Behind figures are disruptions of power relationship!
These figures do not reveal major ruptures, which appeared in the background:
1] Unexpectedly the European Union has been reinforced thanks to the positive reactions of their leading members and their stimulus plans. Although Spain and some Southern States have plunged badly, the crisis showed that Euro countries have better resistance than those which have gripped to their historical currencies. As a consequence:
• Iceland is applying for membership
• Ireland polls predict a probable positive vote for the future EU Constitution
• Adopting Euro is now plausible in Denmark and Sweden;
• Switzerland may consider joining “Euroland¹” or at least signing more treaties (they are already in the Schengen Space).
2] China is now the second economic power, overwhelming Japan. The surprise is not the ranking but the context of their sky-rocketing influence on World economy, finance and technologies:
• China has massively injected their dollars to back the US currency
• With the crisis, most of their Calls for Tenders for new national infrastructures are finally attributed to home manufacturers, boosting domestic production and consumption!
• China is definitely committed in Space Exploration, which will generate huge TROI² for other industries. Moreover the China Space Agency has announced their intention to tap lunar ores.
Reference: My KNOL article: “… New Virgin Grounds for tapping Unlimited Resources“.
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¹ The EU is build on a series of Treaties: Rome (foundation), Schengen (free trade and travels), Maastricht (Euro as a common currency unit), Lisbon (Future EU Constitution)…
² TROI: Technological Return on Investment
