Can Our Economy Ever Recover?

Yes, the reign of the US 'empire' is near.

History has shown time, and time again, that great empires only last 200-300 years.

Go back to the great values upon which US was built 200 years ago.

Find out who was behind destroying these values since the end of WW2 , i think those devils still controlling every thing in USA .

Can it recover? Certainly. Will it recover? Probably. Do I know how? Haven't a clue. Will it look or work the same as it did 50 years ago? 10 years ago? Surely not.

So what do I know? Well, for one thing those who think simplistic "feel good" political slogans screeched ad nauseum somehow make for a sane economic policy are, I'm sorry to report, idiots.

Anyone old enough to remember President Ford's "Whip Inflation Now" slogan for fixing the economy? Yeah. That worked out just about as well as the current prattle will. And I'm looking at both the Right and the Left when I say that.

Our economy (and that of the world) is as the OP stated a very complex thing. Thinking that the end-all solution is as simple as tax cuts or stimulus spending or painting your right ear green is the height of foolishness.

Once upon a time...

Yes... the opening line from a fairy tail. But it is true that... once upon a time, corporate America, and in fact most corporations around the world, used to hold as a tenet that the number of and the well being of their employees was a true and valid indicator of the "worth" of a given company.

People had jobs for the major portions of their careers and felt a deep bond and commitment to the company where they made that living. The companies enjoyed the benefits of a stable long term dedicated and mature work force who actually took great pride in the relationship they had with their employer and of the work they did for that employer.

Low and behold... today, employees are things to be avoided at all cost, and are viewed , unfortunately by to many corporations, as nothing more then a "cost" to be driven out of the business model at every opportunity.

Perhaps... corporate taxes need to be visited and modified in such a way that each and every corporation that wishes to "pull" profit out of a given jurisdiction, pays taxes to that jurisdiction, no matter where they are based in the world. As an offset to those same taxes... a "real" tax credit can be then given to a given corporation for each and every full time job created in that same jurisdiction.

Profit... no longer can continue to be the only overarching objective of commercial enterprises.

Please no one... think I am suggesting a "socialist" or "communist" view. For I am not... I am merely suggesting that "profit" pulled from a society with out a corresponding "input" back into that same society is not sustainable, as our current situation clearly shows.

Comments?

For any Socialist or Communist system to succeed it needs honest people,that is why the Soviet Union was very successful at the begging, but once the next generation raised up without Christianity (source of the values and honesty),the Soviet Union started to collapse and finally disappeared .

I think there are no honesties in our time any where for any Socialist System to succeed.

I'm agree with you, I lived in socialist country before.

Socialist = Public money issue.

If no honesty , definitely the system collapses shortly.

I live in Canada and i know how much great corruption is in the free medical system and how much badly the public money spoliated and stolen mainly by third world immigrants involved in the medical system specially Doctors and pharmacists.

Do you like the socialist system any more ?

Can this problem be turned around? Probably not. The United States will be a third world country within twenty years, if not sooner.

There are now less people paying federal income taxes than not. Soon there will be no middle-class (just rich and poor) which was the basic core value for the country.

Since the entitlement programs (unfunded government mandates) started in the sixties to end poverty the debt was grown so as to now exceed the GNP and there is no end in sight. The poverty programs have created more poverty for those who were not poor (middle class).

There are no manufacturing jobs in the US.

People are lazy. The politicians are crooked. Families are broken.

It's over.

Go back to the great values upon which US was built 200 years ago.

Find out who was behind destroying these values since the end of WW2 , i think those devils still controlling every thing in USA

"Go back to the great values upon the US was built 200 years ago."

See my post about slogans above. Wave your little flag faster, brother. Yeah...that'll fix the problem!

Geeez, I don't know... If only someone had a roadmap for America's future.

Then, maybe we could be prosperous again.

The problem is such roadmaps don't lead to where all of us want to go. And those who are told they've got to push the bus while the passangers swill champagne and gobble caviar tend to get a little cranky.

Rhetoric, roadmaps, chanting... "hope and change"... another 7 trillion in debt in two years (oh but he inherited it, what? Inherited the Recovery Act, uh, no, that was a new law just created and passed).

Let's see how fast we can go bankrupt...oh wait a minute, we are...so - what do we need - more hope and change??? Doesn't seem to be working so good huh. "For a man to tax himself into prosperity is like standing in a bucket lifting yourself up by the bucket handle" (Winston Churchill)

I unfortunately also think that (short of a miracle) our country will never be as great as it was, we will be a 3rd world nation in less than 10 years. We are fragilly one small step from colapse, if Yellowstone goes off, if terror strikes multiple cities with dirty IEDs, if our elected officials don't stop the spending and growing the government to it's largest size ever (oh, wait, that just happened...)

