[Rubber Duck]

Yes, and change is not always about trends and smooth transitions.

Generally when sea changes occur they occur abruptly and with little warning.

The Ice Age ended abruptly, sea levels rose and the Black Sea fell within weaks.

Communism dropped apart in a matter of weeks.

Stock Market crashes generally happen within a few days.

Even the recent rise and subsequent decline of oil and the dollar have been very rapid, taking only a few weeks. And that saga is not over yet.

The Internet itself emerged within the blink of an eye in most time scales.

The fact that half the World has been waiting in Limbo waiting for ICANN and Microsoft to connect them meaningfully to the World Wide Web, means that the pressure vessel has been building steam for the best part of a decade. It seems unrealistic to assume that pressure is going to dissapate over several decades as you often seem to suggest.

Furthermore, few people are reading the numbers right. In gross dollar terms, China is growing at over 20% per year, and that rate is likely to continue. Current dollar strength is just an illusion whatever Buffet says. And his wealth has decreased by Billions this year. American GDP growth is based on an inflation rate of just 1 %. Take a realistic rate of 5%, and it soon becomes clear how fast the US economy is shrinking. When the markets catch on the US dollar will start to depreciate, at the inflation differential. Unless, the US does more to check inflation, that could be huge. The shrinkage of the US economy is being documented in reported company profits not only domestically but around the World. When the new administration steps up to the plate, they are going to want to start with a clean sheet. The lies and deceit of the last 12 Months will become clear, and the speed with which the US is losing its grip on the World economy will become clear.

The Russians and the Chinese are under no illusions about how impotent the US is becoming. You can see this refected in their foreign policy.