A new poll by the financial website The Street suggests that Americans have a distorted view of the US' and China's respective economic powers.  US GDP is twice as large as China's--making the US the world's uncontested number one economy--but when asked which country is the “world’s dominant economic power,” 28 percent of the 1,005 polled said China, while 59% chose the U.S.

Confidence in the US economy dropped even further when respondents were asked to speculate about how the US position would change in the near future:  43 percent thought the US would still be in first place by 2018-2020.  36 percent said China would be holding that position.

The results (based on a Roper telephone poll conducted by GfK North America between Sept. 27 and Sept. 29, 2013) also show that those who earn more than $50,000, as well as those between the ages of 18 and 24, are more likely to be skeptical about the US global economic dominance.




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http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2013/11/04/americans-say-america-is-still-no-1-for-now/