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What is wrong with China's economy?There are plenty of things wrong with every country’s economy, so I think the question should be readdressed to “What are the challenges facing China’s economy?”Quantitative historical analysis, in particular the so-called Kondratiev wave, which traces 40- to 60-year economic-growth cycles, reveals that complex human societies are affected by recurrent — and predictable — waves of economic and political instability. For example, in the United States you see stagnating or declining real wages, a growing gap between rich and poor, overproduction of young graduates with advanced degrees, and exploding public debt and these seemingly disparate social indicators are actually related to each other dynamically. These are often turning points. Historically, such developments have served as leading indicators of looming political instability in many countries. China has been developing since its rebirth as the PRC in 1949, and despite initial hiccups , has had a very good run for the past 40 years. However, there are problems arising on the horizon, as it normally does. It now faces tremendous challenges such as fostering innovation, dealing with an ageing problem and coping with a less accommodative global environment.Does China have enough talent and right policy and institutional mix to transit from input-driven to innovation-driven economy? What does ageing mean, in terms of labour supply, consumption demand and social welfare expenditure? Can China contain the environmental and climate change risks? How should the financial system be transformed in order to continuously support economic growth and keep financial risks under control? What fiscal reforms are required in order to balance between economic efficiency and social harmony? What roles should the state-owned enterprises play in the future Chinese economy? In addition, how will technological competition between the United States and China affect each country’s development? Will the Chinese yuan emerge as a major reserve currency, and would this destabilize the international financial system? What will be China’s role in the international economic institutions? And will the United States and other established powers accept a growing role for China and the rest of the developing world in the governance of global institutions such as the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund, or will the world devolve into competing blocs?In the 1950s, the urban industrialisation strategy with the socialist transformation program gave an uneven pace of economic development, sometimes decent, sometimes rapid and the central planning was largely unsuccessful in boosting income levels during that time. But with the 1978 reform, real GDP grew by an average of more than 9.8% from 1978-2008. The free market economy increased allocative efficiency and better use of resources. Adoption of a household farming system in the countryside in the early 1980s, for instance, led to immediate jumps of grain output, as the new scheme helped establish a direct link between efforts and rewards. Again, migration of rural surplus labour to urban areas both raised average labour productivity and supported expansion of industrial production. Coupled with an open door policy and integration of the Chinese economy into the world by 2001, accelerating its domestic structural reforms. Together with favourable demographics, high saving and investment rates, macroeconomic and financial stability, and economic foundations built during the pre-reform period, the country had two waves of improvement, the first wave due to economic reform and the second due to WTO accession. The high savings rate led to high investment rate, leading to capital accumulation and technological progress.The share of the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in total industrial output dropped from 80% at the start of the reform to 20% in recent years although SOEs still dominate in many important economic areas, particularly in some service sectors and upstream industries. Again, the government still intervenes heavily in almost all aspects of the financial system, including interest rates, exchange rate, fund allocation, and cross-border capital flows. Among 130 economies with available data in 2015, China’s financial repression index — or degree of government intervention in the financial sector — ranked 14th. Although scholars criticize some of these policy distortions for causing significant inefficiency and increasing risks, it wasn’t easy to dismantle the central planning system and privatized the SOEs at the very start of reform. Such a reform strategy often caused the initial collapse of output and even social instability, because an economy cannot jump to the market system over night. Market mechanisms take years to develop. In contrast, China implemented the so-called “dualtrack” gradual reform strategy, i.e. the government continued to support the SOEs while creating more favorable conditions on the margin for non-SOEs to expand. This approach could suffer from potential efficiency losses, because SOEs are generally less efficient, but it ensured economic and social stability during the transition period.This “dual-track” reform strategy led to the unique phenomenon of “asymmetric liberalization” between product and factor markets in China: The government almost completely liberalized the product markets, where prices are freely determined by demand and supply. In markets for production factors such as capital, land, and energy, government interventions remain widespread and heavy. Such interventions are actually effective ways of supporting the relatively less efficient SOEs, at least in the initial period. On the one hand, all government interventions have both positive effects and negative effects, and decisions on policy reform should be determined by cost-benefit analyses. A lot of the earlier policy distortions were results of the “dualtrack” reform strategy, the main purpose of which was to ensure smooth transition of the economy. Were China to liberalize its financial system completely in 1978, it would, most likely, have already suffered from a number of financial crises in the decades that followed.During the 40 years between 1978 and 2018, the Chinese economic system converged steadily to the free market regime — although paces of such convergence varied in time, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. Because the cost-benefit dynamism of policy distortion changes over time, the government has to formulate timely and flexible policy responses. The latest development suggests that policy distortions in favour of the SOEs are now imposing very high costs on the economy. These imply that further SOE reform and financial liberalization should be both urgent and desirable. Before 2008, the Chinese economy sustained rapid economic growth, and maintained basic financial stability but suffered from serious structural imbalances. After 2008, the economy was hit by persistent growth slowdown, and witnessed rising systemic financial risks but also experienced important structural rebalancing.Now rural surplus labour is almost exhausted and per capita GDP is already close to the high-income level, China has to rely on industrial upgrading to continue economic growth. This is the so-called “middle-income challenge.” As China already lost its low-cost advantage, both the proportion of exports to GDP and the share of industry in GDP are already on the decline. The growth model has to switch from input-driven to innovation-driven. And the key question is: Can China innovate? This requires accumulation of human capital especially in STEM subjects. Also a change in emphasis in financial services to suit innovation support rather than just manufacturing. Then intellectual property rights and an appropriate industrial policy.The working age population could shrink by about 170 million from 2019 to 2049 so there has to be a serious effort to adopt artificial intelligence to cope with declining labour supply. AI is estimated to potentially substitute for about 280 million workers running through three decades. And urbanisation has to increase to developed nations levels for consumption demand. The third problem is the de-globalisation effort since the 2008 financial crisis. And of course we need to mention the trade wars. Also the problem of the environmental changes with climate and possible disruptions together with pollution causing a change in emphasis to green energy which will slow the GDP growth. China has to continue improving productivity in order to attain even the projected lower rates of economic growth. This is why the government is shifting its policy focus from demand-side counter-cyclical measures to supply-side structural reforms.Within the field of economics there is the problem of non-replicability. It is impossible to precisely recreate market conditions or predict an outcome based on how markets have behaved in the past under similar circumstances. The economic problem can be divided into three different parts, which are a) the problem of allocation of resources, b) the problem of full employment of resources and c) the problem of economic growth. And then, there are another set of basic economic considerations which arise from the central problem of how to allocate scarce resources. Society must now choose what to produce, how to produce and for whom to produce and what provisions (if any) are to be made for economic growth?China’s economy struggled with slowing growth throughout 2019 and touched the slowest pace of expansion in nearly three decades in the third quarter. A prolonged trade war with the United States took a toll on momentum and sent jitters to the world economy. Disagreements emerged on the fundamental factors causing China’s economic slowdown — whether it reflects long-term structural issues such demographic changes or short-term risks such as the trade frictions — and the scale of stimulus that should be taken to counter the cooling. “The key issue facing China’s economy is structural problems which restrain macro control policies from taking effect,” said Zhu Baoliang, chief analyst with the government-linked think tank State Information Centre. “China is facing growing downward pressures amid intertwined structural, institutional and cyclical problems,” the top-level Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) said in a statement after this year’s session.China will continue to step up efforts to build a high-standard market system, push forward reforms in state-owned enterprises, improve property rights protection and promote reforms in land, fiscal and tax systems, as well as the financial system. The country will further open its economy in a wider and deeper way, and there is need to “control the pace and strength” of counter-cyclical measures and pledged to “comprehensively assess” the impacts of major policies, indicating leadership’s caution on more aggressive policy moves.Official data showed that local governments had outstanding debt totaling 18 trillion yuan ($2.58 trillion) as of the end of 2018. But researchers estimated the size of hidden government debts, in which local authorities provide an implicit guarantee, could amount 60 trillion yuan. The massive debt overhang would restrain local governments’ capacity to expand infrastructure spending. There is little sign that the central government would significantly loosen stringent controls over the property market that were installed in 2016 to curb market bubbles. The CEWC reiterated President Xi Jinping’s mantra that “houses are for habitation, not for speculation,” and reiterated calls for long-term mechanisms to be implemented to stabilize land and housing prices. Under pressure to keep the economy growing, it is likely that Beijing could marginally ease controls on the housing market and give local authorities more discretion to manage it based on local conditions.China’s current account surplus declined from 10% of GDP in 2008 to less than 0.4% in 2018, according to Lu. Meanwhile, forex reserves shrank by $900 billion between 2014 and 2018, as Chinese companies’ foreign debt surged nearly three-fold. It greatly reduced the space for policies to bolster the economy by adding leverage. China has strictly kept its official budget deficit below 3% of GDP over the past two decades, citing concerns about fiscal risks. Since 2015, China has continued to expand the issuance of special purpose bonds to fund local governments’ infrastructure spending. The bonds, which surged more than 200-fold from around 10 billion yuan annually in 2015 to 2.15 trillion yuan in 2019, are not included in official budget deficit calculations. Analysts have widely predicted that next year’s quota for new special purpose bond issuance would further rise to 3 trillion yuan. If borrowing through special bonds were included, China’s budget deficit ratio would rise to 6.5% this year from 3.7% last year.The policy room for further tax cuts is narrow in 2020/2021 after the government unleashed reductions of 1.3 trillion yuan ($143 billion) in 2018 and 2 trillion yuan in 2019. Because of concerns over inflation, the central bank may prefer low-profile easing measures in the near term, such as rolling over its maturing medium-term lending facility (MLF) and targeted MLF (TMLF) and offering additional liquidity via such lending tools. Preventing financial risks will remain among the top three tasks for 2020 along with poverty relief and pollution control, according to the CEWC statement. But risk prevention was dropped to third place from the top spot of the past two years, indicating reduced urgency. After a nearly three-year crackdown on financial risks, the short-term target has been achieved and further goals will require long-term efforts, so perhaps expect mild easing in the financial sector in 2020. To continue defusing risks at small and medium-sized banks, a focal point of financial regulation over the past year following the seizure of Baoshang Bank, city commercial banks and rural banks, especially those in small cities that enjoyed a land market boom over the past few years, are likely to be the targets of risk clampdowns.Shadow banking has become a hotbed of hidden credit growth and nonperforming assets, which pose a serious threat to financial security and stability. Since 2017, China has significantly reduced the shadow banking sector as part of a massive deleveraging campaign. As the end of 2019, China’s shadow banking sector as defined broadly shrank to 84.8 trillion yuan ($12.98 trillion) from the peak of 100.4 trillion yuan in 2017, according to the report. By a narrower definition the sector also declined by 12 trillion yuan to 39.14 trillion yuan.Then there is the problem of graft. Recently Zhang Qi, former secretary of the Communist Party of China Haikou municipal committee in S China’s Hainan Province, was sentenced to life in prison for accepting bribes amounting to over 107 million yuan (16.3 million U.S. dollars) at a court on Thursday December 4, 2020 . Mao Bihua, former party secretary and director of the Chongqing Supervision Bureau of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), came under investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and law, reported on 5.12.2020.Another issue is the onset of the digital economy and the digital currency which China has to get right. Listening to Huang Yiping’s speech, the potential is very great because it is coupled with the use of the fourth industrial revolution and the use of online transactions enabling the rural urban divide in banking to be ameliorated largely, and the use of the handphone in commerce will accelerate change, This also can raise problems since shadow banking with P2P lending is also a systemic risk. Only with proper security will the digital currency be a tool for internationalisation of the RMBOther measures may include the following:1. Ending the “dual-track” reform approach and realizing competitive neutrality for SOEs and private enterprises.2. Abandoning birth restrictions and building good baby- and elderly-care facilities to cope with negative consequences of aging.3. Improving innovative capability through human capital accumulation, intellectual property protection, and sensible industrial policies4. Shifting focuses of public finance from underpinning stability to supporting economic efficiency and distributive equity5. Supporting quality development through further financial reform, cautious financial innovation and prudent financial regulation6. Accelerating urbanization to unlock new economic impetuses by eliminating household registration and reforming land tenure7. Applying market-based policies, such as taxes, to build a green and low-carbon development path.8. Further opening unilaterally by giving up “developing country status” and contributing constructively to the international system.Thanks for A2A.David Dollar, Yiping Huang, and Yang Yao, eds., China 2049 Economic Challenges of a Rising Global Power (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, forthcoming in May 2020).China 2049In Depth: Whither the Chinese Economy in 2020?Huang Yiping's Speech at 2020 Global Digital Trade Conference (Video)China's $13 Trillion Shadow Banking Sector Gets Clearer Definition

