China overtakes the United States as the richest country in the world

China is already the richest country in the world. This was announced by the consultant this week McKinsey & Company, through a prepared report Entitled “The Rise of the Global Balance Sheet: To what extent are we using our wealth productively?” , announced a “pioneering” change in the global economy. Thus, the Asian country replaces the United States From its prime location.

In this report, the consulting firm examines the national budgets of ten countries, which account for more than 60% of global income. China has accumulated 50% of wealth growth in the past two decades. The United States with 22% and Japan 11% completed the podium in this arrangement.

Chinese wealth reached 106 trillion euros in 2020against 6 billion accumulated in 2000. On the other hand, the United States doubled its net worth, depending Estimates Bloomberg, to reach nearly 80 billion euros, although it is far from being the richest country.

In both North American and Asian countries, More than two-thirds of wealth is held by the richest 10% of households, although this percentage continues to grow. The wealth accumulated in the country by the richest 10% of households has grown by 4% in this century, reaching 71%. In China, in the same period, Increased nearly 20 points, to reach 67% in 2015.

A sign of a financial crisis

This can be seen in the McKinsey & Co . report About 70% of the world’s wealth is stored in real estate. The rest is in infrastructure, machinery and equipment, and to a lesser extent in intangible assets, such as intellectual property and patents. Net wealth has grown significantly this century, outpacing the increase in global GDPDriven by rising real estate prices and lower interest rates.

However, this can have negative consequences. This growth in real estate value makes housing unavailable to many people, which would cause a financial crisis scenario like the one that occurred in 2008 worldwide, when the real estate bubble burst. In China, for example, already There are real estate developers who have accumulated large debts, such as China Evergrande Group, according to information received from RT.

To prevent this crisis, countries must work to stabilize and reduce the balance with GDP by increasing nominal GDP. For this to be possible, Capital must be redirected toward new productive investments in real assets and innovations that accelerate economic growth. If not, up to a third of the world’s wealth could be lost due to the collapse in asset prices.