Bill Gates vs. George Bush: who is the most powerful person of the world?

Before coming to Washington, Hu Jintao will first come to Seattle, which is of course the capital of the Microsoft Empire. He will meet with Bill Gates, and dine in his house with other businesses. I can’t help but thinking that by meeting Bill Gates before meeting George Bush, Hu Jintao, and the Chinese are sending a message about their priorities and about whom they consider the most important man in the United States for them. Besides with Bill Gates, they can negotiate without having to give much since Microsoft is willing to respect restrictive Chinese laws (as Google and Yahoo) to have access to the Chinese Market. George Bush will try to negotiate with the Chinese, but he does not have as much to offer them as Bill Gates given his current political situation and especially given the fact that right now the US need China to support tough sanctions on Iran. We are living in the world where increasing economic power is more important than political power or rather where economic power has political consequences. I bet than Hu Jintao will feel a lot more at ease with Bill Gates than he will with President Bush.