[general_re]

I'm not arguing for complacency, but against panic. Like everyone else who's tried before them, they think they've rewritten the laws of economics in their favor. Like everyone else, they're wrong, but they have yet to figure it out. They can't make a go of it so long as their governmental system is an overstaffed version of Zimbabwe. They can't make a go of it so long as the concepts of contract and the idea of non-arbitrary rule of law cause the average Chinese person to reach for his dictionary. Those are what makes rich countries rich, and until they figure that out, they're never going to get where they want to go.

,,, my wall map says you're closer than I am to the Panama Canal.

And what? They can't kill us without killing themselves, economically speaking, is what I'm telling you. Or militarily, for that matter. Whatever else they may be, let's at least proceed on the assumption that they're not suicidal - if they are, all bets are off, obviously, but let's assume for a minute that they want to "win" in some sense of the word.

[shaggy eel]

They can't make a go of it so long as their governmental system is an overstaffed version of Zimbabwe.

,,, is the US trimming it's own spending in this regard? If China were to trim theirs, it could do it a whole lot quicker, without any complaints - like you say, it's only set up to serve a few at the top of the pile. All those rice farmers don't have the same luxurious range of subsidies like their counterparts in the US.