China topples US to become world's top automobile mkt

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From Fazle Rashid
NEW YORK, Jan 12: Another "First" for China. China's race to become the topmost nation in the world moves on inexorably. China yesterday toppled the United States to become world's largest automobile market. The World Bank has confirmed what was widely acknowledged before that China would soon overtake Japan to occupy the second spot after the mighty United States.
The shift in economy gravity to China has occurred because growth there remained robust even as the world's developed economies suffered the steepest drop in trade and economic output in decades, The New York Times in a front page news said today.
But this did not happen by chance. China's decisive government intervention combined with defiant optimism of its companies and consumers has propelled the economy, the same paper said.
The western media accept China's ascendancy as a super power with a pinch of salt. They say China navigates toward a bigger role in the world financial system they are already running into diplomatic and political headwinds. These perceptions are more imaginary than real. China's growing economy should benefit all in an interconnected world, growing trade create more jobs and money everywhere.
Obama administration is contemplating recouping a part of its huge deficit by taxing big banks. Such a move has a dual purpose. It will quell the anger of the investors against top executives going home with huge compensation packages and also preventing the banks from taking excessive risk that led to the near collapse of the Wall Street. Lobbyists for bankers are resisting the government move.
The move to tax the big banks has come after Democrats in the Congress are pursuing the government to take punitive action against the big banks. The banks are set to announce billions of dollars in new bonuses. Big banks seeking to make windfall profit by making "outrageously unreasonable" claims against Lehman Brothers will be forced to prove their cases in public courts, LB has warned. Bank of America one of the biggest banks in the US is seeking an outside the court settlement of its controversial take over of the Merrill Lynch. The allegation is that the ML authorities paid hefty bonuses to its employees before the take-over deal was signed.