cat slave
12-27-2009, 03:55 PM
The Death Spiral (Vanity)
As Maine Goes ^ | 12/26/09 |
Posted on Sunday, December 27, 2009 2:18:19 PM by cp124
Just like there is no free lunch, there is no free trade. The United States is singularly blessed with an industrious population and abundant natural and renewable resources. There are few things we need from foreign sources and for these we can exchange what we have in surplus. As a measure of human and natural assets we have created a currency that has become the reserve currency of the world, surpassing that of gold, the British Pound and the Euro. It is in serious danger.
Since World War II, our representatives in Washington have embarked on a concerted effort to squander our wealth. They started by loaning money to restore the economies of Europe and Asia and then forgiving most of the debt or inflating the value of our currency so that the money paid back had far less purchasing power than that loaned. They then embarked on a program of reducing or eliminating tariffs by one sided trade treaties and agreements. These shifted a large part of the cost of government to the U. S. taxpayer and allowed U. S. companies to export U. S. jobs.
Those jobs that have been lost have accelerated over the past few years as the internet and advances in communications have enabled the export of financial and other service jobs to be performed by English speaking foreigners with little capital investment at risk. These jobs will not come back unless and until our elected representatives realize that the U. S. economy must be a closed system if it is to survive and grow.
We now find ourselves in the throes of a death spiral. There is 10% of the workforce officially unemployed. The real number is likely to be closer to 17% and in some areas like Detroit; it is well over 25%. Many of the unemployed still have limited purchasing power because the government still prints money to provide unemployment compensation, but that cannot last forever. As these funds dry up fewer goods will be purchased thereby reducing demand, requiring adjustments in production and hence more layoffs. It becomes a never ending cycle that feeds on itself. Unfortunately, most of what the government is doing does not help and even exacerbates the current situation. It is not so much that our representatives are incompetent but, they are so full of themselves that they cannot admit to error and it is likely that if replaced their replacements will be no better. I’m afraid this depression is likely to make the last one look like a picnic.
As Maine Goes ^ | 12/26/09 |
Posted on Sunday, December 27, 2009 2:18:19 PM by cp124
Just like there is no free lunch, there is no free trade. The United States is singularly blessed with an industrious population and abundant natural and renewable resources. There are few things we need from foreign sources and for these we can exchange what we have in surplus. As a measure of human and natural assets we have created a currency that has become the reserve currency of the world, surpassing that of gold, the British Pound and the Euro. It is in serious danger.
Since World War II, our representatives in Washington have embarked on a concerted effort to squander our wealth. They started by loaning money to restore the economies of Europe and Asia and then forgiving most of the debt or inflating the value of our currency so that the money paid back had far less purchasing power than that loaned. They then embarked on a program of reducing or eliminating tariffs by one sided trade treaties and agreements. These shifted a large part of the cost of government to the U. S. taxpayer and allowed U. S. companies to export U. S. jobs.
Those jobs that have been lost have accelerated over the past few years as the internet and advances in communications have enabled the export of financial and other service jobs to be performed by English speaking foreigners with little capital investment at risk. These jobs will not come back unless and until our elected representatives realize that the U. S. economy must be a closed system if it is to survive and grow.
We now find ourselves in the throes of a death spiral. There is 10% of the workforce officially unemployed. The real number is likely to be closer to 17% and in some areas like Detroit; it is well over 25%. Many of the unemployed still have limited purchasing power because the government still prints money to provide unemployment compensation, but that cannot last forever. As these funds dry up fewer goods will be purchased thereby reducing demand, requiring adjustments in production and hence more layoffs. It becomes a never ending cycle that feeds on itself. Unfortunately, most of what the government is doing does not help and even exacerbates the current situation. It is not so much that our representatives are incompetent but, they are so full of themselves that they cannot admit to error and it is likely that if replaced their replacements will be no better. I’m afraid this depression is likely to make the last one look like a picnic.