Economist Don Straszheim of Roth Capital tells a Chinese tale of economic woe: "Beijing is now in full stimulus mode, adopting a new stimulus package of about $550-600 billion, fearful of public disappointment at the slowdown, pushing anything and everything to lift growth. ... Officialdom is both confused and angry that the US-global credit crisis is dragging down China's economy. ... Indeed, we believe there will be sufficient evidence to fuel a lot of second guessing among outside observers that the actual growth rate might be even 2 percentage points lower than the above figures. ... Welcome, Beijing, to the rough-and-tumble of the global economy. Having successfully pushed to become a full-fledged player on the global stage, China now is hostage to the downside of global weakness that is not of its own making. In this way Beijing has given up some control of its own destiny to outside forces."
Me: One, this is another example of how globalization undercuts authoritarian regimes. Two, Washington better start fretting about that nation's political cohesion during an extended downturn.
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jordon of VA 12:41PM November 12, 2008