Answer will be lengthy but worth it.First you need to know about US-CHINA relations.On Dec 5,2018 in Washington DC the United States and the world marks the passing of President Bush Senior.President Bush Snr. was a truly remarkable President. For those of us engaged in the business of the world—the first Gulf War, the end of the Cold War, and the reboot of the U.S.-China relationship in the early 90s after the implosions of 1989—President Bush Snr. was a truly remarkable American, and a truly remarkable American President. And we honor him this day.Over the last twelve months, much of Asia has been turned on its head through the new dynamics we have witnessed in U.S.-China relations and on North Korea. It was only 12 months ago that the U.S. and North Korea appeared to be on the verge of armed conflict as “rocket man” was threatened by President Trump with “fire and fury” over the North’s continued nuclear weapons program. Twelve months later, President Trump and President Kim appear to be the best of friends following their historic summit in Singapore, and despite the fact that there seems to have been negligible substantive progress on denuclearization, the thaw in inter-Korean relations has been unprecedented.Twelve months ago, President Trump had just returned from his state visit plus to Beijing, where it seemed Trump’s anti-Chinese rhetoric of the 2016 campaign had finally been put to bed. But 12 months later, China and the U.S. are now in the middle of a still unresolved trade war, while the Administration has declared America’s 40-year long era of strategic engagement with China is now over and a new period of strategic competition has begun.Twelve months ago, the American, European and Chinese economies and markets were roaring. Whereas 12 months later, they are beginning to slow, albeit for different reasons, causing concerns about the sustainability of long-term growth, employment and income levels.If a week is a long time in politics, in international politics and economics, a year is an eternity. And China remains a dominant driver in all three of these major unfolding changes. During the course of this year, we have all been wrestling with three big questions: how is China changing under Xi Jinping; how is America changing under Donald Trump; and to what extent have the traditional moorings of the U.S.-China relationship of the last 40 years now been severed, in which case what, if anything, can now anchor the relationship into the future?In other words, are we now as Graham Allison warns us, now “destined for war”—either cold, medium or hot? Or is a new strategic equilibrium now possible between the two, based on a new common strategic narrative for the relationship which can be shared and observed in both capitals? The truth is, these are genuinely hard questions. There force us to think clearly about one another through the fog of perception and misperception. They force us to think clearly about our values, our interests and our identity. And they force us to think through carefully what is essential, what is non-essential, where should there be compromise, and what should remain contestable.I do not intend to try to answer all these questions today because they require further thought, although I am deeply conscious of the fact that they must be analyzed and answered soon. That’s because we are now in potentially dangerous terrain - some sort of “no man’s land” between one set of strategic assumptions about each other that have stood for several decades, and a brave new world where everything may be up for grabs.Over the last twelve months, we have, however, made a start in a series of addresses aimed at analyzing core aspects of the collective challenge we are facing. In March I spoke at West Point on the question of what does Xi Jinping want, while in June at the Lee Kuan Yew School in Singapore I began to analyses the Marxist origins of Xi’s emerging worldview. In September I spoke on America’s response to Xi Jinping though a new declaratory doctrine of strategic competition and posed a series of questions for U.S. policymakers as they seek to operationalize that strategy. I’ve also spoken in Silicon Valley on what strategic competition might look like if allied to a high technology war between the two countries. And most recently in Jakarta I’ve sought to analyze what this emerging strategic cleavage between Washington and Beijing means for South East Asia which has become the new “great game” for strategic influence, as ASEAN itself continues to hedge against a rising China and what is perceived to be an indifferent, uncertain and potentially unreliable America. We need also to analyze other regions within a similar frame: including Africa, Eurasia, the Middle East, South Asia, and Latin America. There are commonalities but differences across them all which we need to understand.In my remarks today, part of the same series, I want to look at the state of the relationship at year’s end in the aftermath of the Buenos Aires Summit; the impact of the continuing trade war on China’s unfolding domestic economic policy debate and where that may lead in the future; as well as what are the prospects for the overall U.S.-China relationship for the year ahead. I’m always challenged by Henry Kissinger who enjoins us in strategic analysis to understand first and foremost what we are seeing. And to ask ourselves also what we are not seeing. All before going onto the critical question of policy of what then is to be done.The Buenos Aires SummitWhat Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping did in Buenos Aires was buy time. Three months’ worth in fact. Which is good when measured against the alternative, which was a full-blown trade and broader economic war between the two countries starting next month. Which in turn had the potential to trigger a further collapse in global market sentiment, particularly coming on the back of other negative trends emerging in both the U.S. and Chinese domestic economies. But even from those of us who have been arguing publicly that on balance a deal of some sort between the Chinese and the Americans was more probable than not: one swallow doth not a summer make. Much can still unravel. Both Trump and Xi have indeed bought valuable, though limited, time for themselves and the world. But for a number of different reasons.To begin with, there are five, complex baskets of policy disagreements to work through. First, the current annual $370 billion bilateral trade deficit needs to be reduced. Then there are the possible cuts to tariff rates themselves. The Chinese average tariff rate currently stands at about 9.8% compared with an American average tariff rate at 3.4%. Then there are those industry sectors that are most politically sensitive in each economy, led by agriculture: Republican-voting farmers in the U.S., matched by China’s historical paranoia over national grain self-sufficiency. Then there are the three hardy perennials: intellectual property protection; forced technology transfer (an American term) and the use of the full resources of the Chinese state to support China’s stated national industrial strategy (Made in China 2025) to dominate global advanced technology markets and product standards by 2030. These three are the really ugly ones. Setting a deadline of 1 March 2019 to resolve these five problems is smart. Particularly if it’s driven hard by the prospect of a further working-level summit with Trump and Xi later in March, although I note that a number of trade professionals have argued that 90 days is so ambitious that it’s unrealistic and sets both sides up for failure.This 90-day pause also serves Trump and Xi in other ways. By March, Trump will have a fuller idea of the lay of his domestic economic and political landscape. He will then know the extent of any significant softening in the economy already induced by monetary policy tightening by the Fed, and the extent to which the American economy could then sustain further tariffs should the efforts of Chinese and American officials have come to naught. On the political front, the Mueller investigation should also have reported by March. If the results of the investigation are seriously bad for Trump, then we should be alert to the possibility of Trump having a renewed interest post-Mueller in doubling down against China—if in fact he is found then to have been compromised in his dealings with Russia. That certainly would be an “X factor” that our Chinese friends are worried about.March, however, also presents Xi and his chief economic advisor Liu He with opportunities of their own. On the international front, March might enable Xi to take a bold trade message to Davos in January, should he decide to go. China has sought to mobilize global sentiment in support of its efforts to uphold the global economic and environmental order. A major Chinese announcement on trade liberalization across the board, not just on a bilateral basis with the U.S., could indeed take the world by storm. It would also send a stark signal to the world on the 40th anniversary of the Chinese economy’s “reform and opening up”. And that indeed could represent a serious new challenge to American global leadership.Furthermore, a serious commitment to trade liberalization from Beijing, accompanied by the underlying message of competitive neutrality between foreign firms and domestic firms, as well as between private firms and state-owned enterprises, would reinforce Liu’s valiant efforts in recent months to re-prosecute the full implementation of China’s stalled “phase two” economic reform program first announced in 2013. This is something that China desperately needs for its own economic interestsThis takes us to the core question of the organic relationship between any concessions that China might offer the United States' trade and economic negotiators bilaterally, and those things that Chinese economic reformers understand needs to be done in any case domestically, if indeed the economy is to be able to have strong, sustainable growth into the future.China’s Changing Domestic Economic NarrativeThose who follow the Chinese economy closely understand the significance of the economic reform blueprint first released by Xi Jinping’s administration in November of 2013. This came earlier in his period in office. After a fierce internal debate in its preparation, agreement was finally reached on its central organizing principle that: “the market play the decisive role in resource allocation.” The decision incorporated 60 different reform measures covering ten broad categories of trade, cross-border investment, state-owned enterprise reform, competition policy, financial system reform, fiscal policy, innovation policy, labor, environment, and land reform. This was a conscious effort by China’s economic leadership at the time to transform China’s historical economic growth model over the previous 35 years to what became then universally known as “the new model”.The old model, as we are all familiar, was based on two pillars: labor intensive, low-cost manufacturing for export; reinforced by high levels of public investment in national economic infrastructure. The new model was based on three pillars: high levels of domestic consumption; private sector-driven innovation following the completion of the SOE-driven infrastructure build; and third, a sustainable development revolution.Implementation began in 2014-15 but the party’s confidence in the market was dealt a body-blow by the implosion of Chinese equity markets, and broader financial markets, in August 2015. From that time on, as we at the Asia Society Policy Institute have tracked throughout our China economic dashboard, the pace of implementation of the reform program slowed drastically and in most areas ground to a complete halt. Harsh capital controls were also imposed on China’s capital account, making it much more difficult for private firms to expand their operations abroad. At the same time, because of legitimate fears about the size of China’s debt to GDP ratio, driven in large part by an out-of-control shadow banking sector, as well as ballooning local government debt, the central government began a national deleveraging campaign which over the last several years has also resulted in credit being withdrawn indiscriminately from otherwise profitable private firms. At the same time, Chinese SOEs had been given a new lease of life where the national deleveraging campaign has had less effect on SOEs than their private sector counterparts.Furthermore, there has been the rolling impact of China’s anti-corruption campaign has fundamentally slowed government decision-making processes as officials sought to protect themselves from political exposure, which meant that the private sector-driven development projects also began to slow significantly. To this was added Xi Jinping’s emphasis on the central role of the party and the primacy of ideology, resulting in an enhanced role for party secretaries operating within private firms. And on top of all the above, there has been considerable confusion as to the precise implications of China’s so called “mixed ownership model” – whether it was an invitation for private firms to absorb poorly-performing public trading enterprises; or whether in fact it was creating a fresh opportunity for SOEs to “nationalize” well-performing private firms.All these factors had been unfolding across the Chinese economy over several years prior to the beginning of the U.S.