My Comment: Unfortunately, I’m old enough to remember when Henry Kissinger was our Secretary of State. ( Or perhaps fortunately, since I read the obit column closely these days. ) In either case, he’ll go down in history as a major player in 20th century American history. The author below is referencing comments from Mr. Kissinger that happened recently.

Why is any of this important to a financial planner and investment advisor? Because my clients, many of whom are close to retirement age, want assurances their money is not going to run out. So an awareness of economics and how financial forces are going to play out over the next several years influences how they position their money today.

This article appeared recently on my screen. It’s focus is to help understand the future economic relationship between the US and China. While I may or may not be here 50 years from now, my grandson Phineas is likely to be here. His economic welfare will be affected by how globalization plays out in the coming decades. And if you now have grandchildren, their lives will be influenced as well.

By Thomas P.M. Barnett | 09 Apr 2012

Writing in Foreign Affairs this month, Henry Kissinger opined that, when it comes to the future of Sino-American relations, “conflict is a choice, not a necessity.” Those are some serious words from one of history’s all-time realists, but more important than his analysis is the fact that he even felt the need to issue that public statement regarding these two ultimately codependent superpowers.

America has simply reached the historical limit of its credit, a limit represented not by the federal debt ceiling, but by the widespread global perception that our best days are behind us absent significant restructuring across our economy and government. By and large, neither U.S. political party wants to hear this, much less act upon it. Instead, we Americans either assume that our next “exceptional” rebound will unfold naturally or believe that it can somehow be achieved by sabotaging China’s rise. Our truly unimaginative political leaders in both parties reach for both straws simultaneously, a combination of hubris and fear that is both odd and depressing.