This might provide some amusement on a Friday afternoon. Stanford's Ronald McKinnon says China proves the Washington Consensus works. It comes via John Taylor, who comments:

Global mergers and acquisitions have accelerated markedly this year and that’s generally bullish for capital markets. More deals imply business leaders believe there’s high value in the marketplace coupled by low interest rates to support buyout financing. If you can find an attractive target and your business forecast is bullish, then this is a good time to finance a takeover.

Now that China has overtaken Japan as the second largest economy, I post the following poem, which was published in the Washington Post in 2008, without comment:

It becomes clearer every day that the economy is headed for a renewed recession or a recovery so slow it will seem like one. Initial unemployment claims climbed to 500,000 last week for the first time since November while the Philadelphia Fed index dropped below the zero line for the first time since July 2009. This follows a pattern of generally softening economic data over the last two or three months.