Could the last person to leave America please turn out the light.

The construction never ceases.

As a non US citizen I have to say that I am deeply worried about the economic situation in your country. And not just because it affects the rest of the world so much.

I am worried for all the families who will be affected by the lack of government support. People in the US seem to have a horror of the thought of 'the government' getting too involved in their lives. Thus people have opted for lower taxes, less industry regulation and more privatisation. Anyone who realises that private enterprise is a for-profit venture could figure out that leaving your healthcare in the hands of private companies is...umm... maybe not such a good idea. Making money off the sick is sick. So what I say to Americans is that you shouldn't fear the idea of higher taxes or what you consider a 'nanny state' (which by the way you already have, what with the governments ability to tap your phones and control your bodies - sex ed, anyone?). What you should focus on instead is making your government, and your private industries ACCOUNTABLE. More taxes arent bad if they are used for the right purposes. But of course your government is too busy funding an illegal war to worry about whats best for the people.

Oh man, I am going to get shouted at for this.

But my ultimate point is that you guys are focusing on the symptoms, not the cause. If you have no faith in your government doing right by you, change it! You have the power! There are a lot more of you than them, dammit.

PS. As an non US citizen I also fear the fact that your country is in economic freefall and seems to be led by people with their fingers on the button, so to speak. You guys have more nukes than most other countries, and more than half an eye on foreign resources. Awesome.

I hope I am not offending anyone :( but thats how you are seen from an international standpoint.

Hmm.. I can think of a few places.

How about... the trillion dollar war?
Or... giant corporations?

1. Recall all troops deployed abroad. 2. Execute most of the Executive and Legislative branches for treason. 3. Imprison the management of most financial firms and confiscate all of their assets. This economic "event" or "crisis" didn't just happen; it was the result of a huge Ponzi scheme involving the participation and collusion of thousands of bankers, politicians, and real estate speculators. The perpetrators will continue to transfer money from taxes and through the devaluation of the currency to themselves unless they are neutralized.

I read a book by Kotlikoff some time ago and was appalled to learn of the present value implications of our debt, continued deficit spending, and massively unfunded transfer payment programs. These are very scary issues, but then I heard another interesting perspective. I imagine the truth to lie somewhere in the middle of the two, but consider this:

Analyzing America's cash flows like a corporate balance sheet means we have to consider total equity worth, total debt, and total assets in the entire country. Capital (debt and equity) is used to acquire productive assets that earn income. In the case of a country we call this income, GDP (or GNP, whatever).

Businesses (or savvy individuals) seek to balance the equation:

cost of capital = return on capital

This means that when you can borrow for cheap and earn more of a return than the cost of borrowing, it makes sense to borrow until you reach that equilibrium condition above.

For the U.S. we borrow at ~ 3%-4% (treasury rates) and earn ~ 12% when you count GDP/total asset base. This perversely suggests we have a far higher debt capacity than is being utilized. I wrote about this in an article awhile back:

http://www.thefreedomfactory.us/do-countries-need-to-stick-to-a-budget/

Buy U.S. and only U.S. products. With The Chinese not playing fair in the free markets, profit margins seen by U.S. retailers have continued to shrink while the Chinese profits, and the trade deficit, have continued to rise. The Chinese Government has artificially pegged the Dollar to a slightly changing Yuan. The Chinese, to facilitate this transaction, purchase U.S. debt. This keeps the Dollar from having an affect of placing pressure on their currency and at the same time increases the Chinese position as the largest holder of U.S. Dollars and debt in the world.
At the same time their markets are booming this places more pressure on the oil markets, directly affecting what we pay at the pump, and not to mention all the other pressures on commodities, such as metals they use in the manufacturing of goods they end up selling to us, which causes more price pressure on nearly everything, and so on....
The trick here is to know that the markets are fluid, unless someone tries to control the flow. China’s actions towards absorbing the trade imbalance by subsidizing their merchants has not hurt them as their sales have continued to increase, which gives the Chinese Govt. the revenues needed to continue these practices, and transfers world wealth to their population. But since this fluid must flow the markets around the world have to adjust to China’s greed.
The Chinese may be doing this on purpose. If the Fed is forced to cut interest rates, the interest bearing debt held by China goes up in value.
If Americans would Buy U.S. and only U.S. goods and services, as the largest purchasing power body in the world, the U.S. consumer can fix the markets, except for China, around the world, nearly overnight.
A book that touches on the subject is Peter Navarro’s The Coming China Wars. His book goes into some of the trade policies of China and the affects around the world but I wish he would have gone into better detail to explain the simple ramifications and solutions we as U.S. consumers, the largest purchasing power block in the world, control with our purchases.
Basically if you look at the money multiplier effect, and instead of purchasing U.S. or local goods and services, a person purchases foreign goods and services, the money multiplier, through fractional-reserve lending, ends. Therefore the ratio of actual dollars to commercial dollars, or demand deposits, M1, as reflected on liquidity, becomes extremely distorted and unstable, even though it can’t be seen. But if everyone were to stop buying foreign goods and services, such as Chinese products, and products that use Indian call centers to service the products, and instead buy U.S. products, or save their money, the liquidity in the market would not only be restored but thrive.
Please tell a friend.
I will be checking back for any feedback, and believe me if enough people did this, jobs, the environment, wealth, medicine, and medical benefits, insurance premiums, world peace, etc.... would all be improved, I am not kidding. Its the fix the government can’t talk about as China’s position as the largest holder of U.S. debt is so controlling of what they can say, as the Chinese can start dumping that debt anytime, which is another reason. But only you can control what you buy and where it was made.

Mia,

If you wish to understand our aversion to government support, I recommend reading up on US history and the writings of Adam Smith, Thomas Jefferson, and others who had a profound influence on what this country stands for.

Perhaps then you will understand why so many of us do not want a Nanny State.

A long time ago, there was a billboard in Seattle that said essentially the same thing. Boeing was in trouble and jobs were being lost left and right. Then Microsoft came in and resurrected Seattle. That was when Microsoft was an up and coming company but now it is stable and actually shrinking in some areas.

I think it will take some innovation to bring stability back the US and unfortunately the social climate is against progress. This just does not bode well for our futures IMO.

Oh, and I am an American who agrees with Maia. That is why I am looking at emigrating. Give me higher taxes and a nanny state any day over corporate bailouts for rich people.

Hey Hope fiends
How much writing do you need on your walls? If you wait until it is too late,..It's too late!
Everything that is happening in America is Biblical, and you're running out of pages. By the time you figure out who's write or wrong, a gun will be pointed at you and your family.
I pray that as many people as possible leave the US.