In this discussion, we are going to analyze the role and scale of the stock market across countries and over time. 
graph 1 shows the market capitalization as a percent of GDP for US. graph 2 shows the same thing for China. Please comments on the differences in these two economies. I expect you to use at least two references. Please feel free to compare other countries if you prefer. 

Graph 1 link: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=qQTG
Graph 2 link: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=r7of