Huge Deficits Altering U.S. Hegemony
The sun may finally be setting on the American Century, according to The New York Times, which claims that America‘s massive and unsustainable debt will be the cause of waning influence around the world in the near future.
Not only is the deficit out-of-control - expected to be 1.3 trillion in the 2011 fiscal year - but the nation’s projected long-term debt is even more unsustainable. By the end of the decade, deficits are projected to rise to over five percent of gross domestic product.
“[Obama’s] budget draws a picture of a nation that like many American homeowners simply cannot get above water,” The Times writes.
Even worse, much of that debt is borrowed from foreign central banks, especially Asian powers Japan and China. As of September 2009, China held $790 billion of U.S. debt while Japan held roughly $752 billion.
The problem is exacerbated by the political impasse in America, in which each side is firmly entrenched in an unwavering ideological battle. Republicans refuse to even entertain the idea of any tax increase while Democrats chafe at the though of entitlement cuts. In reality, to put America back on a path of fiscal sanity and ensure that America remains a hegemony, there needs to be a combination of both.
There are some analysts and experts, however, that believe America will remain the world’s preeminent power for some time. Some believe that China, long thought of as America’s top competitor for superpower status, will not be able to maintain its current pace of economic growth long enough to pass the U.S. as the world’s largest economy.
Others point out that America’s military might is still unmatched around the world, and that the U.S. economy is still by far the largest.
As of 2009, the U.S. accounted for nearly half of all the world’s military expenditures. The next closest was China at just eight percent, followed by Russia at five percent.
And since the 1960s America’s gross domestic product has represented roughly 20 to 25 percent of the global economy.
Still, others see America’s imminent demise. An extremely low savings rate, the decline of America’s manufacturing base, unsustainable trade deficits and concerns about the strength of the dollar have all caused some experts to question America’s place in the world and suggest that American influence may be rapidly dwindling.
“Unless miraculous growth, or miraculous political compromises, creates some unforeseen change over the next decade, there is virtually no room for new domestic initiatives for Mr. Obama or his successors,” The Times writes. “Beyond that lies the possibility that the United States could begin to suffer the same disease that has afflicted Japan over the past decade. As debt grew more rapidly than income, that country’s influence around the world eroded.”
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This Work, Huge Deficits Altering U.S. Hegemony , by Dustin Ensinger is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works license.
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The reason we spend is to hold on to our quality of life lest there could be unrest - too bad, we do not produce much to support our spending activities which could have been sustainable.
-BIGuru
The reason the economy crashed was because Americans were spending money they didn't have; the government is doing just that... WHY CANT THEY REALIZE THIS EXTRA SPENDING IS LEADING TO DECLINE!!!!????
Its not rocket science to see where this country is headed,Obamavilles,our manufacturing jobs shipped overseas by greedy corporate bastards,who only care about their bottom line.The "Gov't" did nothing to stop it.They said "don't worry-those jobs will be replace by jobs in the tech sector"-wheres those tech jobs?Oh they outsourced as many of those to China/India/MooGoo-Gaipan BFE.America is being dismantled intentionally.Alls we'll be then is a giant "consumer" economy,strapped with huge national and personal debt,as the UNCONSTITUTIONAL private collection of banks known as the FED RESERVE continues to churn out worthless funny-money,to enslave us with more debt.What we are sliding toward,is a Weimar Germany type scenario where you'll need a friggin Wheelbarrow of FedFunny-money to buy your loaf of bread.Until the Treasury prints the money again(like its says its supposed to in the CONSTITUTION if more of you political and historical morons would read that CRITICALLY IMPORTANT DOCUMENT close enough)And the CRIMINALS on WALL STREET are lined up against the wall,and some Regulation,Morality and Common Sense are applied to the financial markets,continue to expect more economic bad news,if not a catastrophy.Which is my impression from reading this and other fine articles on the economic debacle.Its even more amazing NOT ONE person or bank has been charged with any crime,because in reality,the Gov't would have to put itself in the docket as the main criminal accused.If your betting however,i would bet on and PREPARE for an economic catastrophy,followed by social unrest and rioting,followed by a new CIVIL WAR,Where the NWO tries to finally force the tyranny they always longed for upon us.King George was a piker and novice in tyranny,compared to these enemies of freedom.Or you can hope that the "gov't" will "fix" everything like they always do.Remember Katrina?
Obama is taking us in the same direction Bush did - straight down.
When are we going to stop spending money we don't have!!!
Beating down a hard up merchant isn't going to fix anything, just run them out of business faster.
We have a government spending something like $40,000 per worker, no way it's sustainable and the only way to solve the problem is more people need to work in this country producing goods & services instead of trying to pay people in other countries to do our work.
Year round school, graduates the kids two years sooner, save lots of money and free them up to enter the labor force sooner along with needing fewer workers in schools freeing up more labor.
Raise the retirement age keeping more people in the labor force.
Than use all the available labor to make what we consume.
The 1950's fantasyland mentality isn't sustainable.
Economic crisis has a big impact in our buying technique. This could be the time that we should be more practical ever. If you don't do a little bargaining on the right purchases, you can end up running for payday loans when you didn't have to. Bargaining, a time honored way of trying to secure discounts for your patronage, otherwise known as haggling, is a vital tool to master. Large purchases, such as furniture, appliances and so forth, must be handled correctly lest you pay FAR more than you could have. Obviously, you have to pick your battles otherwise you'll come off as a weirdo – don't haggle over price per pound of steak at Safeway, because you'll get shown the door.
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