<One is growing at a 9% real rate, the other is growing at 3%, if it's lucky.>
This type of statement is faulty, and it bothers me when I see it. You don't know what you are comparing. 9% of what? 3% of what? 9% of $1 million is much different than 3% of $1 billion. Our economy may be growing more slowly than China, but in absolute terms, it is probably a different story. But we aren't given the absolute numbers in this article.
It's no different than comparing stock prices without taking into consideration the number of outstanding shares. I suppose Microsoft is only 5 times bigger than Aspen, since its stock price is 5 times more than Aspen.
