By contrast, government receipts—mostly taxes—are at their lowest level in relation to GDP since 1950.23 And while Social Security spending as a percentage of GDP is stable, it’s still big, at 4.9 percent, and expected to rise to 6.4 percent of GDP by the time the youngest baby boomers turn 70.24..…

In response to China’s dramatic rise, the Obama administration has increasingly tilted toward containment. ... Obama has initiated a free trade deal, the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, which is designed to exclude China and integrate much of the rest of the Asia..…

Some of Obama’s initiatives are being held hostage by a Congress controlled by Republicans. But after a decade in which China has appeared to be carrying off everything in Latin America, at least the U.S. has now begun to compete in this new Great Game.3  . . ..…