Even so, there are still some signs that the relative economic power of the U.S. may be in decline. European leaders have been at the forefront of the response to the financial crisis, and some of the U.S. government's actions are partially explained by international concerns (e.g. the Fannie/Freddie conservatorship was necessary because of heavy Chinese investment; the AIG bailout had major international implications). And does anyone remember the strong words the U.S. had for China regarding currency manipulations? There've been crickets coming from that corner for awhile.
Still, as Daniel Drezner notes, it doesn't appear that any other country is quite ready to fill the U.S.'s shoes:
However, this interdependence cuts both ways. Because of its slowing growth, China has no choice but to continue purchasing dollar-denominated debt in order to goose its export earnings. As for Russia, $500 billion in reserves has not prevented the crash of its own equity markets.
The bottom line seems to be this: the U.S. may be incapable of continuing to run the international finance system entirely on its own as it has done since the end of WWII, but the rest of the world is incapable of controlling the system without the U.S. So the story may not be de-coupling, as some had thought; Indeed, we may see more interdependence rather than less in the near future.
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