Using top ten countries' GDP data to assess how the world changed (materially) from my personal perspective, since I began working in 1984
Animation: The World’s 10 Largest Economies by GDP (1960-Today), http://www.visualcapitalist.com/animation-the-worlds-10-largest-economies-by-gdp-1960-today/?fbclid=IwAR0OwrdS9x-RV7tpLjCOw7kIEfY4C7OLCFlTRZF9gJUIEspvDxn-a1Hn-uA, 1st Nov. 2018
The article provides some observations, mainly about first the Japanese economic miracle followed by the Chinese economic miracle.
Some observations I made from my own personal life perspective after I started working in 1984, using data from the above animation, are given below. I have used milestone years in my life as I feel that's a good way to provide my personal life perspective of how the world changed (materially).
After some thought I decided to put up this post in this spiritual blog instead of my Miscellaneous blog. I have also shared some personal details as I felt it may help some spiritual-aspirant readers.
1984
=====
I started working in my first proper job from March 1984 in Bombay/Mumbai (my residence was in Dombivli on the outskirts of Bombay) when I was around 21 years, five months old. In 1984 (at some point in the animation) the GDP in Billions of USD was:
USA - 3693
Japan - 1253
Germany - 762
France - 556
UK - 486
Italy - 441
Canada - 343
China - 235
India - 214
Brazil - 204
The above data seems to largely match the rather vague perceptions that I think I had then of the top advanced and powerful nations of the world being USA, Japan and Germany, with USA being the top country. But I am quite sure that I would have thought then that USSR would be in the top ten list. What I don't think I would have known then was that USA was so way ahead of the pack, with its GDP being almost 3 times bigger than 2nd placed Japan, almost 5 times bigger than 3rd placed Germany, slightly over 6.5 times bigger than 4th placed France and slightly over 7.5 times bigger than 5th placed UK.
But I don't think I would have been surprised to know that USA's GDP was over 17 times bigger than India's then.
China was not considered advanced and rich then. So I am not surprised to see that its GDP was only marginally higher than India then.
France, UK and other European countries were rich and powerful countries but not perceived as the top countries. The above GDP figures match that perception I had then.
1991
====
The lowest economic point that I felt India had got to in my adult lifetime so far was in 1991. For more see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Indian_economic_crisis. I clearly recall the despair that I felt when I was living in Bombay then (with most of my software industry friends having chosen to settle abroad - USA, Europe and Australia). I was living then in Bombay in company provided flat and later in a rented flat.
USA - 6145
Japan - 3518
Germany - 1848
France - 1269
Italy - 1232
UK - 1135
Canada - 608
Brazil - 582
Spain - 570
Russia - 518
Not surprisingly, India is not shown in the top ten in the chart in 1991. Nor is China shown. USSR dissolution happened in 1991. Russia appears as the tenth largest GDP country.
USA GDP is now less than twice the size of Japan GDP. So Japan has got closer to USA. The top three continue to be USA, Japan and Germany.
https://data.worldbank.org/country/india states that India GDP in 1991 was:
266.5 Billion USD.
1993
====
It was sometime in 1993 that I decided to make spirituality the key focus of my life, and as I also had to care for my mother (as an unmarried guy), I decided to work part-time with part-time focus on mother care and (other) spiritual efforts/activities. That resulted in me not paying much attention to world business scenario. So I stopped reading business newspapers in India like Economic Times (India), international business magazines as well as general international magazines like Time and Newsweek. My exposure to such info. would be limited largely to Times of India's coverage of it as that was my daily newspaper. I also saw very limited Television (no TV at home out of choice). Note that I moved back to Dombivli from Bombay around this time.
