China: Will It Survive The Global Downturn?

Recently, there has been a great deal of discussion in the financial community about the continuing shaky state of the global economy.  In many of the current financial articles the status and role of the second largest economy (i.e., the Chinese economy) has been called into question.  We’ve seen a flurry of articles about China’s slowdown and whether the country has the ability to keep social order intact as things slow down.  During this “slow down” period we have seen inflation happening inside China, we have witnessed unemployment at levels never experienced by China.  We have seen an exit of wealthy Chinese who are escaping a China that has become polluted (air, water, land).  At the same time we have listened to various China experts and read numerous articles proclaiming that China will surpass the U.S. by 2016.  Polls taken inside China indicate that two out of three Chinese now predict that their country will overtake the U.S., an eight percentage point increase since 2008. The number of Americans today who agree has jumped 11 percentage points to 47 percent.

Let’s be honest, China has enjoyed an