Michael Pettis has a really good post up on his blog, China Financial Markets. He has some very interesting things to say about the country’s real growth rate and then gets into a useful discussion about the U.S. and China and the political choices each are facing as they attempt to cope with the crisis. His remarks aren’t particularly encouraging but then again few people making realistic assessments right now seem to be overly optimistic.

Pettis is for my money the best source of information on China. He’s on the ground and goes beyond just number crunching. The guys that can look at the anecdotal evidence and connect the dots are the ones you need and want to listen to. He’s one of those people.

Take some time and read the article. If you have any thoughts, let me know.