The emergence of China as an economic superpower

In the latest published Gallup poll on American confidence, the gist of the survey was thus: many Americans believe that China is the world's leading economic power or will be within the next 20 years. Although less than half of all those surveyed believe this fact, even less believe that America is is the world's leading economic power or will be in the future. That's a stark contrast to the dot-com boom days, when more than half of all Americans consider their country the leading superpower in the world. Times change quickly when America is have fun in Iraq and buying mortgages like there is no tomorrow.

To put the data is perspective, we must realize one important fact: America's economy is about 4 times as large as China's. Therefore, the 40% of Americans who perceive China as the current economic power is definitely wrong. Yet it's all about perception, and that's objective. With China on the news every other day (Beijing Olympics, WTO trade agreements, 11% annual growth, human rights abuse, poisonous toy scandal, overheating Chinese stocks...the list goes on), it's hard for simple Americans to ignore the threat from the Orient.

There are nearly 10% less Americans who think that America is 'better' than China in terms of economics. And it's not hard to see why either. Take the credit crunch, add that to an unstimulated economy and a war on two fronts, and we have America. At this point in time, America is at its economic complementary from its dot-com days. No wonder the future looks so bleak. But it's always good to know where Americans will point their hot money towards (China) and away from (America, EU and Japan -- all overlooked as potential world superpowers although they have economies larger than China's).