Like it or not, the salvation to the current global economic crisis will come from the US. This is because there is no viable and sustainable alternative to a market economy, and no country with wealth, stability, and security can replace the US as a leading power, in spite of the global crisis it started.

A decade ago, the Asian economic crisis toppled tiger economies in the region and pushed Russia to devaluation. Today, as it was before the global financial crisis, Asian economies, particularly China and India, continue to grow. Presently, the US faces a deepening economic crisis that has become widespread at quicker pace over broad areas more than the Asian contagion did at the end of the 1990s.

During the time of the Asian crisis, US capitalist evangelists thought they could save the world from its economic sins. Now, the battle is to save the world from failures that happened in the US. The irony is not lost to most. The crisis originated in the US and many people in emerging markets are asking the Americans to be more humble. While it’s true that when the US sneezes, the world catches pneumonia, the source of the virus may do well to humbly accept being the culprit in the contamination.

A senior executive at a US investment bank has agreed that the “US has been very bold in terms of its success and sought to extend some of its policies and practices to other nations. As its weaknesses are exposed, these nations start to question the lessons that the US preaches.” Nonetheless, the US still believes it is big enough to cope with its problems alone.

While world leaders are preparing to establish a new Committee to Save the World (the G-20 next month), the role of US as superpower is reaffirmed, in fact sturdily cemented. Even while striving to strengthen its own treasury and give a coherent response to its banking crisis, Washington has already begun to set the agenda for the reunion in London, saying it will press strongly for a coordinated global stimulus. The US still has a tremendous voice – and a huge responsibility to repair the damage it has done. May it go to the G-20 summit with its head bowed low.

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Via CBS NEWS