Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar wanted to have men about him who were fat

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar wanted to have men about him who were fat because lean and hungry men were dangerous. If the same principle applies in international relations, this week’s news that China has overtaken the world’s second-largest economy, Japan, in terms of nominal gross domestic product should be welcome to the rest of the world. Yet nominal GDP is unfortunately a poor guide to what constitutes a satisfied, unthreatening state. Per capita income is a better, if imperfect, pointer. And since China’s per capita income of $3,678 is still less than a 10th of Japan’s, Caesar would have drawn little comfort from this watershed, given that China clearly remains a very poor country despite its spectacular recent growth rate.

莎翁(Shakespeare)笔下的凯撒大帝(Julius Caesar)希望自己周围都是膘肥体胖的人，因为精瘦、饥饿的人比较危险。如果该准则同样适用于国际关系，那么，世界其它各国应该会对上周的一则消息表示欢迎：即，按名义国内生产总值(GDP)计算，中国已经超过日本，成为世界第二大经济体。不过，遗憾的是，名义GDP并不能很好地反映出一个自在满足、对外无威胁国家的内部实情。人均收入是一个相对更好的指标——尽管可能并非完美。所以，鉴于中国3678美元的人均收入尚不到日本的十分之一，上述转折点可能不会给凯撒带来多少安慰，因为尽管中国近年的增长速度惊人，但它显然仍是一个很穷的国家。