China to Dominate by 2030? Maybe Not

Now that Japan has been knocked out by China as the world's second-biggest economy, the next question is: When will it dominate the U.S.? The Asian powerhouse could unseat the U.S. from the top spot as early as 2030, experts say, reconfirming China's growing influence on economies in every corner of the globe.

But a lot could happen over the next 20 years. Japan has been the world's second-largest economy for most of the past four decades. At one point, there was even speculation that Japan would eventually unseat the United States -- in the 1980s, Japan edged very close, but not close enough.