UNITED STATES President Joe Biden has been peddling bullish views of the US economy, which he claimed could grow “faster than the Chinese economy this year,” the first time since 1976. But some Chinese observers pointed out that his rhetoric is false, based on the manipulation of “nominal GDP,” which has been largely driven up by runaway US inflation.
A deeper examination of real US gross domestic product (GDP) growth shows that the gap between Chinese and US economic expansion will likely reach more than 1 percentage points this year, with the US facing multiple downward pressure including elevated prices, supply chain problems, widening income gaps and a looming recession.
Biden’s “fabrication” of US economic data also laid bare Washington’s lack of strategic confidence in its perceived competition with China, which — in contrast to the US’ lackluster economy — is on a firm…