Small-Government Communists

China's leaders have discovered a mysterious connection between Communism and bureaucracy:

China now has 46 million government bureaucrats, new statistics revealed yesterday, a number almost as great as the entire population of England.
While the country is used to outdoing the rest of the world for sheer numbers, the explosion in officialdom is alarming its ruling Communist Party.

Whole thing here

Via Club for Growth

Comments

[gaius marius]

china bureaucrats: 46m
china population: 1300m
china % bureaucrats: 3.5%

american bureaucrats: 22m (est Feb 2005)
american population: 295m
american % bureaucrats: 7.5%

an obvious case of chinese buraucracy run wild and suffocating their society, as compared with the deregulated freemarkets of the west.

[SPD]

You're right, gm... we need to start reproducing faster. Let the "Baby Race" begin!

[Eric II]

american bureaucrats: 22m

Though I'd be the first to argue that America has far too many bureaucrats for its own good, The statistics you pulled up listed the total number of government employees at 22.1 million. Between police officers, firemen, military personnel, post office workers, etc., non-bureaucrats undoubtedly make up a substantial portion of that number.

Coincidentally, I remember reading somewhere that the size of India's bureaucracy happens to be 22 million.

[Gary Gunnels]

Eric II,

Yeah, we'd need to know what the article means by bureaucrats.

[R C Dean]

In a Communist country, isn't everyone a government "employee"?

[jeffiek]

american bureaucrats: 22m (est Feb 2005)
american population: 295m
american % bureaucrats: 7.5%

That's % of total population. As a % of working age adults ( I presume the government isn't employing children ) it's closer to 10%.
And as a % of those employed it's around 20%.

[Gary Gunnels]

R.C. Dean,

Depends on the "Communist" country.

[Twba]

Judging by my taxes, I work for the government almost half of each year.

[Naming Names]

I think it's time to retire the term "Communist China". There is very little resemblance between China and Communism these days. How about "Authoritarian China"? Of course, that was the more accurate name for Taiwan just a generation ago.

[Matt]

China invented bureaucracy...it should be no surprise to anyone (and _certainly_ not to the Chinese themselves) that they have an unfathomable amount of it...especially in these doubtful-about-communism-but-still-in-love-with-absolute-government days.