Middle income trap for China and other newly emerging East Asian economies?

Comments on Peter Drysdale "Will Asia’s growth fizzle out?" 1/06/2015

It is interesting to note that there is a strong regional difference in terms of transition from middle to high income, namely Latin America and East Asia. There is a cluster of countries of successful transition in East Asia, while many Latin American countries fell into the so called middle income trap.

What that reflects is the similarities of some of the key components conducive to economic growth shared by and within a region.

China’s prospect of completing such a successful transition appears to be stronger, given its geographical location in East Asia.

While the absolute level quality of China’s institutions may be low and it is a fact that it is a authoritarian state, continued reforms in China are likely to enable its successful transition from a middle to a high income country.