Although this article from the IHT refers to GDP and not centralization of
capital, it appears highly significant.:
>by H.D.S. Greenway The Boston Globe Wednesday, May 23, 2001
>
>BOSTON After being the world's No. 1 economic power during most of the
>20th century, is America ready to fall into second place within a couple
>of decades? At the moment it is riding high. The gap between the world's
>No. 1 and the next tier down is probably greater than at any other time in
>recorded history. But even superpowers wane, and American preeminence, at
>least in economic terms, may not last another 25 years. So says the
>Harvard- and Oxford-trained economist Shahid Javed Burki, a former World
>Bank official and the chief executive officer of Emerging Markets
>Partnership, a Washington consulting firm. In a recent talk to executives
>of the American International Group, Mr. Burki predicted that by 2025
>China will have the largest economy in the world and the United States
>will be in second place. China, he said, has already passed Japan for the
>No. 2 position.
>
>Last year the United States, with an $8 trillion gross domestic product,
>accounted for about 22 percent of the global total, according to Mr.
>Burki. The European Union contributed another 20 percent. "If the present
>trends continue over the next quarter century, we will see a fundamental
>reordering in the position of the large economies." China's share of
>global output will be 26 percent, while America's will remain the same,
>around 21 or 22 percent.