-China trade dispute in the first half of 2018. The net effect of all of the above has been a growing number of anecdotal reports pointing to the significant slowing of Chinese economic growth during 2018 with private sector firms, concerned about an increasingly adverse policy environment, refraining to invest in further expansion of their enterprises, either at home or abroad. By the time the annual leadership retreat occurred at Beidaihe in August this year, reports had begun to come in from across the country that China was facing a serious domestic crisis of private sector business confidence with potentially profound implications for future growth.From Adversity Springs Opportunity: Competition Policy ReformIt was about at this time that those who have long understood the continuing imperatives of China’s market economic reform agenda saw an opportunity emerging out of adversity – namely to bring about the next wave of competition policy reform within the Chinese economy by opening China to more foreign competition, thereby lifting long term productivity growth. It will be recalled that competition policy reform had long been a key component of the original 2013 national economic blueprint, but had been allowed to slide.The need for a more effective competition policy was particularly felt within China’s poorly performing financial services sector. In any efficient market economy, the effective allocation of capital across competing corporate needs, based on the business case advanced by would-be borrowers, and the associated risk taken on by lenders, is fundamental to sustainable economic growth. By contrast, China’s financial services industry has developed inefficiently, despite the growing number of domestic private players within it, because capital allocation decisions are driven less by market considerations than by political or administrative necessity.China’s economic reformers are fully seized of the dimensions of this problem in the heart of the Chinese financial system. The reformers see the future lying not just in bringing China’s grossly indebted second-tier banks and SOEs back within reasonable borrowing limits from their previous borrowing and lending habits. They equally recognize the structural importance of introducing market disciplines for capital allocation decisions for the future. In other words, it’s not just the matter of cleaning up decisions from the past. It’s also about creating a functioning market framework for the future so that scares financial capital is allocated rationally, and corporate debt burdens do not simply blow out once again.Chinese reformers also see the greater introduction of wholly-owned foreign financial institutions into the Chinese domestic market as being a new way of grafting these market disciplines into the Chinese system. This differs qualitatively from previous Chinese approaches to allow limited foreign financial institutional participation within China – where foreign presence has largely been limited to minority stakes in second tier banks with the limited policy objective of Chinese banking officials “learning” how Westerners do these things, before eventually asking said Westerners to leave. The alternative approach is to fundamentally shake up the Chinese system from the top down, by introducing large-scale foreign competitors across the breadth of the financial services industry in order to force Chinese firms to be more efficient.This year, for example, we have seen a number of foreign investment limitations eased for entry into China’s $45 trillion financial services sector. These have included:Foreign investment limits in securities companies and mutual funds were raised to 51% in April and set on a three-year path to allow full foreign control. Indeed last Friday, UBS became the first foreign securities firm to be approved for majority ownership, with applications from JPMorgan and Nomura in process.Foreign insurance firms are now to be allowed a controlling 51% ownership of domestic insurers as of May this year. And German insurer Allianz was approved to be the first wholly-owned foreign insurance company on November 25. French firm AXA has quickly followed, purchasing the outstanding share of their previous joint venture on November 26.Foreign ownership limits on banks and other debt managers were also removed in August. Previously foreign firms were limited to 20% as a single entity, or 25% as a group. To-date, however, no foreign firms have applied to use the new regulations.Additional Support for the Private SectorFinancial services reform, driven by increased foreign participation is one thing. Wider reforms to promote China’s somewhat beleaguered private sector have also been forthcoming. On 19 November, the State Administration of Taxation issued a policy note outlining 26 concrete measures centered on reducing the tax burden for private firms. According to the State Administration of Taxation, these were not yet fully utilized. Nonetheless, in the most recent quarter, there were over 143 billion RMB (21 billion USD) in tax deductions for Chinese SMEs, a 41% increase from third quarter last year.Beyond these various reform measures, there have also been recent announcements from the central government aimed at improving credit availability to Chinese firms. The party secretary of the PBOC on 7 November outlined the new so-called “1-2-5” policy.This was a directive for at least 1/3 of new corporate loans from large banks to be extended to private firms;At least 2/3 of new loans from small and medium size banks; andOver the next three years, for at least 50% of all new corporate credit across the banking system to be extended to the private sector.First Steps Toward a New Chinese Political Economy?To repeat: the key to the success of this newly emerging political economy in China is the extent to which China’s economic reformers are able to develop a domestic political narrative within the party and the country which explains any “external concessions” to the U.S. Administration as necessary internal reforms to undergird China’s long-term economic growth prospects.This is a tough challenge given that over the last several years at least, Xi Jinping’s political center of gravity has lain elsewhere – namely his predilection for a stronger party, stronger politics, and a more nationalist posture. Nonetheless, it seems that Xi Jinping has now had a large encounter with economic reality - Chinese-style. Namely that the Chinese private sector really matters! Furthermore, if this economic policy correction continues, basically from left to right, then this may turn out to be a seminal period of reform indeed.There are grand precedents in recent Chinese history for such economic policy corrections to occur. Barely three years after Tiananmen, Deng Xiaoping undertook his famous Southern Expedition, where he told China to redouble its efforts in economic reform and opening to the world. And China did. Five years later Jiang Zemin, in the midst of the Asian financial crisis said to China’s emerging entrepreneurial class to “go out into the world”. And they did. Five years after that, Zhu Rongji in 2002 secured China’s admission into the WTO, heralding the next phase of China’s economic reform program, including China’s emergence as the global export superpower it has since become.It may well just be that we are witnessing a policy redirection of a similar order of significance with what is unfolding now. Certainly a careful reading is warranted of Xi Jinping’s speech of September 27 on the economy; Vice Premier Liu He’s of October 19 on the private sector, and perhaps most significantly of all Liu He’s comprehensive statement on China’s future economic direction outlined in his address to the Hamburg economic forum in late November on the eve of the G20 summit.Of course, many things can go wrong with all of this. Policy momentum may stall.Chinese bureaucrats may simply hedge their bets and sit on their hands. Even worse, they may simply resort to the vast array of non-tariff barriers at their disposal to undermine the letter and the spirit of reforms to China’s overall trade and investment policy environment on the ground. And beyond all that, China’s private sector, still facing significant restrictions on the capital account, may not respond positively to what the party and the government are now telling them to do, on the grounds that there is too much policy and regulatory unpredictability for them to have sufficient confidence to invest in the future.That’s why it will be critical to see China’s emerging data on private fixed capital investment to see whether Chinese firms have bought the Chinese leadership’s new policy message, thereby unlocking a further period of reform, opening, and sustainable economic growth.Prospects for 2019Against this general economic background, what then are the prospects for the U.S.-China relationship for 2019? By March, it’s probable that there will be an agreement between China and the United States on the quantum of bilateral trade deficit reduction and the import decisions that China will make to bring that about over time. As for tariff reform by March, that is possible, although the degree of technical difficulty remains significant. If it’s a tariff line by tariff line approach, given the multiplicity of tariffs which currently apply to the overall trading relationship, this may well blow out way beyond March. If however Chinese economic reformers take a more dramatic approach by committing to zero tariffs over time, and challenging the Americans to do likewise, that would be precisely the sort of measure which could be announced relatively rapidly. It would, however, run totally against the grain of half a century of training of Chinese trade bureaucrats to give away nothing if at all possible—let alone be seen to “give away everything” in one fell swoop.The reform of so-called forced technology transfer, within the contractual arrangements between Chinese and American enterprises, should be relatively straight forward. This, however, is different to how contractual arrangements may be interpreted on the ground, even in the absence of any specific technology transfer provisions. Intellectual property protection is deeply problematic. Not only are there traditional forms of commercial espionage. There is now cyber espionage as well. Previous agreements reached under the Obama Administration could be reconstituted. But the critical problem remains jurisdictional enforcement of breaches if and when discovered. One possible mechanism for building confidence is for all relevant contracts between Chinese and foreign firms to be made subject to international commercial arbitration regimes located in either Singapore or Switzerland. These could be designed in a manner to specifically deal with IP protection. The recourse to international commercial arbitration is now relatively common around the world. If China objected, it might also be possible to develop China’s own domestic international commercial arbitration system. But for foreigners to have confidence in this system would require China to appoint qualified foreigners to its panel of arbitrators. Other countries already do this. China could do the same. But in the absence of an independent Chinese legal system, even in the commercial law, this would seem logically to be the only way through this continuing thorn in the side of the relationship.On China’s use of state subsidies in support of its national plan for domestic and international high technology market domination, it is difficult to identify any readily available solution. The uncomfortable reality is that all countries use varying levels of government support for their indigenous technology industries. Even if we were to mandate a maximum proportion of state support for a given firm (either by way of state R&D support or other related tax breaks) the problem would invariably arise as to how all of this is measured. I am not therefore confident of a negotiated outcome in this area. America may simply need to outcompete “China at its own game” in terms of a radical increase in public investment in research and development across the full spectrum of information technology and biotechnology sectors. The major public universities would, I’m sure, welcome this with open arms.As indicated above, we should also not rule out the possibility in 2019 of China pitching any tariff reforms that it is prepared to implement to resolve the U.S.-China trade war to the wider international community as well. We should not rule out the possibility, for example, that if China was to undertake something dramatic—like a commitment to zero tariffs over time—that such a commitment would not just be made on the basis of reciprocal actions by the United States, but by all WTO member states. Indeed, this would represent and almost irresistible geopolitical opportunity for China to champion global free trade and to arrest the global trend towards protectionism that currently threatens the wider global economy. Furthermore, we should not rule out the possibility that China approaches TPP 11 member states to negotiate possible accession to the TPP. This would comprehensively outflank the United States within the Asia Pacific region. It would also turn out to be supremely ironic that a TPP originally designed by the Obama Administration as part of its Pivot to Asia, ended up including China but not the U.S. itself. China, when it sees a political and market opening, can be remarkably fleet-of-foot. The technical negotiations would, of course, be formidable. But there is already evidence of a softening in traditional Japanese reservations towards possible Chinese accession as evidenced during Prime Minister Abe’s recent visit to Beijing.On the wider foreign policy and security policy front, 2019 is likely to see China increasingly pull its head in. There is already evidence of a normalization in relations with Tokyo. The Japanese Coastguard has published data already indicating a radical reduction in the frequency of Chinese incursions into the Senkaku/Diaoyudao area in the East China Sea. China is also seeking to de-escalate tensions with the ASEANs over the South China Sea through an intensification of its negotiation of a “code of conduct”. Although maritime incidents with the United States have continued to be sharp. And may well get sharper if the United States implements a more vigorous campaign of Freedom of Navigation Operations in the coming year. China has also sought to de-escalate tensions with India following the bilateral summit with Prime Minister Modi in Wuhan in April 2018. That is likely to continue through the Indian national elections due in 2019. China may also begin to moderate its posture towards Taiwan during 2019 given the remarkably poor results of the DPP in the most recent Taiwanese local government elections.This, of course, would change