I’m a cheerleader for Chinese economic success.

In part, that’s because I want all people to enjoy more prosperity. But it’s also because I believe China will be peaceful if it becomes more capitalist.

I worry, however, whether China intends to engage in the additional reforms that are needed for it to become a rich nation.

And here are two charts to illustrate why further reform is needed.

The first chart, which I shared last year, shows that the Chinese are very successful, but only outside of China.

Chinese Americans are rich. And Chinese in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are rich. But the Chinese in China are not rich.

The second chart is from 2024 (I also have a version in 2023) and it shows that China is still far behind the United States according to data from the United Nations, World Bank, Maddison, and the International Monetary Fund.

Today, we’re going to add another comparison.

But first, here’s a set of tweets from two people who apparently think China today is a role model.

Some guy named Jackson Hinkle asserted that China is way ahead of the United States, which led someone else to ask why America doesn’t copy China.

I think my two charts from 2024 and 2025 answer that question.

But here’s a response from Chris Freiman that is even more direct.

If this was tennis, the referee would announce “game, set, match.”

Indeed, I would add this to my counter-tweet-of-the-year contest, but this exact same chart already featured in my 2025 contest.

P.S. Returning to the point I made at the beginning, I want China to prosper. For those interested in that topic click here.