USA - 6866
Japan - 4434
Germany - 2071
France - 1326
Italy - 1071
UK - 1066
Canada - 578
Spain - 528
Mexico - 501
China- 444
So China enters again into top ten. India is still out of it.
https://data.worldbank.org/country/india states that India GDP in 1993 was:
275.57 Billion USD
1999
====
My mother passed away in early 1999. [My father had passed away in 1978 when I was 16 years old, around 10 days before my S.S.C (10th Std.) Board exam.] A few months after my mother passed away, I started living with my elder brother and family (in Dombivli). Note that I had bought a small flat in Dombivli perhaps around 1994 where mother and I had lived. I also increased my work hours per month to almost full time but continued to be a consultant (and not an employee). I did not have much savings with me at the time my mother passed away as I was working part-time and had to bear quite a lot of expenses towards mother's care at home and in the hospital. So a few months after my mother passed away, I focused on saving money and planning for early retirement for a simple, single spiritual aspirant life. The target was to retire from commercial work before I turned 40 (in 2002).
I started watching TV (my elder brother's house had the typical cable TV connection) and also did some reading of business stuff but not extensive.
USA - 9547
Japan - 4457
Germany - 2209
UK - 1660
France - 1495
Italy - 1252
China - 1081
Canada - 667
Spain - 630
Mexico - 568
Top 3 are still USA, Japan and Germany. China has made it to 7th place now! India is still not in top ten.
https://data.worldbank.org/country/india states that India GDP in 1999 was:
452.7 Billion USD
2002
====
I retired from commercial work at the end of Aug. 2002 and embarked on my single, simple, spiritual aspirant adventure in early Oct. 2002 by coming to Puttaparthi and exploring whether it was the right place for me for my spiritual aspirant adventure. Things worked out eventually and I settled down in Puttaparthi.
USA - 10852
Japan - 4182
Germany - 2034
UK - 1717
France - 1452
China - 1424
Italy - 1230
Mexico - 767
Canada - 750
Spain - 677
USA GDP has crossed ten trillion dollars! Top 3 are still USA, Japan and Germany. China has taken the 6th spot and is very close to France's GDP. For the first time since European domination over most of Asia in the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, Chinese GDP has come so close to one of the aforementioned dominant European powers! India is still not in the top ten.
https://data.worldbank.org/country/india states that India GDP in 2002 was:
508 Billion USD
2006
====
Initially in Puttaparthi from Oct. 2002, I was living in a small rented one room kind-of apartment as I felt that would be appropriate for my spiritual aspirant semi-sannyasi (semi-monk) :-) lifestyle. But the health problems that I had forced me to come to the realization that I do not have the sturdy physique to lead a sannyasi lifestyle - I was a soft white collar person with health issues. So I entered into an agreement to purchase a small flat in an under-construction building in Aug. 2005 with initial payment made in Aug. 2005 followed by part payments over the next months as the flat got ready. The final payment was made in March 2006 and the flat sale deed from builder to purchaser (me) was also registered with the authorities in March 2006. I am quite sure that I moved into this Puttaparthi flat sometime in 2006, maybe a month or two after the flat sale (to me) deed registration. Note that before 2005 (perhaps sometime in 2003), I had sold the small flat that I had owned in Dombivli (Maharashtra).
This small flat purchase and moving into this small flat was a significant event in my spiritual aspirant in Puttaparthi life. Slowly I started adding some stuff to the flat including a computer, a telephone line and then started using a dial-up kind of Internet connection - I think it was called CLI or something like that. I also purchased the first Chinese made and branded home appliance - a small refrigerator from Haier - that I think I have ever bought! I may have bought some small Chinese branded devices but not a home appliance. I recall, perhaps sometime later, buying a JXD 951 device from an Internet store, which is a Chinese company's media player device but I wanted to use it as an inexpensive and portable ebook reader. Later when I moved to a BSNL broadband connection, the modem device I got from BSNL was a Chinese branded device - Huawei, if I recall correctly.
Prior to moving to Puttaparthi in 2002, I don't think I ever bought a Chinese made and branded device. Sure I could have bought devices which were branded as Indian or Japanese or Korean or US ones but which had Chinese made components in it. But then that was not exposed to me unless I dug deeper.
