US will no longer be a dominant world power..
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The US will not be the world superpower forever, certainly, but those calling for imminent demise are being overzealous and premature. Lets look at some of the claims that apocalypsists make and reasons why the US isn't going to recede just yet.
1) The US owes huge amounts of money to other countries.
We do, but the majority of our debt is to individuals and private corporations, through bonds and the use of the dollar as an international standard. What would need to happen for this to become a problem? The world would have to lose faith in the security of US bonds(currently seen as the most secure investment possible) and/or the dollar would have to lose its place as international standard. Certainly, the whole implosion of Wall Street doesn't help confidence in the US government, but it is a worldwide crisis. The government isn't anywhere close to becoming so insolvent as to need to engage in inflationary money printing. In fact, many other nations currently have much higher debts as a proportion of their GDP than the US.
As for the dollar losing it's place, there simply are no better alternatives. The Euro suffers from many of the stifling economic policies of EU countries. The Yuan(China) is current set at a fixed price(too low) by the Chinese government to encourage exports and thus is useless as a standard. If China did let the market value to Yuan, it might eventually be able to catch on, but it would have severe economic consequences in China and require a fundamental realignment of their economy to be successful. Authoritarian regimes are also not popular for economic standards because the government has the power to potentially cause massive economic change very quickly with no resistance, as opposed to democracies, where debates and legislation slow things down.
2) The dollar is in a free fall.
The use of the dollar as an international standard is discussed, above, but here we examine the claim that the dollar is quickly spiraling towards worthlessness in the international world. Simply put, this is dependent on imports vs. exports. The US has been importing more than it exports, known as a trade deficit. If the dollar is strong, the trade deficit should go up, since imports become cheaper for the US and exports more expensive for everyone else. This demand causes the dollar to fall. Right now, with the dollar low, imports should become more expensive and US exports cheaper, causing the opposite effect. This is the position of the Milton Friedman school of thought concerning economics.
3) Who will fill the void?
Russia lacks the economy. The government gets its income from oil and natural gas, which is unsustainable. As energy costs rise, it forces research into efficiency and alternate energy. Additionally, this source of income is no more isolated from world economics than any other. The financial crises hurt a lot of industries and as a result, oil has been tanking. Russia and OPEC are starting to feel the pain. Other than its oil, Russia has no economy, and the government is known for destructive seizures of assets. Not exactly the best way to build markets.
China, the popular pick, certainly has a stronger economy than Russia and has seen monster growth in recent years, but they have a number of problems that they will have to reckon with as well in the coming years. Pollution and environmental destruction are both huge. The government may not care about the morality of these things, but as they get worse and worse, the economic costs start to pile up. Despoiled land leads to unsustainable resource use(for example, slash and burn vs. sustainable logging) and increasing health costs for the population. Additionally, China's non-market currency keeps the economy artificially shifted towards cheap exports. This is not the path to global superpower: the economy will need to advance grapple with the consequences of outsourcing. As China gets better technology and education, the value of labor will be driven up, and the cheap manufacturing sector will face competition from lower wage workers in poorer developing countries like Thailand. Finally, China is dependent on having wealthy consumeristic nations buy their goods. Take away the power of the US economy, and China loses one of their biggest customers. The financial crisis will have plenty of effect there as well.
I'm not saying China will never become a superpower. I think they probably will eventually, but I don't think that they are ready to step into that role in the immediate future.
How? They can sell the bonds to someone else, but bonds have a set rate of maturation. You can't just come demand all the money whenever you want, you get whatever maturation value your bond is at when you redeem it. China could stop buying bonds, which takes away a US financier, $300 billion isn't enough to cause the government to collapse. Hell, we just threw $700 billion at our economy. China would have to cause a crisis in confidence concerning US bonds to really damage us, and I don't know how they would do this(I also don't think they would engage in such economically self-destructive actions).
1) The US owes huge amounts of money to other countries.
We do, but the majority of our debt is to individuals and private corporations, through bonds and the use of the dollar as an international standard. What would need to happen for this to become a problem? The world would have to lose faith in the security of US bonds(currently seen as the most secure investment possible) and/or the dollar would have to lose its place as international standard. Certainly, the whole implosion of Wall Street doesn't help confidence in the US government, but it is a worldwide crisis. The government isn't anywhere close to becoming so insolvent as to need to engage in inflationary money printing. In fact, many other nations currently have much higher debts as a proportion of their GDP than the US.
