Monday, August 12, 2013

China vs The United States

This is quickly becoming the favourite geopolitical parlour game. The Prospect Group put the question to Marc Faber and he was more than happy to oblige them with his thoughts on the subject.

Faber’s take on the two is the gap is narrowing but the US still remains the military superpower in the world. It is just quickly losing its perch as the number one market in the world. Which is to be expected according to Faber. China’s population warrants such a perch.

It would be odd for them not to be the leader in the mobile phone market of the refrigerator market if the country was fast growing.

What will cause the most tensions is the pivot towards Asia by the United States. With China flexing its military muscle, the US has been more willing to push out with its fleet and that has caused tensions to flare. Already, territorial disputes have erupted between Japan and China over an island chain.

Faber’s thought is that the US should let the countries resolve it on their own, but seeing as the US has strict alliances with countries such as Japan, that is unlikely. Plus, it is in the US national security interest to keep sea lanes open and controlled essentially by the US Navy.

Overall, the interview is an interesting listen and runs a pretty good clip. Clocks in at around 9 minutes so you’re not subjected to a lot of fluff. Plus this is Marc Faber. You know you’re going to get a steady diet of how he sees the world unfolding.

- Source, Trade the News, read the full interview here: