When I was growing up, China's Communist leaders would attack the United States as "capitalist running dogs." How the world has changed: Chinese leaders now publicly fret about America's reliance on "outmoded central planning."

Interest rates already are very low, so the argument from the Federal Reserve and the Obama administration that the economy is being hindered by high interest rates is laughable. If Fed chief Ben Bernanke follows through on this scheme, we're quite likely to see an outbreak of 1970s-style inflation. And those who recall the glory days of the Carter administration will remember that an easy-money policy leads to higher rather than lower interest rates.

Along with countries such as Germany, Brazil and South Africa, China's worried that President Obama and Bernanke will destabilize the global economy by dumping too much money into the system. This distorts trade, creates bubbles and may prompt other nations to engage in similar devaluations. The fact that China is probably guilty of the same thing doesn't change the fact that America is on the wrong path.

And because people look to the United States for leadership, the disappointment is particularly acute. Indeed, America was almost persona non grata at the recent G-20 meeting.

The United States, by contrast, is on a spending binge of historic proportions. It's not a one-party problem: President George Bush virtually doubled the size of the federal budget in his eight years. But Obama did promise change -- yet has picked up the big-spender baton and is racing in the same direction.