I have remarkable news today. President Trump tweeted that “China is doing very badly, worst year in 27,” and it turns out this wasn’t a lie:
China’s GDP growth using normal measures was 6.6 percent, slightly below the 6.7 and 6.8 percent of the previous two years. So kudos to Donald.
Of course, using the (probably) more accurate conversion to purchasing power parity, China’s growth was precisely average for the period following the Great Recession. China has some economic headwinds for sure, but their growth rate has been OK for the past decade.
In any case, the modest downward slope of the trendline began around 2005 and has nothing to do with Trump or Trump’s tariffs. He just can’t believe that China hasn’t yet caved in to his world-class negotiating skills, so now he’s telling his base that China is crumbling and victory is near!