It is in Puttaparthi in the 2000s that I first experienced the availability and the popularity of inexpensive Chinese goods - electronic devices, home appliances and other gadgets. Some of them did carry a negative taint of unreliability and not having any warranty. But they were really affordable and so many people in Puttaparthi were happy to buy them. I personally have not owned a Chinese branded mobile phone (though my mobile phones may have had Chinese manufactured components in them or could even have been assembled in China; in the 2000s I had European (Nokia) company branded and sold mobile phones). However, local Puttaparthi people may have started (in the 2000s) using Chinese branded mobile phones as they were significantly cheaper than other Indian or European branded ones. [Today in 2018, Puttaparthi local people ***heavily*** use Chinese branded mobile phones.]
So I could see Chinese manufacturing clout in Puttaparthi itself through the Chinese products that were sold in Puttaparthi.
I should also mention that I could see the improved manufacturing clout of other Asian nations like Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea as well as India itself, through products available in Puttaparthi and that I bought over the Internet. E.g. TV (LG, Korea), Computer LCD monitors (Samsung, Korea), Computer Motherboards (Asus, Taiwan), Computer Hard drives - Seagate but made in Malaysia written clearly on it etc - all of these are goods that I bought. Many electrical items that I bought - fans, tubelight, geyser etc were - Indian company manufactured. Of course, Japanese goods e.g. Sony at top end of consumer electronics, were very much available in Puttaparthi. I did not buy them as they were too expensive for me (as a retired ceiling on desires guy).
[2006 GDP Data]
USA - 13752
Japan - 4561
Germany - 2983
China - 2689
UK - 2669
France - 2302
Italy - 1930
Canada - 1295
Spain - 1250
Brazil - 1088
China had moved to 4th place and gone ahead of the big European powers of 19th and 20th century - UK and France! Top 3 were still USA, Japan and Germany. And USA was way ahead of Japan which had got closer to it some years back. The Japanese economy had faltered while USA continued to grow and that explained USA being so way ahead of the rest of the pack. India was not in the top ten!
https://data.worldbank.org/country/india states that India GDP in 2006 was:
920.32 Billion USD
2008
====
The 2007-08 USA and world financial crisis, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%932008, was the most fearsome and worrying set of events of my adult life. I was not really keeping in touch with financial and business information about India and the world, right from around 1993. But the 2007-08 crisis changed that! I watched on TV and read in The Hindu about top rated companies in the USA like Lehman Bros. going bankrupt. Big names like Citibank, AIG and Merrill-Lynch were all said to be in danger of following Lehman Bros.! This was unimaginable to me. I mean, these were the rock-solid pillars of world finance for most of my adult lifetime. How could these companies go bankrupt! What will happen if they do! How will Indian banks be impacted! And Oh! What then will happen to my bank and insurance (annuity) investments and the income from them which is what I was living on! My own financial stability was at risk!
I realized that if the USA financial crisis wrecks these top financial companies in the USA then the Indian financial system could go for a toss and I myself would get into financial trouble. So what happened to USA in this matter seemed to have a strong possibility of big impact on my life.
Therefore, after a break of over 15 years, I started reading up and viewing up (videos mainly on Internet but also some programs on TV), once again on financial stuff but this time more at a high-level of country financial stability, economy growth/recession etc. Thankfully, USA was able to ride out and recover from that financial crisis and recession over the future years.
[2008 GDP Data]
USA - 14715
Japan - 5030
China - 4583
Germany - 3748
France - 2915
UK - 2893
Italy - 2388
Brazil - 1692
Russia - 1661
Spain - 1633
China gets into 3rd position and quite close to 2nd position Japan! No European power in the top 3 GDP nations! India is still not in the top ten.
https://data.worldbank.org/country/india states that India GDP in 2008 was:
1187 Billion USD
2011
====
Sathya Sai passed away (bodily) in April 2011. This was a very big change-event in my life. I started blogging on a regular basis from September 2011. From middle of 2012, I became a fully home based person and social media writing, with some writing only to private email groups in the initial years, became my major work. Of course, such writing work involved and required a lot of reading and video viewing too. Prior to mid 2012, from Oct. 2002 to March 2012 I was offering free service in Prasanthi Nilayam ashram system. From mid-2012 that activity and involvement fully stopped. My life became an outside-ashram Puttaparthi life. And my small apartment flat became my individual and private ashram :-).
