Where Are the Bureaucrats?

A question for today. Which country has the most bureaucrats and functionaries, per capita: the United States or Communist China? And how do they all rate next to great European democracies like France and Germany?

Tyler Cowen quotes from a new book by Nicholas Lardy (via Maggie’s Farm):

…the size of the Chinese government and party bureaucracy is surprisingly modest…In this respect, the Chinese communist Party is similar to previous Chinese dynasties as far back as the Han, which ruled the vast Chinese empire with a modestly sized civil service.

…China has only 31 government and party employees per thousand residents.  The number of civil servants per thousand residents in France is 95, in the United States, 75, and in Germany 53.

Cowen wants us to note that this number does not include state-owned enterprises. He says that they are significant, but shrinking in size.

We should also note that the number from China also includes employees of the Communist Party. Numbers from democratic Western nations do not include party members.

So, anytime asks you which nation has the most bureaucrats, you will know that France, the United States and Germany have far more per capita than Communist China.

A fact worth noting.