As the world economy reels from bad to worse to appalling, and economists go from talking of the 'R' word (recession) to swapping stories of the Great Depression in the 1930s, eyes also turn to China and to what it might, can and should do in its newly emerging role as a global player both economically and politically.
The answers are complicated but may not be what the world wants to hear or be in the best global interests.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the club of the 30 rich industrialised countries, reported this week that many of the wealthy economies 'are in or on the verge of a protracted recession of a magnitude not experienced since the early 1980s'. If anything, it was being optimistic.
Even on the OECD's assumptions, 8 million more people will lose their jobs in the rich countries, and the US, Europe and Japan will all stay in recession until at least the middle of 2009, and then the recovery will be 'languid'. Any sharp changes in foreign exchange rates or rises in oil prices could prolong the agony.
Policymakers have been surprised already because the financial and economic situations have worsened beyond their predictions and out of their grasp. But still the forecasters tend to look through rose-tinted glasses.
The hard truth is that, for years, western nations generally, and the US in particular, have been living beyond their means. Worse, heavily indebted governments are trying to cope by spending their way out of trouble - spending what they do not have. If it works, a bigger bill will only come later.
