China will struggle to undo US dominance

THE hottest thing in global economics is an oldie but a goodie. This market darling is enjoying enviable growth and sucking in capital from around the world. It possesses a vibrant labour market and a currency that’s not just a store of value, but increasingly seen as an ascendant strategic asset. And it’s not the China of yesteryear.

The lucky country is the United States, a place so often said to have been on the verge of eclipse for various reasons such as big deficits, the euro and China’s seemingly inexorable climb to economic supremacy. Numerous threats have fizzled or have been proven exaggerated. There’s little denying that the past few years have seen a major shift in how the relative strengths and weaknesses of the two are assessed.

For now, the US economy is in a good place, as a couple of new reports indicate. Perhaps the biggest threat comes not from outside, but has its origins in domestic strains.