[quote=@Vilageidiotx] 2030 is looking to be a shitty year. All the shaky predictions (automation of transportation industry, the moment the US outpaces pre-revolutionary France in wealth inequality, and now I guess China catching up to the west) seems to pick that date. Which makes me wonder, is that just the most comfortable date for people to use for prediction because it is far enough in the future, is 2030 really the year/decade western capitalism boils over? Though it should be said there is a whole lot more developing world out there just waiting to become the next China. I feel like Africa might do some interesting shit before the century is over, especially now that parts of West Africa are urbanizing and growing a middle class. Time will tell I suppose. [/quote] West Africa is going to become the next Mexico. China's been investing in their resources and mining, which will put a lot of money into the hands of civilizations that don't know how to use it and won't use it for good. Best case scenario the region ends up like Mexico sometime in the next fifty years. Worst case scenario it becomes like the MidEast in that same timeframe. Either way there's gonna be a lot of money in the area and its future is gonna depend on how their leaders can handle it. If South Africa is any kind of indicator of how new wealth is handled, don't expect any African nations to rocket into 1st World countries. Honestly, from a purely logical standpoint, China is the place to be right now. Assuming nothing changes (which I hope something does, part of the reason for my voting habits) then the western world's rising problems and dependency on China will make it become the next USA before 2050. With its rising standard of living and rapid westernization, China will become an economic haven like the US was back in the 50's. The obvious, massive downside is the environment problems with China but even then they've been passing more and more green laws. They're even joining in on the Paris Agreement. China's been waging an economic war and they've been winning, and this means that the rest of the world is going to see some major problems if they don't get on board. Once the Chinese have enough money to start purchasing gold reserves, they've won.