EIJING (AP) -- China announced a $586 billion stimulus package Sunday in its biggest move to stop the global financial crisis from hitting the world's fourth-largest economy. A statement on the government's Web site said China's Cabinet had approved a plan to invest the amount in infrastructure and social welfare by the end of 2010. Some of the money will come from the private sector. The statement did not say how much of the spending is on new projects and how much is for ventures already in the pipeline that will be speeded up.
A statement on the government's Web site said China's Cabinet had approved a plan to invest the amount in infrastructure and social welfare by the end of 2010.
Some of the money will come from the private sector. The statement did not say how much of the spending is on new projects and how much is for ventures already in the pipeline that will be speeded up.
This is good to see. The Chinese need to get out ahead of this, because they are going to be on the receiving end of a pretty brutal cyclical downturn in the next few years. A pseudo-Keynesian policy of this sort will help keep the social consequences of this to a minimum, which will reduce the appeal of extreme nationalism as an ideology to bind the country together. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
