Perspectives
By general consensus, China must shift to a greater reliance on domestic consumption to fuel its growth. The rest of the world is losing patience with China’s export flood, and anyway could never buy enough to pull a huge population into prosperity. Beijing has made such a transition a cornerstone of its latest five-year plan. Will it succeed?
Economists tend to approach this question by looking at the demand side. Rising incomes must inevitably boost consumption, the thinking goes, so implement minimum wages and a better social safety net.