Could the american dream in china become a nightmare for the world? Millions of Chinese already are living like Americans. Although these U.S.-style consumers only are a small fraction of the population, China's claims on the Earth's resources are becoming highly visible. For instance, China has replaced the U.S. as the world's leading consumer of most basic commodities, including grain, coal, and steel. Now the question is: What if consumption per person of these resources in China one day reaches the current U.S. level? Moreover, how long will it take for China's average annual income of $5,300 per person to reach the U.S. figure of $38,000? During the time since the far-reaching economic reforms of 1978, China's economy has been growing at an annual breakneck pace of 9.5%. If it now were to grow at eight percent per year, doubling every nine years, income per person in 2031 for China's projected population of 1,450,000,000 would reach $38,000. (At a more conservative six percent annual growth rate, the economy would double every 12 years, overtaking the current U.S. income per person in 2040.).
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