Those who have seen the economy of the People’s Republic of China up close and personal do not have quite the rosy view of it that outsiders do.

Hong Bing Yuan, “Chinese exile, novelist, philosopher and law professor,” shared his less-than-sanguine thoughts on the Dragon at Pepperdine ^[1]. According to university officials, Yuan pointed out that:

• “First, not everyone can participate in the marketplace, which increases the number of exports. If people domestically cannot participate in the economy, then there is more to sell to places like the United States;

• “Second, China exploits their abundant source of cheap, poor labor. There are 300 million people working or looking for work in China, many of them receiving only four dollars a day. This further increases production at lower costs, allowing for an increase in production and an increase in exports;

• “Third, the massive destruction of natural resources in China has led to a period of massive economic growth. However, this will stall and eventually cause the economy to crash when the country depletes its natural resources.”

Malcolm A. Kline is the Executive Director of Accuracy in Academia ^[2].

If you would like to comment on this article, e-mail mal.kline@academia.org ^[3]