As for the dollar losing it's place, there simply are no better alternatives. The Euro suffers from many of the stifling economic policies of EU countries. The Yuan(China) is current set at a fixed price(too low) by the Chinese government to encourage exports and thus is useless as a standard. If China did let the market value to Yuan, it might eventually be able to catch on, but it would have severe economic consequences in China and require a fundamental realignment of their economy to be successful. Authoritarian regimes are also not popular for economic standards because the government has the power to potentially cause massive economic change very quickly with no resistance, as opposed to democracies, where debates and legislation slow things down.
2) The dollar is in a free fall.
The use of the dollar as an international standard is discussed, above, but here we examine the claim that the dollar is quickly spiraling towards worthlessness in the international world. Simply put, this is dependent on imports vs. exports. The US has been importing more than it exports, known as a trade deficit. If the dollar is strong, the trade deficit should go up, since imports become cheaper for the US and exports more expensive for everyone else. This demand causes the dollar to fall. Right now, with the dollar low, imports should become more expensive and US exports cheaper, causing the opposite effect. This is the position of the Milton Friedman school of thought concerning economics.
3) Who will fill the void?
Russia lacks the economy. The government gets its income from oil and natural gas, which is unsustainable. As energy costs rise, it forces research into efficiency and alternate energy. Additionally, this source of income is no more isolated from world economics than any other. The financial crises hurt a lot of industries and as a result, oil has been tanking. Russia and OPEC are starting to feel the pain. Other than its oil, Russia has no economy, and the government is known for destructive seizures of assets. Not exactly the best way to build markets.
China, the popular pick, certainly has a stronger economy than Russia and has seen monster growth in recent years, but they have a number of problems that they will have to reckon with as well in the coming years. Pollution and environmental destruction are both huge. The government may not care about the morality of these things, but as they get worse and worse, the economic costs start to pile up. Despoiled land leads to unsustainable resource use(for example, slash and burn vs. sustainable logging) and increasing health costs for the population. Additionally, China's non-market currency keeps the economy artificially shifted towards cheap exports. This is not the path to global superpower: the economy will need to advance grapple with the consequences of outsourcing. As China gets better technology and education, the value of labor will be driven up, and the cheap manufacturing sector will face competition from lower wage workers in poorer developing countries like Thailand. Finally, China is dependent on having wealthy consumeristic nations buy their goods. Take away the power of the US economy, and China loses one of their biggest customers. The financial crisis will have plenty of effect there as well.
I'm not saying China will never become a superpower. I think they probably will eventually, but I don't think that they are ready to step into that role in the immediate future.
The reason I believe China will become a world power is the fact that the country is taking steps to make itself a world power. Currently, The United States, Russia and China are the countries that can change the world in a single day. Also China is buying up American debt to keep us afloat (we buy their products). As of March of 2006, China held over $321 billion worth of U.S. Treasuries which are up from the $60 billion it owned at the end of 2000. In a single moment the leaders of China can snap their fingers and they can literally hold America by the balls. Sure, the Chinese economy will suffer a bit but, I'd sacrifice a little bit of my economy to remove a world superpower as competition.
How? They can sell the bonds to someone else, but bonds have a set rate of maturation. You can't just come demand all the money whenever you want, you get whatever maturation value your bond is at when you redeem it. China could stop buying bonds, which takes away a US financier, $300 billion isn't enough to cause the government to collapse. Hell, we just threw $700 billion at our economy. China would have to cause a crisis in confidence concerning US bonds to really damage us, and I don't know how they would do this(I also don't think they would engage in such economically self-destructive actions).
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WhiteLion wrote...
The US will not be the world superpower forever, certainly, but those calling for imminent demise are being overzealous and premature. Lets look at some of the claims that apocalypsists make and reasons why the US isn't going to recede just yet.1) The US owes huge amounts of money to other countries.
