The American company is owned by its stockholders. It's their call to sell or not.

News flash to the media -- The citizens of the United States will protect its economy by letting the marketplace function freely.

The stockholders will decide whether to sell or not, and we the people of the United States will protect our economy by letting the marketplace function freely.

I believe OJ's point is that 20 years ago everyone was predicting Japan would crush the US economically which of course didn't happen. The same thing is happening how with everyone predicting China will crush the US economically which may not happen.

Go back even 6 more years and see if any editorial in the Times said the US was still an economic powerhouse. Except for the left's flirtation during Clinton's rise, that was the time when the European (i.e., French and German) economies were all the rage.

So far in my lifetime it's been the Russians, Europeans, Japanese, and the "Asian Tigers" who were going to crush the American economy. After China they're going to be running out of countries to add to the list. Brazil?

And let's not forget the same sort of peoples' predictions on population growth and climate and environmental quality. These guys have a batting average where they would fit right in on the Mariners bench.

Sorry for the double posts above. My new notebook is a sensitive little thing and doesn't tolerate any errant movements.

Thanks AWW. I was just stating obvious about how we do business and I did understand the meaning of Orrin's post because I remember very well the hysteria about the Japanese buying our national landmarks, like Rockefeller Center and Pebble Beach and how we should look to the Japanese model of government partnership with business and how we'd have to get used d to being a second rate economy, etc.

The media's high hopes of our losing the championship were dashed first by Japan and then by the EU, but ever hopeful they're looking to a new contender, China, to deliver the knock-out blow (sorry we just saw "Cinderella Man").

You have to give the media credit for always being in there punching:

"But the solution is not to blame China. It is to institute more sensible economic policies, including revoking the unnecessary gifts that President George W. Bush has given to very wealthy Americans at tax time."

You have to give credit to the Times though. There is nothing that encourages investment in an economy more than increasing the taxes on the profits made from investing.(sarcasm intended)

Following up on Raoul's comment, not only did the left (and some conservatives)bet the farm on American collapse or decline and predict all those other countries would overtake it, but they were completely taken by surprise when those countires stumbled and pretended not to notice that the States didn't.

I don't know if they were taken by surprise.

The (apparent) success of other countries following different economic models was simly a convenient piggy-back to argue for the kinds of changes they wanted to see in American society.

The article is just the usual "We're doomed! Doomed, I say!" that is a staple for the US media. Over the past twenty-five years all I've read are articles on how it is twilight time for the US, except we never seem to meet the expectations of the doom-mongers. I wonder why they are always so gloomy?

I picked up a great book at the 5 Colleges Booksale called: "Jimmy Carter: The Next Four Years." Published in 1979, it's all about how awesome the second Carter administration will be. I love that kind of thing.

Wasn't that Diane Chambers senior thesis?