China Is Now #1 In The World In Industrial Capoacity!!

     There is a fascinating article in the newspaper today about China opening a corn mill in the heart of the US agricultural country. It emphasizes that our economies have become tightly intertwined and one dependent on the other.

    You have heard me talk about Ward Carroll numerous times. Dad Ned Carroll was a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps with a distinguished record of flying jets in combat. When it came time to go to college, Ward chose the US Navy Academy. He had to try very hard to get in. He was determined to follow in his father's footsteps and become a fighter pilot. He graduated from the Naval Academy with a degree in political science. He reported to flight school. He got the bad news that he would never be a pilot due to a defect in his eyesight. Ward, one never to quit, was determined to fly fighters. He opted to become a Naval Flight Officer. He would sit in the back seat of a fighter and fire the missiles, etc. Ward earned his wings. He spent 15 years flying F-14s off aircraft carrier decks. He saw combat missions in Desert Storm and the Iraqi war. He migrated to being a flight instructor. He did a good job and ended up as an instructor at the US Navy Academy.

     Ward wrote a novel titled "Punk's War" about F-14s flying off aircraft carrier decks. Getting a novel published is like "winning the lottery." Ward's first book got published by a serious publisher. He wrote two other books. He found himself sought out by television news services. He was often interviewed as a military expert.

    Ward rose to the rank of commander. He retired after 20 years in the US Navy. He reinvented himself on the internet. He did such a good job that the U.S Naval Institute hired him to run their web-based operations. Ward developed a great podcast. I joined. Every few days he talks about military history. He gives briefings on current military situations.

   A few days ago, Ward got concerned about China building a third aircraft carrier. It will be nuclear-powered. It will have electromagnetic catapults to launch aircraft. The ship as well as its aircraft appear to be copied from US designs.

    Ward made a surprising statement. China now has more industrial capacity than the US. They can build a ship faster than we can. We have been the industrial powerhouse of the world for 80 years. Now China is surpassing us.

    Did Ward see a war coming between the US and China? No, he said that the two economies were too intertwined. We will have fierce competition.