Actually, the world's golding age was 1960's.

The good time will never come back, the whole world is going from bad to worst.

It's not 'them' and 'us'. The US and other capitalistic countries are changing from a mostly internal economy into a 'world' economy right now. Actually, a similar thing happened during the early 1800's with the Industrial Revolution. Countries went into competition with each other on a big scale in industries like steel manufacturing and shipping. Instead of being simple supply and demand with most countries supplying mainly one or two items on a large scale, England made iron, Scotland was textiles, etc. with the advent of steam powered machinery and iron foundaries being established in the US in Pittsburgh and a couple of recessions thrown in, the world economy in the early 1800's was in as seemingly bad shape as it is now.

Everything goes in waves, we're just at the bottom of a trough right now. By 2014 it should have worked itself out, the USA will have devoloped the next 'boom' invention and things will for a short few years will be riding high until something sets off the next recession.

This has been going on since the beginning of human enterprise, nothing has changed but the faces. Maybe if the government does go broke, they'll all have to go out and get real jobs and contribute to the GNP instead of living off of it's taxation.

Look closely at the economy, it's tightly entwined with energy cost.

In the 1960's we were still discovering cheap oil. The Saudi oil fields had just begun to deliver, the southwestern US fields were pumping away. Energy was CHEAP. Along came the '70's oil crunch, with the Saudis tightening the supply, and Texas just not able to produce as cheaply as the Saudis, and what happens, the economy takes a dump.

In fits and starts the economy has reacted to tightening and loosening of the oil supply since then. Not immediately, and not always in a tight ratio/relationship. We may not be near peak oil, but we are darn close to peak EASY oil. Thus it begins, as the oil/energy supply tightens, so does the economy.

I, for one, believe we'll find the next best thing. I hope so because I really don't want my kids to struggle like my grandparents did. Be it cold fusion, more efficient solar, energy from magnets, there will be something to replace oil and coal as energy sources.

As far as the US economy is concerned, the US lost its edge when it lost its manufacturing. Service jobs, banking and investing, and product resellers provide limited value for the money spent. The only true value in an economy is in real products produced. I add more to the economy by manufacturing a widget than the distributor that I sell it to, or the banker that loaned me the money to make it or the service guy that repairs it.

It's all nicey, nicey to think that I can open a bed and breakfast, or a restaurant, or an insurance agency, or sell real estate. While these are classified as 'jobs', they are not truly productive jobs. The end product is not exportable. The money changing hands has done just that, it hasn't produced anything physical that can be sold or bought.

As far as the Chinese and Indian economies, both of these countries will see growing pains as workers build wealth and demand better wages, working and living conditions. We already see it as China's auto ownership builds. It will be interesting to watch as these two countries grow, how their populations react to the building wealth of their people and their governments, as well as how the world reacts to their new found wealth.

I see the US economy looking very similar to the German economy as time goes on. We still have a lot of natural resources, unlike Spain, Greece or Israel. We will never drop to third world poverty levels. Our heyday is done but there's still a lot left.

USA led the whole world combined to self suicide in 2007.

We are a country for the people, by the people. We have the power of change. We are choosing not to. Take a look at your last election in your county/state/country. What percentage of the population voted. Ask your friends and family if they voted in their last election. I did and I was saddened by what i found out.

We must regain the nationalist spirit first not Gypsy feelings.

Since the time when Bill Clinton committed a serious sexual action in the White House and the American people allowed him to continue without punishment , i realized that America is in its way for the great fall.

We like our Presidents a little on the frisky side, lol.

Well,let your dirty frisky takes you to your final grave,lol

That is not dirty frisky but shameful moral corruption sir.

Actually, the western country destroyed them self by moving most(if not all)the Western factories to Japan, Korea ,China, Taiwan,and Indian.

Nothing left for the American workers to live on it , and the Western Industrial Countries changed their names to Western Import-al Countries.

You should arrest all who shared in this evil action and execute them in a large public square.

Is it another French Revolution ?

Unfortunately, the corruption of US leadership started with Bill Clinton era and is continuing.

It seems for me from this thread that the Americans lost their loyalty to America and they don't care !

Could be because most of them are new immigrants and have no roots over the American history and many of them came from anti-west countries.

Actually, the capitalism is a dirty system.

In capitalism system every thing is for sale, values, principles, and even the country it self.