Week of August 16 Economic

Three decades of "spectacular growth" resulted in China's passing Japan and landing in second as the world's largest economy just behind the United States. This display of improvement in China means the "world will have to reckon with a new economic superpower". Japan's economy, in contrast, has been "stagnating for more than a decade", although in years past it was believed that Japan had the potential to sometake overtake the United States in the economic rankings. Japan's economy seems to be, "mature and its population quickly aging" while China, "is in the throes of urbanization and is far from developed". I think it would be very wise for the United States to remain on good terms with China as it has great influence over countries such as Russia, India, Australia, and Latin America, and increasingly so due to its dominating economy.

Article Referenced:

Barboza, David. "China Passes Japan as Second-Largest Economy". NYTimes. New York Times. 16 August 2010. Web. 29 August 2010.