We do, but the majority of our debt is to individuals and private corporations, through bonds and the use of the dollar as an international standard. What would need to happen for this to become a problem? The world would have to lose faith in the security of US bonds(currently seen as the most secure investment possible) and/or the dollar would have to lose its place as international standard. Certainly, the whole implosion of Wall Street doesn't help confidence in the US government, but it is a worldwide crisis. The government isn't anywhere close to becoming so insolvent as to need to engage in inflationary money printing. In fact, many other nations currently have much higher debts as a proportion of their GDP than the US.
As for the dollar losing it's place, there simply are no better alternatives. The Euro suffers from many of the stifling economic policies of EU countries. The Yuan(China) is current set at a fixed price(too low) by the Chinese government to encourage exports and thus is useless as a standard. If China did let the market value to Yuan, it might eventually be able to catch on, but it would have severe economic consequences in China and require a fundamental realignment of their economy to be successful. Authoritarian regimes are also not popular for economic standards because the government has the power to potentially cause massive economic change very quickly with no resistance, as opposed to democracies, where debates and legislation slow things down.
2) The dollar is in a free fall.
The use of the dollar as an international standard is discussed, above, but here we examine the claim that the dollar is quickly spiraling towards worthlessness in the international world. Simply put, this is dependent on imports vs. exports. The US has been importing more than it exports, known as a trade deficit. If the dollar is strong, the trade deficit should go up, since imports become cheaper for the US and exports more expensive for everyone else. This demand causes the dollar to fall. Right now, with the dollar low, imports should become more expensive and US exports cheaper, causing the opposite effect. This is the position of the Milton Friedman school of thought concerning economics.
3) Who will fill the void?
Russia lacks the economy. The government gets its income from oil and natural gas, which is unsustainable. As energy costs rise, it forces research into efficiency and alternate energy. Additionally, this source of income is no more isolated from world economics than any other. The financial crises hurt a lot of industries and as a result, oil has been tanking. Russia and OPEC are starting to feel the pain. Other than its oil, Russia has no economy, and the government is known for destructive seizures of assets. Not exactly the best way to build markets.
China, the popular pick, certainly has a stronger economy than Russia and has seen monster growth in recent years, but they have a number of problems that they will have to reckon with as well in the coming years. Pollution and environmental destruction are both huge. The government may not care about the morality of these things, but as they get worse and worse, the economic costs start to pile up. Despoiled land leads to unsustainable resource use(for example, slash and burn vs. sustainable logging) and increasing health costs for the population. Additionally, China's non-market currency keeps the economy artificially shifted towards cheap exports. This is not the path to global superpower: the economy will need to advance grapple with the consequences of outsourcing. As China gets better technology and education, the value of labor will be driven up, and the cheap manufacturing sector will face competition from lower wage workers in poorer developing countries like Thailand. Finally, China is dependent on having wealthy consumeristic nations buy their goods. Take away the power of the US economy, and China loses one of their biggest customers. The financial crisis will have plenty of effect there as well.
I'm not saying China will never become a superpower. I think they probably will eventually, but I don't think that they are ready to step into that role in the immediate future.
The reason I believe China will become a world power is the fact that the country is taking steps to make itself a world power. Currently, The United States, Russia and China are the countries that can change the world in a single day. Also China is buying up American debt to keep us afloat (we buy their products). As of March of 2006, China held over $321 billion worth of U.S. Treasuries which are up from the $60 billion it owned at the end of 2000. In a single moment the leaders of China can snap their fingers and they can literally hold America by the balls. Sure, the Chinese economy will suffer a bit but, I'd sacrifice a little bit of my economy to remove a world superpower as competition.
How? They can sell the bonds to someone else, but bonds have a set rate of maturation. You can't just come demand all the money whenever you want, you get whatever maturation value your bond is at when you redeem it. China could stop buying bonds, which takes away a US financier, $300 billion isn't enough to cause the government to collapse. Hell, we just threw $700 billion at our economy. China would have to cause a crisis in confidence concerning US bonds to really damage us, and I don't know how they would do this(I also don't think they would engage in such economically self-destructive actions).
(I was beginning to wonder where you were buddy.)
A positive candidate for a standard could be the Japanese yen. The currency is strong, the economy of the country is as strong. While also being a democracy that adds to it's favoritism. While I don't know of any negatives about the Yen it's feels like a strong substitute for the American dollar as a standard of trading.
