Great stuff from George Magnus, former UBS chief global economist and China doyen, in a terrific article by Angus Grigg:
Magnus, who last year published Red Flags; Why Xi’s China is in Jeopardy, cites demographics, debt levels and the lack of independent institutions as the key points of Beijing’s vulnerability. And he says any faltering of the economy would have a “big impact” on China’s military spending at a time when strategists are already raising doubts about its ability to exercise dominance across the region.
…“It’s about having the institutional flexibility to foster the productivity growth you rely on after running out of labour and the physical accumulation of capital,” he says.
