Pictures, it is often said, are worth a thousand words. For sociologists, figures and tables can have a similar eloquence. In the simple projections below (Figure 5), the figures of the International Monetary Fund tell the story of a post-crisis “recovery” that entails a geo-political realignment in the concert of nations, and provide substance to the expression “emerging markets.”

In the first chapter of this book I tried to present the main contours of a new global division of labor that combined the Chinese and the American economies. Chinese exports and American consumption led the world's economic growth. From 2000 on, this symbiosis produced robust rates of growth in the American economy and spectacular rates of growth for the Chinese. At the time and on the surface, it seemed like a “win-win” arrangement. As one took a closer look, however, one noticed something strange and lopsided about such grand deal. As early as 2005, and to an observer not blinded by the irrational exuberance of the markets, the bargain did not seem sustainable for too long. It was beset by a peculiar imbalance. In essence, the bargain consisted of a credit line from the People's Republic to the United States that allowed Americans to overspend, that is, to live beyond their means—an indulgence that American policy makers had always scolded Latin Americans for practicing with irresponsible abandon.