The poorest countries are (167) Uganda 240 (168) Rwanda 220 (169) Mozambique 2 10 (170) Niger 200 (17/). Sierra Leone 150 (174) Guinea Bissau 140 (175) Liberia 130.
Burundi 100. China's per capita GNP ranking 109 is only 1 100 USD. Is the economic welfare level of a country like the United States higher than that of China?
One of the most important and interesting contents of international comparison is the comparison of living standards in different countries. Which country is the richest and which country is the poorest? How big is the living standard gap between poor and rich countries? Because the relative prices of different countries are different, these problems are more complicated than they seem. For example, we have reason to believe that the prices of non-tradable goods in poor countries are lower than those in rich countries, and these relative price differences increase the complexity of evaluating real income and real living standards.
Let's look at an example: According to official data, the per capita income of China in 2003 was 1 100, while that of the United States was 376 10/00. According to the data, the actual income difference is $365 10, and the per capita income of the United States is 34.2 times that of China. But these figures ignore the most crucial point: the cost of living in China is much lower than that in the United States. Therefore, per capita income 1 100 dollars, you can buy more things in China at China price than in the United States at American price. Not surprisingly, the same dollar income is more comfortable in China than in the United States. Any comparison of international living standards must take this difference into account. In order to do this, we need to calculate China's income, not in actual dollars, but in dollars adjusted by purchasing power. A correct comparison of purchasing power can be drawn from the following questions: According to American prices, how much US dollars is needed to reach the actual per capita income level of China? In order to get comparable per capita dollar data, YUS represents the per capita income of the United States. Y 1 represents the per capita income of China, YUS and Y 1 are expressed in local currency respectively, and P is the US price index expressed in US dollars.
P 1 is the price index of China expressed in RMB, and these two price indexes are measured by the same basket of goods. The standard way to compare returns is to compare YUS with Y 1/E, where E is the exchange rate of each RMB against the US dollar. However, the correct comparison should be (Y 1/P 1)PUS, because this expression tells us how much US dollars is needed to reach the per capita income of China according to the US price PUS, and P 1/PUS is also called PPP exchange rate.
In table-1, we will see the difference of the results obtained by the two methods. Column (1) is the per capita GDP calculated at the market exchange rate, and column (2) represents the value calculated at the PPP exchange rate. (3) The column represents the ratio of the two, and the difference ratio of these two calculation methods shows an interesting system model. The market exchange rate exaggerates the difference between rich and poor countries, but even if the PPP exchange rate is used for adjustment, the difference is still very large. For example, the per capita income at market exchange rate is $565,438+00 in low-income countries and $32,040 in high-income countries. The ratio is 62.8: 1. The current income calculated by purchasing power parity method is $2,260 in low-income countries and $27,840 in high-income countries, with a ratio of 12.3: 1. Although the ratio is large, it is higher than 62.8: 65438+.
Table-1Per capita income of countries in the world in 2004: market exchange rate and PPP exchange rate
Market exchange rate (USD) purchasing power parity exchange rate (USD) ratio
( 1) (2) (2)/( 1)
World 6280 8760 1.4
Low income 5 10 2260 4.3
Middle income 2 190 6480 2.95
Inconel 1580 5640 3.46
Upper-middle income 4770 10090 2. 12
Low & middle income 1460 4630 3. 17
East Asia and Asia. Pacific Ocean 1280 5070 3.96
Europe? rai Asia 3290 8360 2.54
Latin America & Caribbean 3660 7660 2.09
Middle East & North Africa 2000 5760 1.82
South Asia 590 2830 4.8
High income 32040309700 0.12
European monetary union
Source: World Bank: World Development Report.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the dollar comparison of per capita income will exaggerate the actual purchasing power gap between rich and poor countries, because the prices in rich countries are generally higher than those in poor countries.
The GNP per capita calculated by nominal exchange rate method and purchasing power evaluation method is very different, and people's welfare level is also different. Another factor affecting per capita GDP is "exchange rate deviation", that is, the exchange rate of money deviates from the value of money and fails to reflect the true value of money.
As we know, the value of money used to refer to the gold content of money, that is, how much gold (or silver) can be exchanged in the country's central bank. After the beginning of World War II, most countries canceled the gold standard because of inflation, which separated paper money from gold. By the end of World War II, only the United States was left, and the dollar was directly linked to gold. At that time, the United States owned 80% of the world's total gold, and the United States announced that anyone could exchange $35 for 1 ounce of gold from the American federal bank. Therefore, the dollar is called "yuan" and the dollar has become the world currency. Later, the US fiscal deficit year after year, the foreign trade deficit increased, and the gold reserve dropped sharply, so the US had to devalue the US dollar against gold and restrict the "exchange of US dollars for gold". Later, it was changed to only allow foreign central banks to exchange dollars for gold in the United States. 1973, the United States could not even support this (Triffin dilemma), and announced that the dollar was decoupled from gold, allowing the price of gold to fluctuate freely. At present, no country in the world implements the gold standard, so today's so-called currency value refers to its actual purchasing power (including goods and services) in its own country.
