is yet to come

John Joseph Mearsheimer and U.S. relations with China and Russia

The flag of Russia

In his 2023 interview the South China Post, Professor John Joseph Mearsheimer stated about U.S. relations with China and Russia:

“ The Americans have a vested interest in pivoting full force to East Asia, to contain China. The Americans view China as a more serious threat than Russia. It’s very important to understand that China is a peer competitor to the United States. China is a rising great power and is a threat to the US in ways that Russia is not. So the Americans have a vested interest in not getting bogged down in a war in eastern Europe, more specifically in Ukraine.

Furthermore, they have a vested interest in doing everything they can to make sure that Russia and China are not close allies. What happens as a result of the Ukraine war is that it’s almost impossible for the US to fully pivot in Asia.[23]

”

In his March 2022 interview with The New Yorker, Mearsheimer indicated:

“ I’m talking about the raw-power potential of Russia—the amount of economic might it has. Military might is built on economic might. You need an economic foundation to build a really powerful military. To go out and conquer countries like Ukraine and the Baltic states and to re-create the former Soviet Union or re-create the former Soviet Empire in Eastern Europe would require a massive army, and that would require an economic foundation that contemporary Russia does not come close to having. There is no reason to fear that Russia is going to be a regional hegemony in Europe. Russia is not a serious threat to the United States. We do face a serious threat in the international system. We face a peer competitor. And that’s China. Our policy in Eastern Europe is undermining our ability to deal with the most dangerous threat that we face today.[24] ”

The historian Stephen Kotkin calls the notion of a multipolar world "nonsense"

Stephen Kotkin is an American historian, academic, and author. Kotkin's most prominent book project is his three-volume biography of Joseph Stalin.

Kotkin calls the notion of multipolar world "nonsense".[25]

C. Mojan Raja, Director of the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore, on the myth of a multipolar world

C. Mojan Raja, the Director of the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore wrote about the myth of the multipolar world: "the myth of multipolarity endures in Indian foreign policy discourse even as a bipolar world takes shape. While official Delhi is nimbly adapting to the realities of a bipolar world, the Indian foreign policy discourse continues to be tied down by multipolar confusion."[26]

International Relations Analyst Mark Sleboda on Brian Berlectic's pro-Russia New Atlas YouTube channel indicates that "We are not in a multipolar world."

"We are not in a multipolar world." - International Relations and Security Analyst Mark Sleboda on Brian Berlectic's pro-Russia New Atlas YouTube channel.[27]

References

  1. ↑ this the end of Evergrande? Here’s what may happen next, CNN, 2024
  2. ↑ What’s going on with China’s stock market?, MarketPlace.org
  3. ↑ China Slowdown Means It May Never Overtake US Economy, Forecast Shows, Bloomberg News, September 5, 2023
  4. ↑ this the end of Evergrande? Here’s what may happen next, CNN, 2024
  5. ↑ What’s going on with China’s stock market?, MarketPlace.org
  6. ↑ China’s young adults choose to be ‘full-time children’, paid by their parents to do chores amid record-high youth unemployment, South China Morning Post, February 17, 2024
  7. ↑ China’s ‘full-time’ children, video
  8. ↑ China’s young adults choose to be ‘full-time children’, paid by their parents to do chores amid record-high youth unemployment, South China Morning Post, February 17, 2024
  9. ↑ China’s ‘full-time’ children, video
  10. ↑ China is facing the US financial crisis 'on steroids' as the real estate market collapses, famed hedge fund boss says, Yahoo Finance, February 6, 2024
  11. ↑ Tipped Power Balance: China’s Peak and the U.S. Resilience by Yanzhong Huang, Council on Foreign Relations website, February 22, 2024
  12. ↑ Trump to West Point grads: 'We are ending the era of endless wars', Reuters, June 13, 2022
  13. ↑ Trump to West Point grads: 'We are ending the era of endless wars', Reuters, June 13, 2022
  14. ↑ Should You Be Bullish on America?
  15. ↑ Labor Productivity: What It Is, How to Calculate & Improve It, Investopedia
  16. ↑ 25 Most Productive Countries Per Capita, Yahoo Finance
  17. ↑ Most Productive Countries 2024
  18. ↑ Countries With The Most Diverse Economies
  19. ↑ US Oil Production Hits Records
  20. ↑ Donald Trump promises to drill for oil, close southern border on first day as president
  21. ↑ The Oil And Gas Workers’ Association Endorses Trump For 2024 Vote
  22. ↑ U.S. production of petroleum and other liquids to be driven by international demand
  23. ↑ The West needs to prepare for ‘ugly’ Russian victory in Ukraine, which will reward China, leading US political scientist warns, South China Morning Post
  24. ↑ Why John Mearsheimer Blames the U.S. for the Crisis in Ukraine, The New Yorker, March 2022
  25. ↑ Why the West Won’t Collapse with Stephen Kotkin
  26. ↑ C Raja Mohan writes: India at G7 — myth of multipolarity, Indian Express, 2023
  27. ↑ The New Atlas LIVE: Mark Sleboda on West Pivots to "Long War" in Ukraine, Industry to Decide Victor, Mark Sleboda at around the 2 hour and 6 minute point in the video
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