Who is the worlds leading economic power"

This is from a late 2009 Pew Research Institute study.

Apparently only 5% of Americans believe that the EU is the worlds leading economic power. Most of them think it is China. The reality is shown in the chart below [values from the CIA Factbook].

The EU has the worlds highest GDP.  It also exports more than China, India, Russia or the USA.

They are right about the USA being the leading military power. The EU's military budget is $289 billion compared to the $711 billion spent by the USA. The EU has sensibly decided not to bankrupt itself by excessive military spending and pointless attacks on other countries.