The China Syndrome

Originally posted by Infose ↑

Lets get it straight here.

Below is a link to statistical data about the relative contribution of exports to GDP.

According to such data compiled by the World Bank, in 2016 exports in Australia contributed 18.9%, in China 19.6% and in the US 11.9%.

These figures tell me something quite different from what some misinformed people think, that is, that the Chinese economy is more open than both the economies of Australia and the US. They still rely more on their export sector than either us or the Americans do.

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS

Another aspect is this:

One of the hallmark characteristics of the global economy is the concept of interdependence. Economic globalization is linking places around the world through activities such as production, trade, and consumption. As national economies become increasingly integrated through global trade, the economic growth of any given nation becomes increasingly dependent upon the economic welfare of its trade partners. Activities such as the choice of clothes you buy have a direct impact on the lives of people working in the nations that produce those goods. As Giddens (1990) put it, we now live in a world characterized by an "intensification of worldwide social relations (linking) distant realities in such a way that local events are shaped by events occurring many miles away, and vice versa".

With globalization, competition occurs between nations having different standards for worker pay, health insurance, and labor regulations. Corporations are able to benefit from lower labor costs found in developing regions, thanks to free-trade agreements and a new international division of labor. A worker in a high-wage country is thus increasingly struggling in the face of competition from workers in low-wage countries. Entire sectors of employment in developed countries are now subject to this growing international competition, and unemployment has crippled many localities. The outcome has been an international division of labor in all sectors of the economy. In particular, manufacturing is increasingly being contracted out to lower-cost locations, which are often found in developing countries with no minimum wage and few environmental regulations.

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Data is only relevant if compared accurately with other data
The export figures need to show the rage of diversity if you are to judge a country by them
EG
Do the exports provide a large or small income to the country in economic terms
What about the labor input
Where do the the profits finish up, (a foreign company which gets minerals at a very small price can afford to sell them for peanuts and strip the asset)

Data can mean anything when it is not discriptive