China Officially Overtakes US Economy - Set to be 20% larger than US by 2019

'The days when the IMF, World Bank, and U.S. Treasury could essentially dictate international finances and intimidate or crush opponents ... are drawing to a close.'

China has overtaken the United State to become the world's largest economy, according to new data and an analysis by the International Monetary Fund.

Calculated by looking at gross domestic product (GDP) alongside cost-of-living data, the IMF announced Tuesday that China is now larger economically than the U.S. for the first time in history with an adjusted GDP of $17.6 trillion compared to a U.S. GDP of $17.4 trillion.

The milestone has been forecast for some time, but the conclusion of the IMF—presented in its 2014 World Economic Outlook report—comes as other economic indicators suggest a global shakeup in the world economy may be upon us. As the Financial Times reports, "the speed of [China's] transformation" is what's most" breathtaking" considering that "as recently as 2005, China’s economy was less than half the size of America’s." Additionally, the IMF now projects that "China’s economy will be 20 percent bigger than that of the U.S. by 2019."

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