Richard Hornik

China's economic "boom" is more mirage than miracle, and rosy predictions are based on its neighbors' successes not Beijing's ability to sustain growth. The regime is more akin to Latin America's hyperinflationary Peronistas than East Asia's ascetic militarists. Beijing has flunked the fundamentals of sound fiscal and monetary policy and proven incapable of accommodating the impulses of a free market. Inflation, speculation and lax regulation are fueling a bubble economy.