radically if the United States proceeds, as is likely, with a further significant arms sale to Taiwan.Across Eurasia, the Belt and Road Initiative continues to be implemented. But for those observing China closely, the BRI now attracts considerably less political fanfare within China, at least over the last several months. It’s still too early to tell. But already there is a debate underway in Beijing about revising certain BRI modalities. The Sri Lankan case looms large in the mind of the Chinese official class. So too does the long-term affordability of this multi-trillion dollar project. We may therefore be seeing less Chinese triumphalism over the BRI on 2019 than we’ve seen the last couple of years.Common to all these adjustments in the year ahead is a general tactical approach that until such time as China is able to finally bed down the fundamentals of its trade, investment, and economic relationship with the United States, it is wise for China to reduce tensions between Beijing and other countries and regions of the world.As for China’s engagement in the wider international system during the course of 2019, China is likely to continue to be the new-found champion of the WTO. It is also likely to sustain its posture on global climate change action which it agreed to under the Paris Accord. In other words, China is likely to use the period ahead to consolidate and expand its role within the existing institutions of international governance, rather than the continued construction of new institutions of international governance that lie outside the UN and the Bretton Woods system.Of course, the BRI and the AIIB will continue. But there may well be a parallel reduction in the global profile attached with China’s more recent institutional innovations. Among some of the more sober minds in the Chinese foreign policy establishment, it’s better to focus instead on the existing machinery of the global rules-based system, particularly when the United States is demonstrating systematic contempt for those very same institutions.Taken together, these are nonetheless likely to represent tactical rather than strategic shifts in China’s overall posture towards both the United States, third countries, and the wider international system. China is likely to use 2019-20 to form a deep judgment about what happens to the future of U.S. politics. Will Trump be derailed by Mueller? What will China policy be like if Trump is weakened by Mueller? Would Pence be even more hard-line than Trump on China? And would a Democratic Party candidate, if successful in 2020, adopt an equally hard-line strategy towards Beijing, and if so, how would it differ from the Republicans?On these big strategic questions, the Chinese system moves deliberately slowly. It seeks to analyze carefully the operating environment in which Chinese strategy and tactics are deployed. And while China’s leadership has already concluded that there is indeed a deep shift in American attitudes to China, they are still uncertain as to what precise shape and form this will take in the future. Tactically, therefore, China is likely to seek to buy time to reach these conclusions. And in the meantime, to de-escalate tensions wherever possible, both with Washington and other capitals, while China seeks to reach a more fundamental judgment about America’s future strategic direction and political resolve.This is consistent with China’s predilection for the long term, rather than the short. At present, China sees Trump as being a problem for the next two years for China, possibly not longer, before being replaced by another political leader with different priorities. Whereas China equally assumes that Xi Jinping will be leading China not just for another two years, but probably another ten. Or even more.ConclusionAs I said at the outset, we are dealing with profoundly complex questions. Indeed it is historically unprecedented to be in the midst of a debate about whether the world’s largest economy and oldest continuing democracy, can happily co-exist with the world’s second-largest economy and oldest continuing civilization, given that the latter has never exhibited in its history any attraction to liberal democratic norms. But grapple with the debate we must. And resolve it we must as well. One way or the other.This is despite the fact that we must do so in the midst of an increasingly polarized debate in both countries about the other. Americans believe China is stealing their future. They are angry. They have finally woken up and are fighting back. The Chinese, whether they are on the right or the left of their own debate, believe that the Americans are now deliberately containing China because Americans cannot cope with the idea of ever being number two. Particularly if number one happens to be Asian.The debate is, therefore, a highly charged one. Which is why we need to be careful about the manner in which it is conducted in both our countries. In America, as in other countries, I am concerned about the rise of “neo-McCarthyism” in a debate which conflates concerns about the actions of the Chinese party and state on the one hand, with the actions and attitudes of Chinese Americans on the other.The recent report on foreign interference in the United States and a number of other countries is a case in point. Foreign interference, from whichever country, is an entirely legitimate subject for debate. After all, that’s why democracies have laws, courts, law enforcement agencies, the intelligence services and other institutions preserving the careful set of checks and balances guarding our civil liberties as well as protecting us against internal and external threats to our security. That’s why the best solution to questions of foreign interference lies in a policy of full transparency on the part of any institutions receiving foreign funding. It’s when things are done in secret that we should be particularly concerned.But that’s also why it’s critical to constrain the terms of the debate so that the patriotism of Chinese Americans is not brought into question. I’m concerned that in the current febrile political environment this could occur. I presume that’s why the recent report on foreign interference in this country has attracted dissenting submissions from among its authors, namely Susan Shirk.Having read Susan’s dissent, I support her reflection. I have also noted Bill Bishop’s observation about the title of the report and its conflation of the Chinese Communist Party with the simple word “Chinese”, capable as Bill says of sparking anti-Chinese sentiment in general.So as we advance this hard debate on this country’s future with China, let us learn from the events of the last Cold War, Joe McCarthy and his committee on un-American activities. This debate requires full candor. Not a show trial. We are all better than that."India and China Will Catch Up with the United States."With his prognoses on international politics he has become one of the most influential authors in the United States. The British historian, Paul Kennedy, from Yale, is considered to have been one of the brains behind the Clinton era. Thoughts on India and China as future super powers, the likelihood of military conflicts, the poker-player Vladimir Putin and the unrecognised strengths of the Europeans.Kosmos: Professor Kennedy, in your bestsellers "The Rise and Fall of The Great Powers" (1988) and "Preparing for the Twenty-First Century" (1993) you voiced concern about imperial overstretch of the United States as well as about global environmental issues. Given global warming, no one would argue with you about the latter. However, your forecast about America's dark future as a superpower has not come true. What makes you think that the current US government should still be concerned about its decline?Kennedy: First of all, we are not talking about immediate collapse of the US but about a long-term process of relative decline. A great power needs a long time to decline. The Ottoman empire took 300 years. But there are signs.Kosmos: What signs?Kennedy: International opinion has swung against the US. The attractiveness of the US Dollar has gone. The competitiveness of certain key industries like automobiles has gone. Daimler selling off Chrysler is not just economic news, it's also symbolic. The US allowed a massive build-up of very large budget, borrowing and trade deficits leading to an increasing dependency upon Asian nations to bail America out each month through purchase of treasury bonds. It's hard to think that will go on forever. This means dependency, and that's the first sign of overstretch. If the two giant countries of China and India continue to grow at eight or ten percent a year for the next few decades, they will catch up with the United States which is growing at two or three percent. That will mean shift s in the power balance. India and China will be able to pay for greater influence in world affairs and also, crudely, in military establishments.Kosmos: Will industrial growth alone do the trick for China?Kennedy: The fact that so many foreign businessmen and CEOs and heads of state feel that they have to go to Delhi or especially now to Beijing is only one indicator. Another indicator for Chinese awakening is its foreign policy. China discovers Africa. Just before last Christmas, the Chinese President Hu Jintao made three long visits to African states and signed trade agreements about oil and timber. Just before that, the Chinese government invited leaders of 43 African states to an African conference in Beijing while the US were too busy in Iraq to even notice what was happening.Kosmos: What risks are there for India and China on their way up?Kennedy: I am a bit sceptical of visitors to China and India who just visit Mumbai, Shanghai or Hong Kong and then say: Wow, that's the future! In India, in particular, the levels of rural poverty and the gap between rich and poor are widening. There is a rise of ethnic and religious intolerance and murders across India which have shot up in the past five years. And the Chinese government is clearly frightened about massive unemployment in the inner provinces and also very real environmental dangers. They have colossal domestic problems. It's not just inevitable that they grow at eight or ten percent every year and everybody gets richer. When gaps open up in society and internal tensions increase it's quite tempting for the leadership to divert attention to the foreign devils.Kosmos: Could the fall of the old empire and the rise of new ones lead to military conflicts?Kennedy: I am afraid that military conflicts are more likely than unlikely. The fi rst indicator is the pretty terrible relationship the USA has got itself into vis-à-vis the Muslim world, or at least the radical parts of the Muslim world, radical parts which not only want to hurt America and Europe but want, of course, to overthrow the governments of Saudi Arabia and Egypt to attack Israel. Secondly, we have an increasing vulnerability of the West for energy supplies, now made worse by the increasing vulnerability of China and India for energy supplies, too. A struggle for energy is already beginning. It would be surprising if there were not actual physical conflicts over control of petroleum supplies. Thirdly, Europe seems to think that naval power is not important to national policy. Why is it that the Chinese, the Japanese, the Indian and even the South Korean naval budgets are going up and up? In Asia a naval race is going on. Under these circumstances, it is pretty hard to stop some clash at sea turning into deeper trouble.Kosmos: What will be the role of Europe in this scenario? As a military power it is rather toothless.Kennedy: Admittedly, Europe has no unified foreign policy and it has no unified defence forces. The best it can do are some Franco-German joint brigades or British-Netherlands naval operations. It doesn't have much influence on the military sphere. But in the economic sphere Europe has enormous influence. It negotiates through the World Trade Organisation as a single trading block. And Europe has increased its share in the field of soft power attractiveness. Th e Europeans do a lot more in terms of aid to Africa. And they are way ahead of the US in issues of global warming. Europe has terrific strengths.Kosmos: But it has difficulties in playing them out. Recently we saw a Russian President who did not seem to be impressed by the Europeans at all. Is this a sign of new Russian strength?Kennedy: For many years all that the Russian State could do was to reduce the army and the navy. You still see dozens of rusting old Soviet warships. With the rise of oil prices and with the advantage going to Mr. Putin's poker game, he is now saying that they will be putting additional money into modernising the Russian armed forces, including the rocket forces. It now looks as if Russia's strong foundation is the high price of natural gas and petroleum. If that was to come down, which is possibly unlikely, he'd be weakened. Whereas Europe has a variety of strengths - from high technology to cultural influence to strong trade balances. Russia has a single natural resource as its strength. It is also dependent upon energy even though it is an energy exporter. The future, therefore, hangs very much on the sustainability of stable government - not necessarily democratic liberal government - on the one hand and the continuation of the flow of additional moneys to the central treasury on the other - which has allowed Russia, for instance, to start modernising its railway system and its subways. You can do an awful lot when the price of oil has gone up two or three times.Kosmos: As an historian, you tend to think rather long-term. However, would you dare to make a prognosis about the state of US foreign policy and its war against terror in four years time?Kennedy: It would completely surprise me if in four years time there was still a US army troop of 165,000 soldiers on the ground in Iraq. Public opinion is against it, the junior officers in the army are resigning as fast as they can and even George W. Bush's Republican buddies are trying to get out of it. And I think that the US could actually strengthen itself by getting out of Iraq. A critic of General de Gaulle said it would be dreadful for France to withdraw from Algeria. In fact, it freed de Gaulle to play a much more prominent role in the world and in Europe. Nixon was freed by getting out of Vietnam. He could do the diplomacy which divided China and Russia. The British were freed when they got out of India and Palestine. They could make much more of a commitment to NATO. Possibly the best argument to off er those who say we have to stay in, is that by staying in, you give advantages not just to the Iranians and the Muslim enemies; but you give Mr. Putin a big advantage and you give the Chinese government a big advantage. They want you to stay in Baghdad. And that's a strong argument to get out.Kosmos: Your books and you yourself are said to have influenced the Clinton administration. How did this reputation as one of the important minds behind Clinton grow?Kennedy: That is much exaggerated. I think it was one of my publishers who got it all pretty well wrong. I met Clinton in spring of 1988 when "The Rise and Fall of Th e Great Powers" was a very controversially discussed bestseller. I was asked to address the meeting of the Council of American State Governors which Clinton attended. At that time, he was the Governor of Arkansas. Sometime in the middle of that conference I was stopped by a lot of young and shiny American students. They were all on Clinton's staff and would later go with him in the Presidential campaign. They had copies of my book and said, "Oh, Mr. Clinton has told us all to read it and that it's terribly important, so can you sign it for us." From that incident, I think, grew a sort of legend that I was a kind of eminence grise for the Democrats. It might be good if you could cut that myth.

