Half Empty

China's Economic Ascendancy (Part 2)

@ Cameroni

"[if] there were absolutely no inbound shipments of goods, supplies and materials...the US economy could carry on and function with only minor inconvenience."

Really? When it operates an economy almost entirely based on car-dependent suburban sprawl but has only enough domestic oil production to meet a quarter of its daily needs?

Or are you looking ahead to some future time when the US has significantly reduced its oil dependence? In which case, the other countries in question would have plenty of time to make their own manoeuvres, probably rendering this point moot.

And, after saying the US is just fine on its own, you add: "It also suggests where the conflicts in the future lay though. China is now directly challenging the US for control of strategic resources."

But if the US is such a paragon of self-sufficiency, why would it need to fight China for strategic resources?

I happen to think that the US _is_ well-placed to prosper in a less energy-rich world where there will be lower levels of international trade and slower-growing, more diversified economies. But then, so is China.