(WASHINGTON POST) Ana Swanson – This chart will make you really think about China’s rising dominance

In at least one respect, the world today looks more like it did in the year 1,000 than in 1950. The map below shows that the global “economic center of gravity” is rapidly shifting east and south, and it has almost returned to its location 1,000 years ago.

The map is based on a study by the McKinsey Global Institute and uses the fascinating historical gross domestic product estimates of British economist Angus Maddison. The calculations should be seen as a rough estimate: In order to determine the “economic center” of the Earth, Maddison identifies the center of a country and “weights” it by the size of the country’s economy. So as the U.S. gross domestic product got bigger, the “center” of the world moved left (and west), but now it seems to be moving back as developing countries, particularly in Asia, grow fast.

Source: The surprising way the world is becoming more like it was a thousand years ago – The Washington Post