As for the fall of the American dollar. Several European countries have shown a loss of faith in our currency and in fact our entire system as well. Many decided that America wasn't a good investment opportunity and bypassed us for china despite the human rights and environmental violations. While a total loss of faith has been avoided so far we are losing investment opportunities because we appear more socialist than France.
The statistic of the treasuries that China has been buying up is from 2006. The number of treasuries they held in 2000 was a mere 30 billion. The economy has gotten worse and they have bought even more. I'm willing to believe they have 500 billion already in treasuries if not more. Considering that 70% of China portfolio is American debt it makes you wonder why a country would purchase such things.
"The first (and best) reason is because there is a reasonable expectation that the debt will be repaid, supported by documentation, collateral security, and research. The second reason is because there is an expectation that the debtor shall default, resulting in the expeditious seizure of pledged security assets that are desired".
I'm not exactly sure that China would do such a thing as to wage and economic war on us but, that doesn't mean that they won't. I remember reading something a while back about if China stopped buying our debt and stop artificially suppressing the value of their currency (among a couple other steps) which could lead to ruin of the U.S. economy. Thus leading to seizure of assets. Then again I'm not exactly sure on the details of the "master plan" to destroy the economy.
I won't go around screaming the sky is falling but, I also wont go around telling people things are fine and they'll get better. Things are bad and they will get getting worse.
P.S. At the point I type this the DOW is down 400+ points and is around 8241.66.
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So...we should all learn Mandarin or haul ass to another country.
You know, we've only been a country for 200 years. that's really young. The only country to modernise faster was Japan, I think. They did it in under 100 years.
But, actually, living in the brief Anarchal state if America falls hard could be...fun.
You know, we've only been a country for 200 years. that's really young. The only country to modernise faster was Japan, I think. They did it in under 100 years.
But, actually, living in the brief Anarchal state if America falls hard could be...fun.
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Dante1214 wrote...
So...we should all learn Mandarin or haul ass to another country. You know, we've only been a country for 200 years. that's really young. The only country to modernise faster was Japan, I think. They did it in under 100 years.
But, actually, living in the brief Anarchal state if America falls hard could be...fun.
Hmmm. I'm already thinking of taking advantage of this financial crisis by buying a new car, since virtually anyone with good credit can get a car with no interest where I live.
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(I was beginning to wonder where you were buddy.)
Thanks for the welcome back. Schoolwork was piling up.
A positive candidate for a standard could be the Japanese yen. The currency is strong, the economy of the country is as strong. While also being a democracy that adds to it's favoritism. While I don't know of any negatives about the Yen it's feels like a strong substitute for the American dollar as a standard of trading.
The Yen has declined as a reserve currency, way behind the dollar and the euro, and even behind the British pound. The Yen is not an attractive reserve currency because Japan is not a big enough player in international trade(they are significant, but have nowhere near the economic size or the US or the EU, or the growth potential of China), and because the Japanese monetary policy has had the effect of deterring the use of Yen as a reserve currency.
As for the fall of the American dollar. Several European countries have shown a loss of faith in our currency and in fact our entire system as well. Many decided that America wasn't a good investment opportunity and bypassed us for china despite the human rights and environmental violations. While a total loss of faith has been avoided so far we are losing investment opportunities because we appear more socialist than France.
You mean investing capital in industries? Certainly, this makes sense, considering the growth China has been seeing, but people aren't investing heavily in the Yuan. Simply put, they know it's devalued and subject to the whims of the Chinese government.
The statistic of the treasuries that China has been buying up is from 2006. The number of treasuries they held in 2000 was a mere 30 billion. The economy has gotten worse and they have bought even more. I'm willing to believe they have 500 billion already in treasuries if not more. Considering that 70% of China portfolio is American debt it makes you wonder why a country would purchase such things.
"The first (and best) reason is because there is a reasonable expectation that the debt will be repaid, supported by documentation, collateral security, and research. The second reason is because there is an expectation that the debtor shall default, resulting in the expeditious seizure of pledged security assets that are desired".
