Elon predicted friday that the Chinese economy will be twice or thrice larger than the American economy. He stated this during a fireside chat with U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. John Thompson at the Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida.
The foundation of war is economics, Musk said. If you have half the resources of the counterparty then you better be real innovative, if you’re not innovative, you’re going to lose.
The two nations already are the world’s two largest economies. The U.S. dominates with $21.44 trillion in nominal GDP and makes up one-fourth of the world economy. China, however, is the fastest-growing trillion-dollar economy with GDP of $14.14 trillion, according to the Nasdaq.
Because China’s population is about four times larger than the United States, Musk said it would lower the barrier for China to surpass in economic size. The United States has roughly 330 million people, according to the U.S. Census, while China has more than 1.3 billion people.
“It would only require getting to a GDP per capita half the size the United States for their economy to be twice the size of ours,” Musk said.
China overtaking the American economy would likely cause increased tension between the two countries, which are already at odds on issues such as trade and 5G technology.