Right, at least at the moment that's true. But why not just call internal consumtion demand, even if it is subsidized (Iran, too btw.)? Again, it's still not "peak" right now which "dictating" prices. Right now we can still blame China...

Peak: Interesting enough, in light of the crash in oil prices is that if you look at the eia website their Saudi analysis as of August 2005 projects Saudi exports for 2007 approximately 40% higher than current. As of August 2005 they projected current (2007) Saudi production to be 11.5.

Why is it that we resent "our factories" which make "our products" paid for with "our debt" using "our oil?" Is it because some of the people who work in our factories would like to drive to work? Are they forgetting their place and getting too uppity?

If we don't want China to work for us all we have to do is boycott WalMark, KMart, Target, Best Buy, Home Depot, et al. Then China will stop using "our oil."

But since China is way more cost efficient using "our oil" (despite rumors claiming the opposite, the Chinese factory worker still does not drive an SUV), the Walmarts of this world are the cheapest source of high quality goods (oh, well... medium quality goods). Joe Average can not afford to buy the same products from American or European manufacturers.

Their labor costs are lower. In terms of efficiency using energy that is a totally different issue, and I suspect on the whole their energy efficiency is generally worse.

Higher energy use per unit of GDP *but*

that is normal. Poorer countries have lower GDP but also do more things with that GDP that require relatively more energy.

(example: Healthcare is 1/6th of the US economy, and relatively low energy intensity. It is a much smaller proportion of the Chinese or the Indian economy).

The question is whether the Chinese use 'best practice' on technology ie where the 2 economies are comparable, are they using as modern technology as the US?

In the typical exporting factory I would say yes. In terms of technology and productivity, the Chinese are up there with the best of them.

In the economy as a whole (including transport, power generation, domestic manufacturing, farming etc.) I would say no. For example their typical design of passenger car seems to be about 10 years behind the US.

One complication in the Chinese economy is that because they don't have a full market economy, the prices of energy may be distortedly low. This would seem to be particularly the case with electric power, but to a lesser extent with gasoline.