The Production Might of China

Here are some interesting statistics from The Economist's "Pocket World in Figures".

China is the largest producer of meat, vegetables, fruit, cereals, wheat, rice, tea, lead, zinc, aluminum, coal, cotton, and oil in the world.

It leads the world in agricultural output, with twice that of India's.

It is the 4th largest producer of sugar, rubber, and gold. It is the 2nd largest producer of course grains, tin, and raw wool.

The production might of China is real and here to stay. I can only speculate how the diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China will clash and collide as the size of the two economies closely approach each other. However, unless China unleashes the full potential of a free-market capitalist system, the U.S. will always have the upper-hand. Although the size of their economy may one day surpass the U.S. on the backs of a population  4x that of the U.S., our standards of living will always overshadow China's.

In my opinion, the innovate spirit of American scientists, engineers, economists, entrepreneurs, businessmen, teachers, and all else cannot be overcome.