China: Past & Future + Health of Individuals

choi

本文通过一路BBS站telnet客户端发布

(1) Niall Ferguson, In China's Orbit; After 500 years of Western
predominance, Niall Ferguson argues, the world is tilting back to the East.
Wall Street JOurnal, Nov. 18, 2010.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704104104575622531909154228.html

My comment:
(a) The essay states,"Per capita gross domestic product, they show,
stagnated in the Ming era (1402-1626) and was significantly lower than that
of pre-industrial Britain."

List of regions by past GDP (PPP) per capita
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regions_by_past_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita
(Angus Maddison; in 1990 international dollars: UK (974), China (600) in
1600 AD; UK (1,250), China (600) in 1700 AD; UK (1,706), Chnia (600) in 1820
AD)

(b) The essay continues to say, "In 1968 the average American was 33 times
richer than the average Chinese, using figures calculated on the basis of
purchasing power parity (allowing for the different costs of living in the
two countries). Calculated in current dollar terms, the differential at its
peak was more like 70 to 1. * * * Today per capita GDP in China is 19% that
of the U.S., compared with 4% when economic reform began just over 30 years
ago."

From the Wiki above: US (16,689), China (838) in 1973--about 1/20.
(c) hyperpuissance (n; French): hyperpower.
http://dictionary.reverso.net/french-english/hyperpuissance
(d) Please visit "Power Shifts: Megacities Then and Now" in the left column
of the web page.

Shanghai
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai
(sections 1 Etymology and Names; 2 History)


(2) David Leonhardt, Live Long and Prosper? One for Two. New York Times, Nov
. 24, 2010 (title in the print).
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/business/global/24leonhardt.html?scp=1&sq=public%20health%20china&st=cse

My comment:
(a) The print edition but not online version includes a graphic, with GDP
per capita (PPP) as the X axis (log scale) and life span as Y axis (linear
scale)--for various nations.
(b) The article states, "There is an intriguing parallel here to the
Industrial Revolution.  * * * The Mortality Revolution, as he calls it, did
not occur for almost another a century. It depended on relatively cheap
investments in public health, like sanitation, and on the spread of
scientific methods."

(i) public health
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_health
(The science of epidemiology was founded by John Snow's identification of a
polluted public water well as the source of an 1854 cholera outbreak in
London)

(ii) John Snow (physician)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Snow_(physician)
(1813-1858; English physician)



--