The figures come from a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimate, and serve to shift the canon that the US is the world’s primary economic superpower. Economists forecast that the US GDP will measure some $18.5 trillion, while China is expected to net $21.2 trillion in GDP, per IMF data.
The international community has increasingly recognized Beijing's economic clout, evidenced by China’s currency, the renminbi, becoming one of the IMF’s coveted global reserve currencies, alongside the dollar, euro, yen and pound.
Sandeep Mazumder, a macroeconomist at Wake Forest University, told Sputnik News that for the US to increase economic output, “one obvious thing that many macroeconomists are in favor of (including me), is greater spending on public capital (bridges, roads, airports, etc.) in order to give more scope for private capital purchases.” Such policies would “hopefully” generate higher levels of private investment, “which could boost long-term economic growth,” Mazumder said in an email.
China’s financial success has fed directly into President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign narrative, in which he said he’d label China a currency manipulator upon assuming the US presidency. Trump effectively deployed legacy American cultural tropes on Beijing as a way to motivate voters, including that China has stolen US jobs. The incoming President has vowed to ‘make America rich again,’ but negotiating deals with China will likely be a key part of the Trump administration’s agenda.
