According to a Standard Chartered Bank report (10 January, 2019), the United States will lose its top spot as the world's largest economy as early as next year and will fall behind India by 2030. By then, China's economy is expected to be double the US economy, while India's will be one and a half times larger. Japan, and Germany, in that order, are forecast to trail behind Russia to no. 9 and 10 while the United Kingdom is slated to drop out of the top ten.

Asia will account for roughly 35% of global GDP, up from 20% in 2010, while seven of the world's 10 largest economies will be Asian. Click here A pictorial illustration is here. View this photo

Another global tipping point already happens as reported at the Brookings Institution (27 September, 2018). Over half of the world is now middle class or wealthier. By 2030, the middle-class markets in China and India ($14.1 trillion and $12.3 trillion respectively) will be drawing close to the U.S. middle-class market at that time of $15.9 trillion. Click here While in terms of per capita GDP, both China and India will remain miles behind the United States and other Western countries, in terms of aggregate standards of living, Asia and other emerging markets are fast catching up. 

In terms of aggregate economic power, size matters. GDP per capita hardly counts. For example, according to the International Monetary Fund, Macao is expected to surpass Qatar in 2020 with the highest GDP per capita on a purchasing power parity basis. Click here

In any case, save America's enduring military and dollar dominance, the above tipping points are expected to tilt the world's economic and geopolitical gravitas towards Asia, particularly China and India. An "Asian Century" appears to be just around the corner.