Will Shanghai take over Chicago as the next alpha world city?

[coldwine]

Shanghai may join the list of alpha world cities. The determination of ranking is based on qualities, not comparisons; whether a city offers such things is what makes it an "alpha", "beta" etc.

My feeling with Shanghai is that there have been repeated failures over the past hundred years or so on behalf of the Chinese government to make it into an alpha city. Most recently, it was the outrageous bribery and bureaucratic setbacks that cost Shanghai its place among the elite world cities. This appears to have continued to be a problem, very much so today.

My other deeply held suspicion regarding China at large, not simply Shanghai, is the highly questionable veracity of information that is published. I don't really believe that China reports "true" growth figures regarding its economy, and I certainly don't trust any other figures being published.

Last but not least, Shanghai will never develop if Chinese currency is always pegged to the dollar's value. It allows for exports to remain cheap, but it does come with a very real price. These economic ramifications cannot be ignored, whatever the Chinese government may be saying otherwise.