RE:China continues to buy up the worldMany years ago, a close friend of mine was doing business with the Japanese around the time that they were still an economic force to be dealt with. He and his team travelled to Japan for negotiations on a business deal. They were met at the airport by some Japanese men who said that they were pleased that they had come so far and they wanted to express their appreciation before the negotiaitons started to take them out for dinner and drinks. My friend and his team were taken to this very private restaurant, complete with geisha girls and a had wonderful evening with lots of drinks that went well into the night. My friend thought to himself "These guys are so drunk it will be a cakewalk tomorrow!"
When he arrived at the meeting the next day, slightly hung over from the previous evening, he expected to see the people he was with the evening before. NOPE, it was different team from Japan and the people he was with the night before were 'set up" people. Different culture....different way of doing things....BUT....very smart!!
Seems to me that the Americans got where they were by being somewhat lucky and now it appears that their luck is running out.
Most of us have heard stories about the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. We are witnessing in real time the rise and fall of the American Empire.