I'm not exactly sure that China would do such a thing as to wage and economic war on us but, that doesn't mean that they won't. I remember reading something a while back about if China stopped buying our debt and stop artificially suppressing the value of their currency (among a couple other steps) which could lead to ruin of the U.S. economy. Thus leading to seizure of assets. Then again I'm not exactly sure on the details of the "master plan" to destroy the economy.
"The first (and best) reason is because there is a reasonable expectation that the debt will be repaid, supported by documentation, collateral security, and research. The second reason is because there is an expectation that the debtor shall default, resulting in the expeditious seizure of pledged security assets that are desired".
I'm not exactly sure that China would do such a thing as to wage and economic war on us but, that doesn't mean that they won't. I remember reading something a while back about if China stopped buying our debt and stop artificially suppressing the value of their currency (among a couple other steps) which could lead to ruin of the U.S. economy. Thus leading to seizure of assets. Then again I'm not exactly sure on the details of the "master plan" to destroy the economy.
We still have to look at what they can do. They could make a speculative attack on US bonds or the dollar, but even if it worked, it would cause a global recession, taking away China's sources of consumption and investment capital. Of course, it might not even work. Furthermore, even if the US did owe China money they didn't have, they could print more money. Bonds promise to pay in US dollars and have no assurances as to the foreign exchange value of the dollar. This is undesirable, and we will stop paying for social security before we engage in inflationary printing, which would cause a crisis of confidence, but China can make no legal or economic claims to seize US government assets.
I won't go around screaming the sky is falling but, I also wont go around telling people things are fine and they'll get better. Things are bad and they will get getting worse.
P.S. At the point I type this the DOW is down 400+ points and is around 8241.66.
P.S. At the point I type this the DOW is down 400+ points and is around 8241.66.
Certainly, we are in a global recession, but I don't see that it will do horrible damage to the US economy while leaving China intact. Everyone will be feeling the pain.
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I know this has nothing to do with the current discussion, but... Fiery penguin of doom, where did your avatar come from?
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Captain_Falcon wrote...
Dante1214 wrote...
So...we should all learn Mandarin or haul ass to another country. You know, we've only been a country for 200 years. that's really young. The only country to modernise faster was Japan, I think. They did it in under 100 years.
But, actually, living in the brief Anarchal state if America falls hard could be...fun.
Hmmm. I'm already thinking of taking advantage of this financial crisis by buying a new car, since virtually anyone with good credit can get a car with no interest where I live.
I have shit credit and no money and I'm still buying a car.
The details of that, however, make all the difference.
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FakkuAcc wrote...
I know this has nothing to do with the current discussion, but... Fiery penguin of doom, where did your avatar come from?Lucky Star
===
WE'RE ALL DOOMED! DOOOOOOMED!
Also, the U.S has nukes in the plates. China buys US. Government goes on the fritz and launches nuke.
Nuclear Winter.
Wheee, life's great when you got dumbasses in office.
U.S will stay a super power no matter what. China will probably become a larger super power, but the U.S will not back down that easily. We're either heading into a depression, or a collapse.
I'm moving to Japan.
I'm taking Captain Falcon with me.
Then let him roam the street looking for lolis to prey on.
Oh Dear God, What has Science Done.
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Before the USA dies, I hope we have a huge war. Not until we're on our death bed though. No reason to start a war that will definitely kill us if we may still survive.
The war should involve as many countries as possible, and once it's over, all the other superpowers should be in ruins, or on their way there. Then, a new government would spring up, and fill the void left by America, but be even stronger because it'd pick up the slack lost by the other countries in the war. That country would be the world's strongest and make great leaps in technology and medicine and all that. Before long, all the other countries would bow down to the super country, and we'd have a veritable world government. That'd be nice, as long as it kept itself clean.
The war should involve as many countries as possible, and once it's over, all the other superpowers should be in ruins, or on their way there. Then, a new government would spring up, and fill the void left by America, but be even stronger because it'd pick up the slack lost by the other countries in the war. That country would be the world's strongest and make great leaps in technology and medicine and all that. Before long, all the other countries would bow down to the super country, and we'd have a veritable world government. That'd be nice, as long as it kept itself clean.
