OK -- I am back from China

We returned from our China trip in the middle of June. My first reaction - WOW. I feel like the Europeans must have felt on seeing America emerging as the "New World". The energy and vitality and dauntless enthusiasm of the people and the economy they are fueling are overwhelming. If I could speak/read Chinese I would consider emigrating (if I could persuade my family to follow. I have done it once without family -- that was enough.) Barring unfortunate government action, China will emerge as a major - perhaps the dominant - world economic power.
Modern China, not the USA, stands as the experiment that proves the power of the marketplace. The USA's strength could arguably be ascribed to many independent factors -- the spirit of its large immigrant population, its natural resources, its constitution, democracy, its geographic isolation, you pick your own explanation. In China, we have the perfect controlled experiment. Until 1976, they had a centrally planned economy. They switched to a market economy. Nothing else changed. Bingo -- every thing got better.

PS-That's the Shanghai skyline viewed from the Bundt.