* Debt burdens will weigh on economic growth in the United States and Europe for years to come, and Washington is still far from addressing the root causes of its fiscal problem.

* Emerging markets have the growth prospects and the public savings to start to supplant the United States as the world's consumer of last resort, driving the global economy. What they lack is the political will and experience to set the agenda, which means the West won't merely fade into the background.

* It will take a long time to clean up the fiscal mess.

http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-wests-mid-life-crisis-points-power-shift-184328427.html