The idea of emerging economies wielding more influence is sound because of the influx of assets that these countries possess. China's size has a lot to do with it's emerging influence, and if they can keep their economy stable and moving forward the country will benefit. Even though China is focusing on their own economic stimulus for now, hopefully the country will realize, sooner than later, that it wields economic power and they will use that power to help alleviate some of the issues facing other countries by doing something along the lines of contributing to the IMF so other countries will have the opportunity to boost their own economies or helping stimulate other economies through other means.

The widening income gap is certainly a big problem, and it hinders China's ability to respond to the financial crisis. At the end of last year, the World Bank lowered its projections for China's 2009 economic growth from 9.2 to 7.5% . While a stimulus package would be helpful, I think the money could be better spent. The World Bank had some useful recommendations for more productive ways to allocate the package.
I agree with Erin's argument that the income gap hurts the economy by lowering consumer spending. Since its economic reforms began, China has relied on exporting low to medium-quality goods to secure a strong manufacturing sector. This over-reliance on the export market has shown its drawbacks after many developed nations' demand for Chinese imports declined over the past fall, causing lay-offs throughout China. It needs to encourage more domestic consumer spending to create a more balanced economy, but this requires that more Chinese people have enough money to purchase non-essential items.
The stimulus package falls short because it does not provide for better access to health and education for rural Chinese. By focusing on improvements such as highways and railroads to better connect its eastern coastal provinces with rural inland area, Chinese economic planners have overlooked other vital parts of the country's infrastructure. Allowing better access to schools and hospitals is necessary to meaningfully improve the quality of life for the average Chinese person. Currently, healthcare in rural areas of China is plagued by a lack of highly qualified doctors and distance between population centers without a proportionate number of ambulances. You can't count on people to call an ambulance for you if you're hurt because if you can't pay for the ambulance, then the person who called the ambulance must pay. The education system also highlights the urban-rural divide. When I taught English in Shanghai, I was surprised by how much more English a student from Shanghai or Nanjing understood. It seemed like the students from rural areas had much less experience with English, which is usually a required course even in primary school. So I think the transportation infrastructure improvements should continue, but alongside renewed efforts to improve quality and access to schools, clinics, and hospitals in the rural areas. Only by improving people's living standards and mitigating the financial pressures of living in a region with poor health and education can China lessen the income gap and develop a successful long-term response to the financial slump.