China has it.

Did you know that last month the International Monetary Fund released its World Economic Outlook report? What am I thinking? Of course you did. I bet you marked on your calendar, as I did, right next to the release of Twilight on dvd.

In this scintillating report, between catastrophic news about Russia, Lativa, Japan, and most of Western Europe, did you notice the bit about China? As this Brooking report points out, India and China are basically the only countries whose economies are still robust amidst the general gloom, and while India is too poor to make itself a real player, China is ready to develop into a strong and independent world leader.

My reaction? Of course it is.

But seriously, though this may not be a shock to many of my generation, who grew up basically knowing that we would have to deal with China (for example, realizing that Mandarin would be way more useful to learn than French, but still taking French anyway), the older folks need to take a look at this report and come to grips with it.

I have one parting question, however, for those analysts over at Brookings: If the price of oil shoots up and we can no longer import cheap goods from the factories of China, what will their (and our) economy look like? Is their domestic market big enough to sustain it? If not, how will their economy change?

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