>TO put it bluntly, if the United States takes one step back and the rest of the world takes two steps forward, even in purely selfish terms we should consider accepting the trade-off, if only for the longer run.

When the Chinese dammed the Yangtze River they assured the farmers who lost their land that it was for the collective good, as if that was somehow compensation for their individual financial loss. This article seems to have a similar tone, glossing over the fact that the previous decade, for US citizens, involved a massive shift of assets from the middle class to the already very well-off, in addition to the movement of industry to emerging economies.

Emerging economies likely would have done even better without the global meltdown that was largely caused by the US deregulation-driven con games.