In a very interesting article on China, James Fallows who is living there says Idle factories, moored container ships, widespread bankruptcies, massive migration back to the hinterlands, strangely clean air—the signs of depression are everywhere in China. Because it makes so many of the goods the world isn’t buying now, China stands to be worse hit than the rest of the world —just as America was during the Depression, when it was the world’s sweatshop. Snap – OK, now I get it: that's how we became the world's industrial powerhouse. From the 1880's to the 1950's, we made all the cheap shit the world wanted just like China does now.