Ever wanted to start a blog but not sure what exactly you want to blog about?Choosing a niche is often the hardest part about starting a blog, since there are so many interesting things out there.Top bloggers highly recommend specializing in a niche instead of writing about everything and anything--especially if you hope to turn your blog into an online business.If you've hit a mental block when it comes to deciding your niche, this list is for you.Here are 111 of the best blog niche for 2020.Life1. LifestyleThe lifestyle niche encompasses everything under the sun related to daily life.It’s a much broader blogging niche than most and lifestyle bloggers may cover anything from fashion to life advice.Abby Lawson at Just a Girl and Her Blog combines discussing lifestyle topics with promoting paid printables and other digital products.Her blog typically brings in over $40,000 per month based on her published income reports.2. TravelWho doesn’t love to travel?Since most people don’t travel as much as they’d like, travel blogs are a way to live the experience through the written words of a travel blogger.International travel,domestic travel, or even just weekend trips around the local area-- people love hearing about another person’s travel experience and getting tons of suggestions before booking a trip themselves.Blogs like NOMADasaurus take readers with them while they travel the world.Here, It definitely pays to share your travels!Travel bloggers can earn serious cash, with many making $6,000 or more monthly.3. Local City GuideEven if you’ve lived in your neighborhood for a while, there may still be a ton of undiscovered local gems near you that you have yet to experience.Those who run local guide blogs know this all too well, so they make it their mission to share the uniqueness of their town or city with others.Events, restaurants, stores, spots to sight-see-- they’ve got it all covered.Check out the how Medellin Living explores everything from local businesses to night life.4. BeautyBeauty is a huge niche for women, which makes sense considering they purchase makeup and skincare products at a much higher rate than their male counterparts.Beauty blogs like The Anna Edit share beauty product reviews, hacks, and makeup/skincare tutorials.As far as beauty blogs go, most beauty influencers utilize their blog as an additional traffic source for their social media presence.The power of beauty influencers has grown exponentially and transformed traditional marketing, with even major brands like Estee Lauder dumping 75% of its marketing budget on these social media stars.5. FashionFashion has always been a big deal especially as lifestyle and fashion influencers dominate, so this is definitely a popular blog niche to enter.This is evidenced by the many fashionistas making millions from their blogs.Both men and women enjoy looking good, so you can write for one audience or even both.Many fashion bloggers (check out We Wore What) often branch out to include discussions on lifestyle and travel which opens up more creative freedom.Fashion bloggers promote their favorite brands, create sponsored posts, and cross-post to their social media accounts to generate income.6. DatingDating is stressful, unpredictable, and sometimes super awkward.As more people turn to online services for dating (over 49% of dating app users according to Statista), it then makes sense that they would utilize the Internet for dating advice.From determining your ideal partner to tips for the very first date-- you can use your dating blog to better prepare singles for the dating world.Evan Marc Katz shares his expert advice as a dating coach and also advertises his paid products and coaching program.7. ParenthoodThough you’ll often hear scare tactics from news stations, the truth is that younger generations still desire to have children just as much as their predecessors.In fact, according to Pew Research, in 2016 millennial women made up 82% of all births in the United States, though the age at first birth is higher than previous generations.There are so many facets to raising a child from birth to 18 years of age and first-time parents desperately seek advice throughout the journey.Seasoned parents are like a god-send to those entering every new stage, so you’ll undoubtedly build a readership with a parenting blog.Sarah Titus combines parenting advice with fun printables for activities with kids, generating over $200,000 PER MONTH with a combined income from her blog and printables store.8. Wedding & MarriageTying the knot is much more than just saying ‘I do!’There’s caterers, invitations, table toppers….and that doesn’t even begin to cover the complexities of married life after the fact!If you went through the fiasco, have been married for a while, and SURVIVED-- you could benefit from starting a wedding and marriage blog.The depth you want to cover is entirely up to you.Blogs like Marriage 365 delve deep into every area, down to fun date ideas with your spouse.Monetizing your blog can come from many sources including sponsored posts, affiliate links for wedding items, and even offering personalized marriage coaching.9. FamilyThe family unit is one of the most important structures in life, responsible for cultivating happy and well-adjusted adults in the future.Keeping your family close-knit in the midst of a fast-paced lifestyle is hard.Know how to plan fun family outings, engage each member of the family, and maintain a deep intimacy within your own family?Start a family blog!Pair your blog with social platforms like Pinterest and Instagram to develop trust and familiarity with your audience.Check out It’s A Lovely Life for ideas on the topics you can cover to run a successful family blog-- this blog makes over $170,000 per month.10. Personal FinanceThe personal finance niche extends to budgeting, creating wealth, and maximizing potential income streams.Many of these blogs also include information for pursuing a wide array of side hustles and online business opportunities.The good news is you don’t need to be a finance expert to start blogging in this niche, just passion and purpose.Michelle Schroeder started her blog as just a hobby while she worked full-time but she managed to use her own advice and scale her blog to over $100,000 per month.11. Frugal LifestyleEveryone could improve their spending habits but it takes real dedication to stick to a constrained budget.Living frugally entails closely monitoring spending, allocating money wisely, and saving long-term.Naturally, people seek out resources to guide them on the journey to frugal living and your blog will prove very helpful for those looking to make this change.The funny part is it pays to blog about frugality.The Busy Budgeter amassed a huge fan base with her blog that earns her over $86,000 per month.12. RelationshipsWe hold so many different types of relationships with others in our lives.From our parents and partners to our hair stylists and colleagues-- connecting and maintaining reciprocal relationships with other human beings is a key part of life.Even though it’s important…it doesn’t mean that everything goes without a hitch…If you’re awesome at forging long-lasting romantic or platonic relationships and have encountered difficult situations with successful resolution, you can provide value by blogging about relationships.You can target professionals navigating the workplace, people with complex parental relations, or even discuss them all like The Gottman Institute.13. Smart Phones & AccessoriesSmartphones are no longer a luxury, they’re a part of everyday life with over 3 billion smartphone users worldwide-- and this number is expected to increase by hundreds of millions of people in a few years.As people invest in the latest and most expensive models, it makes sense that they’d look for tutorials on features, model comparisons, and phone protection accessories.You may want to decide on a sub-niche based on phone model or brand to focus things better and get more into the nitty-gritty.This blog only includes information for iPhone users ranging from shortcuts to apps.14. Environmental SustainabilityAll experts agree that human beings hold primary responsibility for the majority of negative environmental changes.Yet we have the power to lessen the impact through sustainability and eco-friendly measures.You can create a blog within this niche that focuses on minimizing waste and educating readers on the daily things they can do to help save the planet.You can also niche down further and focus on a smaller sector, such as sustainable fashion design and clothing choices.15. RV LifeThis niche is increasing in popularity each year, as more people turn to alternate housing options.Not many people live and travel full-time in an RV, which is great news for newer bloggers within this niche.Your audience will most likely want to know the logistics of RV life: how you make money on the road, live comfortably in such a small space, and even set up systems like Internet connection.Follow Your Detour uses her blog to educate as well as fund her RV travels, generating around $2,000 monthly.16. Pregnancy & NewbornThis niche is actually pretty specific, though pregnancy spans a large topic range: breastfeeding, nutrition, postpartum care, etc.This time in a woman’s life is both exciting and challenging with so much support needed.You don’t need to be a medical doctor or women’s health expert to blog about the intricacies of pregnancy and caring for a newborn.Being a woman who’s personally gone through the experience is more than enough and also helps you relate more with moms who read your blog.You can create valuable content while generating revenue from recommending your favorite pregnancy and baby products.This is just what the mom behind Swaddles to Bottles does-- and she earns a healthy $9,000 per month doing it.17. MindsetA negative mindset can only get you so far. Consciously working on positive thinking can work wonders in your life.Oxford surveyed 246 entrepreneurs and found that those with a negative mindset were less likely to achieve their goals than those with a positive outlook.Changing your perceptions does take mental manpower and a mindset blog would help others kick-start their personal development.There’s tons of things you can write about related to mindset and the Blissful Mind does it well-- discussing stress, imposter syndrome, and developing healthy habits.18. Organization and DeclutteringMarie Kondo may have been responsible for the decluttering trend that swept across social media last year, but organization has always been a trending niche.The Seana Method follows the same tune as Kondo, emphasizing how the order resulting from organization trickles down positively to all other areas of your life.If you’ve got a knack for getting rid of old junk and turning any space into a clutter-free zone, an organization blog would be right in your wheelhouse.Incorporating video and visual content will help your audience get a feel for the benefits of organization while also attracting readers from social media channels.19. RetirementSaving for retirement is an oft-stressed point made by financial experts, who recommend starting to save as early as possible.The sad truth is that most Americans remain uneducated on how to properly save for retirement, with more than 64% of Americans retiring with less than $10,000 in savings.You can help decrease this unfortunate statistic by educating people young and old with a retirement blog.Follow suit of blogs like Retirement Cafe and pack your blog with accessible resources, break down bits and pieces of a retirement portfolio, and guide readers towards a happy and prosperous retirement.20. Hair CareCurly, straight, wavy, and frizzy-- hair comes in many varieties and each type requires a certain level of care and style.Anyone can be a hair care expert, not just hair stylists.Those who personally deal with the everyday maintenance of curly hair are more than qualified to speak on the topic, just like the blogger behind Curl Centric.In this niche, you can share your preferred hair products and tools to maintain health and luster and also create follow-along guides for cool hairstyles.Photos and videos are going to be crucial for blog posts within this niche.21. Farm LifeYou thought running a farm would be easy?You’ve got to worry about tending to animals, growing crops, and being pretty isolated from the rest of society-- all of which may deter those interested in giving it a try.If you’ve lived on a farm or cared for farm animals, your knowledge could help demystify farm life.There are so many minutiae details involved with running a farm that ideas for content are endless.Consider the wide scope that this blog covers for some inspiration.22. Smart HomesBy 2021, predictions pinpoint the adoption of home automation to around 55% of all households in the U.S. and Canada.Consumers still have a lot to learn when it comes to how smart homes can make their lives easier.Being an expert doesn’t matter as much as the validity and readability of your content covering this complex technology.It’s important to relay this information in your blog in simple ways the everyday non-techy reader can understand.Smart Home Solver reviews a multitude of smart home appliances using a mix of video and text to engage and entertain readers.Health & Wellness23. Ketogenic LifestyleThe ketogenic diet is a low-carb diet which restricts intake of carbohydrates and increases healthy fats and proteins resulting in weight loss and decreased glucose levels.So many people boast massive success with this lifestyle.Jenny Wagner lost over 50 pounds on the keto diet before she started implementing any exercise, according to her interview with The New York Times.Start a keto blog to encourage others with your personal story.You can post workout content, keto education guides, and sample meal plans for your readers to follow.Keto blogs like Cast Iron Keto share tons of homemade recipes and keto alternatives to help others transition to keto smoother.24. VeganismVeganism has taken the world by storm in recent years, highly advocated by many A-list celebs and medical professionals.While people explore how veganism can fit within their lives, an informational blog detailing vegan life can make a major difference in the decision to adopt this lifestyle or not.If you decide to pursue the vegan blogging niche, don’t think you have to be an expert chock full of scientific and medical knowledge in support of veganism.Yup It’s Vegan publishes nothing but recipe ideas for every