“The US is on the brink of losing its status as the world’s largest economy, and is likely to slip behind China this year, sooner than widely anticipated, according to the world’s leading statistical agencies,” reports the Financial Times. “The US has been the global leader since overtaking the UK in 1872. Most economists previously thought China would pull ahead in 2019.” We suppose “most economists” didn’t fully account for the destructive nature of Barack Obama’s economic policies. Obama isn’t solely to blame, though. There are long-time policies in the U.S. – the minimum wage, for example – that have sent manufacturing jobs to China and have aided in China’s incredible growth over recent decades. The key to keeping the U.S. in first place is to free the market.