"I tend to discount anything written by "economists" and "economic experts" because if they were all so prescient, none of them would have to work for a living and we'd never hear anything from them."
Actually, the thing that's disturbing to me is that _economists_ rarely write this sort of thing, and the "economic experts" -- at least those whose opinions grace magazines, newspapers and even television -- are rarely _economists_. They are often, like Mr. Kane, business or finance types, but those are not economists. What actual _economists_ say is usually ignored outright, or at least rarely gets any publicity.
Mr. Kane, by the way, has degrees in "politics and history" and "Irish history."
So he has two degrees, big deal. My MA is in Western Civ. Again, big deal. You don't have to be a historian to think logically (most modern historians don't, btw).
The point is that he's missing something really big here. Yes, the Chinese economy is rapidly growing, and yes, it's going to affect the rest of the planet. The question he fails to address or answer is: what will it do to China itself?
We're not talking about a closed society anymore. We're talking about a nation attempting to make (or take) it's place in the 21st century, and the process by which it's doing so is FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED.
As Chinese folks begin to become better informed through the new media, their educational, scientific and business contacts, etc, they will, rightfully, demand the other half of the loaf --- which is individual rights. That's a demand that will have to be paid for in blood (the Party will never allow it), and then what happens to this wonderful Chinese economic revolution should that occur?