All things considered, we aren't doing that badly. But we are being realigned, and we should consider that. Our growth is modest when measured against a declining currency (ours), but is profoundly negative when measured against the Euro. It is moderately negative when measured against the standard weighted basket of currencies. In other words, if economic growth were measured relative to international currencies, we've been in a recession for the entire Bush presidency. That's not good, but when you consider the global realignment that's happening, it's to be expected.

"though I think China is going to have a very serious problem reckoning Communism and Capitalism in the very near future"

No they won't. I haven't been to China, but I have been to Vietnam, which faces a similar issue. Vietnam (and China from what I hear), deals with the issue in a very simple manner: the go on being as capitalist as they want but still call it "communism." Everyone knows the "communist" label is a joke, but that's okay because they never take their politicians seriously anyway. And it's not just the regular people, communist officials think the party is a joke too. I only got a chance to talk with two communist party officials in Vietnam, but they both had the same stories. They both joined the party to be able to influence local zoning regulations in order to get an advantage in their real estate dealings. This is classic, American-style political corruption. They are learning well. Not that they really needed to learn, they already understood corruption. Now you might say that their corruption might slow them down, but I'm not sure about that. Japan is about as corrupt as it gets, and their economy is doing fine (they are ahead of us, at least). And Thailand, which has one of the most vibrant economies in the world, simply cannot function without its corruption. China does have problems, but most of them are related to environmental degradation, which is something capitalism (or communism) won't solve.

As for the increased foreign investment, that should come as no surprise. With the dollar at an all-time low, American investments are selling at bargain prices. At the same time, foreign investments for Americans are selling at very high prices due to the decline in the dollar, so it should not surprise us that Americans are avoiding such investments.

Basically, we are using the declining value of our currency to mask the real problems in our economy and the real international realignment that is occurring.

I do agree with your point about India and China (though I think China is going to have a very serious problem reckoning Communism and Capitalism in the very near future). But I recall reading not very long ago that many of the folks on the vanguard of the microloan market were here in the US, which means that money is coming back to us, plus a little bit anyhow.

One of the links I used in an earlier post on the whole "the sky is falling" business noted that 2007 was the first year in the past four where foreign investors were buying more here than our investors were buying outside the US. That seems like it's a healthy thing and that more than a couple of our smart money businesses are already taking advantage of the opportunities.