USA - 15406
China - 7274
Japan - 6065
Germany - 3869
France - 2817
UK - 2584
Brazil - 2534
Italy - 2246
Russia - 1933
India - 1789
China gets to 2nd position and shows healthy growth. Chinese GDP is slightly less than half of USA GDP. Japan also shows growth, even if it is slower than China, and Japan is now in 3rd position. In contrast, the big European powers of Germany, UK and France show very little growth. USA shows some growth. India appears on the top ten at the tenth place. After a long gap of many years, India makes it to top ten in 2010. The 2007-08 Financial Crisis has clearly hurt USA and West European economies whereas Asian giants of China, Japan and India have grown.
2017
====
Donald Trump, The Great Disruptor, is elected as President of the USA on campaign promise of making America great again, and a policy of America First. Trump accuses China and other countries of stealing the jobs and wealth of the USA but does not blame the Chinese and others for it, saying that USA political leaders in power failed the USA by allowing this to happen. [Note that I am choosing not to comment on whether Trump's accusation is true or false.] Trump promises to fix what he claims is unfair trade between USA and China (and other countries), using trade tariffs as a means to change it to fair trade.
USA - 19391
China - 12238
Japan - 4872
Germany - 3677
UK - 2622
India - 2597
France - 2583
Brazil - 2056
Italy - 1935
Canada - 1653
China GDP is now close to 2/3rds (63%) of USA GDP, moving up from less than 1/2 in 2011. So the gap between China and USA has significantly come down. In the late 1980s to mid 1990s Japan GDP had got similarly close to USA GDP but later the USA pulled away from Japan and Japan itself saw drastic shrinking of its GDP. Now, for the second time perhaps in history of post World War II era, USA, while still being the leader, is not way above the rest. China is catching up and catching up fast!
India moves to sixth position. From 1789 in 2011 it has gone to 2597 in 2017 showing an impressive 45% growth. But it is around half of a quarter (around 13%) of USA GDP, less than a quarter (around 21%) of China's GDP and slightly over half of Japan's GDP (around 53%).
Japan's GDP has shrunk alarmingly from 6065 in 2011 to 4872 in 2017. Germany, UK and France have marginally grown or shrunk.
1984 to 2017 comparison, order as per 2017 GDP descending
============================================
Interestingly, the top ten is the same in 1984 and 2017 as per my capture of the animation video data. Note that in the animation, the GDP figure for a country in a year changes as the animation is running. So it is using GDP figures at a more granular period than year, perhaps quarterly GDP figures.
USA - 3693 in 1984, 19391 in 2017, Growth: 5.2 times larger
China - 235 in 1984, 12238 in 2017, Growth: 52 times larger
Japan - 1253 in 1984, 4872 in 2017, Growth: 3.9 times larger
Germany - 762 in 1984, 3677 in 2017, Growth: 4.8 times larger
UK - 486 in 1984, 2622 in 2017, Growth: 5.4 times larger
India - 214 in 1984, 2597 in 2017, Growth: 12.1 times larger
France - 556 in 1984, 2583 in 2017, Growth: 4.6 times larger
Brazil - 204 in 1984, 2056 in 2017, Growth: 10 times larger
Italy - 441 in 1984, 1935 in 2017, Growth: 4.4 times larger
Canada - 343 in 1984, 1653 in 2017, Growth: 4.8 times larger
Countries that have grown fastest from the time I started working on a regular job in 1984 are:
China at 52 times, India at 12.1 times and Brazil at 10 times. Rest of the countries in the top ten have grown in the range of 3.9 to 5.4 times. These countries are USA, Japan, Germany, UK, France, Italy and Canada. Note that all these countries were viewed by me, as well as by many others I am quite sure, as advanced and developed countries in 1984. So one should not be too surprised that developing countries China, India and Brazil have the highest growth rates. That China has grown by an astonishing 52 times, over four times the growth rate of 2nd in growth rate, India, is an extraordinary outlier.
