Op-Ed: A decline of the West?

Are the stock markets predicting a decline of the West? Right now we are feeling chills similar to those felt when inflation cracked Rome, especially when the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank have to print money in order to ease debt problems that politicians are eluding.

Without a doubt, we are witnessing a transferal of wealth from the established economies to the emerging economies.

They are forcing us to deflate our products and services at a time when our risk premiums are inflating and, indirectly, adjustments in our overall well-being. In Beijing, the heads of state are radiating arrogance.

Still, there are as many challenges in the West as in China. Our drop in consumption will force an overhaul of the political economy. A middle class with purchasing power and savings will no longer flourish. The financial system of the West has fed a bubble and unsustainable growth. Soon, it will be faced with various burdens, the first of which is an incohesive and undereducated population. Yes, we are poorer now. But Chinese dominion still must wait.