Positions of China and USA in the world economic space of 21st century

Abstract

The article deals with some issues of PPP-based international economic comparisons. Considering the case of the world’s two largest economies — China and the USA — it formulates the problems of accurately estimating economic size and the level of economic development. In particular, it identifies shortcomings in IMF and World Bank methods for PPP-based indicators that severely limit researchers’ capacity for analysis and forecasting. It stresses that, given the current quality of statistics, precise estimates of PPP-based GDP cannot be obtained for either developing (low- and middle-income) or developed (high-income) countries. It gives reasons for revising IMF and World Bank methods of adjusting PPP-based GDP.