The average American pays little attention to news from Asia. American culture is insular, sparing little attention to developments in other countries. The nation’s focus is on the wars in the Middle East and the expansion of domestic welfare programs – an expansion demanded by handout-seeking voters who may now be starting to understand the downside of getting what they wanted.
The US media traditionally spends little attention on economic news from the rest of the world, and even President Obama’s current trip to Asia has not generated much coverage of the back story behind his visit – the fact that the US and Chinese economies are now inextricably intertwined. Neither nation can make grand economic decisions independently. America may have to a certain degree surrendered its economic sovereignty to the Chinese government, but China finds itself equally constrained – if their largest debtor decides to default, Chinese economic expansion could be in very big trouble.
Asia’s rise got America’s attention back in the 1970’s and 1980’s, when anti-Japanese sentiment was rampant in Detroit and the Rust Belt and fears of Japan rising to achieve economically what they had failed to accomplish on the battlefields of the Pacific a generation earlier seemed justified. Until the overheated Japanese economy collapsed in 1989, beginning a twenty year period of economic stagnation that has left the Nikkei to this day well off its all-time highs.
Americans quickly forgot about the Japanese “threat”, though occasional grumblings have been heard in conservative quarters throughout the last decade about the military threat from ascendant Chinese Communism. In truth, these complaints seem like nothing more than a political movement in search of an enemy – and they have today faded from the headlines as the extraordinarily divisive President Obama attracts all of his opponents’ energy, and the authoritarian Chinese government has proven to be a stronger exponent of capitalist principles than the typical Wall Street investment bank.
Asia may not register in the public’s mind, but American companies have certainly noticed the healthier business climate and are continuing to move work to China. Even the so-called “green” jobs talked up by the Obama Administration aren’t for Americans – they, too, are headed East:
Evergreen shifts work to China
Bailed out GM to Spend Millions Overseas (Europe, China, South Korea)
Asia’s rise is one of the reasons the American worker is faced with a rapidly decaying job market. Heading overseas to work is not a realistic option, since the majority of the laid-off do not possess skill sets that travel well. Barring the rise of new domestic industries (which seems unlikely under the current Administration), the United States may be forced to undertake a huge expansion of its already vast welfare state – just to keep unemployed voters quiescent. Middle America will certainly start to notice Asia’s rise at that point – for they will question why Asians are able to achieve a standard of living that once was commonplace in the United States.
3 Responses to “Rise of Asia largely unnoticed in Middle America”
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November 16th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
I finally decided to write a comment on your blog. I just wanted to say good job. I really enjoy reading your posts.
November 16th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
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November 16th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
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