So you favour the slow death? China holds all the cards. They have (as you say) 2 billion people.

They have the materials just, though they've been quite aggressive in their attempts to secure them, they don't have the natural raw mineral deposits required (except rare earths), and have been very aggressive to australia to get them. Which is why they went after Rio-Tinto so much.

They have the technology, it's all there on wikipedia, China may ban it, but the govt can read it. What is there that the west does have that the east does not? So it stands to reason that the balance of power will shift. People with power do not like that idea, so it suggests they will try to stop it. I suspect, a 2 Billion population advantage can be quickly reduced with a few nukes.

I'm not saying it will happen, just that the shift is inevitable without, and some people will do anything to stop it.

It will happen....








...just not in our lifetimes. D:

Whoever launches the nukes first, dies the second.

Why? Because other countries would not know its destinations. If Russia sees US launches nukes, they wouldn't think twice - they would repay. And also, do you think China doesn't have nukes? They have. They have lots of them.

That would be even more stupid than simply invading China. With nuking foreign territory you can't earn anything on war. Nobody's fighting for wastelands.

And of course, americans have LOTS of business in China..

I don't see it would happen, unless the next U.S. president was some psycho.

I don't think Russia would launch a retaliatory strike.....they can calculate trajectories of our missiles and tell if we're targetting them or not you know.

It's not ending fast enough. China needs to unionize all it's labor force.

Would be even faster if some agitator decided to open shop in China and pay the workers the same wage they get paid here, but I suspect such an individual would find himself the target of many assassins.

As long as we keep a semblance of democracy, it will not happen because of greed.

People won't want to die over stuff they don't really need (when faced with the threat of physical danger, priorities tend to sort themselves pretty quick).

Things will turn ugly if we get to the point where the basic needs of people are not satisfied (ie, they are starving).

Of course, that may happen with peak oil. Generally speaking, both our political elite (in NA at least) and the industry overal have been morons about this.

It's a combination of the 2.

Generally speaking, wealth have tickled up instead of down (the ever increasing production that makes EVERYONE a wealthier person output is a myth, resources are limited and some are running out).

Beyond that, it is also true that past generations have squandered resources, the world's population is increasing and the American dream is not sustainable globally. And if you are an American citizen, the 14.3 trillions debt your forebears accumulated because they don't like to pay their taxes will byte you in the arse.



There are things we used to take for granted that will become a luxury (such as taking the plane).

In my opinion it will end in max 2-3 years.China has a few problems to deal:

1)Competition has arrived like Taiwan, India, Malaysia and so on.
2)Many people stopped growing rice and prices of food went up.

Indian cars such as the Tata brand are such horrible pieces of shit that I highly doubt India will be a leader in the automotive manufacturing sector. Indian cars are worse than Chinese ones.

I hope you are right.

Atm, my friend who earns an upper middle class income can afford to go on trips abroad at least 3 times a year.

Someone with lower middle class income can afford to go on a trip at least once a year if he sacrifices some things and stick to the necessities.

Unless they come up with some revolutionary plane technology within our lifetime that drastically reduces that amount of energy they use up (unlikely), only the wealthy will be able to afford taking the plane in the future and it will be a non-negligible expense for them.

Some who live week to week aren't so lucky.

Also travelling by bus is cheaper but planes are still pricey these days for most.

Imagine Ireland's 60% house price drop being repeated here! Britain is especially concerned to pay off national debts so to keep interest rates low; the level of consumer debt is so high that any significant rise in interest rates would cause a huge hit to the economy. A floating currency helps to ensure that the government maintains fiscal control.

If I recall correct the whole crisis in Ireland was caused by burst bubble of building industry.

Pretty much the world is doomed.

The UK has Greek-level debts, but the interest rates of Germany. We can manage the debts we have - the cuts are geared to do that. We also have a fairly robust manufacturing economy (albeit, not as robust as it was in the 80s and before, when we still relied on the Commonwealth for trade, instead of this sneaky, underhanded, constant edging closer to the EU).
The reason we're being forced to make such wide-ranging and drastic budget cuts in the first place isn't really anything to do with the EU crisis but the previous LIEbour's fiscal mismanagement policies. Something they suffered from in the 1970s when they bankrupted the country.

They spent all the money they had from taxes, and the surplus in the treasury. Then they sold off everything they could to generate more money for them to waste. Then they sold off the ENTIRE gold reserves at the lowest price in centuries in an already depressed market!! and wasted that income...and then they really started borrowing other people's money to spend and waste more.

They STILL haven't admitted guilt or that it was wrong. They never will.
Instead, they harangue the new government's attempts to put it right and rebuild the treasury at every chance they get, while never having anything to say about how they would tackle the £4trillion debt they left the country with....The Gods of the air, land and water help us next time they get into office. :\

And today (well, yesterday now) they announce another £96billion bailout for Greece. I wonder how much we're in the hole for that one :|
We really need that *&^%ing referendum soon....and this time, we're not going to keep voting until the "right" results for EU come up like Ireland and co voting many times on Lisbon Treaty until they got a "yes"...

We voted to join the common market in the 70s. Trade-only! Not the whole *&^!ing shebang of total integration. This bunch of clowns in our government since that vote have edged us closer and closer into something the public here does NOT want, nor need, despite their, and the EUs, claims to the contrary. We created (with Switzerland and Norway, and a few others) the EFTA in 1959, as an alternative to the EEC, and it worked then, and it still works now for the few that remain in it, rather than subsuming into the corrupt and greedy EU.
The EU needs the UK (well, specifically the UK's money) far, far, far more than the UK needs the EU, or its goods.

Screw the EU! Germany should just let it die, take their lickings from the resultant mess, admit it was a really bad idea at birth, and move on. It'll be painful, but not nearly as painful as throwing endless amounts of money at it every few months.

Russia and China haven't been friendly for a while. Even when they were both Communist (China still is, obviously), there was much tension. Similar sociopolitical structures don't automatically necessitate national alliances.