Specifically concerning this post:
I can confidently say the rise of the Chinese hegemony will NOT happen in this decade. Why? Simply stated, the RMB can not become a reserve currency like the USD is. A big part of this is due to China’s monetary policies. Even though China is starting to internationalize the RMB and loosening capital flow restrictions, they will not let it float freely like the USD (at least not within the next 10 years). A free floating RMB will drastically increase price volatility particularly for business that are export dependent (pretty much most of china’s industries right now?). Export dependent industries want a weak currency thus making their products cheaper and more attractive to consumers in countries with stronger currencies (ie North America and Western Europe). Similar to how the Bank of Japan often intervenes with monetary policies to keep the YEN low, China artificially controls the peg to the USD. Due to such policies, the RMB can not become a reserve currency (although there are currently talks of including the RMB in the IMF’s reserve currency basket!) thus China can not act as impetuously as the US is right now…printing money off the wazoo! QE3 anyone?

I was surprised to completely take sides for Dean – this movie actually seemed to be quite one-sided. I just saw a very, very good & lovable guy who just didn’t happen to be college material, and who eventually pays for it when Cindy realizes that this is the kind of value that she can’t help but stand for. She’s the one who is totally messed up and cannot accept that her own choices (keeping the baby and stopping studying) led her where she is. She thinks of herself as better than Dean, but she looks just as tacky and tired, the joy and humour excluded. Her bitterness led her to fall out of love with Dean, not his behavior. He is the perfect guy, in a loser kind of way.