China teaches the US a lesson in capitalism

August is usually a relaxed month, meaning heat, sun and vacation. But not in 2011. In this crazy and unexpected year, at the peak of the summer vacances, the leaders of the world’s largest economies, the G-7 and the G-20, are working hard to minimize investors’ fears with non-stop consultations leading up to the opening of the markets on Monday.

No one knows what will happen on the various stock exchanges today. The debt in the euro bloc is swelling. The U.S. has suffered an historic sanction: The lowering of its credit rating. The only clear thing is that the painful falls are likely to continue. Get your parachutes ready.

Wherever we look, we see problems. The European Central Bank examined Italy’s problematic economic portfolio on Sunday. Suddenly, the Italians are longing for Berlusconi’s juicy stories; at least those don’t hurt one’s wallet.

Israel and her economy are also suddenly at the heart of worldwide Internet chatter. Stories of our nearly month-long social protests, coupled with the 7 percent dip on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, one of the only world markets to operate on Sundays, have made us part of the global story. Until a few days ago, Israelis were so proud that we had survived the 2008 economic crisis unscathed and that, in the midst of regional turmoil, we didn't see any sort of Arab Spring. Now, suddenly, be it justified or not, we fall into both categories.

I have not even mentioned the economic dramas of the so-called PIGS: Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain. The latter may have turned into a sports empire but they are still battling double-digit unemployment rates, and in truth, the number of sports stars is limited.

How can we possibly ignore the fact that the U.S.’s astounding debt affects the entire world? $14,500 billion. Millions of Americans are trembling in the face of a double-dip recession. Just a few weeks ago, they were celebrating Osama bin Laden’s death; today they are weeping over the historic reduction in their credit rating. When such a powerful country sneezes, we can all expect to catch the flu.

Truth be told, it is hard to know where to turn these days. The euro bloc, that optimistic social political movement from the end of the 20th century, is facing existential threats. The U.S. economy is ailing; Africa continues to die, literally; one need only look at the starvation in Somalia to understand. The Arab world has no idea what tomorrow will bring. Only in Asia is the future a bit brighter. China continues to display impressive double-figure growth, acquiring all the petroleum and iron it can possible get its hands on.

But even China doesn’t like when the U.S. prints dollars with nothing to back them. The Chinese also want to be able to continue exporting. For the time being, they are still the world's major holders of wealth. The Chinese don’t just buy an Airbus plane, for example, they also write the plans for it. What does this mean exactly? It means that in another handful of decades, Airbus and Boeing will be gone, and air passengers instead will sink into the seats of Chinese airplanes that, for all intents and purposes, look exactly the same.

To their credit, the Chinese are the only ones to have severely criticized the Obama administration’s economic decisions. As the U.S.’s main lender of capital, they have every right to do so. How much the world has changed: China is now teaching the U.S. a lesson on capitalism.

No doubt that we are living in a changing world; the end of an era, even. But even with its ailing economy, the U.S. still controls most of us; the Chinese have not yet managed to imitate Coca-Cola or spoken English. It has been said that what once was, will always be. I am not sure that is the case for the year 2011. Perhaps it is time we learn how to say “capitalism” in Chinese.

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