@BO
I think what you (and Shim) are arguing is the way Sprengler starts this piece:
America is exceptional - utterly and absolutely exceptional - because the rest of the world depends on American guns, American money and American mediation in a way that no other country or combination of countries possibly might replace. Any other power that suffered the setbacks that America sustained during 2010 under the Barack Obama presidency would have been pushed off the top of the hill. The reason America still has diplomatic currency to spend in Asia as well as actual currency to borrow demonstrates its indispensable role: no one, least of all Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao or Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, wants America to fail.
Trouble is, he continues:
That is why a conspiracy of silence surrounds the observation that the emperor is naked. But the facts are depressingly clear.
After one trillion dollars and 5,000 casualties, America will leave Iraq with nothing to show for its Quixotic commitment to build a nation in the Mesopotamian sand. As Steven Lee Meyers reported on December 18 in The New York Times, "The protracted political turmoil that saw the resurgence of a fiercely anti-American political bloc here is casting new doubt on establishing any enduring American military role in Iraq after the last of nearly 50,000 troops are scheduled to withdraw in the next 12 months, military and administration officials say." The pro-Iranian government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will eliminate America's role in Iraq after America's scheduled withdrawal....
(Continue reading Naked emperor and a conspiracy of silence)
Speaking of China, it has plenty of $$$$ to throw around and knowing it could soon become worthless, it is using it wisely to buy up REAL assets:
Fresh humiliation for eurozone as China says it will bail out debt-ridden nations
...In a fresh humiliation for Europe, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jiang Yu said it was one of the most important areas for China's foreign exchange investments.
The country has already approached struggling European countries with financial aid, including offering to buy Greece's debt in October and promising to buy $4billion of Portuguese government debt.
...
China's astonishing economic growth has put it on track to overtake America as the world's economic powerhouse within two years, a recent report claimed.
But experts believed still be some years before America's leadership role is really challenged - largely because Beijing has given no indication it is ready to take on the responsibility of shepherding the world' economy.
This foray into the future of the euro could be a signal from Beijing that it is ready to change that perception.
...
[This bit is for Shim]
It is still believed that it will be some years before China actually overtakes the U.S. to become the world's largest economy.
Politicians argue that technology is still behind and much of the country still lives in poverty.
And in another economic measure, output per person, China lags way behind the US.
Last year, the International Monetary Fund calculated gross domestic product per head in the US at $46,000. The GDP breakdown in China was just $4,000 per person.
Related:
PIMCO: Why The Eurozone Will Ultimately Fail
Posted 1 year ago on 24 Dec 2010 13:13
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