Well, it's all over. If the Olympics didn't convince you of China's growing power and the decline of the West, this nugget will:

"I can confirm that the Chinese brand Snow is now the largest beer brand in the world," says Kevin Baker, account director for alcoholic beverages at the U.K.-based market-research firm Canadean Ltd. About 51.2 million hectoliters, or about 1.35 billion gallons, of Snow were consumed last year, compared with 48.4 million for Bud Light as a stand-alone brand, the firm says.

For a more serious and lengthy look at China and the global economy, see my new paper, "Entrepreneurship and Innovation in China - 1978-2008 - Three Decades of Decentralized Economic Growth." It's a broad economic history of China since Deng Xiaoping's "Reform and Opening Up" campaign began. It presents a new theory of China's rise and, hopefully, offers new insights on the very nature of capitalism.