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If there's a war, I'm watching out for it. Nature has a curious but predictable method of regulating itself, much like Black Plague, the Great Depression that was closely followed by WWII. Technically if war does start, those who sit on the bench and participate later will have the economic advantage, much like the U.S. in the WWII until the Japanese provoked us.
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I personally believe that people are sort of underestimating the US, while i do agree that it will fall eventually (simply because no empire, no matter how large or powerful will eventually fall), i still think they have a few more decades of power left in them, but only if they can keep their military up.
It just goes to show just how much of a hold they have over the world, eg. their economy suffers, and the rest of the world feels it, even all the way over here in Australia.
But then again a change in government could possible turn them right around and this whole thing will be seen as nothing but a hiccup in their history. I for one am going to sit back and see how this ride ends.
It just goes to show just how much of a hold they have over the world, eg. their economy suffers, and the rest of the world feels it, even all the way over here in Australia.
But then again a change in government could possible turn them right around and this whole thing will be seen as nothing but a hiccup in their history. I for one am going to sit back and see how this ride ends.
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illumi wrote...
WE'RE ALL DOOMED! DOOOOOOMED!Also, the U.S has nukes in the plates. China buys US. Government goes on the fritz and launches nuke.
Nuclear Winter.
Wheee, life's great when you got dumbasses in office.
U.S will stay a super power no matter what. China will probably become a larger super power, but the U.S will not back down that easily. We're either heading into a depression, or a collapse.
I'm moving to Japan.
I'm taking Captain Falcon with me.
Then let him roam the street looking for lolis to prey on.
Oh Dear God, What has Science Done.
Can I buy some pot from you?
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illumi wrote...
I'm moving to Japan.
I'm taking Captain Falcon with me.
Then let him roam the street looking for lolis to prey on.
FUCK YEAH!
I like how you think. You're officially on the team XD
But you'd have to help out some too y'know >_>
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Captain_Falcon wrote...
illumi wrote...
I'm moving to Japan.
I'm taking Captain Falcon with me.
Then let him roam the street looking for lolis to prey on.
FUCK YEAH!
I like how you think. You're officially on the team XD
But you'd have to help out some too y'know >_>
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Captain_Falcon wrote...
illumi wrote...
I'm moving to Japan.
I'm taking Captain Falcon with me.
Then let him roam the street looking for lolis to prey on.
FUCK YEAH!
I like how you think. You're officially on the team XD
But you'd have to help out some too y'know >_>
Can I come too?
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One of the things that is draining the power of America is poor leadership, assuming we can find a few good people to run the country, as opposed to running it into the ground like what has happened thanks to Bush. I would like to point out that when Clinton was in office it was business as usual, almost every president from the Democratic party has made the U.S. military smaller. The only thing of note that he did was get caught messing around with a woman he wasn't married to. Bush's policies have been devastatingly bad to American power, especially with our military, he decided to go to war against terrorism and then decided to start another war on a nation which could have waited, all because he KNEW there was WMDs in that country, which as it turns out NATO was right there were no WMDs in that country, so now we have pulled all of our troops from other countries in order to fight wars with multiple fronts in two countries. While we are fighting these two wars he let's the oil and natural gas companies go willy-nilly raising prices to nearly criminal levels (I live in one of the states that has it easiest since we produce oil, and it still went from 1$/gallon to almost 4$/gallon) which was the death-knell to our economy, not as if it wasn't already dying because bankers aren't regulated in the way they handle their business, not even by themselves, I've seen people who make 17K/year get 500K loans, which they have no chance in hell of actually being able to pay for, meanwhile a friend of mine makes 45K/year has really good credit and can't get a 20K loan, that is like taking a loaded gun and picking yourself apart bit by bit and reloading when you run out of ammo.
Somewhere along the lines this had to fall apart so that people will begin paying attention to what the hell they are doing when dealing with money, I don't know why they wouldn't, given that money is what allows them to live in houses and drive cars, but hey I'm really poor so I can't even get a decent education (schools don't care about those who don't have money, I'm really good at bookwork and couldn't convince them to put me into advanced classes, so I could learn something I didn't already have locked in my brain. When I was in school there was this middle class girl she was smart and got into advanced classes, I would regularly beat her in contests of wit and knowledge and on paper, but she could get advanced classes and I couldn't).
