The East is Read has previously published extensively on China’s domestic-demand debate, which centres on a basic question: when demand is weak, should policy focus primarily on boosting consumption, or should investment take the lead in raising employment, incomes, and ultimately consumption?
Economists including Liu Shijin, Cai Fang, and Xu Gao have argued, from different perspectives, for shifting more income and resources towards households, improving income distribution, and giving consumption a greater role in driving domestic demand.
We have also featured Yu Yongding’s contrasting view, including his rejection of a “consumption-driven” growth model and his call for greater reliance on infrastructure investment and more expansionary macroeconomic policy.
Zhang Bin, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow at the Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of…
