Regarding Chinese economic policy, I’m both a cheerleader and a critic.

On the positive side, I applaud how hundreds of millions of people in China have escaped poverty.

On the negative side, I complain that the economy is operating way below its potential.

Here are four points I shared earlier this year, and they summarize my view on what’s good and bad.

Before the final point, I probably should have added another sentence, saying something like “China is now a middle-income country instead of a poor country.”

For today’s column, I want to provide some data to highlight the need for more economic freedom in China – assuming, of course, the goal if for China to become rich.

And I’m going to share two charts posted on Twitter/X by @3RenChengHu. I don’t know this person, so I normally would be reluctant to share a stranger’s data, but I am very familiar with Our World in Data, a group from Oxford University with very reliable numbers (and you can access the data in today’s column by clicking here).

Here’s the first chart, which shows the percentage of the Chinese population that it poor based on various measures (ranging from less that $3 per day to less than $40 per day).

I added (in green) my rough guess that the average person in China is at $15 per day.

As you can see, the Chinese numbers have improved dramatically since 1981.

But could they be better? I think the answer is yes, emphatically yes.

In part, this is because of the research I’ve shared showing how Chinese people are rich everywhere but China.

But let’s also look at the second chart shared by @3RenChengHu.

It shows the same poverty data, but for the United States instead of China.

And I’ve added my two cents (in green, again) to note that only a very tiny share of Americans live on $15 per day.

I’m not sharing all this data to be jingoistic. Just as I think China has bad policies that are restricting growth, the same is true for the United States.

But the relative rankings do show that the U.S. is benefiting from more economic freedom, both today and through history.

For what it’s worth, I would like policy makers in both countries to look at these numbers and have them decide that more economic liberty is the recipe for making their respective nations richer.

But I’m also sharing this data because @3RenChengHu’s tweet was actually a counter tweet. As you can see, he was responding to a silly tweet from @TheDanteMunoz about the supposed superiority of socialism. 

At the risk of understatement, @3RenChengHu slammed @TheDanteMunoz to the canvas.