In 2013, the real GDP per capita (a measure of standard of living) of China was $6,187 and in the US it was $53,042. Thus China’s real GDP per capita is approximately 12.8% of U.S. real GDP per capita. If Chinese per capita GDP grows at an average of 7%, and U.S. does it at 2%, how many years will it take for China to catch up with the United States?
[HINT: The easiest way to do this is to calculate how many “doublings” are needed to catch up, and then use the relative rate of growth and the rule of 70 to find the solution ]