Over here the Ren Min Bi (Chinese Yuan) is linked via Hong Kong to the US$. That has kept a very stable currency as far as the Chinese are concerned at a rate of about RMB8.26= US$1 for a number of years.

My problem is that the UK Pound is now too strong and I have stiff competition from American products which are now cheaper. Good for the US, bad for me. On the better side my mortgage here is costong less as I convert UK Pounds to US$.

The main problem with the US economy is massive debt in both import and export ratios as well as very high personal debt. US citizens in general do not appear to be good savers.

That combined with high energy prices is going to cause problems for the US.

The war in Iraq will also have to be added to the bill. I cannot remember how long it took to pay off the war in Vietnam but it was a long time and the debt was huge.

The problem for the rest of the world is that a collapse in the US economy could spark a collapse in many other countries economies.

China on the other had has a budget surplus (which the US Govt is complaining about)and is good at biding it's time. A collpase in the US just might leave China as a superpower in economic terms.