Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Finance, the economy & Economics How will the financial crisis develop?

[b]A nationwide real estate downturn, stalling exports and declining consumer confidence have produced what a Chinese cabinet adviser...characterized as a “sharp slowdown in the economy.” The most striking feature of the slowdown is that it extends beyond the coastal provinces, which depend on exports and are closely linked to the global economy, to the country’s far more insular interior, including cities like Xi’an here in northwestern China....
China’s unexpected economic difficulties are starting to unnerve investors in world markets, especially commodity markets, as China is the world’s largest consumer of most raw materials and the second-largest consumer of oil....
A deepening slowdown would ripple across the world economy....
“Clearly the economy is much, much weaker than most people thought until recently....They have a real mess on their hands.”