would love to see a transcript of this .. required reading .. really great thinking

LOL! But I haven't got my fair share of that big profits as a decent citizen of the People's Republic China.

I don't care about how much money this country has. I only know the simple fact that the average Chinese feed on melamine.

The Chinese government should have spent much more of this money on education, universal healthcare, and micro-financing of SMEs. Now it's too late and they are stuck with lots of US dollars that can lose all their value the minute China tried to cash them out.

The Trust level in China is very low, which is why people here save such a large chunk of their income. People do not believe that tomorrow will be better and/or that their rights and property will still be secure tomorrow, so they accumulate cash. This is true at the private, personal level and it is also true at the government level.

Now, China is trying to change its old habits and make people spend more, but it might be a little too late. When the world is in crisis, social trust levels are going down further, and people have less reason to save less.

The US can absorb a large economic crisis (as it is currently doing) since it is held together by common beliefs and values. China is held together by force, and is thus much more volatile, and has a considerably lower ability to absorb a major economic slowdown, regardless of how much cash it has in its "SAFE".

Anyway, we're going to have an interesting year.