meal, earning around $2,000 monthly from these efforts.25. Paleo LifestyleSimilar to keto, the paleo diet limits the consumption of processed and artificial ingredients, only allowing foods that the first hunter-gatherers relied on during the paleo era (hence, the name).Approximately 3 million Americans practice this way of life, citing improved digestion, skin, and overall well-being.Knowing what foods are deemed acceptable or not isn’t always crystal-clear to beginners, which makes creating a blog in the paleo niche super helpful.Blogs like Whole Kitchen Sink educate those interested in paleo with recipes and tips to stay on track-- and they net over $6,000 doing it.26. FitnessLet’s talk about getting physical!It’s a new year, which undoubtedly means an increased interest in fitness and exercise.Personal trainers and fitness junkies can capitalize on this demand and offer their knowledge and experience to readers in the form of a fitness blog, potentially opening up a lucrative stream of income.Popular fitness blog Nerd Fitness generates six figures yearly, based on an interview Blogger Jet conducted with founder Steve Kamb.27. Healthy LifestyleA healthy lifestyle includes food, exercise, and positivity.Getting all 3 areas down can be somewhat of a challenge.Small children, demanding careers, and busy lives in general can lead to junk food, decreased activity, and high stress levels.Publish your advice for living a healthy lifestyle in a blog to guide others on the right path.You can discuss many aspects of healthy living.Jessica Sepel not only shares easy recipes and workout ideas, but she also talks about body and mind positivity.28. Body PositivitySelf-confidence is so important to have nowadays, especially in the social media age.The body positivity movement has swept media, print, and online channels, encouraging people to love and embrace the body they are in.Words of wisdom, stories of strength and confidence, discussions on body image--all are potential topics discussed in a body positivity blog.Maria Denne tackles these topics as well as fashion, news, and lifestyle with an intimate and relatable flair through her blog The Curvy Fashionista-- a talent that’s made her a $100,000 yearly earner.29. NutritionA well-balanced and nutritious diet gives you the fuel to conquer your goals.Nutrition bloggers like Sarah B. at My New Roots provide suggestions for meals and snacks, with the added option of 1-on-1 mentoring.Nutritionists, R.D.’s, and other healthcare professionals can promote the power of nutrition through coaching programs, helpful blog posts, cooking and recipe tips, and informational e-books.30. Women's HealthWomen’s health care is severely lacking in the United States.Compared to eleven other developed countries, women in the U.S. are less likely to view their quality of healthcare as excellent, the Commonwealth found.Advocate and educate for better women’s health care with an unbiased blog.Post content related to sexual health, nutrition, pregnancy, and disease prevention, similar to the content over at Healthy Women.Include real-life stories sharing the experiences of other women to foster connection and relatability.31. Weight LossLosing weight is an important and pretty universal goal held by people from all age groups.Starting is the hardest part and a blog solely dedicated to weight loss can provide that extra push your readers need.Some of the things Andie Mitchell talks about in her blog include personal motivation, goal-setting for weight loss, and healthy recipes.32. Alternative MedicineTraditional medicine has made amazing strides, but alternative treatments often provide the peace of mind people seek.In fact, NCCIH found that 38% of adults in the U.S. utilize some form of complementary and alternative medicine.A couple of the most popular forms of alternative medicine are herbal remedies and acupuncture.This blog focuses on educating readers on both practices.Many people are unaware of these other options, so an alternative medicine blog is a wonderful way to increase awareness.33. DiabetesDiabetes is a debilitating illness that affects more and more people each year.Over 100 million Americans have diabetes or pre-diabetes according to the CDC.A diagnosis of diabetes means major changes in a person’s lifestyle from food to exercise, which can be extremely overwhelming.If you or someone you love manages diabetes in day-to-day life you can make it your mission to help someone else in the same situation by creating a diabetes blog.For example, The Diabetic Foodie publishes so many yummy and healthy recipes that those with diabetes can enjoy.34. Mental HealthGoing through life with a mental illness is challenging and draining, so it’s important to have the right help and support.It’s not exactly rare either.In fact, 1 in 5 Americans experience a mental illness based on data compiled by Nami.org.Those living with a mental illness or mental health advocates can start the conversation and keep it open with the accessibility of a mental health blog.Natasha over at Natasha Tracy talks all things bipolar disorder, from locating resources to dealing with symptoms.35. Self CareSometimes we need to take a step back and make sure we’re taking care of ourselves before anything else.A self-care blog can cover tips for self-improvement, advice for major life decisions, and much more.The topics are limitless.This self-care blogger focuses on personal development, healthy thinking, and writing as a creative outlet.36. Yoga/MeditationYoga teachers can potentially create another income stream through a yoga and meditation blog.Guiding beginners through the stages of meditation, offering advice on mindfulness, and establishing yourself as a trusted yoga expert- these are all different topics you can discuss.Allie at the Journey Junkie promotes her workshops, creates helpful guides and articles, and also shares videos she’s created.Her paid coaching programs and retreats made a major income difference for her blog, as she generated $70,000 within 2 weeks of launching her first course.37. Self WorthFeelings of self-worth can be difficult to retain after a traumatic or unfortunate occurrence.Written advice helps soothe and support emotions to make the healing journey easier.Anyone is qualified to write within this niche with the noble aim of helping others cope and thrive.Check out Positive Provocations for a heap of articles, resources, and tidbits to boost happiness and positivity.Business & Career38. WritingBecoming a freelance writer is often thought of as unsustainable in the long run, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.Freelance writers often struggle to position themselves and find good-paying writing jobs.Blogs geared towards guiding freelance writers to prosperity prosper themselves.Jorden Roper of Creative Revolt offers practical advice, resources, and even a paid course.She claims to be making over 5 figures per month through freelance writing.If you’re a seasoned writer, your knowledge is pure gold to newbies. You can coach writers on positioning, branding, and improving their craft.39. TechnologyWe are in the midst of the technology age with still so many major innovations and new developments to be made in the future.Picture just how many industries there are and the number of businesses within each industry that exist-- millions.And technology impacts each and every one of them.Your tech blog can focus on tech news and gadgets within different industries like transportation and security.The interest in tech is most definitely there, as David Risley discovered once he turned his blog Tech Junkie into a six figure business.40. PhotographyPeople need good quality photos for so many purposes, such as for their company website or social media accounts.Other photographers also love to get inspiration for their own work and appreciate what their fellow photographers have created.Whether you’re a nature or portrait photographer, you can also utilize your blog to attract new clients and build an online presence.This is what Erick Im did when first starting his street photography blog.He sold his own products and utilized affiliate advertising to scale his blog to over $200K per year.41. Web DevelopmentWeb developers are booming in demand.It is now 2020, at this point business owners of every industry know a sites value.Those who learn to be full stack internet developers will stack cash (if you know what I mean)Thus, it’s no wonder that the need for these experts is expected to increase nearly 13% by 2028.If you’re a web developer or offer web development services, you could blog all about this field: trending design news, the fundamentals of design, resources, cool tools-- and more!Check out Web Designer Depot for some inspo.42. EcommercePeople have largely started to prefer shopping online, which is good news for aspiring ecommerce business owners.Creating an online store is fairly simple and cheap with Shopify and Woocommerce, yet actually garnering leads and making sales is another story entirely.Got a successful online store or know your way around ecommerce?Educate budding entrepreneurs with advice, case studies, recommendations for tools, and more.Check out Printful to get an idea of some areas you can cover.43. Digital MarketingThis niche is one of the absolute best to dive into as we enter a new decade of technological advancement.The importance of an effective digital marketing strategy is crucial to the survival of most businesses nowadays, yet most people are lost and overwhelmed figuring it all out.Digital marketing experts with a proven track record can serve as trustworthy guides for business owners and other online marketers with a blog in this niche.Plus, you can use your digital marketing skills to rank your site quickly and lead readers seamlessly to your paid products and services.Neil Patel runs one of the most influential digital marketing blogs today and has done all of the above to rake in nearly $400,000 with his blog.44. Interior DesignAs wages improve, people look for inspiration to spruce up their homes.You don’t necessarily need to be an interior designer to blog within this niche, you can also just be an avid lover of design.It pays to blog in this popular niche too, as blogs like The Harper House net over $6,000 per month.45. HRCalling all HR professionals!Employers and employees often have spur-of-the-moment questions that need quick answers.Having a reliable HR blog they can reference during these moments would be super helpful and also lessen the workload of that company’s HR department.Gather the most frequently asked questions and situations you encounter to create detailed guides. Include links to other resources for readers to peruse.HR Bartender also uses their blog to advertise their services, speaking engagements, and books.46. Computer ScienceThis subject is one of the hardest to conquer for most university students.Huge class sizes limit a professor’s accessibility, so many students search for online resources to aid them in understanding.Computer science professional or just a student who whizzed through the course?You can create videos explaining difficult concepts and solving sample problems to better equip students for successful course completion.Take it one step further and diversify your content with industry news and developments like this blog.47. Network MarketingMLM’s often get a bad rep, but they do represent genuine business opportunities.Success isn’t guaranteed and many uplines still teach ineffective methods for running a sustainable business long-term.You can use your direct sales experience to advise fellow network marketers on the best ways to sell, recruit, and build a successful business.If you continuously provide amazing value, you can create a paid coaching program and even attract prospects to your own MLM business.Ray Higdon is a famed MLM leader who has used his blog and vast success to market his services and business opportunity, scaling it to 7 figures yearly.48. SEOSEO is going to become even more important as time passes.Let your SEO expertise shine by creating an educational blog within the SEO niche.Learning effective SEO takes time and your blog will easily get a huge amount of views if your content and delivery makes it a go-to resource for marketers and business owners.The most reputable SEO blog I follow is Backlinko and its founder Brian Dean has used video and super high-quality content to build it into a 7 figure business.49. Career ChoiceIf you’ve landed your dream career, chances are you’ve navigated through many hoops and hurdles to reach this point.Specialty professions that require rigorous certification programs and exams are another beast entirely and you can bet that aspiring professionals are eager for as much help as they can get.Young Architect built a blog chock full of helpful information while also making money off of his value-packed paid bootcamp and training programs.Divulge your secrets in a tell-all career blog where you break down your best tips and resources from personal experience.50. Online Business OpportunitiesMaking money online is no longer a pipe dream.It’s become even more feasible for moms, students, and full-time professionals to create income using the Internet.What better place to find out ways to earn money online… than searching online?Gather all of your research together to create a comprehensive directory of money-making opportunities and side hustles from research and personal experience.Follow the lead of those like Nick Loper to make money from your efforts, combining podcast promotion and affiliate links.51. BloggingBlogging about blogging?Yep! This is actually a niche-- and a trending one at that.People are curious about how to start a blog and potentially make money off of it-- which is obviously the ultimate goal right?If you’ve had success building a loyal following and monetizing your blog, you can jump into the demand and start a blog about making money blogging!You’ll share your preferred tools, resources, tips for driving site visits, and landing sponsorship and affiliate deals.Take a look at a blog successfully generating $100,000 per month within this niche.52. EntrepreneurshipStarting a business seems like the logical next step for those unhappy with their careers and income.However, the U.S. Small Business Administration reports that 50% of businesses with employees last longer than five years.For entrepreneurs to get through this hump, they need a great deal of motivation, support, and positivity.Entrepreneurs like yourself can offer unparalleled first-hand advice with an entrepreneurship blog to pay it forward and increase the chances of others achieving success themselves.Yaro imparts knowledge about everything from mindset to pricing services-- a venture that earns him $40,000 per month.Activities53. Cross FitThe number of CrossFit gyms increased drastically from only 13 in 2005 to over 7,000 gyms today.What this means is that there is a higher demand for content like this as people are constantly seeking knowledge about it.The best part?There really aren’t many blogs dedicated to CrossFit on the Internet (Crossfit appears to be one of the leading blogs).Creating a blog in this niche fills an informational void while also potentially