China isn't just a threat to US economic dominance – but the whole western democratic paradigm for success. According to research carried out by the International Comparison Programme for the World Bank, China is moving close to becoming as large an economy as the US. Its research, published last week, is the basis for the purchasing power parity (PPP) estimates that underline most comparisons between the world's economies. The evidence shows that by the end of 2011 China's economy was 87% the size of the US economy – and given the cumulative growth rates since, by the end of this year China might already be bigger. ... (full story)