The World's Powerhouse; China is the largest consumer of steel, tin and copper-and the second largest of oil. But what if its economy is caught in a bubble?

Publication: Newsweek

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Byline: Robert J. Samuelson

The question about china's economy is no longer what it will do to China but what it will do to the rest of the world. It may invigorate the global economy--or destabilize it. We don't know. Until recently, China's movement away from a Stalinist and backward society was mainly a story about what kind of country it might become and what political role it would play in the world. Now China's size and relentless economic growth (averaging 9 percent a year since 1978) have combined to create a global Goliath. It's having huge and barely anticipated economic spillover effects elsewhere. Here, for doubters, is an excerpt from the Asian Development Bank's annual economic report:

"[China] is the world's biggest consumer...

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