driving profit.54. CyclingWhether you bike professionally or enjoy a cycling session at your local gym, a cycling blog can be a creative way to further your passion.Pros like Juliet Elliott use their cycling blogs not just for self-promotion but also for sharing their personal experiences with training, gear, and competing.55. RunningRunning is a popular exercise for maintaining great health and also a huge competitive sport all around the globe.Experienced runners can create a blog in the running niche to offer up advice on endurance, nutrition, training, and preparation for competition.The desire to be of service can definitely pay off as evidenced by Daniel Hamel’s success with his blog Marathon Nation US which nets over 7 figures per year.56. GardeningGot a green thumb?Those with a knack for growing flowers, fruits, or veggies can let their knowledge bloom with a gardening blog.Whether you specialize in growing tomatoes or arranging beautiful bouquets, your knowledge can assist someone who may have just started.You can find tons of tips for plant care, fun crafts, and design over at You Grow Girl.57. PilatesThose looking to tone up, maintain weight, and even recover from an injury often turn to pilates as the most viable option.Pilates combines endurance, flexibility, and strength movements for the ultimate core-strengthening workout.Pairing an educational pilates blog with another online platform can prove lucrative.Just ask Cassey Ho who makes over $4 million per year from her pilates blog and YouTube channel.58. PokerThe game of poker takes some serious skill to truly compete.If you’ve dabbled in the game for a while and have tons of advice-- share it with a poker blog!Those who aspire to compete professionally or even just avid players could benefit from learning new tips and tricks to up their game.This is exactly the aim over at Upswing Poker, which not only offers training but also news within the industry and surrounding pros.59. FishingIs going fishing your favorite past-time?Perhaps you’ve got a few tricks up your sleeve to get the biggest catches?A fishing blog is a great way to expand your passion and share it with others!Single Barbed discusses all of the fine details of fishing from recommended tools to news about upcoming competitions.60. Arts and CraftsThis niche is fairly broad so you can really let your creativity shine here.People often look for fun craft ideas to entertain their children or create homemade decor.Activities involving arts and crafts are also super popular for events, school functions, and parties.A Beautiful Mess mixes up tons of different crafts from plant arrangements to scrapbooking.Using social media platforms like Pinterest can help drive traffic to your blog and generate leads for selling your own creations.61. GolfGolf is both a famed sport and a casual hobby enjoyed by millions of people worldwide.You might be able to get the basics down…but fine tuning those skills will be difficult without the right guidance.A golf blog can be an amazing resource for last-minute assistance and continuous advice.Even top-ranked golfers see the value-- Stephanie Wei blogs about technique, news, and competition updates.62. MusicMusic transcends language and connects people from all backgrounds.There’s something out there to please everyone’s tastes, from hip hop to classical piano.So the direction of your music blog is completely up to you.Jason Grishkoff started Indie Shuffle to support the music of indie artists, scaling his blog to over $10,000 per week after selling music promotions on the site.You can review newly released music, post updates on your favorite artists, and expand upon concert experiences.63. Horseback RidingHorses are beloved creatures that require tons of love and care.Stacy Westfall utilized her passion for horseback riding to create an educational blog for horse owners and equestrians detailing horse care, advice, and various competitions.You can monetize the experience and knowledge you hold about horses with either your own horse blog or even writing guest blog posts for equestrian magazines.64. Bird WatchingBird watching is still a favorite hobby for many.FWS estimates that more than 45 million people participate in this activity.Bird enthusiasts can document the species they’ve captured on camera while on their travels.Helpful articles on bird behavior and tips for effective bird-watching are also great pieces of content to include in your blog.Take in the sheer amount of varied content found on Surf Birds as an example.65. Martial ArtsLearning any form of martial arts is an ongoing process rife with discipline and skill.Those who practice martial arts often spend ample time outside of the studio educating themselves on different techniques and movements.A blog based around a martial arts form can be a much needed resource for a fighter’s development, giving advice on training, technique, and even health and nutrition.This blog focuses on helping out Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA fighters.Opportunities for income generation include sponsored posts for gear and affiliate links.66. DanceThis niche encompasses a wide range of dance styles from ballet to belly dancing.You can offer insight on proper dance techniques, tutorials for new moves, step-by-step choreography, and just plain advice for becoming a better dancer.Many dance teachers use their dance blogs to promote their online dance classes and coaching programs as a way to make money.Steezy has guides on how to choreograph and freestyle for dancers as well as resources for dance classes with the option for readers to try out their paid online classes.67. ActingActing takes serious dedication and hours of grueling practice.There exist many different acting methods as well as a multitude of roles that an actor takes on.Exploration is part of the process and an acting blog that captures what it means to be an actor would be beneficial for members of the acting community.You can blog about the audition process, resources for new actors, and technique tips, similar to Margie Haber.68. BodybuildingBodybuilders undergo intensive training and follow strict nutritional guidelines to compete at the national stage.Though you can definitely start a blog in this niche if you’re a huge fan, you’ll be able to cover more content and grow a more personable audience if you have real-life experience yourself.This is because you’ll want to discuss workouts and nutrition and give recommendations for supplements, diets, and training routines--- similar to Strong Lifts.Blogs related to gym and special exercises remain popular, with some like Leaving Work Behind raking in $4,000 per month.69. SewingLove to sew?Diversify your income and creative potential with a sewing blog.You’ll be able to create tutorials for making blankets, articles of clothing, and more.It’s recommended to utilize social media platforms that focus on imagery to attract traffic to your blog.Blogs like While She Naps generate income from promoting paid workshops, affiliate products, and books, to the tune of around $3,000 per month.70. PaintingShowcase your work while sharing the techniques you’ve perfected as a painter with a painting blog.If you paint, using social media will be a great tool to bring traffic to your blog.Selling your paintings directly on your website is a great way to make money with your blog.Another option is to include links to your online store both on your blog and social media accounts.As is the case with all blogs, consistent posting is super important to retain viewers.Kem Studios does something interesting.The painter writes a blog post covering something painting related while also featuring her own paintings in each post.71. SportsSports are a favorite global past-time, both to partake in and watch.Fans eat up statistics, player updates, and power rankings.If you’re an impassioned sports fan who enjoys following all aspects of your favorite sport closely, you should explore starting a sports blog.While you can definitely gain views with a general sports blog, deciding on a sub-niche will make things ten times easier.Fan Sided centers on American football and keeps tabs on trade rumors, the draft, injuries, statistics, and much more.72. Outdoor ActivitiesEncourage others to embrace the fresh mountain air-- share your love for all the outdoors has to offer with an outdoor activity blog.There are so many different topics in this niche…you’ll never run out of things to write about!So if you want to discuss backpacking, hiking, or sightseeing, spread the excitement for adventure through your blog posts.The mom behind Mountain Mom and Tots adds a family element to her story-telling, connecting with readers on a personal and genuine level.73. JournalingBullet journaling has become a massively popular way to organize thoughts, plan schedules, and maintain continuity.You take a blank journal and fill it with your own lines, words, boxes, and designs.Many have sworn to the impact this journaling method has had in their lives. Are you one of them?If so-- awesome, you can teach others how to start a bullet journal with a journaling blog.It’s really important to rely on stunning visuals to illustrate examples so newbies can reference your work for inspiration. You’ll need to utilize social media to do so.Take a look at blogs like Life by Whitney for monetization ideas.You can create and sell a journaling course or even pre-printed bullet journals designed completely by you.Interests & Entertainment74. MotorcyclesOwning a motorcycle can get pricey.While a standard bike can start around $10,000, this figure doesn’t factor in insurance, maintenance, gas, gear, and more-- pushing that number as high as $50,000 and over.So it stands to say that motorcycle owners are serious about their passion.Motorcycle hobbyists would love a go-to resource for new bike features, gear, accessories, and advice for maintenance and repairs.The blogger running Bike Exif covers all of this information and more which has garnered him hundreds of thousands of loyal fans.75. Essential OilsThose who use essential oils swear by their healing and health properties.Whether these purported benefits are true or not, that doesn’t stop 34% of Americans from consuming an assortment of these diffused oils.Since these oils are in such high demand and learning the properties and uses for each one takes time, blogs like Recipes with Essential Oils help shorten the learning curve.Several MLM companies also tout essential oils as their main product, notably companies like DoTerra or Young Living.If you’re an avid essential oils users and they’ve benefited your life, share your experience with others seeking alternative treatments or home remedies.76. PetsOver 57% of the world’s population owns a pet, with dogs and cats coming out on top as the most popular.People often seek advice on caring for their pets from the food they should eat down to their daily behaviors.Dog blogs like Puppy Leaks share tips for care, activity, nutrition, and bonding.You can blog about pretty much any pet you want in this niche, whether you prefer goldfish or guinea pigs.77. MoviesThe cinema is a cultural and creative outlet that transcends language barriers.There are always new films to be released and timeless classics to reflect on.Just like there are always going to be people who base their decision to see a movie on a review they’ve read.Start some thought-provoking discussions with a movie blog where you review and discuss films.Cinema Blend takes it one step further and also publishes the latest movie news and rumors.78. TV ShowsDid you see the new episode last night?Not everyone has time to catch up on TV so they seek out updates from online resources and search for ways to watch their shows online.If your friends turn to you for updates on the latest TV shows because no matter what, you manage to squeeze in time for your favorites-- a TV blog is a great way to explore your passion further.TV Fanatic not only shares reviews, but they even go as far as providing per-episode break-downs of popular shows.79. BroadwayTourists from all over the world flock to New York City to watch a multitude of Broadway productions, resulting in over $1 billion in ticket sales in just 2010!Theater and musical lovers constantly research and plan for the shows they want to see.With the Broadway niche, you can create reviews for different plays to serve as a guide for newbies and hobbyists alike.You can also post industry updates, rumors, and Broadway star news just like The Broadway Blog does.80. HoroscopesSuperstitious to some and like gospel to others, the fact of the matter is that people care what their horoscope says.Millennials especially occupy a major market for astrology and horoscopes and they’re consuming them online-- opening up the market for online apps and blogs that are seeing the interest of major investors.Your blog can post daily, weekly, or even monthly horoscopes for each astrological sign.Ganesha Speaks also includes astrology news in relation to politics, business, and more.81. OperaHave you attended opera shows regularly and can make suggestions to ensure others have the best experience?Consider starting an opera blog where you share the latest news, show reviews, and even sell Opera merchandise to earn money.This niche is hot to jump in for newbie bloggers especially since there aren’t many unbiased opera blogs out there that aren’t affiliated with an opera venue (although LA Opera is a good one to peruse for inspiration).82. ComedyLaughter is the best medicine-- it reduces stress, eases tension and anxiety, and can even help prevent heart disease according to Help Guide.Do you have a knack for making people laugh?You can reach even more people by creating a comedy blog!A comedy blog can also help promote your chops as a professional comedian.You can blog about jokes and stage presence while advertising your show dates and merchandise, much like The Chive.83. Video GamesThe video game niche is hot right now.Contrary to popular belief, video games are in high demand for both kids and adults.E-sport gaming has transcended into a $1 billion industry as people compete in competitions playing video games of various genres.Avid gamers consume material on their favorite video games ranging from magazines to online forums, so driving traffic to your blog shouldn’t be difficult.It may help to niche your focus down further to rank higher in the search engines.Go Nintendo only posts news, reviews, and tutorials for Nintendo branded game consoles and video games.84. MemesA meme is a funny photo or video often including text that Internet users share widely on social media platforms.They’re used to infuse humor in news, politics, and everyday life.Finding the funniest meme is a big job to undertake, and you can make it easier with the meme stockpile you’ve compiled within your meme blog.You can even create your own memes and sell them to users.Sebastian Tribbie made meme creation his career and he earns anywhere from $2,000+ doing so for big name brands.85. Board GamesYes people, board games are still around and they’re insanely popular with audiences of all ages.In 2017, over 5,000 new board games were introduced alone with many more released in subsequent years