[Willie Green]

ping

[uncitizen]

A U.N. Conference on Trade and Development report released last week indicated that China was the largest recipient of foreign direct investment in 2003

Ignorance. Ignorance. Ignorance. Do all those students in Pittsburgh take this at face value? Or do they understand the reason is that that China is like a blank canvas at this point?

[neutrino]

Thanks for the ping, Willie Green.

Once upon a time, there was this major superpower - named the USSR. Their economy wasn't very good, and their military expenses went up and up.

A funny thing happened. They went bankrupt, their government imploded, and they became a rather pathetic shell of their former selves.

In the U.S., the current account deficit is up to 5.7% of GDP - and getting worse. China is the center of global manufacturing, and the U.S. buys much, all of it on credit.

Some speak of a "new paradigm", one which will make such patterns sustainable. We heard the same nonsense during the tech bubble in the stock market.

Can the U.S. be supplanted as global superpower? Given the present patterns, it not only can, but will.

[Jorge]

Oh, no! The sky is falling. AGAIN.
I don't know who gets the supreme doom and gloom award this year. John Kerry or Willie Green. It's a tough call.