To sum this all up, yes, if our next president can't unfuck everything from the Bush Jr. era, no if they can fix the mistakes of the past and build a better system.
Somewhere along the lines this had to fall apart so that people will begin paying attention to what the hell they are doing when dealing with money, I don't know why they wouldn't, given that money is what allows them to live in houses and drive cars, but hey I'm really poor so I can't even get a decent education (schools don't care about those who don't have money, I'm really good at bookwork and couldn't convince them to put me into advanced classes, so I could learn something I didn't already have locked in my brain. When I was in school there was this middle class girl she was smart and got into advanced classes, I would regularly beat her in contests of wit and knowledge and on paper, but she could get advanced classes and I couldn't).
To sum this all up, yes, if our next president can't unfuck everything from the Bush Jr. era, no if they can fix the mistakes of the past and build a better system.
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Kais86 It's not just one person. Bush isn't entirely at fault, yes, he's done some stupid shit but, if there is anyone at the top of the list of who to blame it's the senators. They fuck things up more often than the president. Bush can say and do all the stupid shit he wants but, it doesn't mean anything unless the senate and congress vote to pass whatever bill he proposes. The senate isn't entirely to blame without bush since he has the power to veto a bill. If it's veto'd and the senator passes a majority then it's just the senators. We can't even go to war unless the senate gives the green light. I'm not talking about the Iraq war but, the Afghanistan war. Everyone is so busy covering their asses and their jobs that they won't do anything for the people unless it gives the people with power even more power.
The Government is fucking us in the ass and it's even nice enough to give us a goddamn reach around!
My point is: Everyone in the upper ranks of the Government from the president to the senate to congress and even the heads of several departments are all the blame for the shitty state of the economy. As well as a vast majority of Americans for either participating in reckless use of credit (taking huge loans they can't pay for) and not doing anything about this bullshit in the first place.
The Government is fucking us in the ass and it's even nice enough to give us a goddamn reach around!
My point is: Everyone in the upper ranks of the Government from the president to the senate to congress and even the heads of several departments are all the blame for the shitty state of the economy. As well as a vast majority of Americans for either participating in reckless use of credit (taking huge loans they can't pay for) and not doing anything about this bullshit in the first place.
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I understand that it is more than one person but he is our "leader" for the duration of his term in office and is the one held accountable for the overall condition of the country during his term, but he can't do that on his own by any means, the method which America's founding fathers constructed our government ensured that no one idiot can fuck it up, it takes a large group of idiots to fuck it up and the intelligent people being outnumbered vastly. The people who hold all the power, should they choose to use it, are also responsible but they won't get the blame in the history books, the president will because he alone could , and should, have done something which could have stopped a financial crisis in it's tracks. The president of the United States was once the title of the most powerful man on earth, and now it has become a laughing stock. America's bankers decided they would also carry the idiot ball, because of all those bad decisions made when giving out loans are the primary cause behind all of that, but the owners of the banks should have enforced regulations on their own people ensuring that they would only give out loans that they can prove, almost beyond a shadow of a doubt (but things happen), in the time allotted to pay the loan off.
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In what time span? In about a billion years the earth won't exist so no matter how well they're governed they'll stop being a world power once the planet is destroyed.
Obviously, logic dictates that the United States will fade long before that but the statement "US will no longer be a dominant world power" is rather vague. If this is related to the economy being in the shitter, I'd say it's doubtful. Everywhere is getting rammed by the market being so buggered. To reverse the popular phrase "A falling tide lowers all boats". And I think someone did mention that China isn't going to be taking over any time soon. Hopefully they never will and as far as I can guess likely won't reach the level the United States has. Or maybe I'm just really hopeful that the European Union becomes the dictating force when pax-Americana ends.
Obviously, logic dictates that the United States will fade long before that but the statement "US will no longer be a dominant world power" is rather vague. If this is related to the economy being in the shitter, I'd say it's doubtful. Everywhere is getting rammed by the market being so buggered. To reverse the popular phrase "A falling tide lowers all boats". And I think someone did mention that China isn't going to be taking over any time soon. Hopefully they never will and as far as I can guess likely won't reach the level the United States has. Or maybe I'm just really hopeful that the European Union becomes the dictating force when pax-Americana ends.