Economic, Health, and Demographic data of United States and China - Research Paper Example

These include pollution, particularly in some of the most densely populated areas, particularly as a reliance on automobiles (as seen in the Western world) and other technologies continues to grow alongside the economy (Yueh, 2010). Additionally, there is a high level of income poverty in China, which could pose a challenge as nationals may not have the spending power to continue to increase the strength of the internal markets (Yueh, 2010). It has also been noted that recent years have seen a decrease in the speed of Chinese economic growth, which may make it difficult to overtake the U.S. in terms of GDP (Yueh, 2010), which may be linked to the global economic downturn or one of the factors outlined above.

United States Currently, the U.S. has the world’s largest economy for a nation. There are several reasons for the strength of the U.S. economy. One of these is that it has a high level of natural resources, which can therefore be exported for profit (Wallace, 2010). Additionally, there is a strong infrastructure in place which allows high productivity, good services and general well-being (Wallace, 2010). The U.S. is also highly involved in international trading, particularly with the EU, China and Japan (Wallace, 2010).

There are weaknesses, however, which may continue to cause problems for the U.S. economy. One of these is the current unemployment rate, which is far exceeding historic rates and may continue to grow (Wallace, 2010). Additionally, as the largest economic force, the U.S. was hit particularly hard by the 2007-2008 economic downturn, causing a drop in GDP and having an additional effect on productivity and employment within the country (Wallace, 2010). Additionally, a high reliance on natural resources like oil and gas may cause problems in the future, as these are evidently limited in their capacity to provide financial stability due to their finiteness (Wallace, 2010).

Health China China has a fairly strong health profile, with an average age at mortality at 74 years old, and infant mortality at an all-time low. There are still a number of health problems in mainland China, however. One of these is smoking-related illnesses, with about 350 million people currently smoking and no major government interest in preventing smoking uptake (WHO, 2010). Additionally, there are a number of women’s health and sexual health problems which are associated with a lower level of acceptance of sex education and contraception advice in China (WHO, 2010).

Additionally, there is a high level of malnutrition still present in China, mostly affecting those who live in rural areas (WHO, 2010). This brings the mortality rate up, and can lead to further health problems. However, this issue of malnutrition is being tackled by the Chinese government and aims to be eradicated at some point in the near future (Bloom et al, 2004), which may improve the overall health profile of the People’s Democratic Republic of China further and bring it more in line with that of Western countries.

Additionally, China has an extremely affordable healthcare system, whereby the annual cost is around $7 and only a small proportion of this is paid by the patient, which means that there may be significant increases in China’s health after the system has been in place a few years longer (Bloom et al, 2004). United States The average life expectancy in the U.S. is 78.5, which is higher than China but is much lower than that of other industrialized