SPECIAL REPORT "SURVIVING THE SLUMP": "The fragile web of foreign trade: The recession makes globalization more necessary, but more precarious," by Robert Guest, The Economist, 30 May 2009.

This is a rare Economist bit where the content does not address--much less deliver--the title. Piece starts out by noting how temporal the concept of "Chimerica" may prove to be (from economists Niall Ferguson and Moritz Schularick), but then goes on to give a lot of reasons to believe in its staying power (basically my bit about "imagine a world in which China doesn't demand US T-bills and a world in which Americans don't demand Chinese goods"--emphasizing the power of demand v. supply), to include the notion that Chinese and American companies are becoming blended in many instances (e.g., a Wal-Mart that rents Chinese labor becomes a larger thing that is sort of Chinese and sort of American--I expect a lot more of this in the future, to include a lot of Chinese investment in American companies). Instead of noting the end of corporate America's love affair with China (cheap labor creating elaborate supply chains), Guest correctly argues that most corps go to China today for the consumers (that demand again) instead of suppliers. Bit ends with a patched-up para that argues America's reliance on globalization generally, but--again--the title of the piece simply isn't delivered. Instead, the sum total of the article is "Chimerica--love it or leave it."