Communists show the capitalists how to achieve economic growth

It is ironic isn't it that for many years, those in the west have continually spoken about capitalism being the only way forward for economic growth, and that how communism always fails in the end. There is a certain historic proof in those sentiments, as those in the former Soviet Union will confirm, when the cold war ended not in one side nuking the other as feared, but in one suffering an economic meltdown. This in turn paved the way for a mad swing towards capitalism and a small few made a killing, giving rise to the oligarchs who have amassed such wealth that they can even afford to pay Ashley Cole's wages.

The irony is that as we all hurtle towards financial oblivion we are looking towards our saviours in the form of China, the communist state with the enviable economic record. In much the same way that in the comic books, no matter how much peril the hero may be in, you always know that the sidekick will save him with a cunning plan at the last moment.

The problem is that our maverick hero sidekick is starting to experience financial problems of their own, and part of that is down to us. You see we in the west have stopped spending, and therefore we need to import less, and China is the world biggest exporter. Exports from China fell by 17.5% in the last year and is causing factories to shut by the minute, swelling the dole queue to the tune of 20 million.

Except there is no dole queue, as China has no benefits system. This means that there is unrest in the streets and the Premier Wen Jiabao is desperately trying to settle their nerves. Economic growth of 8% this year is very poor for a nation used to double digit figures, although Gordon Brown would probably give his left arm to be in their position. The upshot is an economic plan that involves increasing welfare benefits to try and head of trouble and a massive program of infrastructure spend to get the economy back on track.

So although China may seem a world away behind their curtain of secrecy, you may just want to take a bit of interest in their goings on or you may find that there is no superhero sidekick to catch us at the last minute.

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