Currency exchange rate refers to how many foreign currencies (generally referred to as US dollars) the domestic currency can exchange. The exchange rate is determined by the relationship between supply and demand, foreign trade and balance of payments, so it often deviates from the value of money. When the currencies of all countries are linked to gold (or silver), the deviation between exchange rate and currency value is very small; Today, when the currencies of all countries are decoupled from gold (or silver), the exchange rate may deviate greatly from the currency value, so the calculated per capita GDP (calculated in US dollars) is very different, which should be said to be unreasonable and unscientific. We also know that most of China's exports in foreign trade are low-priced labor-intensive products and semi-finished products, while we import capital-intensive high-tech products. We know that the prices of these primary products remain low in the international market. In exchange for dollars, we can only reluctantly export. In order to encourage exports, the RMB has depreciated against the US dollar year after year. In recent years, China's economy has been growing at a high speed, people's income and living standards have been greatly improved, and foreign exchange reserves have been greatly increased. However, due to the pressure from twin deficits, the United States frequently asked the RMB to appreciate against the US dollar. In 2004, China's import and export trade reached1150 billion US dollars, and its foreign exchange reserves exceeded 500 billion US dollars, ranking third in the world in terms of total import and export volume and second in the world. China's gross national product is more than 654.38+0.2 trillion yuan, equivalent to more than 654.38+0.4 trillion US dollars (the ratio of RMB to US dollars is 654.38+0.8.3), and China's per capita gross national product is more than 654.38+0.2 trillion US dollars (calculated by the population of 654.38+0.3 billion). The United States, Japan and other countries think that China's RMB value is low and demand RMB appreciation, and European countries are also demanding RMB appreciation. According to the market development and economic and financial situation, in order to establish and improve China's socialist market economic system and give full play to the basic role of the market in resource allocation, China began to implement a managed floating exchange rate system based on market supply and demand with reference to a basket of currencies on July 2, 2005. With the appreciation of RMB by two thousandths, the RMB exchange rate is no longer pegged to a single dollar, forming a more flexible RMB exchange rate mechanism. The People's Bank of China has decided to adjust the transaction price of USD against RMB from 1 USD to RMB 8. 1 1 Yuan, so that China's exchange rate can have more floating space with reference to a basket of currencies, which can reduce the deviation of exchange rate, better reflect the real value of currency and better show people's actual living standards.
We see a phenomenon that foreigners who come to China are generally rich and spend a lot of money, but in fact they take advantage of the "exchange rate deviation" to a great extent. According to a conservative estimate, in 1990, according to the actual purchasing power, the ratio of RMB to USD was at least L to O.8, while the exchange rate was 5.4 to L. Westerners such as the United States came to China to take advantage of the exchange rate, which meant that the banknotes in their hands suddenly swelled four or five times, so they looked very rich. When we go to western countries, we will suffer a big loss in the exchange rate, which means that the banknotes in our hands will suddenly shrink to L yuan or 2 yuan. How can we not be poor The yen and the dollar are another kind of "exchange rate deviation", and the exchange rate of the yen is much higher than the value of the yen. The Japanese changed Japanese yen into US dollars, and when they arrived in China, they changed US dollars into RMB, which was equivalent to the sudden expansion of banknotes in their hands by seven times, so they appeared to be richer than Americans. China people come to Japan to eat a bowl of ordinary noodles, which is equivalent to RMB 15 yuan. It is impossible to live in Japan on China's income. If the exchange rate deviates from the reversal, 1 RMB is exchanged for 5.4 USD; Then, if we withdraw 2000 RMB deposit (many people can do this), we can change it into 1 1000 US dollars. Traveling to the United States with this money will also be very attractive.
It is the wish and goal of every China people and every government to improve China's comprehensive national strength and people's living standards as soon as possible. It is generally believed that China is still in the primary stage of development. According to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2004, the total GDP of China in 2003 was12103.8 billion yuan (about10.4 trillion US dollars at the official exchange rate), and the per capita GDP was 937 1 yuan (about/kloc-at the official exchange rate) At the same time, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund also released relevant data on China's economic development. According to the World Development Report of the World Bank in 2004, the total GDP of China in 2003 calculated by the nominal exchange rate method was $65.438+40.98 million, and the per capita GDP was $ 654.38+0.087, which was basically consistent with the data published by the National Bureau of Statistics. According to purchasing power parity, China's GDP in 2003 was US$ 6,353.8 billion, and its per capita GDP was US$ 4,900. In addition, according to the statistics of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), China's per capita GDP is far more than $65,438+0,000.
If per capita GDP is used as the measure of economic welfare, we must remember the following points: (Jeffrey. Sachs thinks)
First, the gross national product is measured according to the market price, not necessarily according to the real social value.
Second, the level of economic welfare determined by a given gross national product depends on the market price of products. Assuming that the per capita GDP of both countries is 1000 USD, but the output price of the first country is higher than that of the second country, although the gross national product of the two countries is the same, the economic welfare of the first country is greater than that of the second country, because the GDP of 1 USD can buy more goods and services.
Third, the calculation of per capita GDP does not take into account the degree of income inequality in the economy. If a country's gross national product is unevenly distributed between the rich and the poor, then the social situation in this country may be very tense. Income Distribution Countries in relatively equal have higher social welfare indicators than rich countries with unequal income.