> Both true. So perhaps if I have an argument left, it is that the Chinese economy has been on a relative
> tear, with demand across the board. Nothing comparable in Latin America or the USA, I would guess?
It could be that we should think of developmental states more in terms of transnational networks, rather than nation-specific models. If I recall aright, I think Mexico has experienced some degree of stagnation and polarization, but Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina and Bolivia have all seen plenty of labor militancy *and* rising wages during the 2001-2011 anti-neoliberal period. Lots of growth, more evenly distributed. One of the big reasons for their success was export surpluses, but it wasn't exports to the US, it was exports to China. (Who then got rich by shipping stuff to the US, true, but even this is beginning to change).
Which is a long way of saying that Dean does have a point about the current system being unsustainable. But part of the answer will have to be a big, state-assisted boost of effective demand in the semiperipheries, i.e. start spending their $7 trillion in currency reserves on ecologically sane internal consumption.
-- DRR