Oh to be a politician in China.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...DodR_blog.html
There’s been a lot written about how the U.S. Congress is dominated by the rich. But Bloomberg reports that we’ve got nothing on China, where the National People’s Congress is teeming with billionaires:

The wealthiest member of the U.S. Congress is Representative Darrell Issa, the California Republican who had a maximum wealth of $700.9 million in 2010, according to the center. If he were in China’s NPC, he would be ranked 40th. Per capita income in China is about one-sixth the U.S. level when adjusted for differences in purchasing power.

Also: “The richest 70 members of China’s legislature added more to their wealth last year than the combined net worth of all 535 members of the U.S. Congress, the president and his Cabinet, and the nine Supreme Court justices.” One theory for the disparity is that billionaires in the U.S. don’t need to run for office to influence public policy — it’s easier to just start a Super PAC.