I like what Arnold said at the convention. Doomsayers 20 years ago were predicting japan and Germany were going to be the new worlds superpowers. They did not because they have stifling gov'ts and the people are limted.
As long as America people are free(and I mean free) we will always beat China.
He (Arnold) was right about Germany and Japan, but keep in mind that America has over three times the population of Germany and over two times the population Japan.
US 295 million
Japan 125 million
Germany 80 million
During the 1980's, Japan's per capita GDP actually eclipsed that of the US. Japan never outproduced America in areas of auto and steel, but on a per capita basis they did.
And Germany and Japan never surpassed America in trade volume, but on a per capita basis, they did. And Germany today still does more trade than the US on a per capita basis.
In China's case (with a population over four times that of America), China only needs to achieve a per capita 1/4 of that of the US to eclipse America.
America cannot simply expect to stay dominant in the world forever, China will surpass the US, and there's nothing americans can do about it.