I felt it appropriate to add that I have visited and/or lived in USA, Japan, Germany, UK and Canada. I have had flight changes and so some hours stay in Rome airport (Italy) as well as in Paris airport (France) but have not entered into those countries outside these airports. But I have not visited either China or Brazil.
The article provides some observations, mainly about first the Japanese economic miracle followed by the Chinese economic miracle.
Some observations I made from my own personal life perspective after I started working in 1984, using data from the above animation, are given below. I have used milestone years in my life as I feel that's a good way to provide my personal life perspective of how the world changed (materially).
After some thought I decided to put up this post in this spiritual blog instead of my Miscellaneous blog. I have also shared some personal details as I felt it may help some spiritual-aspirant readers.
1984
=====
I started working in my first proper job from March 1984 in Bombay/Mumbai (my residence was in Dombivli on the outskirts of Bombay) when I was around 21 years, five months old. In 1984 (at some point in the animation) the GDP in Billions of USD was:
USA - 3693
Japan - 1253
Germany - 762
France - 556
UK - 486
Italy - 441
Canada - 343
China - 235
India - 214
Brazil - 204
The above data seems to largely match the rather vague perceptions that I think I had then of the top advanced and powerful nations of the world being USA, Japan and Germany, with USA being the top country. But I am quite sure that I would have thought then that USSR would be in the top ten list. What I don't think I would have known then was that USA was so way ahead of the pack, with its GDP being almost 3 times bigger than 2nd placed Japan, almost 5 times bigger than 3rd placed Germany, slightly over 6.5 times bigger than 4th placed France and slightly over 7.5 times bigger than 5th placed UK.
But I don't think I would have been surprised to know that USA's GDP was over 17 times bigger than India's then.
China was not considered advanced and rich then. So I am not surprised to see that its GDP was only marginally higher than India then.
France, UK and other European countries were rich and powerful countries but not perceived as the top countries. The above GDP figures match that perception I had then.
1991
====
The lowest economic point that I felt India had got to in my adult lifetime so far was in 1991. For more see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Indian_economic_crisis. I clearly recall the despair that I felt when I was living in Bombay then (with most of my software industry friends having chosen to settle abroad - USA, Europe and Australia). I was living then in Bombay in company provided flat and later in a rented flat.
USA - 6145
Japan - 3518
Germany - 1848
France - 1269
Italy - 1232
UK - 1135
Canada - 608
Brazil - 582
Spain - 570
Russia - 518
Not surprisingly, India is not shown in the top ten in the chart in 1991. Nor is China shown. USSR dissolution happened in 1991. Russia appears as the tenth largest GDP country.
USA GDP is now less than twice the size of Japan GDP. So Japan has got closer to USA. The top three continue to be USA, Japan and Germany.
https://data.worldbank.org/country/india states that India GDP in 1991 was:
266.5 Billion USD.
1993
====
It was sometime in 1993 that I decided to make spirituality the key focus of my life, and as I also had to care for my mother (as an unmarried guy), I decided to work part-time with part-time focus on mother care and (other) spiritual efforts/activities. That resulted in me not paying much attention to world business scenario. So I stopped reading business newspapers in India like Economic Times (India), international business magazines as well as general international magazines like Time and Newsweek. My exposure to such info. would be limited largely to Times of India's coverage of it as that was my daily newspaper. I also saw very limited Television (no TV at home out of choice). Note that I moved back to Dombivli from Bombay around this time.
USA - 6866
Japan - 4434
Germany - 2071
France - 1326
Italy - 1071
UK - 1066
Canada - 578
Spain - 528
Mexico - 501
China- 444
So China enters again into top ten. India is still out of it.
https://data.worldbank.org/country/india states that India GDP in 1993 was:
275.57 Billion USD
1999
====
My mother passed away in early 1999. [My father had passed away in 1978 when I was 16 years old, around 10 days before my S.S.C (10th Std.) Board exam.] A few months after my mother passed away, I started living with my elder brother and family (in Dombivli). Note that I had bought a small flat in Dombivli perhaps around 1994 where mother and I had lived. I also increased my work hours per month to almost full time but continued to be a consultant (and not an employee). I did not have much savings with me at the time my mother passed away as I was working part-time and had to bear quite a lot of expenses towards mother's care at home and in the hospital. So a few months after my mother passed away, I focused on saving money and planning for early retirement for a simple, single spiritual aspirant life. The target was to retire from commercial work before I turned 40 (in 2002).
I started watching TV (my elder brother's house had the typical cable TV connection) and also did some reading of business stuff but not extensive.
USA - 9547
Japan - 4457
Germany - 2209
UK - 1660
France - 1495
Italy - 1252
China - 1081
Canada - 667
Spain - 630
Mexico - 568
Top 3 are still USA, Japan and Germany. China has made it to 7th place now! India is still not in top ten.
https://data.worldbank.org/country/india states that India GDP in 1999 was:
452.7 Billion USD
2002
====
I retired from commercial work at the end of Aug. 2002 and embarked on my single, simple, spiritual aspirant adventure in early Oct. 2002 by coming to Puttaparthi and exploring whether it was the right place for me for my spiritual aspirant adventure. Things worked out eventually and I settled down in Puttaparthi.
USA - 10852
Japan - 4182
Germany - 2034
UK - 1717
France - 1452
China - 1424
Italy - 1230
Mexico - 767
Canada - 750
Spain - 677
USA GDP has crossed ten trillion dollars! Top 3 are still USA, Japan and Germany. China has taken the 6th spot and is very close to France's GDP. For the first time since European domination over most of Asia in the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, Chinese GDP has come so close to one of the aforementioned dominant European powers! India is still not in the top ten.
https://data.worldbank.org/country/india states that India GDP in 2002 was:
508 Billion USD
2006
====
Initially in Puttaparthi from Oct. 2002, I was living in a small rented one room kind-of apartment as I felt that would be appropriate for my spiritual aspirant semi-sannyasi (semi-monk) :-) lifestyle. But the health problems that I had forced me to come to the realization that I do not have the sturdy physique to lead a sannyasi lifestyle - I was a soft white collar person with health issues. So I entered into an agreement to purchase a small flat in an under-construction building in Aug. 2005 with initial payment made in Aug. 2005 followed by part payments over the next months as the flat got ready. The final payment was made in March 2006 and the flat sale deed from builder to purchaser (me) was also registered with the authorities in March 2006. I am quite sure that I moved into this Puttaparthi flat sometime in 2006, maybe a month or two after the flat sale (to me) deed registration. Note that before 2005 (perhaps sometime in 2003), I had sold the small flat that I had owned in Dombivli (Maharashtra).
This small flat purchase and moving into this small flat was a significant event in my spiritual aspirant in Puttaparthi life. Slowly I started adding some stuff to the flat including a computer, a telephone line and then started using a dial-up kind of Internet connection - I think it was called CLI or something like that. I also purchased the first Chinese made and branded home appliance - a small refrigerator from Haier - that I think I have ever bought! I may have bought some small Chinese branded devices but not a home appliance. I recall, perhaps sometime later, buying a JXD 951 device from an Internet store, which is a Chinese company's media player device but I wanted to use it as an inexpensive and portable ebook reader. Later when I moved to a BSNL broadband connection, the modem device I got from BSNL was a Chinese branded device - Huawei, if I recall correctly.
Prior to moving to Puttaparthi in 2002, I don't think I ever bought a Chinese made and branded device. Sure I could have bought devices which were branded as Indian or Japanese or Korean or US ones but which had Chinese made components in it. But then that was not exposed to me unless I dug deeper.
It is in Puttaparthi in the 2000s that I first experienced the availability and the popularity of inexpensive Chinese goods - electronic devices, home appliances and other gadgets. Some of them did carry a negative taint of unreliability and not having any warranty. But they were really affordable and so many people in Puttaparthi were happy to buy them. I personally have not owned a Chinese branded mobile phone (though my mobile phones may have had Chinese manufactured components in them or could even have been assembled in China; in the 2000s I had European (Nokia) company branded and sold mobile phones). However, local Puttaparthi people may have started (in the 2000s) using Chinese branded mobile phones as they were significantly cheaper than other Indian or European branded ones. [Today in 2018, Puttaparthi local people ***heavily*** use Chinese branded mobile phones.]