since.Board games are something of a social activity, brought out during parties or social gatherings to provide entertainment.With your board game blog, you can attract readers by unboxing and reviewing newly released board games.The real money comes from creating your own board game, which you can promote to your audience.Matt behind Shut Up and Sit Down takes it a step further and cross-posts video content and podcast episodes.86. Celebrity GossipSocial media has changed the way we consume news, even celebrity gossip!Forbes reports that most people hear the latest news through social media first, which resulted in a 57% increase to news sites referred from social media channels.This is great news for avid followers of celeb gossip, who can capitalize on this trend with a celebrity blog detailing breaking news and monitoring of America’s favorite celebs.More often than not, more controversy tends to lead to more traffic.Perez Hilton made his $50 million fortune from his celebrity blog, though his methods are criticized by many.87. CrimeCold cases, missing persons cases, serial killers-- people can’t help themselves from following some of the worst crimes known to man.The crime niche is pretty general so wherever your passions are, you can still build readership and blog about the things that interest you most.All Things Crime remains broad, creating posts on everything from mass murders to crime literature.Crime bloggers tend to make money by promoting their own e-books and crime novels, in addition to making affiliate income off of referrals to other books and resources.88. PoliticsAhh, politics.People both love and hate discussing and defending their political views-- but hey, that’s what democracy is for!Whether you lean towards the right or left, or even somewhere dead center, you can share your political views and opinions through a politics blog.Ordinary people entering this niche will have more of an advantage, considering most political blogs branch out from media conglomerates or political affiliates.Discussing how policies and laws will affect the everyday American increases relatability with your audience, who may be disillusioned and unable to relate to the musings of political pundits.Study blogs like Think Progress or others within your political realm to see what talking points, discussions,and news they cover.89. ReligionSpreading the faith is not only positive-- it can bring you positive income too.Religion is still a dominant part of people’s everyday lives, with the Pew Forum classifying nearly 71% of citizens identifying as Christian and 6% following non-Christian faiths.You can explore a wide range of topics with your blog as the religion niche is relatively open-ended.Rose at Water chooses to talk about family life and recipes while sprinkling in little tidbits of scripture and faith.And it works, resulting in a nice $8,000 monthly income.90. CarsThe car niche has always been popular, from detailing to simply admiring.Starting a blog around cars will require a focus on visuals, either showcasing cars or providing step-by-step guides to fix common issues.Car Advice could be reviews, testing, comparisons or even opening it up to guest contribution!91. Book ReviewsYes it’s hard to believe, but people still read books for enjoyment.CNBC reported that book sales in both print and electronic format totaled nearly $26 billion in 2018.Passionate readers can start a book review blog to rate,compare, and recommend new and classic novels.This is exactly what the bloggers at Book Smugglers do-- and they also invite blog contributions from fellow bookies.92. DIYAre you talented at making household decorations, tools, and crafts?People are always on the hunt for simple decorations and party favors they can save money on and make at home.Empower others with DIY (do-it-yourself) skills and an appreciation for crafts by starting a DIY blog.Saving money with homemade crafts can also make you money.Check out this DIY blog that brings in around $2,000 every month.93. Product ReviewsThink about that time you searched online looking for the best blender that would make killer morning smoothies.What criteria mattered to you most when deciding which one to buy?If you said customer reviews, your response matches the 90% of consumers who weighed positive online reviews and the other 86% who paid more attention to negative reviews before making purchases.Online reviews continue to be important to potential customers. Facilitate this research and assist others in making the best decisions with a product review blog.Pick your preferred product niche, whether it’s blenders, massage chairs, or photography tools like this guy.Companies always seek out genuine opinions from their customers and you can potentially earn an income with sponsored posts and product referrals.94. Marijuana/CBDThough the federal front hasn’t budged, more and more states are jumping on board with marijuana legalization.Legalization has expanded business opportunities both in marijuana and CBD products across America, with the industry estimated to reach $30 billion by 2023.The consumption of these products is still very new to most people, so an all-encompassing guide on vapes, flowers, and marijuana paraphernalia would prove very helpful.Cannabis Cheri got creative and even creates marijuana-infused recipes for responsible adults to munch on.Build relationships with glass-blowers and artists to sell products for commision and build a large network and readership.Consult your state’s laws on online advertising related to marijuana/CBD before deciding to monetize.95. Social JusticeIt takes one person to foment a movement, but the power of the people to sustain it.Social justice takes up many arms, from defending the environment, racial equality, animals, and the underrepresented.For example, this blog supports eco-friendly measures and advances the tenets of Earth Day.Rally behind a cause and spread the word with a social justice blog promoting your group’s mission.Write opinion pieces, update activists on current news stories, and advance the meaning behind your message.96. Scents & FragranceConsumers’ obsession with smelling good has resulted in a $30 billion industry valuation.If you’re somewhat of a scent snob, you can earn and educate by creating a blog in this niche.Blogs like this one also compare different perfume brands and are able to earn commissions off of product referrals.Perfume and cologne are some of the most popular gifts to give and your opinions could help others make the right choices.97. SneakersCreating a blog in this niche is not only a smart decision for passionate sneaker-heads, it’s also a potentially lucrative move.Both consumers and big name brands have shown major interest in online sneaker reselling platforms, with even the likes of Foot Locker pouring in $100 million investments.You can talk all about your favorite kicks and also get involved in the huge money-making venture of shoe flipping.Successful blogs like Kicks on Fire have made hefty profits from combining both business opportunities.Food & Drink98. BakingCookies, cakes, and cupcakes galore!If you’re a whiz at baking, share your knowledge with a baking blog.People love whipping up tasty creations to satisfy a sweet tooth or finding baked good ideas for parties and other events.Making a full-time income from your baking blog is definitely doable-- just ask Sally over at Sally’s Baking Addiction.99. Restaurant ReviewsHelp people decide where to go for dinner to celebrate a major event with a restaurant review blog.People care about a restaurant’s ratings, as evidenced by the reliance on platforms like Yelp.You can explore restaurants across a certain geographic region, while traveling, or just your local area like Shannon of Urban Chic Guides, who breaks down the best places to dine in Sydney.100. WineThere’s nothing better than a fine wine.With so many varieties and brands of wine out there, even the biggest wine aficionado could use a guide of some sort.The direction you want to take a wine blog is up to your discretion.Vinography reviews wine books, rates restaurant wine stock, and updates readers on the latest wine news.101. CookingCooking is perhaps one of the most popular Internet searches so bringing traffic to your cooking blog shouldn’t be too difficult.There are almost limitless niches within cooking, you will always have something to write about!Cooking and food blogs go hand-in-hand with appealing photography making social media platforms a vital resource for attracting new followers.People love to read about food just as much as they love to eat-- Pinch of Yum earned close to $500,000 from their blog alone in 2015.102. CoffeeBlogging about coffee is a wise choice because it’s one of the most popular beverage choices worldwide, with people consuming over 160 million bags in 2018 alone.Making the perfect cup of coffee is somewhat of an art form and there are various brewing methods, machine brands, and coffee ground types to explore.You can do something similar to Bean Ground and review different coffee machines and gadgets and create follow-along guides.Spread the love for a morning cup of joe!103. TeaYou can’t go wrong with a good cup of tea.For those already so accustomed to their favorite blend, expanding their taste horizons can be a delicate thing.A tea blog with published reviews for different brands and flavors can be the perfect resource for new and curious tea drinkers.Understanding the history and culture behind tea is also important, and Tony Gebely makes sure to talk about this in his tea blog.There’s definitely money to be made in the world of tea.Andy Hayes was able to build a 7 figure tea subscription box business.104. BeerTimes claims that beer is the most popular alcoholic drink in the world, with 40% of people surveyed by a Gallup poll preferring beer over other types of alcohol.Popping open a cold one has become a part of life for most people with many traveling to other countries in pursuit of the best-tasting brews.The blogger behind Big World, Small Girl does just that-- documenting her world travels with her blog and consuming some of the best beer everUndoubtedly, the beer community is a huge deal and a beer blog can be a helpful resource for those who love the foamy stuff.Education105. Music EducationA music education blog can help expand a music teacher’s client base significantly.This piano teacher made it his mission to teach pianists to play by ear with a paid subscription.With the help of his blog, he was able to net over 8 figures per year.Music teachers would benefit from creating both video and written tutorials and cross-posting this content to other social media platforms.106. ScienceFrom the food we eat to the medical treatments that save lives-- we definitely owe a lot to the men and women of science.If you’re passionate about a specific scientific field and geek out over the latest news, a science blog may be your best bet.Educators can also use science blogs to foster student interests and promote a love for science.It’s best to niche down further if you decide to go this route since science stems into so many areas.Check out The Culture of Chemistry blog to get an idea of what I mean.107. InsurancePeople need insurance to cover so many of life’s valuables: vehicles, homes, boats, your business, and much more.But insurance policies can be confusing to understand and people may be unsure about what they really need.Spread your specialty insurance knowledge to increase consumer education.You can also use your blog to give recommendations and price comparisons between insurance companies, similar to Insurify.com.You may find quick traction with your blog as not many insurance blogs exist that aren’t affiliated with an insurance or law firm.108. LanguageLearning a language can be difficult despite the library of resources out there.But the pursuit of language learning can be extremely beneficial and even help increase your potential salary by as much as 15%.The language blogging niche offers yet another means of support for language learners.For example, the folks at Spanish Obsessed have lessons, language guides, travel, and culture.Language bloggers may also offer paid memberships, tutoring, or digital products to make an income.109. InvestingThe path to a higher net worth is typically through investment of some kind.Investing isn’t as passive as most people seem to believe as there is a slight learning curve to overcome.Deciding where to pool your money can be stressful whether it’s in real estate or stocks.Take the lead of blogs like Bigger Pockets and educate consumers on smart investment practices, wealth building, and networking.Who knows?Your investing blog could be the next success story to net $100,000 in four short months.110. HomeschoolingThe option to homeschool children is becoming increasingly popular, with the homeschool population growing between 2-8% each year based on data collected by NHERI.The herculean task of educating children can be daunting for parents without a teaching background.Parents who successfully homeschool as well as homeschool educators can create an amazing support system with a homeschool blog.This blog shares sample lesson plans, advice, activities, and connects homeschool parents together.111. CollegeSecondary education is somewhat of an expectation in the United States.NCES estimates that around 20 million students enrolled in college for the fall semester 2019.Many students and parents often find themselves unprepared with all that college entails.Know powerful study tips, smart budgeting tricks, and how to survive a frat party?A blog like this would help support and guide others through the crazy, lackluster experience that college is!Blogs like College Cures can provide inspiration for the depth and quality of your content.Starting a blog can be profitable... but lead generation is still my #1 online business recommendationStarting a money-making blog is definitely doable.But let's face it, it can take months and even YEARS to grow your blog before you start making any money at all.With local lead generation, the results are much quicker and take far less work after the initial process.You don't need to scramble around dabbling in email lists, four social media accounts, and paid advertising to generate profitable leads.You simply rely on the free and powerful influence of good ol' Google.While affiliate income from a blog is often termed 'passive income', you still need to spend time writing and updating a constant flux of blog posts.Lead gen is truly passive income once the site is built and ranked.Some of my sites haven’t been touched for several years…yet they continuously make me money month after month.This is the best business model I've found that requires a small upfront investment for a lifetime of financial freedom.Lead Generation is my #1 Online Business Choice(IMO Less Hassle Than Starting A Blog)Yes Show Me This Biz!Which niche are you going to get rich with?I only went over 111 blogging niches but trust me, there are TONS more out there.Above all else, my suggestion is to go with your passion-- and learn to make money from it afterward.What blog niches did I miss that should be added to the list?Share them with me below in the comments!