Roger Cohen offers a stark analysis in the International Herald Tribune:
The West's moment, I thought, is passing. Money and might are increasingly elsewhere. America's little dose of socialism from Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson might stave off the worst but cannot halt the trend. Then I arrived in Hong Kong. The talk was all about how U.S. economic woes could impact Chinese growth. Might it tumble to 8 from over 11 percent? And what of India, powering along with growth of a mere 8 percent or so? The West should have such troubles! Even revised downward, these growth rates are at levels Europe and the United States can only dream of.
As the world moves toward capitalism, the US marches on in the other direction to socialism. France has lower corporate taxes than half of all US states. China is embracing capitalism at a break-neck pace. America is debating about how fast to federalize health care, energy, housing and how quickly we can increase our taxes to pay for it all.
I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. Winston Churchill
