Who will be in control?

Question

Is it logical to think that the most successful, control wielding and standard setting country will be the country that produces and exports the most amount of goods?

What will happen to a country that no longer produces a competitive amount of tangible goods, with the chief source of employment being services?

Answer 1

I don't think it's necessarily whether it's goods or services, but whether the goods or services are necessary or not.  So a country whose primary export is luxury yachts will have less influence than a country who primarily exports banking services, because banking is necessary in the modern economy, but yachts are not.  A service-based economy can still be very influential as long as the services are necessary around the world.

Answer 2

"Control wielding" might be more related to cultural influence. US culture is exported all over the world through our media (like Hollywood) and technology.

I'm pretty sure that Germany and China are bigger exporters, but they have nowhere near the cultural influence.

In my opinion, the US's positive influence on world culture has been dealt a huge blow by our activities in Iraq, especially the torture issue. Its hurt our standing all over the world. Hopefully the next president (Obama?) will begin to reverse this.

Answer 3

You mean like the Sudan or Zimbabwe . The model for the forth coming US .

Answer 4

The phrase "successful, control wielding" is rather oxymoronic.  The most controlled economies in the world are the least competitive.