[T-A]

In purchasing power parity terms, a glance at Wikipedia yields

China: $43.491 trillion [1]

USA: $31.821 trillion [2]

EU: $30.184 trillion [3]

UK: $4.59 trillion [4]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_China

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_European_Union

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_Kingdom

[graemep]

Now compare that to the same numbers from 40 years ago.

Then do the same with nominal GDP which is a better measure for this IMO as you cannot buy anything in global markets at PPP.

[T-A]

> Now compare that to the same numbers from 40 years ago.

That turns out to be easier than I thought thanks to [1]. In 1986 it looked like this (PPP, million USD):

China: 647,219

USA: 4,579,625

EU ex UK: 4,368,019

UK: 805,518

EU total: 5,173,537 [2]

The big standout is obviously China's rise since then.

> Then do the same with nominal GDP which is a better measure for this IMO as you cannot buy anything in global markets at PPP.

I disagree; we are comparing three global powers which would be quite capable of satisfying their needs internally if need be. Feel free to post your own calculations if you want, but be careful with dates and exchange rates; the USD index is down about 9% over the past year.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_past_and_...

[2] In 1986, the EU had 12 members: Belgium (161,613), Denmark (100,996), France (866,333), West Germany (1,319,247), Greece (120,566), Ireland (40,169), Italy (953,257), Luxembourg (10,542), Netherlands (246,164), Portugal (92,824), Spain (456,308) and UK (805,518):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_enlargement_of_the_Europe...