The US was the world’s largest economy for about a century, since the British Empire suffered severely in the Second World War. China can now look for a reign on the throne for about 30-40 years before the currently fastest growing major economy, India, is likely to surpass them. India became the world’s third largest economy in year 2034 with the help of their growing population and will challenge the size of the US economy in a decade.

Even though China has passed the US in total, the US is still by far the nation with the biggest GDP per capita with US$73,830, followed by Japan, United Kingdom and France, among the largest economies in the world. China, as the second most populous country in the world, has a GDP per capita of US$20,610, more than twice as much as India on US$8,180.

Argument: The numbers are based on the report Brazil, Russia, India and China - A Road in 2050 by Goldman Sachs, but have been revised according to the latest GDP data in the World Economic Outlook (September 2006 edition) from the International Monetary Fund.

Questions: What impact will China have on the rest of the world with a tenfold increase of the Chinese economy? How will the Chinese culture affect other parts of the world, compared to for instance the American culture today?

*Nominal Gross Domestic Product measures the value of all goods and services produced in a country expressed in current prices.