by metatron 22 Replies latest jw friends
http://www.businessinsider.com/pisa-rankings-2013-12
Dead last in math and falling in other categories.
ZeroHedge announced this morning that the Chinese Yuan just passed the Euro in trade finance globally. This puts it as #2, second only to the dollar.
metatron
High school level education in the US is a joke - always been. This is usually where the comparison is made. This is why a college education is so important here, because you leave high school knowing how to read and a little more.
I'm still not sold on the idea that China will become the next superpower as some people advance. A superpower is not only about cash end economic power as a country. China is a manufacturing powerhouse, but the reality is that they are still way behind in R&D. They still need the West to think and develop products which they will then make their underpaid people produce.
China is a cash rich country, but it's riches don't extend much beyond cash for now. A weak and almost non-existent middle class. 71 percent of the population still lives with under $5 a day.
They are a country which because of the amount of people that are willing to work for close to nothing, has found itself with a bundle of cash falling on it's lap, but are still many years away from being able to make the country and it's people rise to the level of a true developed country.
And, because China is a manufacturing powerhouse and I assume they get much of their cash from that industry, I would like to see what happens if companies start pulling the manufacturing out of China and take it somewhere. Would China be able to breath by itself???
Maybe, just maybe, we can close all the foreign military bases and pull the troops and ships back to the United States and stop trying to be the policemen of the world and leave that assignment to the United Nations.
I look forward to taking the passenger seat in deciding how the world should be "democratic" and free. Losing world dominance has it's advantages.
They still need the West to think and develop products which they will then make their underpaid people produce.
Yeah, and American underpaid workers sell.
The problem is that the US stopped investing in their people and focused on profitting from them. Lots of places do it too, but some places put more value on science and engineering than media and celebrity.
Fading is the right word. But at some point the competition for world dominance will cause instability that will break out in world war. Russia knows this and that's why it's using MacKinder's heartland theory to consolidate its power in their former border states. Look up MacKinder in Wikipedia. His theory states that the world consists of one big island (Eurasia-Africa) and whoever controls the world island is strategically situated to control the world.
Without the USA buying stuff from the Chinese sweatshops China will revert to its old methods of keeping people under control - pruning theirpopulation through starvation. They have no need for war. War gets you more people to control. China doesn't need more people. They need space and raw materials. Russia has what China needs but war with Russia would be suicide because Russia could quickly bring all of China's progress to a halt by using a few of its thousands of nucelar weapons. A world without a strong USA would be under Russia's nuclear blackmail.
This scenario could unfold quite rapidly in todays technology dependent world.
All empires crumble and decline.
And when they do, they usually deserve to.
Onthewayout, your thoughts were very interesting. When the USSR, before the breakup, was experiencing financial problems, they pulled back their military. I agree that the U.S. will have to do the same.
The British BBC News has an interesting commentary on the Pisa rankings:
Reference: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25090034
As a summary it notes:
SHANGHAI EDUCATION
- 2009 Pisa: First place in maths, reading and science
- First Chinese district to require continuous professional development for teachers
- 80% of pupils enter higher education
- 80% have private tuition
- Almost 3,000 schools, 1.8 million pupils
But before we go on, we should ask the question, "what is Shanghai?"
And the best 'quick' answer is this web overview (can't vouch for its accuracy - but it looks about right)
Reference: http://worldpopulationreview.com/shanghai-population-2013/
Shanghai Population 2013
October, 19th 2013Shanghai is China's most populous city and the largest city proper in the entire world. It's both a major financial center and a global city and sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River in the Yangtze River Delta of East China. Known as the Pearl of the Orient and the Paris of the East, Shanghai's population in 2013 is now estimated at 23.9 million, which means it has finally surpassed the entire population of nearby Taiwan.
Shanghai Population 2013
Did you know
The population of Shanghai is now estimated at 23.9 million in 2013, up from its 2012 population of 23,710,000. The city ranks first in China and the world in terms of population, and it has a population density of 3,700 people per square kilometer, or 9,700 people per square mile.
The city has a total area of 6,340.5 square kilometers (2,448 sq mi) and it is mostly flat, except for a few hills in the southwest region, and the average elevation is just 4 meters. Shanghai also has an extensive network of rivers, canals, lakes and streams, all of which combines to create a perfect setting for a large population.
Shanghai has been one of the fastest developing cities in the world for the last twenty years, with double-digit growth nearly every year since 1992, except during the global recession of 2008-2009.
Shanghai Demographics
According to the 2010 Census, Shanghai's population was 89.3% (20.6 million)urban and 10.7% (2.5 million) rural. More than 39% of Shanghai's residents are long-term migrants, a number that has tripled in ten years. Migrants are primarily from Anhui (29%), Jiangsu (16.8%), Henan (8.7%) and Sichuan (7.0%), while almost 80% are from rural areas. Interestingly, they have made up the largest percentage of the city's growth, as Shanghai's natural growth rate has been negative since 1993 because of low fertility rates.
Like most of China, the vast majority (98.8%) of Shanghai's residents are of Han (?) Chinese ethnicity, with only 1.2% belonging to minority groups. Still, the number of minorities in Shanghai has grown by an astounding 165.5% since 2000, which is faster than the population growth. Shanghai also has 150,000 officially registered foreigners, including 31,500 Japanese, 21,000 Americans and 20,700 Koreans. Of course, this is based on official figures, so the real number of foreign citizens in the city is probably much higher.
Shanghai has one of the highest life expectancies in the world, and the highest in mainland China, at 82.13 years.
Shanghai Population Growth
While some would believe that Shanghai has hit its peak population this is far from the truth. It's projected that Shanghai, along with Beijing, will have a population of more than 50 million by 2050, which is double the current level because of fast-paced urbanization in the region and strong economic growth.
China has become known around the world for its famous one-child policy, which has helped to keep the population in check. On the other hand, this has also contributed to a shrinking workforce in the area as well as a rapidly aging population. Migrants from the rural areas of the country are turning to Shanghai, though, and they will give the city the growth it's after. This migration to the area will fuel growth for decades to come, as Shanghai itself has had a negative natural growth rate for twenty years due to low fertility rates.
China is also testing reforms to its hokou system, which will offer incentives to migrants who move to rural people in the cities, providing them the same benefits as local residents. This should help to further Shanghai's growth in the coming years.
Officials also believe Shanghai will reach a minor peak in population in 2013 before climbing further, although the city still has a lot of demographic problems to overcome. This includes a very low fertility rate, an imbalance in the gender ratio (113 boys:100 girls) and an increasing age, which may become a burden as the city grows further.
The BBC asked the question,
So what makes it so successful?
Mr Schleicher, who runs the Pisa tests taken every three years, says Shanghai is engaged in a systematic, long-term project to improve education, as a way of transforming its economy.
"You can see from the minister down to the teacher in the classroom that this is their future and they believe education is the great equaliser," says Mr Schleicher, the OECD's education expert.
"That's why they make it prestigious to teach in a tough school," he says.
