Are we headed for a couple of lost decades?

[Anonymous]

China will not reach our level of wealth b/c there is not enough resources to make it happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:China will not reach our level of wealth b/c there is not enough resources to make it happen.

That doesn't even make sense. It's hard to decide where to begin. But for starters, the major commodities like oil are sold on a global market. There is no way to restrict their access to them. And China has a ton of coal, a lot of shale gas, and has a huge percentage of the world's rare earth minerals.

In the case of rare earth elements, they happen to be one of the scarcest resources necessary for technology manufacture. And guess who controls about 80% of the market? You guessed it, China. Which means they have something really, really important to trade if we ever try to restrict their access.

Lastly, they are neighbors with the former Soviet Republics, huge energy producing nations with nothing else going for them, who are always looking for buyers. So they have the opportunity to establish pipeline relationship there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:China will not reach our level of wealth b/c there is not enough resources to make it happen.

That doesn't even make sense. It's hard to decide where to begin. But for starters, the major commodities like oil are sold on a global market. There is no way to restrict their access to them. And China has a ton of coal, a lot of shale gas, and has a huge percentage of the world's rare earth minerals.

In the case of rare earth elements, they happen to be one of the scarcest resources necessary for technology manufacture. And guess who controls about 80% of the market? You guessed it, China. Which means they have something really, really important to trade if we ever try to restrict their access.

Lastly, they are neighbors with the former Soviet Republics, huge energy producing nations with nothing else going for them, who are always looking for buyers. So they have the opportunity to establish pipeline relationship there.

Like what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think (hope) you're being unnecessarily glum, OP. I happen to be in the middle of researching investment levels, and they're reassuringly strong. And while I don't advocate for American exceptionalism, it's true that there's a certain innovative resilience about the American culture that's heartening and impressive. Here's hoping that pulls us through some rather daunting economic challenges.

Oh, of course not. Despite the facts, that would be so embarrassingly red state.