So I could see Chinese manufacturing clout in Puttaparthi itself through the Chinese products that were sold in Puttaparthi.
I should also mention that I could see the improved manufacturing clout of other Asian nations like Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea as well as India itself, through products available in Puttaparthi and that I bought over the Internet. E.g. TV (LG, Korea), Computer LCD monitors (Samsung, Korea), Computer Motherboards (Asus, Taiwan), Computer Hard drives - Seagate but made in Malaysia written clearly on it etc - all of these are goods that I bought. Many electrical items that I bought - fans, tubelight, geyser etc were - Indian company manufactured. Of course, Japanese goods e.g. Sony at top end of consumer electronics, were very much available in Puttaparthi. I did not buy them as they were too expensive for me (as a retired ceiling on desires guy).
[2006 GDP Data]
USA - 13752
Japan - 4561
Germany - 2983
China - 2689
UK - 2669
France - 2302
Italy - 1930
Canada - 1295
Spain - 1250
Brazil - 1088
China had moved to 4th place and gone ahead of the big European powers of 19th and 20th century - UK and France! Top 3 were still USA, Japan and Germany. And USA was way ahead of Japan which had got closer to it some years back. The Japanese economy had faltered while USA continued to grow and that explained USA being so way ahead of the rest of the pack. India was not in the top ten!
https://data.worldbank.org/country/india states that India GDP in 2006 was:
920.32 Billion USD
2008
====
The 2007-08 USA and world financial crisis, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%932008, was the most fearsome and worrying set of events of my adult life. I was not really keeping in touch with financial and business information about India and the world, right from around 1993. But the 2007-08 crisis changed that! I watched on TV and read in The Hindu about top rated companies in the USA like Lehman Bros. going bankrupt. Big names like Citibank, AIG and Merrill-Lynch were all said to be in danger of following Lehman Bros.! This was unimaginable to me. I mean, these were the rock-solid pillars of world finance for most of my adult lifetime. How could these companies go bankrupt! What will happen if they do! How will Indian banks be impacted! And Oh! What then will happen to my bank and insurance (annuity) investments and the income from them which is what I was living on! My own financial stability was at risk!
I realized that if the USA financial crisis wrecks these top financial companies in the USA then the Indian financial system could go for a toss and I myself would get into financial trouble. So what happened to USA in this matter seemed to have a strong possibility of big impact on my life.
Therefore, after a break of over 15 years, I started reading up and viewing up (videos mainly on Internet but also some programs on TV), once again on financial stuff but this time more at a high-level of country financial stability, economy growth/recession etc. Thankfully, USA was able to ride out and recover from that financial crisis and recession over the future years.
[2008 GDP Data]
USA - 14715
Japan - 5030
China - 4583
Germany - 3748
France - 2915
UK - 2893
Italy - 2388
Brazil - 1692
Russia - 1661
Spain - 1633
China gets into 3rd position and quite close to 2nd position Japan! No European power in the top 3 GDP nations! India is still not in the top ten.
https://data.worldbank.org/country/india states that India GDP in 2008 was:
1187 Billion USD
2011
====
Sathya Sai passed away (bodily) in April 2011. This was a very big change-event in my life. I started blogging on a regular basis from September 2011. From middle of 2012, I became a fully home based person and social media writing, with some writing only to private email groups in the initial years, became my major work. Of course, such writing work involved and required a lot of reading and video viewing too. Prior to mid 2012, from Oct. 2002 to March 2012 I was offering free service in Prasanthi Nilayam ashram system. From mid-2012 that activity and involvement fully stopped. My life became an outside-ashram Puttaparthi life. And my small apartment flat became my individual and private ashram :-).
