PARIS - In past global slowdowns, the United States invariably led the way out, followed by Europe and the rest of the world. But for the first time, the catalyst is coming from China and the rest of Asia, where resurgent economies are helping the still-shaky West recover from the deepest recession since World War II.
Economists have long predicted that an increasingly powerful China would come to rival and eventually surpass the United States in economic influence. While the US economy is still more than three times the size of China’s, the nascent global recovery suggests that this change could arrive sooner than expected.
Such a shift would have significant ramifications for the United States and the rest of the West, even after the global economic recovery takes hold.
Don't you mean IF the "recovery" takes hold?
“The economic center of gravity has been shifting for some time, but this recession marks a turning point,’’ said Neal Soss, chief economist for Credit Suisse in New York. “It’s Asia that’s lifting the world, rather than the US, and that’s never happened before.’’
China’s government-dominated, top-down economy is surging after Chinese banks doled out more than $1 trillion in loans in the first half of the year, in addition to a nearly $600 billion government stimulus program.
That's because they actually loaned the money rather than ripping it off like the AmeriKan banks.
Related: China's Stimulus Succeeds
And screw the top-down government brand. That's not the reason, because U.S. is the same; we just call it big business.
Though the benefits are manifest, some economists wonder whether China is laying the groundwork for sustainable growth or just increasing its export capacity despite more frugal spending habits on the part of Western consumers.
Well, the jobs went there, so how can we.... ?
“The big question is what happens next,’’ said Kenneth S. Rogoff, a professor of economics at Harvard. “If the consumer in the United States and Europe doesn’t come back, I’m not sure Asia has a Plan B.’’
U.S always does. We whine:
"WTO says Chinese rule unfair to US" by Bloomberg News | August 13, 2009
"The US film industry “won a major victory.... The ruling stops short of a clear-cut US victory"
Well, WHICH WAS IT then!? Sheesh!
GENEVA - Chinese limits on the sale of books, films, and music from the United States violate global commerce rules, the World Trade Organization ruled, handing President Obama’s administration its first trade victory against China....
The US film industry “won a major victory....
The issue is one of the biggest irritants in the US-China commercial relationship....
Yup, PROTECTING HOLLYWOOD again!
The ruling stops short of a clear-cut US victory....--more--"
