The Blessings of Christmas, Part 3 – Decline in Poverty

December 22, 2011

Since 1990, the absolute poverty rate (now defined as the number of people in the world living on $1.25 or less) has been cut in half.  This astonishing feat has been achieved thanks to major liberalization in places like India and China.

Perhaps more significantly, the global economy now has an exploding group of countries contributing to poverty relief.  Emerging market countries contribute 100 times the funds to global development that they contributed in 2000, meaning that a second channel of funding for development now exists.

Such gains mean real increases in length and quality of life for billions of people around the world, something we can all be thankful for.

Leave a Comment » | Economy, Foreign Investment | Permalink
Posted by Vital Signs Blog

Don’t Fear Chinese Investment

August 29, 2011

1.2 Percent

Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) accounts for 1.2 percent of all foreign direct investment in the world.  The total of Chinese FDI in the past decade is about $240 billion, or roughly the same amount Denmark has spent in the past decade.

China has pledged to spend about $1.5 to $2 trillion in the next decade, a stark contrast to their current spending trends.  If this occurs, it might be worth looking at what their FDI is buying.  Also, there are other means by which China is investing in the world.

But for now, the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States, tasked with protecting national security by reviewing foreign investment, is more than adequate to police Chinese ambition.   They did so in the spring when they helped pull apart a take-over bid from Huawei, a Chinese telecom firm, for 3-Leaf, a server manufacturer.

More to follow.

1 Comment | China, Economy, Foreign Investment | Permalink
Posted by Vital Signs Blog

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