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McKinsey Quarterly is the business journal of McKinsey & Company.

featured Public Sector, Economic Policy article, consumer paradigm China

August 2009 

A consumer paradigm for China

A more consumer-centric economy would allocate capital and resources more efficiently, generate more jobs, and spread the benefits of growth more equitably. It would also even grow more rapidly.

Recent Thinking

The Archive

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

  • December 2004 

    China and India: The race to growth

    The world’s two biggest developing countries are taking different paths to economic prosperity. Which is the better one?

  • December 2004 

    The aging of China

    In ten years, the country’s demographics will probably look very different. How should the government and business respond?

  • December 2004 

    The landlocked continent

    Europe's land-use policies limit productivity. Changing them could create jobs and boost competition.

  • November 2004 

    How Germany can win from offshoring

    Offshoring could create new wealth for Germany, but only if it adopts the structural reforms needed to reemploy its displaced workers.

  • August 2004 

    Broadening Indonesia’s reform agenda

    Investors are returning to the country, but will they remain?

  • August 2004 

    Helping Britons work smarter

    UK workers aren’t as productive as their counterparts in other leading developed nations. It will take more than innovation to close the gap.

  • August 2004 

    Making Portugal competitive

    By dismantling domestic barriers to productivity growth, the country could rise to a new level of economic development.

  • August 2004 

    Poland's investment challenge

    The country has a deep pool of educated workers and is close to the markets of Western Europe, but to attract foreign companies it must bring its PR efforts and bureaucracy up to speed.

  • August 2004 

    What makes a city a financial hub?

    Up-and-coming cities in Asia and Eastern Europe are eager to know how to attract multinational financial-services companies.

  • July 2004 

    A richer future for India

    Two industries have shown what can be achieved when the country opens itself up to the world. Now the rest of the economy should follow suit.

  • July 2004 

    China tackles urban planning

    In an effort to spur the local economy, the government of Wuhan has joined with a private investor to develop a new central business district.

  • July 2004 

    Freeing India's textile industry

    The country’s government holds the key to helping its apparel manufacturers compete in the global market.

  • May 2004 

    The power of productivity

    Poor countries should put their consumers first.

  • February 2004 

    Integrating Southeast Asia's economies

    The region is falling behind its rivals. Turning it into a true single market would boost its competitiveness and help restore its economic luster.

  • February 2004 

    The truth about foreign direct investment in emerging markets

    Developing countries think they must not only offer incentives to attract foreign direct investment but also protect their local economies by restricting the way multinationals operate. Are these countries wrong on both counts?

2003

  • December 2003 

    Securing Hong Kong's future

    The current economic downturn isn’t wholly responsible for Hong Kong’s woes. Fortunately, solutions are well within reach.

  • February 2003 

    Reviving French and German productivity

    Differences in IT spending are not the root cause of the gap between US and European productivity. Europe's basic problem is inappropriate regulation that hinders innovation.

2002

  • August 2002 

    What Germans really think

    The people are ready for change and for the tough decisions needed to push the economy. Their leaders now have a chance to engage them in a serious dialogue about economic reform and revival.

  • May 2002 

    Micro lessons for Argentina

    In Latin America, macroeconomic reform isn’t enough: sustained growth can be achieved only by removing microeconomic barriers to productivity as well.

  • February 2002 

    Retail: The Wal-Mart effect

    Information technology isn’t the whole story behind productivity.

2001

  • May 2001 

    Banking on US Social Security

    Private Social Security accounts will challenge financial institutions, but the opportunity is huge—and may be replicable in other countries as they reform their retirement systems.

  • May 2001 

    In defense of the US current-account deficit

    Technological change generated both prosperity and the trade gap. Neither its continuation nor its decline would be likely to have catastrophic effects.

2000

  • December 2000 

    Reviving Japan’s economy

    Today’s woeful economic performance is not so much a reversal of fortune as a revelation of the hollowness of Japan’s success in the 1980s.

  • June 2000 

    Hungary for reinvestment

    In a study of investments in Hungary made by 38 foreign companies, McKinsey found many of these businesses ready to reinvest there, at least under a sympathetic government.

  • June 2000 

    Sustaining Poland’s hard-won prosperity

    If deregulation, privatization, and openness to outside investment continue—and the government steers clear of regulatory traps—Poland will continue to show that economic “shock therapy” can create a flourishing economy.

  • February 2000 

    Reflections on Russia

    Russia privatized its economy but failed to transform it. Most of the old businesses are bad. Most of the new ones are little better. What is to be done?

  • February 2000 

    The Bay leads the way

    The San Francisco Bay area, including Silicon Valley, has completed the transformation from an industrial economy into a predominantly knowledge-based one that ranks among the most productive in the world.

1998

  • November 1998 

    Restructuring South Korea’s chaebol

    The chaebol played a pivotal role in the country’s past economic success. But they are also partly responsible for its current plight. Family owners must now focus on value, not growth, and invite foreign investors onto the board.

1995

  • November 1995 

    Sweden: The enemy is within

    Why has GDP growth fallen? Because 75 percent of its economy—mostly services—is protected. But not trucks, software, and banking, which are world class.

  • February 1995 

    Getting telecoms privatization right

    Governments have no choice, but will they get it right? How not to wipe out 10 to 50 percent of value. Not ownership, but the trade-offs among availability, costs, and quality.

1994

1993

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