Worried About the Economy

[tampa24]

Tampa,

This would be a good time to read The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, by Paul Kennedy. I read this a number of years ago. If I remember correctly, according to Professor Kennedy, great powers fall when their economic engine can no longer support the expenses of being a super power. I think America is heading in that direction. It appears you feel the same way. And I agree with you; we have to be able to create jobs and grow the economy. Without that, America doesn't have the tax base to continue on its current path.

Tim

I actually did buy and read the book many years ago also. Paul Kennedy's writing style was dreadful but he did have very important things to say in the book. I do see parallels to what the great powers of the past went through before their decline and the U.S. right now. Usually the superpowers of the past went into decline because they were so overextended militarily that they had to spend more and more money each year on "defense", "security" and the like, just to hold onto and maintain the vast empires they had conquered.

As any good military tactician will tell you, when you try to defend everything you don't properly defend anything.

In simplest terms they bankrupted themselves. That isn't the only cause of course. But most other ills that afflicted empires in decline were symptoms of that root cause. The Soviet Union is a prime example of that. But there are others that you can point to from thousands of years ago.

The U.S. is being hit by a double whammy of out of control domestic spending on health care, Social Security, Medicare, etc...while having a military that is overextended all over the globe. The U.S. Navy is particularly feeling the strain. But all the branches are to varying degrees. So we have a domestic spending budget that is out of control and a military budget that never seems to be enough for all the conflicts we want to be involved in or prepare for.

 

[balboa]

I actually did buy and read the book many years ago also. Paul Kennedy's writing style was dreadful but he did have very important things to say in the book. I do see parallels to what the great powers of the past went through before their decline and the U.S. right now. Usually the superpowers of the past went into decline because they were so overextended militarily that they had to spend more and more money each year on "defense", "security" and the like, just to hold onto and maintain the vast empires they had conquered.

As any good military tactician will tell you, when you try to defend everything you don't properly defend anything.

In simplest terms they bankrupted themselves. That isn't the only cause of course. But most other ills that afflicted empires in decline were symptoms of that root cause. The Soviet Union is a prime example of that. But there are others that you can point to from thousands of years ago.

The U.S. is being hit by a double whammy of out of control domestic spending on health care, Social Security, Medicare, etc...while having a military that is overextended all over the globe. The U.S. Navy is particularly feeling the strain. But all the branches are to varying degrees. So we have a domestic spending budget that is out of control and a military budget that never seems to be enough for all the conflicts we want to be involved in or prepare for.

I think that at the end of the day, greed is the prime cause of all our woes. Greed has always been there; it's a necessary part of capitalism. However, with the Bush era, it has been released from it's shackles. Bush and his repubs have dismantled the only check on unfettered greed--regulation and oversight, and so caused the great recession. Without regulation, greed goes unchecked.

Now, powerful and rich corporations are funneling money to Washington (thanks, Supreme Court) and statehouses in unprecedented amounts, all to cut their taxes, get rid of unions, and allow the rich to become richer. They don't care about the middle class, which is the driving engine in this economy, and they certainly don't care about the elderly and poor.

If something doesn't happen to turn around this tide, we will all drown.

 

[tampa24]

Now, powerful and rich corporations are funneling money to Washington (thanks, Supreme Court) and statehouses in unprecedented amounts, all to cut their taxes, get rid of unions, and allow the rich to become richer. They don't care about the middle class, which is the driving engine in this economy, and they certainly don't care about the elderly and poor.

If something doesn't happen to turn around this tide, we will all drown.

I loved the fact that Obama had the Supreme Court sitting in front of him and squirming in their seats at the State of the Union address. This shortly after they passed that law allowing major corporations to make donations to political campaign funds. Unfortunately shame alone won't undo the damage to our democracy.

I wish I could disagree Balboa. The rich are getting richer because they can afford to buy favors from the government....both nationally and statewide. Then they cast the middle class and poor as leaches who are draining the country dry because of the entitlement programs. What they want to do is starve the poor. (Or at least cut off funding to them.) Then they want the the poor, and middle class elderly to die off quickly...along with the disabled of course. There are plenty of villains on both sides of the political aisle and few easy answers.