USA - 15406
China - 7274
Japan - 6065
Germany - 3869
France - 2817
UK - 2584
Brazil - 2534
Italy - 2246
Russia - 1933
India - 1789
China gets to 2nd position and shows healthy growth. Chinese GDP is slightly less than half of USA GDP. Japan also shows growth, even if it is slower than China, and Japan is now in 3rd position. In contrast, the big European powers of Germany, UK and France show very little growth. USA shows some growth. India appears on the top ten at the tenth place. After a long gap of many years, India makes it to top ten in 2010. The 2007-08 Financial Crisis has clearly hurt USA and West European economies whereas Asian giants of China, Japan and India have grown.
2017
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Donald Trump, The Great Disruptor, is elected as President of the USA on campaign promise of making America great again, and a policy of America First. Trump accuses China and other countries of stealing the jobs and wealth of the USA but does not blame the Chinese and others for it, saying that USA political leaders in power failed the USA by allowing this to happen. [Note that I am choosing not to comment on whether Trump's accusation is true or false.] Trump promises to fix what he claims is unfair trade between USA and China (and other countries), using trade tariffs as a means to change it to fair trade.
USA - 19391
China - 12238
Japan - 4872
Germany - 3677
UK - 2622
India - 2597
France - 2583
Brazil - 2056
Italy - 1935
Canada - 1653
China GDP is now close to 2/3rds (63%) of USA GDP, moving up from less than 1/2 in 2011. So the gap between China and USA has significantly come down. In the late 1980s to mid 1990s Japan GDP had got similarly close to USA GDP but later the USA pulled away from Japan and Japan itself saw drastic shrinking of its GDP. Now, for the second time perhaps in history of post World War II era, USA, while still being the leader, is not way above the rest. China is catching up and catching up fast!
India moves to sixth position. From 1789 in 2011 it has gone to 2597 in 2017 showing an impressive 45% growth. But it is around half of a quarter (around 13%) of USA GDP, less than a quarter (around 21%) of China's GDP and slightly over half of Japan's GDP (around 53%).
Japan's GDP has shrunk alarmingly from 6065 in 2011 to 4872 in 2017. Germany, UK and France have marginally grown or shrunk.
1984 to 2017 comparison, order as per 2017 GDP descending
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Interestingly, the top ten is the same in 1984 and 2017 as per my capture of the animation video data. Note that in the animation, the GDP figure for a country in a year changes as the animation is running. So it is using GDP figures at a more granular period than year, perhaps quarterly GDP figures.
USA - 3693 in 1984, 19391 in 2017, Growth: 5.2 times larger
China - 235 in 1984, 12238 in 2017, Growth: 52 times larger
Japan - 1253 in 1984, 4872 in 2017, Growth: 3.9 times larger
Germany - 762 in 1984, 3677 in 2017, Growth: 4.8 times larger
UK - 486 in 1984, 2622 in 2017, Growth: 5.4 times larger
India - 214 in 1984, 2597 in 2017, Growth: 12.1 times larger
France - 556 in 1984, 2583 in 2017, Growth: 4.6 times larger
Brazil - 204 in 1984, 2056 in 2017, Growth: 10 times larger
Italy - 441 in 1984, 1935 in 2017, Growth: 4.4 times larger
Canada - 343 in 1984, 1653 in 2017, Growth: 4.8 times larger
Countries that have grown fastest from the time I started working on a regular job in 1984 are:
China at 52 times, India at 12.1 times and Brazil at 10 times. Rest of the countries in the top ten have grown in the range of 3.9 to 5.4 times. These countries are USA, Japan, Germany, UK, France, Italy and Canada. Note that all these countries were viewed by me, as well as by many others I am quite sure, as advanced and developed countries in 1984. So one should not be too surprised that developing countries China, India and Brazil have the highest growth rates. That China has grown by an astonishing 52 times, over four times the growth rate of 2nd in growth rate, India, is an extraordinary outlier.
I felt it appropriate to add that I have visited and/or lived in USA, Japan, Germany, UK and Canada. I have had flight changes and so some hours stay in Rome airport (Italy) as well as in Paris airport (France) but have not entered into those countries outside these airports. But I have not visited either China or Brazil.
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