July 01, 2015
A NYT article reported on a new commitment by China to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases. At one point it referred to China as the world’s second largest economy. Actually, using a purchasing power parity measure of GDP, which is the one most economists would use to measure an economy’s size, China passed the United States last year and is now close to 4 percent larger. (China’s economy would be about 6 percent larger if Hong Kong is included.)
In the context of GHG emissions it is important to note that a substantial portion of China’s emissions are associated with producing items for consumption in the United States and elsewhere. China has an overall trade surplus and a large surplus on manufactured goods.
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